Mike Kelly's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2020-08-23T23:05:07+00:00
items: National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework | Ministerial Statements | House debates
items: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020 | Bills | House debates
items: Eden-Monaro Electorate: Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Jewish Australian Internet Radio | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Eden-Monaro Electorate: Australian Bushfires | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Health Care | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Medicare | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Youth Insearch | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Australian Bushfires | Adjournment | House debates
items: Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Rural and Regional Health Services | Adjournment | House debates
items: Forestry | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Pensions and Benefits | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Krilich, Mr Max, OAM | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Solomon Electorate: Cadets | Private Members' Business | House debates

National Disaster Risk Reduction Framework | Ministerial Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I welcome this opportunity to address the situation that has emerged in the context of these terrible disasters beyond the scale of anything we have ever seen and it is, I guess, a concession...
encoded: I welcome this opportunity to address the situation that has emerged in the context of these terrible disasters beyond the scale of anything we have ever seen and it is, I guess, a concession that should be made that on disasters of this scale we do need to learn lessons and some things that may have been unforeseen need to be addressed. But there are so many things that have been so glaringly obvious about the failures of addressing this disaster that they do need to be highlighted if we are to move forward at all. Just to put it in context, in Eden-Monaro we saw over a million hectares burnt. That is greater than the entire extent of the damage in the Black Saturday fires in Victoria, larger than the famous Amazon fires recently, larger than the Californian wildfires of 2018, all just within the borders of Eden-Monaro. Associated with that too, we lost over 1,000 homes across the LGAs in Eden-Monaro and close to around 9,000 livestock. I guess when you stick out that raw number of 9,000 livestock, it doesn't mean a lot to people. But if you are a farmer—I have lived on dairy farms with my family—and you have go out there and see an animal that is suffering from terrible burn injuries and then have to go through the trauma of euthanizing them—putting them down—and having to do it on a large scale and then dealing with the corpses, it is traumatic stuff. One farmer from out Batlow way was telling us the other day how his kids had to be involved in that too. Because these animals were suffering so much, they didn't have time to waste. He was in tears when he was telling me this story. So the trauma and the tragedy out there has been just enormous. It certainly has been a big awakening about the future we all face if we done do something seriously about climate change and that is something that we can talk more about. We are now talking about the recovery phase and how we deal with that scale of damage, disaster, destruction. I have travelled all around Eden-Monaro me…
date: 2020-03-03T16:30:00+00:00

Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020 | Bills | House debates
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description: In talking about appropriations, I would like to talk tonight about the investment that the nation needs to make in certain aspects of our national security. Whether many Australians recognise it...
encoded: In talking about appropriations, I would like to talk tonight about the investment that the nation needs to make in certain aspects of our national security. Whether many Australians recognise it or not, our democracy is under threat, and it is a serious threat. It's not just the threat of armed invasion, which is a distant one at this point in time, or the ongoing threat of terrorism; it is a more insidious, incremental and corrosive process, and one that I think we must urgently address with capability and mandates for our agencies. I think most people would accept that the quality of democracy can be determined by the educational standards of our people, the diversity and efficacy of the sources of information we have, and the facility with which high standards of debate and discussion take place. Whilst serving here, we get a unique perspective on that. Certainly being the member for a region that's so diverse and large, and also being a member of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, observing the evolution of the means, control and content in the communication of information, have given me a particular perspective on this issue. The one thing I would say initially is that our education system plays an important role in this. It's never been more important, and I think there are areas that need to be addressed fairly urgently. One thing that I've noticed is an increasing lack of knowledge about the nature of our democratic system, how it works and the different levels of government. I think we do need a civics component in our school curriculum to address this level of ignorance. Along the way, though, our kids need to be armed with the ability to be discerning in the sources of information they rely on and to learn the importance of critical analysis and thinking. That would also help our economic strength, I believe, as the driver of innovation is disputation and contestability. One of my favourite quotes is from Albert Einstein, who…
date: 2020-03-03T18:45:00+00:00

