Alex Gallacher's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2021-09-26T23:05:15+00:00
items: Defence Procurement | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
items: Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: March 4 Justice, Sexual Harassment, Attorney-General | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
items: National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2019 (No. 2); Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Members of Parliament: Staff | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
items: Defence Procurement; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
items: Employment | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
items: Australia Post; Consideration | Documents | Senate debates
items: g177.1
items: g17.24
items: National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment (Technical Amendments) Bill 2020; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
items: Economy | Motions | Senate debates
items: Callaghan, Mr Kym Leslie, OAM | Adjournment | Senate debates
items: Workplace Relations | Questions without Notice | Senate debates

Defence Procurement | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: The acting Minister for Defence, Senator Payne, has previously argued against a local minimum content requirement in contracts for the future attack-class submarines, asserting it would create a...
encoded: The acting Minister for Defence, Senator Payne, has previously argued against a local minimum content requirement in contracts for the future attack-class submarines, asserting it would create a ceiling, not a floor, on local content. Is this why the acting minister refuses to disclose details of any Australian content requirement, as reported in today's Australian Financial Review?
date: 2021-03-17T14:32:00+00:00

Defence Procurement | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: The chief executive of the Australian Industry and Defence Network, Mr Brent Clark, has said that the agreement 'will go to the very heart of how Australian industry is to be brought into the...
encoded: The chief executive of the Australian Industry and Defence Network, Mr Brent Clark, has said that the agreement 'will go to the very heart of how Australian industry is to be brought into the supply chain for the submarine' and that it needs to be 'made public to ensure transparency'. Is Mr Clark wrong?
date: 2021-03-17T11:27:00+00:00

Defence Procurement | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: My question is to the acting Minister for Defence, Senator Payne. Defence minister Linda Reynolds promised last year to secure a contracted requirement of 60 per cent minimum local content for...
encoded: My question is to the acting Minister for Defence, Senator Payne. Defence minister Linda Reynolds promised last year to secure a contracted requirement of 60 per cent minimum local content for the Future Submarines program. Can the acting Minister for Defence confirm that this contractual agreement has still not been finalised, and when will it be finalised?
date: 2021-03-17T14:29:00+00:00

Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak against the passing of the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021. There was a time when the conservative side of the chamber was much...
encoded: I rise to speak against the passing of the Fair Work Amendment (Supporting Australia's Jobs and Economic Recovery) Bill 2021. There was a time when the conservative side of the chamber was much more forthright and open. The Hon. Peter Reith gave a speech at the Royal Perth Yacht Club where he said: 'I know whose side I'm on. I'm on the side of business—small businesses, medium sized businesses and big businesses, and we will do what's necessary for those businesses.' I think that's what's missing in this debate. I listened to the contributions from Senator Bragg and others talking almost as if they were the workers' friends. They are far from the workers' friends. I want to put some economic data on the record before I hop into a bit of criticism of the other side. The share of national income going to Australian workers has been steadily declining since the 1970s, with the profit share increasing. But the labour share has suddenly fallen below 50 per cent for the first time since 1959. Obviously the trend is exacerbated by the COVID-19 recession. On Thursday, the Bureau of Statistics released its June quarter gross domestic product data, and the data showed that economic activity across April, May and June shrank by seven per cent, the biggest quarterly contraction in 60 years. But the ABS noted something else. It said that company profits jumped a massive 14.9 per cent in this quarter, while the total wages and salaries bill for workers—characterised as compensation for workers—fell by a record 2.5 per cent. That meant that the labour share of income has fallen below 50 per cent for the first time in decades, while profits have hit record levels. Why would wages and salaries decline when the government has been providing billions of dollars for JobKeeper payments? Mr Pickering, an economist at Indeed Hiring Lab and a former Reserve Bank official, told the ABC the emergency subsidies to businesses had helped: What's basically happened is there's been a range of sec…
date: 2021-03-17T11:34:00+00:00

