Rowan Ramsey's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2025-09-07T23:05:11+00:00
items: Nuclear Energy Select Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
items: Budget | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Free TAFE Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Jackson, Uncle Charles, OAM | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Diabetes | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Morocco | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
items: Diabetes | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Aged Care Bill 2024, Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Nuclear Energy Select Committee; Appointment | Committees | House debates
items: Grey Electorate: First Nations Australians | Grievance Debate | House debates

Nuclear Energy Select Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
type: item
description: I will take the interjection, because when we were in government we tried to get this beyond judicial review, but those in the Labor Party and those on the crossbenches of the Senate who knew not...
encoded: I will take the interjection, because when we were in government we tried to get this beyond judicial review, but those in the Labor Party and those on the crossbenches of the Senate who knew not what they were talking about refused that position. It's worth noting, member for Moreton, that the department contacted this Indigenous group 180 times to inform them of what was going on and could get no response. They then went to court and said, 'We haven't been consulted.' How pathetic— Mr Perrett interjecting— It was your opposition that did not allow it to pass through the Senate as we intended. Port Augusta has been visited by the member for Fairfax. I met with the representatives of the Port Augusta Council and residents on a number of occasions. Will Shackel bought the Nuclear for Australia travelling roadshow to Port Augusta, and the panel of experts included 2023 Miss America Grace Stanke. She was very warmly received. That panel was very warmly received. Last year, I sent out a flier. I told the people of Port Augusta that as part of the coalition's plans there would be an industrial precinct that would be able to access electricity directly from the power station—not going through the transmission grid and upping the price by more than 50 per cent—the cheapest, cleanest and most reliable form of electricity available in Australia. There would be a flocking of industrial invest into any community that hosted these facilities. With all that information, no wonder we're getting a good result in Port Augusta. When I put out this flyer, I didn't get much response, I have to say. It went to every citizen in Port Augusta, and I rang up a mate to make sure that Australia Post had done the right thing. I said, 'Did you get a flyer from me in the post?' He said, 'Yeah, yeah, the nuclear thing?' I said: 'Yeah. What do you reckon? I haven't had any negative feedback.' He said: 'No. That's because everyone I know reckons it's a bloody good idea and you should get on with i…
date: 2025-03-26T17:00:00+00:00

Nuclear Energy Select Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
type: item
description: I'm pleased that the chair of this committee has joined us in the chamber. He won't like what I'm going to say, but I'm disappointed with the negativity and with the committee comments—that...
encoded: I'm pleased that the chair of this committee has joined us in the chamber. He won't like what I'm going to say, but I'm disappointed with the negativity and with the committee comments—that is, the majority of the committee, which was made up entirely of government members—in the interim report. It is curious and depressing how government members form a different view to the rest of the G20 nations. I was just listening to the member for Swan speaking about community license, and it would come as a disappointment to her just how much the community is accepting the view—particularly young Australians—that we need to find a different way to net zero because the pathway we are on is costing us business, wealth and investment all around Australia. The government's net zero by 2025 plan, with impossibly shorter-term targets, target that destination with a renewables-only pathway. Quite frankly, only zealots believe this is close to possible without an alternative to coal baseload generation. The world is choosing nuclear in the mix. Let me go to the South Australian experience. I'm a South Australian. We're very lucky in this parliament—as I've said on many occasions—that we've had South Australia on this electricity pathway for some time. They are the canary in the coalmine. South Australia has a 75 per cent renewable network, and we should say: 'Wahey! That's a really good outcome!' It is better than the next mainland state in Australia by double. South Australia has doubled the amount of renewable electricity put into the grid from the next state. But it's not the only thing we excel at; we have a 50 per cent higher retail price then the next state. The price of electricity is 50 per cent higher in South Australia than it is in New South Wales, and Victoria has a very similar rate. It's like that old saying: 'South Australia is the driest state on the driest continent.' In this particular case, South Australia has the highest electricity price in a country that has so…
date: 2025-03-26T17:00:00+00:00

