Doug Cameron's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2019-07-02T23:05:25+00:00
items: Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | Senate debates
items: Treasury Laws Amendment (North Queensland Flood Recovery) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
items: Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Treasury Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Social Services Legislation Amendment (Energy Assistance Payment) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
items: Supply Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020, Supply Bill (No. 2) 2019-2020, Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2018-2019, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2018-2019, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2018-2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Parliamentary Transparency Charter | Motions | Senate debates
items: | Matters of Public Importance | Senate debates

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | Senate debates
type: item
description: Diplomacy.
encoded: Diplomacy.
date: 2019-04-03T19:51:00+00:00

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | Senate debates
type: item
description: I also acknowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri people and acknowledge their leaders past and present. I rise tonight to make my final contribution to the Senate, which I have had the honour of...
encoded: I also acknowledge the Ngunawal and Ngambri people and acknowledge their leaders past and present. I rise tonight to make my final contribution to the Senate, which I have had the honour of serving in since 2008, while representing the citizens of New South Wales and the great Australian Labor Party. My work as a trade union official and senator has given me the opportunity to meet wonderful and interesting people throughout the length and breadth of this huge country. The overwhelming majority of Australians who I have met have been working people. They would probably describe themselves as 'ordinary Australians'. However, the working men and women of this country are anything but ordinary. In the main, the Australian working class are industrious, loyal, intelligent, politically engaged and big hearted. They are not xenophobic, ultranationalistic or racist, as some on the crossbenches would have people think. The men and women who work in factories, in hospitals, on building sites and in classrooms are the people who make this country great. These workers, many of them union members, build and maintain our great nation. Knowing that I had to make this final speech got me thinking about why I'm here, what brought me to this place and what I have tried to achieve while I was here. In reality, it all comes down to one thing: socialism. I know those opposite have just about fainted! I'm a proud socialist. The first leader of the British Labour Party, Keir Hardie, was born in Holytown, a stone's throw from my birthplace of Bellshill. Keir Hardie said this: Socialism is at bottom a question of ethics and morals. It has mainly to do with the relationships which should exist between a man and his fellows. Therefore it is the equaliser in the position of the rich man's too much and the poor man's too little. The former member for Parkes, who I never met, Les Haylen, provided another take on socialism, and it's also one to which I subscribe. In 1961, Les Haylen described so…
date: 2019-04-03T18:37:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (North Queensland Flood Recovery) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: The Treasury Laws Amendment (North Queensland Flood Recovery) Bill 2019 clarifies that specific disaster recovery grants that relate to flooding between 25 January 2019 and 28 February 2019,...
encoded: The Treasury Laws Amendment (North Queensland Flood Recovery) Bill 2019 clarifies that specific disaster recovery grants that relate to flooding between 25 January 2019 and 28 February 2019, primarily in Townsville, are to be exempted from income tax. It clarifies that specific storm assistance payments relating to storm activity on or around 25 October 2018, primarily in the Fassifern Valley in Queensland, are to be exempted from income tax. It implements an announcement made by the Prime Minister on 1 March 2019 of a loan scheme to provide financial assistance to primary producers affected by the Northern Queensland floods. According to research from the Parliamentary Library, currently under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018 grants to businesses are taxable but grants to non-profit organisations are not. The North Queensland floods devastated the primary industries surrounding Townsville. It's estimated that half a million head of livestock were killed during the flood event. Small businesses and households in urban areas have also suffered lingering effects. The bill will clarify that category C or D disaster recovery grants made under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018 to small businesses, primary producers or non-profit organisations within the time period specified are non-assessable, non-exempt income for taxation purposes. The amendments apply to the 2018 financial year and the later financial year for qualifying grants. The bill will also make grants to primary producers non-assessable, non-exempt income if the grants are for repairing or replacing farm infrastructure, restocking or replanting and if they are made as part of an agreement between the Commonwealth and state or territory governments. This covers agreements entered into between 1 February 2019 and 1 July 2019 that are outside the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements 2018. Schedule 2 of the bill deals with the damaging storms of 25 October 2018. Those are the storms…
date: 2019-04-03T16:50:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: Labor supports the amendments.
encoded: Labor supports the amendments.
date: 2019-04-03T16:47:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: I've got to say, Senator Williams, any government that would put Senator Cash in charge of anything, especially small business, is not looking after the interests of small business. It's...
encoded: I've got to say, Senator Williams, any government that would put Senator Cash in charge of anything, especially small business, is not looking after the interests of small business. It's particularly good to see the Liberal and National parties adopting our policy. As we know, it was the Australian Labor Party that first legislated for an expanded instant asset write-off from the $6,500 threshold in 2012. The coalition subsequently abolished the instant asset write-off, returning it to a $1,000 threshold before reintroducing an expanded instant asset write-off with a $20,000 threshold in 2015. The government has since renewed it, in 2017, 2018 and again now, in 2019. Of course, Labor supported the original measure and supported its two previous renewals and will support this one today. While there's no difference between Labor and the government on taxes for small business, the principal difference at the moment is in relation to the Australian Investment Guarantee, announced last year. It will allow businesses to deduct up-front 20 per cent of all new investments, with the remaining amount depreciated in line with normal depreciation schedules. Assets such as machinery, plants and equipment—for example, things like trucks or utes—and intangible investments such as patents and copyrights will be eligible for the immediate deduction. This investment guarantee promotes investment in local economies. The investment guarantee is well targeted, fully funded, cost-effective, fiscally responsible and funded by Labor's reforms to the tax system. I want to make it clear to everyone that under a Shorten Labor government 99 per cent of businesses will receive a tax cut, no business will have its tax rate increased and all businesses will be able to plan and invest with confidence and certainty. Let me turn to the amendment. Yesterday in the other place we debated this bill on the understanding that it would increase the instant asset write-off to $25,000, yet today the governm…
date: 2019-04-03T16:37:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to indicate Labor's support for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019. I'm pleased to see a great Labor initiative...
encoded: I rise to indicate Labor's support for the Treasury Laws Amendment (Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off for Small Business Entities) Bill 2019. I'm pleased to see a great Labor initiative debated in the Senate and pleased those small businesses across the country will continue to benefit from it. It's particularly good to see the Liberal Party and the National Party once again adopting sound Labor policy in favour of small businesses in this country.
date: 2019-04-03T16:37:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I must say Senator Williams has not covered himself with glory today. He's had a good parliamentary career, but, towards the end of it, he's really slipping. To defend Tony Abbott, to defend the...
encoded: I must say Senator Williams has not covered himself with glory today. He's had a good parliamentary career, but, towards the end of it, he's really slipping. To defend Tony Abbott, to defend the cuts during that 2014-15 budget that caused so much damage in rural and regional Australia, is an absolute joke. Senator Williams, you're a mate, you've been a good parliamentarian, but, man, you have dropped the ball today. Whether it's making Medicare more expensive, cutting funding to public hospitals or putting health insurance profits before patients, Prime Minister Morrison can never be trusted on health. Labor created Medicare, and only Labor will ensure that Australians can access the health care they deserve. Although Labor will support this bill—a bill that is largely a product of convention rather than passion—we must emphasise the existential threat that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison/Hanson government and its recklessness pose to our valuable and cherished universal healthcare system. Only Labor will protect Medicare.
date: 2019-04-03T16:27:00+00:00