Eden-Monaro Electorate: Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the president of the Merimbula Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Ayling, has said that this members have lost up to 60 per cent of their annual...
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the president of the Merimbula Chamber of Commerce, Nigel Ayling, has said that this members have lost up to 60 per cent of their annual turnover. He said: When it comes to government assistance, it’s a big fat zero with 100% of respondents saying they have received NO government assistance at all. Prime Minister, my bushfire affected businesses want to know: why have you left them behind?
date: 2020-03-02T14:23:00+00:00

Jewish Australian Internet Radio | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I commend the member for bringing forward this motion and heartily endorse his call for ACMA to issue a community broadcasting licence to J-AIR. This is important from two perspectives that have...
encoded: I commend the member for bringing forward this motion and heartily endorse his call for ACMA to issue a community broadcasting licence to J-AIR. This is important from two perspectives that have been highlighted: the cultural and security aspects. I was just at the Queanbeyan Multicultural Festival yesterday in Queanbeyan Park, celebrating the incredible rich diversity of that community. We are supported in that by community broadcasting and the wonderful work done by many people—for example, the work that Cveta Taleski does for the Macedonian community. But, on top of that, of course, our community radio stations right across Eden-Monaro played a vital role in the disaster response in relation to what we have just been through. It was great to meet with Jon Bisset, the CEO of the Community Broadcasting Association of Australia, to reflect on that and what more support could be brought to community broadcasting. I want to commend the work of stations like Braidwood FM—Barbed Wireless, as they call it—and also Sounds of the Mountains over in Tumut, who did a fantastic job during all of that. Reflecting on J-AIR, in particular, we have, as part of the wonderful cultural landscape, the contribution that the Jewish community of Australia has made—and the rich diversity of what is broadcast on J-AIR is a wonderful, living, breathing example of all that that community has contributed to this country. When you talk about discussions and opinions, I know that there is a joke in the community that, if you get two members of the community together, you get three opinions. So you will get a lot of lively debate and discussion, and it is a wonderful, vibrant part of our democracy. Mention has been made of the security aspects and anti-Semitism. Alongside the member for Berowra and the member for Kooyong, I have experienced some of those vile attacks myself, as my wife and son are Jewish. It is a scourge. We have just heard in this last week comments from the Director-General of…
date: 2020-03-02T11:51:00+00:00

Eden-Monaro Electorate: Australian Bushfires | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: We have seen a bit of an easing of conditions across New South Wales lately, but I want to reassure this chamber, this building, that I intend to keep the feet to the fire, so to speak, on the...
encoded: We have seen a bit of an easing of conditions across New South Wales lately, but I want to reassure this chamber, this building, that I intend to keep the feet to the fire, so to speak, on the recovery effort that is proceeding now. We still have fire issues in Eden-Monaro. If you look on the Fires Near Me NSW app, you will see that unfortunately we still have problems which we will probably be dealing with through to May at this rate. We have a big job ahead of us for this recovery, and it will take several years. Last Thursday I was down at Bemboka at the Colombo Park site, where the Rapid Relief Team were coming in. Ron Arkcoll and his crew are doing a fantastic job of getting fighters coming over from Western Australia and out to our farmers in the area. I saw how that was putting a smile on the dial of our farmers, who really feel reassured that people care about their situation. Getting that fighter resource is an enormous help to them. At the same time they set up a barbecue on site where people could socialise and share their burdens. They're really performing a wonderful service to that community. A big shout-out to the Rapid Relief Team, Ron Arkcoll and the crew. It's really great to see them in the community and doing this sort of stuff across our landscape. Getting feedback and sitting down with the farmers there, it's clear they are not happy with the support packages so far. They are just not seeming to be able to navigate those processes, and none of them could tell me of any farmer who had had success in applying for anything so far. We really do have to have a good, close look at the process, and refine it and streamline it. On Saturday I was at Tumbafest over in Tumbarumba. This is the first activity the community has been able to mount post-bushfire. There was a good debate about whether or not it could even go ahead, but it did. It was wonderful to see the response of the community; we'd been calling for them to turn out to these events, and they…
date: 2020-02-24T10:36:00+00:00