Budget | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: We had a budget last night, and I am reminded of Maggie Thatcher's famous words: The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. It's quite clear that this...
encoded: We had a budget last night, and I am reminded of Maggie Thatcher's famous words: The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money. It's quite clear that this government has run out of other people's money, otherwise why would we be having a $27 billion deficit this year? A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 09:36 to 09:46 There is $42 billion next year, $35 billion the year after, then $37 billion and $36 billion—in fact, by 2029, the Australian government will owe $1,233,000,000,000. I didn't have a stutter then; it's a thousand, thousand million dollars. In this budget, they're throwing money around like drunken sailors, buying votes from every squeaky wheel in the pack. There's an extension to the electricity rebate. The Treasurer himself said that electricity prices are coming down. Well, if they're coming down, why on earth do we have to subsidise them? A $5 tax cut in 15 months time will go a long way! This is in a time when, over the last three years, we've had an eight per cent fall in living standards in Australia, which is by far the greatest fall in the OECD. I saw a graph the other day, and the next country down that line has had just over a two per cent fall in living standards. Australia has had a 10 per cent fall. Instructively, Greece tops the bill with an almost 10 per cent increase in living standards, because they were forced to take tough measures with their budget some years ago during the financial crisis. They're reaping the dividends today. It will be good for students to have their HECS debts lowered, but that's $16 billion and it's off budget. The principle of an off-budget expenditure is that a government has an asset to sell. What are they going to sell—their students? I'm pleased to see money in the budget for the Whyalla steelmaking works, but it's off budget. The government are giving a company money, but the government has nothing to sell. It should not …
date: 2025-03-26T09:35:00+00:00

Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: In June 2024 the Mitchell Institute, based in Victoria, did a survey of child care around Australia. I'm not happy to report that my electorate of Grey was declared the biggest childcare desert...
encoded: In June 2024 the Mitchell Institute, based in Victoria, did a survey of child care around Australia. I'm not happy to report that my electorate of Grey was declared the biggest childcare desert in Australia. That's not a title that I gladly received. It identified that, for every available space of child care in Grey, there were three children under the age of five. It's a three-to-one ratio. We are desperately short. It is holding my communities back in so many ways, not just for locals but for businesses that want to employ skilled workers. We have a skilled worker shortage. They want to employ workers from Australia, even from across the world. You do the job interview: 'Oh, great. Yes, we would be very pleased to move to your town, but my partner is a nurse'—or they might be a teacher, a welder, or a shearer. Who knows—'so where do we drop the kids off?' 'Sorry, there's no child care in this town.' 'What are we meant to do? What do the locals do?' They utilise the grandparents. They utilize their mums, dads and uncles, who are, in many cases, getting run into the ground with this child-minding service. I know grandparents who travel hundreds of kilometres a week to babysit their grandchildren. It's not as if they begrudge their time with their grandchildren, but, as you move on in years, it shouldn't be your job to be the first-line carer because your family needs to get back to work for all kinds of reasons. We talk about housing crises and things in this place. You see why people want a two-income family. So many people want to keep their skills up, whatever they are. For the people who come in from outside, it is an absolute barrier. My own home town has just lost its doctor for exactly this reason—no child care. It really is a multilayered effect. The government is here speaking about improving child care for a section of the community but not for all of the community. Last year I had our shadow minister for child care, Angie Bell, in the electorate. We tour…
date: 2025-02-12T17:59:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: Renewable energy undoubtedly is a wonderful thing. In South Australia, we have led the nation in the establishment of renewable energy. In fact, there is 2,400 megawatts of installed capacity in...
encoded: Renewable energy undoubtedly is a wonderful thing. In South Australia, we have led the nation in the establishment of renewable energy. In fact, there is 2,400 megawatts of installed capacity in South Australia. But there is a bit of a rider here. While we've got 2,400 megawatts of installed capacity, AEMO will not allow the wind generators to generate more than 50 per cent of that at any one time. When I drive around my electorate, which hosts many of these wind farms, it's one of the reasons that, when the wind seems to be strong enough and the price is good enough, they are still not turning. The reason they are not allowed to operate is that the grid, without some base-load generators—like gas in South Australia's case—is too unstable. South Australia has led the charge on renewable energy, and I think there's a lesson here for the rest of Australia. Around 70 to 75 per cent of our electricity is coming from renewable energy. We have double that of the next mainland state. I might say your state, Mr Deputy Speaker Wilkie, is in front of that, but you are running on historical hydro assets. But, for the mainland, South Australia leads the charge at around 74 per cent. The next state is Victoria. They have half that, around 32 per cent. It's not the only thing that South Australia had led the charge on. Not only do we have double the next state's renewable energy but we have, by a margin of 50 per cent, Australia's highest retail price. You cannot disconnect the two events. It's not possible to say that South Australia has 75 per cent renewable electricity, but it's just a quirk of nature that somehow our retail prices are 50 per cent higher than the next state, which is New South Wales, by the way. This is having an unbelievably detrimental effect on South Australia and our industries, our manufacturing industries in particular. I met with a number of rather large ones in recent times that are bemused by the fact that, in a place where we have adequate renewable …
date: 2025-02-11T18:00:00+00:00

Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Who would have thought that here in post World War II Australia—where the Jews came, following the Holocaust and the extermination of six million Jews in Hitler's death camps, a well...
encoded: Who would have thought that here in post World War II Australia—where the Jews came, following the Holocaust and the extermination of six million Jews in Hitler's death camps, a well educated and by those days a modern and Christian nation—we would now see at least the beginnings of that behaviour in Australia. Australia had provided a safe haven for 70-plus years since that time, and now those sentiments of early 1930s Germany seem to have taken root here. It is the thin veneer of civilisation. I reflect that perhaps the right history isn't being taught to our children at school. But then, when I think about it, I don't think the history of the Holocaust was taught to me at school, either. I was an avid reader as a young man—novels, whatever—and many of the novels of the time were based in the roots of World War II, so we accumulated knowledge about what those death camps were like. I think that's missing from modern culture at the moment. Perhaps this nation needs to turn itself to making sure that our young people know what occurred at that time, and why they should always be on their guard against it. I did wonder, through those years, what was so different to our civilisation compared to that of Germany's—just given a different time and a different place. Don't think for one moment that the terrible outcomes of the Holocaust started at that level. It started at a local level with people taking action against local Jews. It was on a low scale, and then it just grew and became a monster. It seems that we have now imported the enmities from another hemisphere, but it needs to stop and it needs to stop now. Perhaps there has been an undercurrent of antisemitism in Australia for some time but, prior to 7 October 2023, it was well suppressed. Yet within two days—well before Israel had responded—we saw people demonstrating on the steps of the Opera House, some chanting 'Where are the Jews?', others chanting, 'Gas the Jews'. 'Where are the Jews?' seems like a pretty no…
date: 2025-02-05T16:25:00+00:00

Free TAFE Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: They could probably both learn a bit. Where there's the responsibility of raising finance at one level of government, the money is just basically given to the states to spend on whatever...
encoded: They could probably both learn a bit. Where there's the responsibility of raising finance at one level of government, the money is just basically given to the states to spend on whatever operation they are running. I think that's poor governance in many ways. Most of what I have to say relates to the South Australian experience because that is what I am most familiar with. I have many friends who have given up a significant portion of their lives to work and operate in the TAFE section as lecturers and training providers and have really believed in TAFE. Almost all of them have eventually left, very disillusioned with TAFE in South Australia and mystified as to why it has been driven into the ground and why it has consequently failed, largely. In 2018 in South Australia, there was a review that was ordered by the federal regulator and conducted by the Nous Group. It found that there were major problems with no less than 16 courses that TAFE in South Australia were offering. The review criticised the heavy funding cuts that had been delivered by, listen to this, the Labor government under Jay Weatherill. It said that TAFE had lost sight of the importance of quality. If confidence was already low in South Australia, that just smashed it. In many ways, it really spelt the demise of TAFE. Smaller facilities were closed completely; larger ones in many places were largely decommissioned. There was a fellow called Jack Velthuizen in Whyalla, a significant Whyalla identity. I don't think he'll mind me quoting him in this area. He voted Labor all his life. I got on well with Jack. We understood each other. We knew how we each voted, but we both believed in Whyalla and in people. Jack was on the tools at the plant for much of his life, and he then ended up being a TAFE lecturer and was very proud of the metal workshops that were in TAFE at the time. In the end, they were idle, and he was beside himself with despair at what had happened. Jack went on to become president of the…
date: 2025-02-05T10:38:00+00:00

