James Stevens's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2025-09-07T23:05:15+00:00
items: South Australia: Roads | Adjournment | House debates
items: Budget | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Andrews, Hon. Kevin James, AM | Condolences | House debates
items: Linear Park Connection Project | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2024-2025, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2024-2025, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2024-2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Medicare: Bulk-Billing | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Messner, Hon. Anthony (Tony) John, AM | Condolences | House debates
items: Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Energy | Adjournment | House debates
items: g33.1
items: Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Migration Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Nuclear Energy | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Services Australia | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Trinity Gardens School | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Select Committee on PsiQuantum Funding | Private Members' Business | House debates

South Australia: Roads | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: The Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass is a project that involves building a new heavy-freight route from Monarto to Truro so that heavy freight that is currently travelling, say, from Melbourne to...
encoded: The Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass is a project that involves building a new heavy-freight route from Monarto to Truro so that heavy freight that is currently travelling, say, from Melbourne to Perth no longer has to come through suburban Adelaide and instead can get off the South Eastern Freeway at Monarto, travel on a new route up to Truro, connect to the Sturt Highway and go wherever it needs to go. It's a vitally important project for my community in Sturt and indeed for the entire city of Adelaide, because it is patently ridiculous that heavy freight from, say, Melbourne to Perth is travelling through suburban Adelaide. On Tuesday night, I hoped to see some kind of commitment towards this project in the budget. Regrettably, there was no money in the budget for the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass. There was only one project listed in the budget papers for South Australia, which was $125 million for the Curtis Road project in northern Adelaide—the one and only project in South Australia listed in the budget. Things became a little more curious the next morning when some South Australian Labor MPs started to purport on social media that the budget had delivered funding for what they called the High Productivity Vehicle Network. The HPVN is essentially the entire freight route from the Victoria border and New South Wales border across to the Western Australia border—a 1,500-kilometre route from Bordertown to the WA border on the Nullarbor. The morning after the budget speech, it was claimed in a press release from the honourable Catherine King, the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, that the HPVN was receiving $525 million. She said in this press release: The HPVN will deliver upgrades between the South Eastern Freeway and Sturt Highway such as the duplication of the Swanport Bridge. The Swanport Bridge has nothing to do with the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass. It's, no doubt, a worthy thing to do at some point in t…
date: 2025-03-27T10:20:00+00:00

Budget | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: We South Australians all waited with bated breath last night to see what would be committed in the budget to invest in our state, and I congratulate the member for Spence in the chamber for what...
encoded: We South Australians all waited with bated breath last night to see what would be committed in the budget to invest in our state, and I congratulate the member for Spence in the chamber for what he achieved, because 100 per cent of the infrastructure funding for the state of South Australia announced the budget was in his electorate. It was $125 million, a little less than the $7.2 billion that Queensland got for the Bruce Highway. Regrettably, it's a sad reflection on South Australia's regard under this federal Labor government. To have $125 million in new infrastructure funding for South Australia is absolutely devastating given the opportunity that was presented in last night's budget to invest in the Greater Adelaide Freight Bypass to get heavy trucks off streets like Portrush Road in my electorate. We can now see from the budget papers in the infrastructure statements that there is one project for South Australia referenced and another that seems to be out of existing funds, which is no doubt a very worthy project for the Port Augusta wharf redevelopment of $12 million. What is going on when South Australia only gets $125 million out of $17.1 billion? There is $17.1 billion of new expenditure, and $125 million of it is going to the state of South Australia. This is nowhere near—even if you concede, which I would never would, that we should get only our per capita allocation in new spending. We have 11 per cent of the nation's roads running through South Australia, and we heard last night that we were getting $125 million out of $17.1 billion. It's bitterly disappointing for the people of Sturt, with no commitments in our electorate whatsoever. As I said, there is only one electorate in the whole state getting new money allocated to a project, according to the budget papers. This is confirmation of what the people of South Australia, particularly the people of Sturt, regrettably already knew about this government's commitment to infrastructure spending in South …
date: 2025-03-26T09:52:00+00:00