March 4 Justice, Sexual Harassment, Attorney-General | Matters of Urgency | Senate debates
type: item
description: I listened with great interest to the contributions from Senator Payne and Senator Ruston. What was going through my mind was that they're in a fairly invidious position. They both have a level...
encoded: I listened with great interest to the contributions from Senator Payne and Senator Ruston. What was going through my mind was that they're in a fairly invidious position. They both have a level of professionalism and competency, demonstrated over a number of years in this parliament. The first part of this urgency motion is: The urgent need for the Morrison Government to respect the thousands of Australians who marched in the Women's March 4 Justice yesterday— I think that's where the Morrison government has really let itself down. The Prime Minister's responses following this procession of very ugly revelations coming to light have been, in my view, quite bizarre. If I had to go back and ask my wife about a set of circumstances I'd heard about in my workplace, I'd probably end up with a thick ear. It is quite bizarre that he could come out and say publicly, 'I asked Jen, and she said, "What about our daughters?"' That is a very bizarre statement. It doesn't get much better. The Minister for Defence had an extremely unfortunate series of explanations, equivocations and denials. Ultimately, her own office said, 'Enough is enough,' and started leaking on her. The 'lying cow' stuff is unforgivable. It is unforgivable that you run an office where that is able to happen, but it is doubly unforgivable that you can't handle it and you blame the victim. There are many good offices in this place. There are many places where people are treated with respect, where there are proper rules and where harassment in any way, shape or form is not permitted. To have the minister's office, where this person has been employed, exploit situations with vulnerable workers is a failure of leadership. It is a failure of leadership in that ministerial office. The Prime Minister's failure to recognise it is also quite unfathomable. He has the great honour of leading this great nation. Over the years many prime ministers have been capable of it. John Howard stood in front of people and said, 'Y…
date: 2021-03-16T17:33:00+00:00

National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2019 (No. 2); Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I listened with great interest to my colleague Senator Brockman's comments. But, fundamentally, this issue is quite distinct from mere politics. I just want to put a couple of pieces of evidence...
encoded: I listened with great interest to my colleague Senator Brockman's comments. But, fundamentally, this issue is quite distinct from mere politics. I just want to put a couple of pieces of evidence on the record before I get into more substantive issues. The Consumer Action Law Centre noted the lure of these products: I think people will often act in the most simple, convenient way to deal with the hardship in front of them ... when someone is faced with a stressful situation, when they're experiencing some form of desperation, they'll be attracted to what seems to be the easy option. I think that that would be generally accepted as a proposition. When people face a calamity, an illness, the loss of a job or the inability to put milk in the fridge because the fridge is blown up, I think people will look for a solution immediately. We do live in a society where you can't not have a TV, fridge and the like. I think that's quite an instructive piece of evidence. It's also important to go back to Commissioner Kenneth Hayne's final report, where he said: My conclusions about issues relating to the NCCP Act can be summed up as "apply the law as it stands". Commissioner Hayne made a clear recommendation relating to the NCCP Act: The NCCP Act should not be amended to alter the obligation to assess unsuitability. These are very clear pieces of evidence that point us in the right direction. When people get into trouble, they're going to look for the solution, and the solution is a loan. They're not going to read the fine print; they're not going to examine the punitive interest rates; they're going to deal with the immediacy of their situation. I think it is incumbent on the government to take action. I think Senator Brockman's contribution about the limitations on how much a Centrelink recipient can borrow was very good, and those should be in place. My experience in that area, dealing with a friend of mine, is that, once they get to that stage where they're getting a deduction…
date: 2021-03-15T11:52:00+00:00