Health Care | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Many members will know that in recent months I've had some health issues which relate to renal and kidney problems. I want to refer to that in this opportunity, because of the lessons I've...
encoded: Many members will know that in recent months I've had some health issues which relate to renal and kidney problems. I want to refer to that in this opportunity, because of the lessons I've learned out of it. Effectively my conditions were caused by my service in the ADF, particularly my deployments in Somalia, Timor and Iraq, where I suffered some severe episodes of dehydration and had no idea what sorts of long-term effects that would cause. I was very fortunate to be in the hands of a wonderful doctor who has performed a magnificent service for veterans in our community here in Canberra, Dr Hodo Haxhimolla, and we all really support him for his dedication to looking after veterans. He's also pioneered some wonderful methods of treatment in this space. The key lesson from that is obviously the issue of keeping on top of this dehydration issue. I would really recommend that ADF veterans get out there if they've had dehydration episodes on deployment or in training. They should get baseline tests and scans done to make sure that they're on top of this and get in early because I can definitely indicate that it's not fun when it actually blows up on you. I also wanted to draw the connection to the situation with fireys through this disaster season. With the effects of climate change meaning longer periods of firefighting and the intense heat from that, fireys are all at grave risk from those sorts of dehydration issues and the long-term effects they can have. I would also recommend that we put a lot of effort into making sure we are putting a good management regime around our fireys to ensure they stay hydrated. One of the big factors in that, of course, is that they are overstretched at the moment. I had one firey telling me during this crisis that, with his brigade, the previous record for their teams being in continuous rotation was four weeks. They've been out there now for eight weeks at a time and not only are they completely buggered but it's very hard to stay o…
date: 2020-02-13T10:30:00+00:00

Medicare | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government. Minister, can you explain why the government has cut Medicare bulk-billing incentives in my...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government. Minister, can you explain why the government has cut Medicare bulk-billing incentives in my bushfire-affected electorate, making it harder for doctors to bulk-bill children and pensioners?
date: 2020-02-12T15:08:00+00:00

Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister advise the House how many loans to businesses impacted by the fires nationwide have been approved?
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. Can the Prime Minister advise the House how many loans to businesses impacted by the fires nationwide have been approved?
date: 2020-02-12T14:44:00+00:00

Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the Liberal member for Bega, Andrew Constance, reflecting my own experience in the region, has stated: At the forums I've been at over the...
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, the Liberal member for Bega, Andrew Constance, reflecting my own experience in the region, has stated: At the forums I've been at over the past two nights, the plea for help from business is about protecting casual employees and the need for a cash injection now. People are reluctant to take out loans. On Monday the Prime Minister ridiculed Labor for standing up for businesses that don't want to take on more debt. Does the Prime Minister have the same response to the Liberal member for Bega?
date: 2020-02-12T14:36:00+00:00

Youth Insearch | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Congratulations on your elevation, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a privilege to rise in support of the Youth Insearch charity organisation, which is doing such wonderful work in relation to youth...
encoded: Congratulations on your elevation, Mr Deputy Speaker. It is a privilege to rise in support of the Youth Insearch charity organisation, which is doing such wonderful work in relation to youth suicide. I'm very proud to have in the chamber with us my fearless leader on the prevention-of-suicide friendship group, the member for Berowra, who has done such wonderful work in this space. This is a very important campaign that Youth Insearch is mounting at the present time. Suicide is the leading cause of death amongst young Australians aged between 15 and 24. They're very keen to launch a campaign involving social media—obviously very effective when we're talking about this particular demographic—and they really want to get the message out that it is a serious threat, that we need to raise awareness of prevention. Through our committee, which we've been working on for a number of years now, we've tried to emphasise the solutions out there that deal with things at the coalface. In particular we've had presentations from people like Dr Duncan MacKinnon from Bega and his Teen Clinic concept, which is proving very successful, and obviously we need to look at expanding that. But at this time, noting the Closing the Gap issue today, in my region we're dealing with a lot of Aboriginal youth suicide as well, which has a particular focus for us. Also, with these disasters that we've been experiencing, there's going to need to be a lot of effort in our region on those sorts of issues. Well done, Youth Insearch; more strength to your elbow!
date: 2020-02-12T13:30:00+00:00