Free TAFE Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I want to clarify a few things at the beginning of this contribution. TAFEs are state owned and operated. This is a very slippery slope that we get ourselves on in this federal parliament, where...
encoded: I want to clarify a few things at the beginning of this contribution. TAFEs are state owned and operated. This is a very slippery slope that we get ourselves on in this federal parliament, where we see the failings of state governments and think that we better do something here in Canberra and end up owning the whole kit and caboodle, if you like. It's happened across a whole range of government services, which are provided by the states but are significantly funded by the federal parliament, and, of course, we lose control. While the federal government of the day wears the responsibility for raising taxes, in the end, the money is granted to the states, and we have—
date: 2025-02-05T10:38:00+00:00

Jackson, Uncle Charles, OAM | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: Today I want to talk about Charles Jackson OAM from Port Augusta. Charlie Jackson is the South Australian Senior Australian of the Year and an Adnyamathanha man. The Adnyamathanha are the rock...
encoded: Today I want to talk about Charles Jackson OAM from Port Augusta. Charlie Jackson is the South Australian Senior Australian of the Year and an Adnyamathanha man. The Adnyamathanha are the rock people of the Flinders Ranges. Charlie's worked all his life for the betterment of his people in a number of government agencies and outside in different businesses. He's a very erudite man, well-spoken and highly regarded in his community. In the last few years, I and my office have been working with him trying to get to the bottom of the jumble of what on earth has happened to the Adnyamathanha traditional owners lands trust and its entanglement with a body called Rangelea. In my valedictory speech the other day, I named ORIC as one of the most useless government corporations I've ever seen. How on earth we can have a body which is entrusted to police Indigenous corporations not be able to get the facts and figures needed to get to the bottom of the problems, I do not understand. I congratulate Charlie for his incredibly strong stance in this area and for leading his people in this transparency case but also for his long life of commitment to his community and to the Port Augusta area in general. Well done, Charlie. He is a very fine ambassador and a very fine pick for South Australian Senior Australian of the Year.
date: 2024-11-27T13:44:00+00:00

Diabetes | Private Members' Business | House debates
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description: The motion is seconded. To the JDRF kids and the Kids in the House program, I've got to say, that in the 17 years I've been here, I think this is the most effective lobbying campaign we've seen....
encoded: The motion is seconded. To the JDRF kids and the Kids in the House program, I've got to say, that in the 17 years I've been here, I think this is the most effective lobbying campaign we've seen. Congratulations JDRF and Mike Wilson on this program. All those blue shirts and those little kids actually tear at your heartstrings, because you know what diabetes is doing to them but also to their families and how difficult it is to cope with on every level. Welcome to Parliament House, and thank you, member for Morton, for putting this motion up. The member for Morton and I have become very firm friends after our 17 years together in parliament. We're leaving at the same time, and I'm looking to hand over the reins of the coalition's side of being the co-chair of—I don't actually call us the Friends of Diabetes. I say we're the enemies of diabetes in this place, and long may that tag live! The member for Lindsay, alongside me here, has her own personal story about diabetes. I look forward to this group. It is the longest-serving group—the first friendship group formed in this place and the longest surviving. What I'd like to see is the group abandoned because we've solved all the problems with diabetes, but I suspect that's a little way away yet. There is a special mention for Fletcher Buchanan, who's momentarily distracted, and his mum, Alex. His dad, Luke, can't be here today. He's a principal. Oh, there we go—actually, there's an update. Welcome. All of you have your own personal story. Fletcher is only two years old. I went down to Yorketown two or three weeks ago to introduce myself to him, and he's a delightful young fellow who is looking forward to taking advantage of the advances in the treatment of diabetes. When I think back over what we've achieved over the 17 years in parliament, there weren't any constant glucose monitors around, then. They didn't link up to pumps. That has made such a vital change to people with diabetes, but we're not happy. We want a cure…
date: 2024-11-25T17:31:00+00:00