Treasury Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: Labor supports the Treasury Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2019, which will amend the Medicare Levy Act 1986 and the A New Tax System (Medicare Levy...
encoded: Labor supports the Treasury Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2019, which will amend the Medicare Levy Act 1986 and the A New Tax System (Medicare Levy Surcharge—Fringe Benefits) Act 1999 to increase the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for individuals and families, along with the dependent child-student component of the family threshold, in line with movements in the CPI; the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for individuals and families eligible for the seniors and pensioners tax offset, along with the dependent child-student component of the family threshold, in line with movements in the CPI; and the Medicare levy surcharge low-income threshold, in line with movements in the CPI. The measure applies to the 2018-19 income year and later income years. This follows the practice of dealing with this annually, as per the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge) Bill 2018. This is a regular process that ensures that the most vulnerable Australians are not disadvantaged while maintaining their access to Medicare, our world-class universal health system. I want to make a few brief points, reflecting upon what my colleagues in the other place said this morning. The shadow minister for health and Medicare, Catherine King, noted this morning that the 2019-20 budget has locked in the Prime Minister's cuts to public hospitals in a too little, too late health budget full of reheated announcements that don't make up for six years of Liberal chaos. As Treasurer, Scott Morrison cut hospitals in every budget he wrote, and as Prime Minister he has now locked the cuts in. For six years, the Liberals have prioritised an $80 billion tax handout for the top end of town, and they've done that over prioritising Medicare, schools and hospitals. This is a Prime Minister who is completely out of touch and only cares about the top end of town. Prime Minister Morrison has refused to restore the $715 million he cut fr…
date: 2019-04-03T16:27:00+00:00