Australian Bushfires | Questions without Notice | House debates
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description: My question is to the Prime Minister. The Longstocking Brewery in Pambula, in my community, would be paying 24 to 30 casual shifts a week at this time of year. Because of the bushfires, they're...
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. The Longstocking Brewery in Pambula, in my community, would be paying 24 to 30 casual shifts a week at this time of year. Because of the bushfires, they're currently paying four. Loss of wages for casual and permanent staff is hurting my community. We're losing jobs. They're leaving the region, and the government, they tell me, is not providing any help. Why is that, after bushfire-affected businesses were promised immediate relief, they're still unable to access that help?
date: 2020-02-06T14:16:00+00:00

Australian Bushfires | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: While we are still in the midst of fighting these fires, we really need to aggressively address the recovery issues now, and so there are a number of ideas that I've been gleaning from the...
encoded: While we are still in the midst of fighting these fires, we really need to aggressively address the recovery issues now, and so there are a number of ideas that I've been gleaning from the community that I want to put forward in this first instalment, as a suggestion to the government. We've been seeing a lot of this relief stuff come through but unfortunately now it is taking business away from those small businesses that really need to be getting back up and running. I would like to suggest that people adopt a voucher approach or a ticket approach to support those businesses and encourage people to come to them to buy their goods. We had a situation in Cobargo, for example, where the co-op there that sells poly pipe was being asked to distribute it for free—they did it, but we need to now start supporting those small businesses locally by channelling things through them. A good suggestion is tax deduction for accommodation in fire-affected areas. This would be a great way of getting an immediate impact by encouraging people to come now to take the holidays that they need to, particularly over the winter season when there's going to be some new activities and festivals introduced to try to bridge the gap between the summer seasons. It would be good if we could extend BAS relief to those businesses until next summer, because they really need to bridge that gap, as I mentioned, and that would be very helpful. I'd just like to pass on to the government: walk away from the decentralisation policy. It doesn't create new jobs in the regions. It's stealing from one region to create a job in another. My region depends so much on the lifeblood of the travelling and driving holiday-makers from the Canberra, Queanbeyan, Yass and Murrumbateman area, and it really needs them right now. So please walk away from this decentralisation policy. On the assistance that the government could provide, it would be great if through the next few months it could step in to supplement—and rep…
date: 2020-02-05T19:40:00+00:00

Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
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description: I withdraw. The bottom line is that there is a challenge out there right now to make sure that the right information is out there, and not to pile on the garbage we've heard about arson attacks....
encoded: I withdraw. The bottom line is that there is a challenge out there right now to make sure that the right information is out there, and not to pile on the garbage we've heard about arson attacks. The fire that started in Eden-Monaro on 26 November, at the North Black Range, was started by dry lightning, and the firestorms that are generated in these megadisasters create their own thunderstorms and further dry lightning, which light further fires. It is not arson attacks and it is not hazard reduction that have created this megadisaster. Hazard reduction has a role to play. It's issues like that that the Prime Minister needs to take a lead on in making sure that the right information is out there. I've been greatly disappointed by what we've seen in the regional joint infrastructure program rorts. I had to write to the Audit Office to get that looked into and their report was scathing. Of course, that's been followed up now by the community sports rorts report from the Audit Office, and added to that is what we've seen in the council drought assistance program. For a long time now I've been saying just look up the New South Wales DPI map on the website. Most of Eden-Monaro is in severe drought. And now I can't get Yass Valley, I can't get Queanbeyan, I can't get Palerang and I can't get Eurobodalla that assistance which they richly deserve. Why not? Why are we ignoring the standards that New South Wales DPI has set? It has to be the basis of this political decision-making that we've seen in these other programs. What I'm deeply disappointed about, going to the fire response situation, is it seems to have been treated as a marketing exercise and not a disaster response. I can't imagine the John Curtin cabinet in 1941 when Pearl Harbour was attacked saying, 'Quick, grab Russel Howcroft.' This is a situation where you had fireys and experts out there wanting to talk to the Prime Minister and being stiff-armed. We needed to talk to the experts. We needed an earlier fire r…
date: 2020-02-05T16:03:00+00:00

Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: It's the job of the opposition to hold the government to account; that's what this democracy is all about. There is no more important issue to keep accountable than the issue of leadership,...
encoded: It's the job of the opposition to hold the government to account; that's what this democracy is all about. There is no more important issue to keep accountable than the issue of leadership, particularly the role of the Prime Minister. Obviously the Prime Minister has control over the fates of the Australian Defence Force, for example—men and women whom we expect to spend months and years, over the course of a career, away from their families—and so it was particularly shocking when we saw the way that this disaster season has been handled in that respect. The position of the Prime Minister is to set moral standards, to set the technical leadership that the country needs. All of us in this place are elected to challenge the bullshit artists and the ratbags out there who misguide, mislead and misinform the public, particularly in this day and age when all the forms of social media make that such a difficult challenge.
date: 2020-02-05T16:03:00+00:00

Rural and Regional Health Services | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: It was great this morning to be part of an event really drawing attention to World Suicide Prevention Day in conjunction with my good friend and colleague the member for Berowra. The Prime...
encoded: It was great this morning to be part of an event really drawing attention to World Suicide Prevention Day in conjunction with my good friend and colleague the member for Berowra. The Prime Minister, the Minister for Health and also the shadow minister for health were in attendance. We talked a lot about the issues that related to suicide, and highlighting the dynamics, particularly in rural and regional areas, was a particular focus for us. I'd like to take this opportunity to make a call to arms for a similar bipartisan approach to deal with the general issues of rural and regional health. There is a crisis going on in rural and regional areas, and we need to get a full-court press on both sides of this place directed at the effort of solving it. I had the opportunity to meet with the National Rural Health Alliance this week. They have produced good materials focusing on this issue. I'll give a couple of quick examples. Rural people are 47 per cent more likely to have diabetes, 50 per cent more likely to have cancer and 20 per cent more likely to have kidney disease. That is just a sample of the sorts of health issues we're confronting. I think a lot of this was brought home last night to anybody who watched the Four Corners report on the crisis in rural and regional health. One of the case studies they highlighted related to an incident that occurred in Bega hospital, which is in the electorate of Eden-Monaro. The program was a series of case studies; it didn't step back and look at some of the systemic issues we're facing. I could offer so many more case studies from my region that are even more tragic. Examples include the recent inquest into the death of young Naomi Williams. Naomi was a proud 27-year-old Wiradjuri woman from Tumut who was 22 weeks pregnant with a son when she died of septicaemia at Tumut Hospital in January 2016. Ms Williams had presented 20 times to Tumut Hospital, and her condition was not adequately dealt with. In the findings that were han…
date: 2019-09-10T19:48:00+00:00