Members of Parliament: Staff | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
type: item
description: I rise to take note of answers to questions, and in particular Senator Wong's question to Senator Reynolds. But, before I go to that matter, I'd just like to, in a sense, congratulate Senator...
encoded: I rise to take note of answers to questions, and in particular Senator Wong's question to Senator Reynolds. But, before I go to that matter, I'd just like to, in a sense, congratulate Senator Abetz on his contribution. But there was one great big glaring hole in all of that contribution. On the night that this happened, no-one rang the police. I will shake my head forever as to why a security guard, a ministerial adviser, a DPS staffer and Senator Reynolds never thought to ring the police about what was clearly a serious crime that had been committed in this parliament. The business that I want to refer to at the moment is Senator Reynolds' nonanswer, once again falling on a track record of nonanswers, to the naval shipbuilding inquiry in the economics committee. She did it again today. When asked, 'Why have you not made a decision, which you said you'd make in 2019?' She referred to our term of government and her government's investment in shipbuilding, submarines and the like. Where is the difficulty with this minister coming to grips with a decision which she had foreshadowed? Why is there such an ongoing black cloud over South Australia as to where this is? Why are there 750 workers wondering whether or not they've got a job in an area where we should be looking at confirming their position, recruiting more boilermakers, recruiting more engineers and recruiting more shipbuilding workers? There appears to be a continual hiatus in that office, a continual procrastination, a continual lack of decision-making. If you were to look at the debacle that has played itself out in the parliament for the last week or so, there clearly doesn't appear to be any strong ministerial leadership or any strong capability within the office. It seems to meander along from one disaster to the next. When we in the naval shipbuilding inquiry and the like try to seek information about what capability plans are available, what expenditure is happening, we get stonewalled. We literally get…
date: 2021-02-23T15:43:00+00:00

Defence Procurement; Order for the Production of Documents | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I too rise to take note of the response of Senator Reynolds. I do endorse the comments made by Senator Birmingham. I think he has been a circuit breaker in what's been an extremely unusual and...
encoded: I too rise to take note of the response of Senator Reynolds. I do endorse the comments made by Senator Birmingham. I think he has been a circuit breaker in what's been an extremely unusual and vexed inquiry. I've done a couple of inquiries since I've been here. As I languished on the backbench, I learnt all about Senate standing order procedures and inquiries, but I've never run into this level of intransigence. I honestly have no political perspective in the pursuit of this inquiry. To me, it looks straight up and down: scrutinise expenditure, plans and progress in an extremely important area of defence policy. I had the opportunity of opening up a hearing quite recently, and I said to the secretary of Defence: I will start for a few moments. I'm not looking at this from any particular perspective, other than that the Senate gave this committee a reference. You would be familiar with the terms of that reference. Amongst the terms of reference is the ongoing examination of contracts and scrutiny of expenditure. The department's performance, when we have requested information, has been nothing short of abysmal. You have redacted publicly available information and sent it to us. It's almost like you have a giant forefinger up to the operation of this committee. It has now been to the Senate to get orders. I accept that you have a case on your commercial confidentiality position and all the rest of it, but, in the ordinary course of this committee's activity, I, as the chair, personally feel—and I'm sure there are other members of the committee who feel the same way—that Defence has been absolutely obtuse, arrogant, dismissive and contemptuous of the work of a Senate committee duly given a reference by the Senate. It was a pretty strong opening line to a departmental secretary, but I don't resile from it, because the people who are resourcing the Senate committee, the good people of the secretariat, were becoming absolutely flabbergasted at the information that was giv…
date: 2021-02-23T15:22:00+00:00

Employment | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: We look forward to the evidence being forthcoming to the chamber. Can the minister guarantee that no worker has lost or will lose their job as a result of the government's JobMaker hiring credit...
encoded: We look forward to the evidence being forthcoming to the chamber. Can the minister guarantee that no worker has lost or will lose their job as a result of the government's JobMaker hiring credit scheme?
date: 2021-02-22T14:30:00+00:00

Employment | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: How many new jobs have so far been created as a part of the government's JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme?
encoded: How many new jobs have so far been created as a part of the government's JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme?
date: 2021-02-22T14:29:00+00:00

Employment | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: In a response to an earlier question from Senator Gallagher, Senator Birmingham said that the evidence was in.
encoded: In a response to an earlier question from Senator Gallagher, Senator Birmingham said that the evidence was in.
date: 2021-02-22T14:26:00+00:00

Employment | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. To date, how many employers have registered to claim payments under the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme? And how...
encoded: My question is to the Minister representing the Prime Minister, Senator Birmingham. To date, how many employers have registered to claim payments under the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme? And how many employers have received payments to date?
date: 2021-02-22T14:26:00+00:00