Social Services Legislation Amendment (Energy Assistance Payment) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I'm just trying to remember where I was up to when I last spoke. It was something about the government being an absolute rabble—I think that's where I got up to, and I think I was dead on...
encoded: I'm just trying to remember where I was up to when I last spoke. It was something about the government being an absolute rabble—I think that's where I got up to, and I think I was dead on when I gave that position. I was talking about the budget falling apart overnight. It didn't last from Lateline to lunch. This is a government that has just lost it completely. This government has got no focus. It is still trying to deal with the division and the dysfunction that has epitomised a government now with three Prime Ministers. It's just a terrible situation that we're in. This budget won't be the silver bullet that makes people forget about how bad this government has been over a period of six years. Here we are after six years—we're probably six weeks out from an election—and I can tell you that a $75 tax cut won't undo the cuts and cruelty that this government has been dishing out over the last six years. As I said, we sought to move an amendment in the House to see the payment extended, because there's no good reason for people on these payments to be excluded. They face the same cost of living and, in many cases, are, in fact, on a lower payment. While Labor supports this payment, make no mistake that, after six years of chaos and cruel cuts, the Australian people will see right through this cynical and desperate attempt from this rabble of a government to save its own skin. This government must take the Australian public for fools. They must think that pensioners have forgotten what the government tried to do to pensioners. What the government will do today with this one-off payment doesn't undo the fact that this budget is being propped up by vulnerable Australians. Shamefully, this government has built almost a quarter of their projected budget surplus on underspends in the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The Prime Minister has counted a $1.6 billion underspend towards the budget bottom line next year. This is a disgrace, not an achievement. It's $1.6 billi…
date: 2019-04-03T15:30:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: Maybe we can do better this time. Last month the Minister for Finance argued that record-low wage growth was a deliberate design feature of the Australian economy. Is the coalition government's...
encoded: Maybe we can do better this time. Last month the Minister for Finance argued that record-low wage growth was a deliberate design feature of the Australian economy. Is the coalition government's decision to cut wages, and continued failure to do anything to address record-low wage growth, a part of its deliberate design to leave Australian workers worse off?
date: 2019-04-03T15:01:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: Mr President, this minister doesn't have a clue. What we've asked, simply, is: how does cutting penalty rates relate to higher wages? The minister should be drawn to the question. If she doesn't...
encoded: Mr President, this minister doesn't have a clue. What we've asked, simply, is: how does cutting penalty rates relate to higher wages? The minister should be drawn to the question. If she doesn't know, she should just say she hasn't got a clue.
date: 2019-04-03T14:59:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: In addition to overseeing record-low wage growth and a cut in forecast wage growth, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government has voted eight times to cut the wages of over 700,000 workers relying...
encoded: In addition to overseeing record-low wage growth and a cut in forecast wage growth, the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison government has voted eight times to cut the wages of over 700,000 workers relying on penalty rates. How does cutting wages reflect a commitment to higher wages?
date: 2019-04-03T14:58:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: I raise a point of order on relevance. I simply asked: can the minister confirm that, in addition to overseeing record low wage growth, the government last night cut forecast wage growth? That's...
encoded: I raise a point of order on relevance. I simply asked: can the minister confirm that, in addition to overseeing record low wage growth, the government last night cut forecast wage growth? That's the question. The minister should be drawn to the question.
date: 2019-04-03T14:56:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, Senator Payne. I refer to the Treasurer, who last night told Australians: … every one of us wants...
encoded: My question is to the minister representing the Minister for Jobs and Industrial Relations, Senator Payne. I refer to the Treasurer, who last night told Australians: … every one of us wants to see wages growing faster. Can the minister confirm that, in addition to overseeing record-low wage growth, the government last night cut forecast wage growth? If so, by how much?
date: 2019-04-03T14:55:00+00:00