Morocco | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: Between the dates of 27 October and 2 November, I was given the great privilege as co-chair of the friends of Morocco at the request of the Moroccan government to lead a delegation to Morocco....
encoded: Between the dates of 27 October and 2 November, I was given the great privilege as co-chair of the friends of Morocco at the request of the Moroccan government to lead a delegation to Morocco. One of the reasons I am signed up to be a friend of Morocco is that I had the privilege of visiting the country before I entered parliament, in fact. What I saw there at that stage was quite impressive, but I was very much more impressed with what I saw on our trip back to Morocco just a couple of weeks ago. It is a vibrant democracy and, I would say without any shadow of a doubt in my mind, the most successful democracy in the Arab world. It's enlightened. It's led by a vibrant parliament and a very enlightened king, Mohammed VI. They are a very tolerant society, where women are encouraged in education, in the workforce, in management and in parliament, and they have very good representation. It is wonderful to see that in a predominantly Muslim nation in a fairly troubled part of the world. I think they set a wonderful example. They are having huge investment in education and training. We visited some of their facilities. They have a free trade agreement with Europe. In 2012, Renault opened a car factory near Tangier, where they now make 340,000 units a year. Most of them are going directly back into the EU tariff free, of course. They built a port, Tanger Med, which they opened in 2007. It is now the biggest port in the Mediterranean. It's shifting nine million containers a year. As a result of that, they are building another port down at Laayoune, which is in the contested area of the Western Sahara. Morocco would like our support, along with 100 other countries around the world, to recognise their autonomous administration there. They are building a third port in eastern Morocco on the Mediterranean. I'm indebted to the help of Madam Wassane Zailachi, the ambassador here in Australia. The Moroccans have asked that we try and get the government moving in the way of free tr…
date: 2024-11-20T10:06:00+00:00

Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
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description: I am an optimistic person. I like to believe in the best of people. The MPI today is: After two and a half years, regional Australians are worse off under this Government. I have said many times...
encoded: I am an optimistic person. I like to believe in the best of people. The MPI today is: After two and a half years, regional Australians are worse off under this Government. I have said many times that I don't think members of the Labor Party come here to do harm, and I don't think they mean to do harm to regional Australia. I think they are, in the truest sense of the word, just simply ignorant, and they don't understand what it is they are doing to rural Australia. I have been keeping a bit of a list of the things that I think are really biting and really hurting and have changed in this 2½ years of government. First is the cost of everything. Only the other day I was in a butcher's shop looking at sausages that were $16 a kilogram. I can't tell you what an obstacle this is for people anywhere, let alone in the country. Our electricity prices, despite promises of a $275 reduction, have gone up by 30 per cent. If you think that's tough on households, imagine what it's like for a small manufacturing business or a large retail centre or whatever it might be. Costs in the country are pretty tough on everything. There have been 12 interest rate rises under this government. The average mortgage is $35,000 worse off. Personal income taxes are up by 25 per cent. We've heard the government parrot about their tax cuts—the stage 3 tax cuts which were actually funded under the former government—but, in fact, bracket creep is taking care of those very, very quickly indeed. The abolition of the live sheep trade is eroding confidence right across the sheep industry, not just in Western Australia. There are some orders on some ships at the moment, and we know not what the owners of the ships will do; they may depart Australia early. There is the recommencement of the indiscriminate water buybacks along the Murray River. I led a delegation from the top to the bottom of the Murray, talking to growers about what would this mean in their communities; I can tell you it hurts. The buildi…
date: 2024-11-20T16:01:00+00:00

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
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description: the second one. I had to walk three transport ministers over that bridge—another one down here I think!—to actually nail it. And it is the right kind of investment, because the north...
encoded: the second one. I had to walk three transport ministers over that bridge—another one down here I think!—to actually nail it. And it is the right kind of investment, because the north of South Australia, the regions, is where the mineral wealth is. In fact, every major mine in South Australia is in the electorate of Grey, which covers a mere 92.4 per cent of the state. There is the Port Wakefield overpass and the dual lanes we have commenced on the Augusta Highway, which is now only going to go as far as Lochiel and not keep going all the way to Port Augusta, which I had hoped. That's reprioritisation with the current government, but we should keep going on those things. The upgrades to the Horrocks Highway, Eyre, Augusta—the whole lot of them—have had major upgrades, and there is the sealing of the Strzelecki Track. I don't know how many have been up the Strez—once again, the member for Gippsland has been up the Strez with me. In fact, we had a photo in front of the sign that spelt Strzelecki wrong! That's been fixed up, I can tell you. That road will become one of the great tourist routes of Australia, connecting Queensland through the outback and bringing you down into South Australia, into the Flinders Ranges if you turn left—or you can go right and go up to Lake Eyre. It's not a bad little option, really. And, of course, the mighty Moomba basin sits right in the middle of it. That was a god outcome. Then there are the tens of millions of dollars that have gone into BBRF programs, sports and community facilities, town sewerage systems, marine facilities, historical precinct preservation, bike trails, tourism—it goes on and on. They're are all good projects. There is the Mobile Black Spot Program and an enormous expansion in coverage. Is it complete? No. It will never be complaint. Perhaps that was touched on again with Starlink; you can't get behind every rock with a radio frequency. But it's certainly made a big difference. Another thing I've been involved with …
date: 2024-11-18T17:02:00+00:00