Australia Post; Consideration | Documents | Senate debates
type: item
description: I just want to go through a little bit of detail to start with. It was clearly an exceptional year for Australia Post. It was an exceptional year in terms of income, and profit before tax was...
encoded: I just want to go through a little bit of detail to start with. It was clearly an exceptional year for Australia Post. It was an exceptional year in terms of income, and profit before tax was some $53.6 million—so a very, very substantial increase in remuneration. It's worth noting that the executives and the board are also very respectably remunerated. I think you'll find that the chair gets $189,000. The deputy chair gets $105,000. Non-executive directors get $94,990. The audit and risk committee chair gets $21,000. An audit and risk committee member gets $11,000. The people and sustainability chair gets $18,000. The people and sustainability committee members get $9,000. If you've ever been on a board, you know that the subcommittees are generally occupied by the main board, so those amounts of around $20,000 are added to perhaps the deputy chair's or the chair's income. So these people are very respectably remunerated. If you look at the executive, the salaries are right up there. I don't want to talk about people's names, but, if you look at the CEO, it's a $1.4 million salary. Other executives get $690,000, $720,000, $600,000, $600,000, $700,000 or $800,000. There are about 13 senior executives, and they shared in about $8 million worth of bonuses. I don't begrudge anybody who's doing a very good job getting a very respectable salary, and if the dividends are paid to the taxpayer, well, it all looks good. But when I go to talk to people about Australia Post, they don't really care what the CEO is getting, but they do care when their letters turn up in someone else's letterbox. We've got delivery speeds for a letter in the same state up to five business days. Clearly, the challenge is to get it there as quick as you can. Metro to metro is up to five business days. Metro to country is up to six business days. Country to country is up to seven business days. Clearly, all of the performance is being driven off parcel freight. What we relied on Australia Post for—a…
date: 2021-02-18T16:55:00+00:00

g177.1
type: item
title: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill 2019, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
description: I too would like to make a contribution on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019. Knowing absolutely zero about this...
encoded: I too would like to make a contribution on the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019. Knowing absolutely zero about this bill and realising that I had to make a contribution on it, I've read as much information as I could get my hands on and listened to as many contributions as possible today. As always, when I don't really know what's going on, I go to the ever reliable people at the Parliamentary Library and ask for a Bills Digest. And, as always, they come good. In 'The Bills Digest at a glance'—I think there's a little bit of irony there, because, at a glance, the Bills Digest is 37 pages long, so you need more than a passing glance to get across the issues that are canvassed in the Parliamentary Library's Bills Digest. Basically, I'm instructed: The Bills were first introduced in 2018 and lapsed at the end of the 45th Parliament on 1 July 2019. The 2019 FCFC Bill includes the following changes from the 2018 version: • Rather than both Divisions sharing the same original jurisdiction, there will be a single point of entry to the Court, with all matters initially filed in the FCFC (Division 2) and the ability to transfer cases between Divisions • The FCFC (Division 1), rather than the Federal Court of Australia, will be responsible for hearing family law and child support appeals • The criteria for judicial appointments has been amended to require FCFC (Division 2) Judges to have the appropriate knowledge, skills, experience and aptitude to deal with the kinds of matters that might be expected to come before them, including family violence in the case of family law matters. An express reference to family violence has also been added to the criteria for appointment of FCFC (Division 1) Judges and • Regulations may (but are not required to) prescribe a minimum number of FCFC (Division 1) Judges—the Government has stated this number is intended to be 25. So, that's the short history of the bill…
date: 2021-02-17T18:31:00+00:00

g17.24
type: item
title: Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia Bill 2019, Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
description: Senator Chisholm, please resume your seat. You shall be in continuation. It's now time for senators' statements.
encoded: Senator Chisholm, please resume your seat. You shall be in continuation. It's now time for senators' statements.
date: 2021-02-17T12:36:00+00:00

National Redress Scheme for Institutional Child Sexual Abuse Amendment (Technical Amendments) Bill 2020; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: Senator Patrick, no amendments have been moved.
encoded: Senator Patrick, no amendments have been moved.
date: 2021-02-15T20:19:00+00:00