Social Services Legislation Amendment (Energy Assistance Payment) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: Yesterday Labor circulated a second reading amendment for what we expected to be an earlier version of this bill to the House crossbench, proposing the government should expand the payment to...
encoded: Yesterday Labor circulated a second reading amendment for what we expected to be an earlier version of this bill to the House crossbench, proposing the government should expand the payment to those on Newstart, youth allowance and other payments. Never in our wildest dreams did we anticipate it would be so successful so quickly. Labor called on the government to extend the one-off payment to other people on means-tested income support, including Abstudy, Austudy, double orphan pension, Newstart allowance, parenting payment, partner allowance, sickness allowance, special benefit, widow allowance, wife pension, youth allowance and veteran payment. Of course it was good to see that this bill has been changed, but it seemed that even the Treasurer was taken by surprise. On Nine News last night, when he was asked directly about extending the payment to people on Newstart, he didn't say yes; he said: Well, Newstart does go up twice a year when it's indexed. But, importantly, the majority of people on Newstart move to another payment, or off Newstart, within 12 months. They hopefully go into work, and many have been doing that. But it was a totally different script this morning. The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, told ABC Radio: Well, a couple of things. Firstly, the energy supplement will be extended to people on Newstart. Sabra Lane said: It will be? Josh Frydenberg said: It will be. What a turnaround! This budget hasn't lasted overnight. It didn't last from Lateline to lunch. This just shows you how bad this rabble of a government is—an absolute rabble of a government, with a Treasurer who can't even get his budget to hang in overnight. What a rabble! What a terrible government! You are terrible! You need to go quickly. You should call an election soon and let the public determine that this rabble won't last any longer. You are pathetic! They are a rabble—that's what they are. They know they're a rabble. Look at their heads—hanging their heads in shame. Their budget doesn'…
date: 2019-04-03T13:56:00+00:00

Supply Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020, Supply Bill (No. 2) 2019-2020, Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: by leave—Could I just indicate that it did seem like a valedictory speech from Senator Macdonald. Senator Macdonald and I have got a long history in this place—as long as I've been...
encoded: by leave—Could I just indicate that it did seem like a valedictory speech from Senator Macdonald. Senator Macdonald and I have got a long history in this place—as long as I've been here. I just indicate that he is the ultimate Liberal warrior; there is no question about that. I think that, at times, he's been cantankerous, he's been curmudgeonly, but he has always run the Liberal line. I wish him and Lesley all the best for the future. I don't want him to come back!
date: 2019-04-03T13:53:00+00:00

Supply Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020, Supply Bill (No. 2) 2019-2020, Supply (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2019-2020; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: Labor supports these supply bills. We will not block supply.
encoded: Labor supports these supply bills. We will not block supply.
date: 2019-04-03T13:30:00+00:00

Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2018-2019, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2018-2019, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2018-2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: This package of bills is required to ensure that the ordinary functions of government continue for the remainder of the 2018-19 financial year. The bills appropriate a total of around $3.3...
encoded: This package of bills is required to ensure that the ordinary functions of government continue for the remainder of the 2018-19 financial year. The bills appropriate a total of around $3.3 billion in the 2018-19 financial year. This amount is already incorporated into the budget bottom line, as presented in the 2018-19 MYEFO. Labor will not block supply. Despite all their talk about being better economic and fiscal managers, debt is at record highs and growing under the Liberals. Net debt has more than doubled on their watch and is now a record $360 billion, and gross debt has crashed through half a trillion dollars for the first time ever in the country's history—it has reached a record $543.3 billion—all on the coalition's watch. Both kinds of debt have been growing faster under the Liberals, in rosy global conditions, than they did under Labor, which had a global financial crisis to contend with. Scott Morrison and his Liberals have no-one else to blame but themselves for their record and growing debt. In the last year alone, the Liberals have blown $200 million on political ads to distract from their cuts and chaos and the division and dysfunction that has consumed this rabble of a government. Every week, the government spends $100 million on cash refunds for excess franking credits for people who don't pay any tax—an unsustainable tax loophole that the vast majority of Australians don't access. The budget is a mess, and debt is at record highs because of the Liberals' twisted priorities, including giving unsustainable tax breaks to those who need them least and spraying around hundreds of millions of dollars on political ads. Scott Morrison and the Liberals aren't managing the economy or the budget in the interests of ordinary Australians. Under the Liberals, the economy is not working for all. Everything's going up except people's wages. A strong economy needs a stable government. The Liberals are so divided, so dysfunctional, so much of a rabble, that they ca…
date: 2019-04-03T13:06:00+00:00