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
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description: on indulgence—I must say, coming fourth in the line after some very fine valedictories, I feel a bit like I'm the last speaker in the session after lunch and I'm stopping people from going...
encoded: on indulgence—I must say, coming fourth in the line after some very fine valedictories, I feel a bit like I'm the last speaker in the session after lunch and I'm stopping people from going to drinks! Seventeen years—you wouldn't believe it would go so quickly, quite frankly. It's more than a blink. It's more like a hard day's work out in the paddock, quite frankly; it's tough enough while you're there but it's over quite quickly. It doesn't seem it was 17 years ago that I got here. I must admit, I went to a meeting this morning and got out on the wrong floor; I started off 17 years ago like that! I am reminded, in that sense, of the way life rolls on. A good friend of mine, Josie, said one day, 'Life is like a toilet roll; the closer you get to the end, the faster it goes.' I love this job. I'm not tired of it, and I'm fit enough to keep going. It seems like I've got a growing task sheet; there are as many things on my desk at the moment as there's ever been. And I think, arguably, I'm the best in-form person in Australia in the seat of Grey. So why not keep going? The answer is, quite frankly, as I told my party room back in March, increasingly our friends are falling into three groups: those that are touring either Australia or the world, or towing a caravan around Australia; those are trying to die; and those that have been successful in the attempt. Teresa and I have collectively decided we're going to spend a bit of time in the former group before we get to the latter, and smell the roses along the way—even though, I must admit, Teresa is facing some trepidation at the idea of having me home full time. But we'll get along with that. This job is never complete in rural and regional Australia. We still have an education gap. We struggle to attract teachers, health workers, aged-care workers and professionals. We have childcare deserts; in fact, Grey is listed as having one of the worst childcare deserts in Australia, and that is holding back communities in my ele…
date: 2024-11-18T17:02:00+00:00

Diabetes | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Last Thursday, 14 November, was World Diabetes Day. This chamber will have heard many times that one of my honours in this place has been to be the co-chair of the parliamentary enemies of...
encoded: Last Thursday, 14 November, was World Diabetes Day. This chamber will have heard many times that one of my honours in this place has been to be the co-chair of the parliamentary enemies of diabetes. Along with my good friend who's not in the chamber at the moment, the member for Moreton, we have been the co-chairs of this organisation for some time. Next week the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation will once again be holding its Kids in the House event. I have often remarked in the past that I think this is one of the most effective lobbying methods or programs that I've seen in my time in parliament. It is just fantastic to see these young Australians in here, searching for help with their life from the point of view of keeping research going in the right areas to finally find a cure for diabetes. In preparation for this event, last week I took the time to go down to the bottom of Yorke Peninsula to meet Fletcher Buchanan—a fantastic little outward-going two year-old—and his mum, Alex, and father, Luke. Alex and Fletcher will be here next week, and I'll be looking forward to meeting up with them in the House and introducing them to some of my friends. In the same timeframe, I'll also be meeting up with Mike Wilson, the retiring CEO of the JDRF Foundation. He announced his retirement in September, after 20 years. Thanks for your service, Mike. We are now working with Sydney Yovic, as the new CEO.
date: 2024-11-18T13:33:00+00:00