Economy | Motions | Senate debates
type: item
description: I too would like to make a contribution in this debate on the Australian economy. It's always interesting to follow Senator Bragg, because he usually gives you enough ammunition or material for a...
encoded: I too would like to make a contribution in this debate on the Australian economy. It's always interesting to follow Senator Bragg, because he usually gives you enough ammunition or material for a couple of contributions. But I don't want to get sidetracked into his ramble about rent-seekers and bloodsuckers, because those sorts of people are mainly on his side. We are 12 months into this pandemic. I think all Australians need to take a bow and say: 'We've done the best we possibly could as Australian citizens.' We've been led by a government that, despite having its flaws, has made some very impressive moves, and JobKeeper is amongst them. But then you look at JobKeeper and do the analysis over 12 months. The airline industry has had people unload and load planes since around 1959. In 1976 I was one of those people. Here we are in 2021, where a company like Qantas got JobKeeper. It sustained employment. Then it got done in the Federal Court for not quite following the rules, so to speak. Then they went to appeal, and it's now in the High Court. There's an old adage: business and Liberal governments will never waste a crisis. What has Qantas done? Qantas has abolished those jobs. They no longer exist as direct hire of the airlines. I worked for TAA, Australian Airlines and Qantas, but that job now no longer exists. There is a crisis, and they saw an opportunity to spend their ground-handling functions. They will come back at vastly lower, inferior rates—that's how it will work. Today Senator Sheldon asked a question about Virgin. They're getting JobKeeper, but they're already planning to get rid of 2,000 jobs. They're planning to get rid of those jobs because they know they're jobs that are hard to crack. They know they're full of unionists who have agreements, who have willpower, strength and the ability to organise, and who will resist attacks upon them. With the IR bill that's coming our way after 12 months of the pandemic, we can see very clearly what's going to …
date: 2021-02-04T17:00:00+00:00

Callaghan, Mr Kym Leslie, OAM | Adjournment | Senate debates
type: item
description: I want to put some remarks on the table about the Australia Day honours list in which 844 Australians were recognised. In announcing the list, the Governor-General said: On behalf of all...
encoded: I want to put some remarks on the table about the Australia Day honours list in which 844 Australians were recognised. In announcing the list, the Governor-General said: On behalf of all Australians, I congratulate everyone recognised in the Australia Day Honours list. The individuals we celebrate today come from all parts of our great nation and have served the community in almost every way conceivable. They're diverse and unique but there are some common characteristics, including selflessness, commitment and dedication. Recipients have not put their hand up to be recognised. Most would consider the achievements that they are being recognised for to be 'ordinary' or just what they do. Therein is the great strength of our system—recipients in the Order of Australia have been nominated by their peers, considered by an independent process and, today, recognised by the nation. The sum of these contributions speaks to our nation's greatest strength—its people. I want to put that on the record. I know there's been a lot of debate about the day, and I don't want go anywhere near that, but I do want to single out one recipient of an Australia Day award: Mr Kym Leslie Callaghan. He has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia. It's for service to local government and the community of Elliston. Mr Callaghan was chairman of the District Council of Elliston from 2014 to 2018 and was involved in the establishment of the Wirangu Reconciliation Monument in 2018. He was deputy chairman in 2014 and an elected member since 2010. He served on the Mid West Health Advisory Council for five years. He established the Elliston Men's Shed, among many, many other achievements. These are people who work selflessly in far corners of Australia and dedicate their entire activities to community health, wellbeing and involvement. One of the great achievements of Mr Callaghan was the Elliston Coastal Trail. The walking trail goes for 14 kilometres along a stunning coastline—a tourist icon…
date: 2021-02-03T19:35:00+00:00

Workplace Relations | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: Mr Jason Falinski, Mr Tim Wilson and Senator Bragg have advocated for greater industrial relations flexibility, jointly authoring an op-ed and lobbying within the coalition. Do coalition...
encoded: Mr Jason Falinski, Mr Tim Wilson and Senator Bragg have advocated for greater industrial relations flexibility, jointly authoring an op-ed and lobbying within the coalition. Do coalition backbenchers support the retreat by the Morrison government flagged in this morning's papers?
date: 2020-12-10T14:16:00+00:00

Workplace Relations | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: Senator Stoker said in her first speech: Industrial relations reform is something our nation desperately needs and which the conservative side of politics should promote. Does Senator Stoker...
encoded: Senator Stoker said in her first speech: Industrial relations reform is something our nation desperately needs and which the conservative side of politics should promote. Does Senator Stoker support the retreat floated in this morning's papers?
date: 2020-12-10T14:14:00+00:00