Forestry | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I rise this morning to talk about the importance of the plantation sector in the timber industry of this country and particularly how important Eden-Monaro is to that whole equation. The decline...
encoded: I rise this morning to talk about the importance of the plantation sector in the timber industry of this country and particularly how important Eden-Monaro is to that whole equation. The decline in the plantation industry in Australia is a dramatic issue that we need to get on top of economically as quickly as possible. It also has the sidebar synergistic aspect of contributing to our climate change efforts. I'm very proud to have worked with the Softwoods Working Group, particularly over in the South West Slopes area of my electorate—the Tumut-Tumbarumba area—and also the southern high country areas around Bombala and Delegate that play such an important role in relation to this issue. The thing is that we need policy to promote the growth and redress this decline in the plantation industry. I was proud during the election campaign that we made a commitment to actually put money into the timber hub concept for our area. There were announcements of timber hubs made by the government, but this was not supported by funding for the hub that was identified for our region. We made that commitment, and I'm pleased to see that that forced the coalition to end up matching that commitment during the campaign. That's important. One of the concepts we were pursuing with that was the idea of forming timber co-ops, with our farmers banding together to assign more marginal parts of their properties to dedicate to plantation resource and set up brokers to facilitate that. Beyond that, what we need is a more enhanced approach to the Carbon Farming Initiative. Without that ability to engage in the international trade around carbon farming, we will not get the investment that we desperately need flowing into the plantation sector. This will help managed funds and other funds to really get behind that, because this enhanced Carbon Farming Initiative will allow investors to get returns on plantations from day one, not at the 15-, 25- or 35-year mark, as is normally the case, which is w…
date: 2019-08-01T10:20:00+00:00

Pensions and Benefits | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Minister for Government Services. I refer to the minister's previous answer. Can the minister then explain why 79-year-old widowed pensioner Norm Austwick from Mogareeka in...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Government Services. I refer to the minister's previous answer. Can the minister then explain why 79-year-old widowed pensioner Norm Austwick from Mogareeka in my electorate was sent a Centrelink robo-debt letter this month claiming a debt from 21 years ago?
date: 2019-07-30T14:50:00+00:00

Krilich, Mr Max, OAM | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Cronulla! Yes, they did!
encoded: Cronulla! Yes, they did!
date: 2019-07-30T13:55:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Consumer Data Right) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
encoded: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
date: 2019-07-30T13:20:00+00:00

Solomon Electorate: Cadets | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I commend the member for Canning on raising this motion in tribute to the 26,000-odd cadets in Australia. It is a subject close to my heart. When we were in government I had responsibility for...
encoded: I commend the member for Canning on raising this motion in tribute to the 26,000-odd cadets in Australia. It is a subject close to my heart. When we were in government I had responsibility for the cadets in my role as Parliamentary Secretary for Defence Support. Unfortunately, we had some tragic circumstances during that time with the death of a young cadet, Nathan Francis, and the circumstances around that and what was revealed did highlight a number of issues and deficiencies around administrative aspects through Comcare inquiries and whatnot. It was an opportunity to go back and do bit of a root-and-branch assessment of what we wanted out of the cadets and what the cadets should be. I was very proud to have been able to institute in August 2008 an overarching inquiry into the cadets, headed up by an outstanding former officer of the Australian army, Lieutenant General Frank Hickling, who I had been fortunate enough to work with while I was in the Army. He did a tremendous job in doing that review. They took over 200 submissions from community organisations and produced that report on 24 November 2008. It was a very useful submission indeed. One of the things we were looking at, of course, was not only these technical issues around command and control, legal liability and accountability but also what should have been the overall purpose of this organisation. Is it just a vehicle for training people to move into the ADF or is it a personal development mechanism? I think the answer to that in the examination that took place highlighted that we should be focusing on the development of these kids in particular and that it's a wonderful opportunity to do that. We had about 27 different reviews and studies of cadets in the lead-up to this review by General Hickling, and they had all gathered dust on the shelves. Nothing had ever been done about them. So I was pleased to say that we collaborated with the coalition in 2011 to produce an amendment to the defence legislatio…
date: 2019-07-29T11:35:00+00:00