Parliamentary Transparency Charter | Motions | Senate debates
type: item
description: This is not about the Greens. This is about racism. This is about a situation where we could have this society deteriorate to the same situation as we have in the worst areas of the United...
encoded: This is not about the Greens. This is about racism. This is about a situation where we could have this society deteriorate to the same situation as we have in the worst areas of the United States. For the Greens to stand up here and do as they always do in that they are purer, they are better, they have got all the knowledge and all the wisdom is just another example of why they will never get more than seven, eight, nine or 10 per cent of the voting public in this country—because they just don't get it. You want to turn this into being about you. It's not about you. It's about making this place a better country. I'm just sick and tired of the Greens at times, getting up here when we could be making clear and unequivocal statements about where we head as a nation. That the Greens suddenly turn it into a political position to try and promote their deteriorating electoral position in this country is just disgusting. It's absolutely disgusting. We had an opportunity today to be a combined Senate—a Senate that was dealing with the issues. But you couldn't let that go. I've watched you now for 11 years. It's always about the Greens. It's always about some political advantage. It's just not good enough today. You should have actually accepted that the Senate was certainly considering this in an appropriate way and made the appropriate points—but it wasn't good enough for the Greens, not pure enough for the Greens. Senator Di Natale interjecting— Senator Di Natale, if you could get your own house in order then you might have some credibility when you come in here. But the Greens political party has got no credibility. If you could just get your house in order then maybe someone would take you seriously, because no-one does at the moment.
date: 2019-04-03T12:36:00+00:00

| Matters of Public Importance | Senate debates
type: item
description: Senator Duniam talks about madness, and I think that's quite appropriate for talking about climate change in the coalition. The madness that has dominated the coalition for over 10 years about...
encoded: Senator Duniam talks about madness, and I think that's quite appropriate for talking about climate change in the coalition. The madness that has dominated the coalition for over 10 years about climate change and coal-fired power stations is just a disgrace. The situation we now have is this hypocritical proposition from the Greens: 'The impacts of climate change are ravaging Australia right now'. We know that. Labor understand that. Yet it goes on to say, 'yet the Liberal, National and Labor parties are intent on propping up coal.' A purely political position adopted by the Greens! Hypocrisy just oozes out of them. In 2009 there was an opportunity to have a carbon pollution reduction scheme, but, because it didn't meet this pure standard that the Greens wanted, they voted with Mr Abbott and the Liberal Party to kill a price on carbon. It's crazy for them to stand up here. Phil Coorey in 28 June 2014 wrote this very interesting article about climate change, which said: The only mainstream party never to have taken a risk, never to have put any skin in the game, and never to have lost a vote over it, is the Greens. Throughout the entire eight-year saga, they have chained themselves to the altar of policy purity and watched others suffer for their ideals. The result is a big fat nothing. … … … Because they believed the CPRS to be inadequate, they voted it down twice. The second time was the day after Abbott knocked off Turnbull. Liberal senators Judith Troeth and Sue Boyce realising the need to establish a foothold for carbon pricing, crossed the floor to vote with Labor. The Greens helped the Coalition kill it. That's the record of the Greens when it comes to climate change. They have absolutely nothing to be proud of. When we lost government, we produced a report on its implications and how it affected the Labor Party. The report said that dealing with the Greens caused great harm to both Labor and environmental policy objectives. The raison d'etre for the Greens par…
date: 2019-04-02T17:56:00+00:00