Aged Care Bill 2024, Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I also recognise what the member for Nicholls just put on the line there to share with Australia, and I thank him for it. Reforming the aged-care sector is necessary; it's a fair call, and it is...
encoded: I also recognise what the member for Nicholls just put on the line there to share with Australia, and I thank him for it. Reforming the aged-care sector is necessary; it's a fair call, and it is time for reform, with the Aged Care Bill 2024. We have co-operated with the government on the royal commission recommendations, at least part of the response, and we've reached broad agreement with the government on the financial arrangements, which will be a penalty on some Australians, and it took some work to achieve some amendments, which we believe are right and proper. The fact the bill is now in this form I suggest means the government agrees with us. That's a good thing. The member for Nicholls just detailed the fact that we negotiated the grandfathering clause. I think this is basic good governance at any level, whether reforming tax systems or assistance programs. Anyone who has invested in an existing government policy should not be disadvantaged retrospectively by a change of government policy. I think, pretty much with everything governments do, it should be grandfathered and always looking to the future. That is the right and proper thing to do. Better taper rates that are a little more generous—in fact, I think we halved the taper rate that the government first suggested for obvious reasons. And the fixed timeline—I think the fixed lifetime cap is an assurance for people. I'm working on getting old, Mr Deputy Speaker! I intend to be working on it for some time yet! It is my view that, as people get older, they're a little more careful with the money they have managed to accumulate through their life. They think, 'This is mine,' and, in many cases, they want to pass it onto their children. I'm not sure that they should be of that opinion. I think maybe that's causing as many problems as it helps. But you can understand that, regarding that fixed lifetime cap. Of course, one that is extremely important to me and that maybe we haven't pushed hard enough is the $3…
date: 2024-11-06T18:38:00+00:00

Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak on the government's Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024. George Orwell has had a bit of trot-out in this debate. I'm not...
encoded: I rise to speak on the government's Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024. George Orwell has had a bit of trot-out in this debate. I'm not surprised. He published Nineteen Eighty-Four 75 years ago, a novel about the control of people's lives through surveillance, propaganda and thought control. The technologies don't seems so outrageous in today's electronic world. Its underlying themes highlight the dangerous overreach that is represented in this government bill on combating misinformation and disinformation. I can understand why the government feels as though it needs to make an attempt to condition the information that some people receive. My daughter once wrote an article in the Stock Journal in South Australia. She was writing a regular column at the time. She said that, given modern information platforms, consumers need to be able to identify and assess the value of the source of the information—whether there are vested interests, where the author sourced the material and whether it's well researched or relying on second-hand hearsay, second-rate primary material. I can only heartily agree. The demise of traditional media in Australia is, as I have said in this place on a number of occasions, an underlying threat to our democracy. The funding sources that have paid for traditional media are quite quickly slipping away. They've all gone to the computer in our pocket—this thing here, our mobile devices. Real estate, cars, property, advertisements are all on the internet, hollowing out the funding streams for traditional newsrooms and journalists, who were expected to check sources for veracity, to clip things that were actually true. The replacements do not, and the question today is: do we legislate against misinformation, even in genuine error, or do we educate against it? My greatest concern about this bill is that honestly held opinions of Australians would be able to be deemed misinformation, with digi…
date: 2024-11-06T17:34:00+00:00

Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak on the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024. It's difficult to make any argument against better wages for childcare workers, and...
encoded: I rise to speak on the Wage Justice for Early Childhood Education and Care Workers (Special Account) Bill 2024. It's difficult to make any argument against better wages for childcare workers, and I certainly don't intend to. This side of the House will be supporting these increases. But it is worth considering in this debate how we've got to this point and, probably more to the point, what the increase will achieve, given the current economics of the nation. This wage increase is to be 15 per cent over the next two years, with the first instalment of 10 per cent coming next month and another five per cent in December 2025. There are some conditions that are outstanding at the moment, and we're told there are more. At this stage the childcare centres and the companies that run them, the organisations, are unsure what the extra criteria will be. They know not what the changes will be, and it's supposed to start next month, in December. We can assume, maybe, that it's not 1 December. But, certainly, this needs to be in place by the middle of the month or so—six or seven weeks at the maximum. Yet the government seems to have not yet sat down with industry and worked out exactly how it's going to run. This government has a track record of doing exactly that, of making a motherhood statement—a grand announcement, if you like—and then trying to work out the detail afterwards. Only this morning I picked up the Australian and it was telling me that the Labor government will make the decision, perhaps on Melbourne Cup Day, that the $7 billion investment in the military satellite program is to be axed. It was only 18 months ago that they made the decision. So, in 18 months, they made a decision to spend $7 billion on a new military satellite system for Australia and then walked away from it. This has the feel of The Hollowmen. They make the big, bold announcement without considering the detail of how on earth they're going to get there in the endgame. There's been a whole host…
date: 2024-11-04T16:29:00+00:00

Nuclear Energy Select Committee; Appointment | Committees | House debates
type: item
description: Let me say from the outset that I strongly support the amendments put forward by the member for Fairfax at the beginning of this debate. It is no secret, of course, that I'm a supporter of...
encoded: Let me say from the outset that I strongly support the amendments put forward by the member for Fairfax at the beginning of this debate. It is no secret, of course, that I'm a supporter of nuclear energy. I think it is the right way forward for Australia. Not only do I think it's the right way forward for Australia; it seems that the top economic nations of the world actually agree with that point of view, and they want to go in that direction as well. I'm a little bit more jaded than the member for Sturt may be. I've been here a bit longer than him, and he seemed to show great faith that the government was doing this in good faith—that they are actually looking for the possibilities for a nuclear future for Australia, to give it real consideration and put the merits on the table. Next month I will have been in this place for 17 years, and I'm afraid that my confidence in his assessment of the government is severely tested. Has the government come to a reality moment? I suspect not. The minister is in the chamber at the moment, and it's not hard to find quotes from him on his opinion of nuclear energy. I suppose, if the government is going to push ahead, one of the first casualties would be the minister's future as minister, because, obviously, he could not pilot that kind of policy reform through the chamber. He said it's the most expensive form of energy in the world, it won't work and it definitely will not happen in Australia. Now, presumably, he is behind this piece of legislation that is set to throw light on this issue. He may be in for a great disappointment. He's wrongly called this story at just about every step of the way thus far, and, of course, any committee will have to accept contributions from the public as they come forward. I suspect there will be a lot of very strong scientific contributions to this committee. It will be a far better committee if the amendments put forward by the member for Fairfax are agreed to. I don't think the evidence coming…
date: 2024-10-10T10:12:00+00:00

Grey Electorate: First Nations Australians | Grievance Debate | House debates
type: item
description: I've been the member for Grey for 17 years—well, it will be 17 years in November. I have announced my retirement, so I won't be coming back after the next election, whenever that might be....
encoded: I've been the member for Grey for 17 years—well, it will be 17 years in November. I have announced my retirement, so I won't be coming back after the next election, whenever that might be. I appreciate your concern. Thank you, member for McEwen. I've worked hard with my electorate, to stay in touch. Grey is not an easy electorate. Many say, 'How do you manage the travel?' It's difficult. I think the range of subject matter is a more difficult issue; it's enormous across an electorate like Grey. I've worked particularly hard to try and stay in touch with my Indigenous community. Around 7½ per cent of Grey is Indigenous. By my estimate, about 40 per cent of those live in remote Indigenous communities. It is there that I see the biggest gap, as it were. Generally, in urban areas Indigenous people are going okay, with some exceeding and others failing but a great number who are well adjusted, employed, raising families and participating in mainstream Australia. There's still a gap, but we're closing that gap. But this is why I visited the APY Lands. I try to get up there about twice a year, and it's quite an effort to do so. I tell people it's a thousand kilometres from my gate to the turn-off, without going out of the electorate, and then it's another eight hours through to the Western Australian border. So, when I go, it takes me a week. I try to always drive. I could fly, because the taxpayers are good enough to fund charter flights for you, but when I land there the first thing I need is a car. I need to travel from community to community; find the leaders, the people, the workers and the programs; and see how it's going on the ground. I tend to go unannounced. The census says there are about 2,400 people living on the Lands. I think there are more than that, and it's not surprising that the census may not be completely accurate up there. By the 2022 figures—I can't find anything more recent—there are 568 enrolled in school. It's difficult to pin down, but the gener…
date: 2024-10-08T19:08:00+00:00