Andrews, Hon. Kevin James, AM | Condolences | House debates
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description: In paying tribute to Kevin Andrews, I first acknowledge and associate myself with the remarks made in the contributions so far by other members. It's particularly difficult, when we have these...
encoded: In paying tribute to Kevin Andrews, I first acknowledge and associate myself with the remarks made in the contributions so far by other members. It's particularly difficult, when we have these condolence motions, to speak on them when they involve someone that you actually served with in this parliament. It was my honour to serve with Kevin in the 46th Parliament—his last term in this building and my first term in this building—and to be able to observe him and his great understanding of this building and of being a parliamentarian. All members, I think—even the Prime Minister—have referenced him being in a position of mentorship to everyone that served with him, and that was the case for me as it was for all members that have commented in this debate so far. I describe Kevin as a parliamentarian, knowing full well that he made a very distinguished contribution to the executive of this nation as well—of course, serving as a minister in both the Howard and the Abbott governments, to great distinction. But in our Westminster system, which is quite different to many others around the world, obviously our executive comes out of our legislature. You can't serve in the executive government if you're not a member of parliament. But it does sometimes diminish the importance of reflecting on the role of a legislator and parliamentarian, and in the case of Kevin, even though it's quite warranted to talk about his service as a minister, I would like to focus on the great legacy he leaves as a parliamentarian and as having served in this place, in the House of Representatives, for more than 30 years. Of course, he was the Father of the House in the last few years of his career here, and that is extremely significant. The 30-year club is a very small and exclusive one. We have one member of the current parliament, the member for Kennedy, who is in that club, and there are times when not a single member of the House of Representatives has met the 30-year milestone, which says all…
date: 2025-02-12T12:02:00+00:00

Linear Park Connection Project | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: Last weekend I was very thrilled to announce to my community that a Dutton government will contribute $10 million to our Linear Park Connection Project. This is going to be a partnership with...
encoded: Last weekend I was very thrilled to announce to my community that a Dutton government will contribute $10 million to our Linear Park Connection Project. This is going to be a partnership with local government and, hopefully, the state government as well, and the state Liberal team, under Vincent Tarzia, have already made a commitment to match that funding if they're elected in 2026. It is a fantastic project to invest in an already excellent local, recreational and environmental asset that we can make even better. Linear Park stretches from the Adelaide Hills all the way down to the beach, running either side of the River Torrens. The River Torrens is one of the great assets of the city of Adelaide, and we want to make it better still. Central to this is applying for World Heritage listing of the Adelaide Park Lands, which Colonel Light had central to his design of the city of Adelaide. It's one of the great urban parks on the planet, and we need to protect it and get that listing secured. Our $10 million will unlock $30 million of activity on all sorts of projects that will be led by local government, but there'll be a master plan approach that ensures we see the entire stretch developed in a sensitive and environmentally sustainable way and in a way that the families of my electorate of Sturt and all the people of Adelaide can enjoy it day in, day out.
date: 2025-02-12T13:45:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I appreciate the opportunity to further contribute to the excellent points made by my friend the member for Wannon. He articulated at the end of his comments there the South Australian...
encoded: I appreciate the opportunity to further contribute to the excellent points made by my friend the member for Wannon. He articulated at the end of his comments there the South Australian perspective of the Albanese government's now abandoned plans for offshore wind zones in South Australia. Indeed, it was the Labor Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, that turned his back on the federal Labor government's energy policy position—not just on this issue, I might add. He's a very pro-nuclear guy, Peter Malinauskas. He likes nuclear. He wants nuclear submarines in Adelaide. He thinks nuclear is safe. I think he has got to be a little bit loyal to his party and has to watch his words, but I think he'd be a very excited partner. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 16:59 to 17:19 I think I was just making the point, before the bells went, that the South Australian Labor Premier, Peter Malinauskas, joined many others in opposing the South Australian component of the designated wind farm zone that Minister Bowen sought to create. As I was saying, there couldn't be a starker difference between the South Australian Labor Premier and the federal Labor energy minister when it comes to matters of the energy future for this country. The Premier in South Australia has been very open-minded on nuclear and very keen to embrace the opportunities of the AUKUS submarine agreement for Adelaide. In fact, you'd think it was his idea from the way he discusses it and talks about it as his own. He's made many comments over the years in support of considering civilian nuclear generation to be a part of the mix in South Australia and Australia as a whole. Indeed, I strongly suspect that, if we win the election in the coming months, the South Australian government will be a very willing partner in discussions about nuclear in South Australia. He's also probably pretty unpopular with Minister Bowen because the South Australian Labor governm…
date: 2025-02-11T16:59:00+00:00

Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2024-2025, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2024-2025, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2024-2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I rise to support the passage of the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2024-2025, as well as the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2024-2025 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4)...
encoded: I rise to support the passage of the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2024-2025, as well as the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2024-2025 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2024-2025, as we all do on this side of the chamber. It's very important that we make sure the government has the funding that it needs to get through the election period and support the commencement of a new Dutton government before a budget can be passed by that new government at a later stage this year, so we very much support ensuring that the resources are in place for that important transition that is almost upon the Australian people because we desperately need a change in this country. Happily, even if the Prime Minister waits till the latest possible moment—I think the date is 17 May—by 17 May, we will have an election in this country, and the people of Australia will get the chance to cast their verdict on the last three years of this Labor government. I've got a sense of what they're going to say about all that when they get their chance at the ballot box. It's been three tough years for the Australian people. It's been three years of a government wasting our money on the wrong priorities. We had the voice referendum. That was nearly half a billion dollars of money we'll never see again that came out of the pockets of Australian taxpayers. It was torched on that divisive, unnecessary distraction of a referendum—one that was comprehensively rejected by the Australian people but that didn't result in saving the money that was spent on it. Indeed, not just was it the cost to run it but the money that was invested in that campaign by a range of organisations—the tax deductibility of the donations into that campaign—was an enormous cost to the Australian taxpayer. We've seen the Public Service grow by 36,000 people at the cost of $6 billion a year. There are 36,000 more bureaucrats here in Canberra worth $6 billion a year. That's a 20 per cent increase in the size of the pu…
date: 2025-02-11T18:16:00+00:00

Medicare: Bulk-Billing | Questions without Notice | House debates
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description: My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Minister, GP bulk-billing rates in my electorate of Sturt were at 79 per cent in 2019 before COVID. Under the Albanese Labor government,...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Minister, GP bulk-billing rates in my electorate of Sturt were at 79 per cent in 2019 before COVID. Under the Albanese Labor government, they've fallen as low as 69 per cent. Australian families are already facing a cost-of-living crisis, a housing crisis and energy bill crisis. Why are my constituents now having to endure a bulk-billing crisis?
date: 2025-02-11T14:52:00+00:00

Messner, Hon. Anthony (Tony) John, AM | Condolences | House debates
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description: I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Tony Messner in contributing to this condolence motion. Yesterday in the House the Prime Minister and the opposition leader put some very poignant...
encoded: I take this opportunity to pay tribute to Tony Messner in contributing to this condolence motion. Yesterday in the House the Prime Minister and the opposition leader put some very poignant comments on the record about Tony's career and time in this parliament. He was a South Australian senator, and, as a South Australian, I want to make a few comments. I never met Tony Messner, which is quite surprising because I have two quite significant connections to him. By the time I had become active in the South Australian Liberal Party he had moved to the South Coast of New South Wales, but when he was a senator my mother worked for him, and that put her on the path to meeting my father—so it's thanks to Tony Messner that I'm standing before you today in this parliament, so we've got to hold him to account there! Also, Tony Messner served as the Administrator of Norfolk Island, and I grew up for a few years on Norfolk Island—funnily enough, in the late 1980s, when my father was the chief administrative officer over there. So I can connect with his service in Norfolk Island, and my family probably owes my existence to his election to the Senate. Tony was elected in the infamous 1975 election, which was brought about by the dismissal of the Whitlam government. In no way am I undermining my leader, Mr Dutton, who says that the upcoming election is the most important in a generation—he's right about that—but, boy, the 1975 election was pretty significant for many reasons, particularly for the future of parliamentary democracy. Indeed, we were in a very precarious situation when the Governor-General made the very sensible and relieving decision to dismiss a government that was seeking to govern without the consent of the parliament, effectively committing crimes against the Constitution of our own country. The people of Australia made very clear what they thought about that when they had the chance to vote at the ballot box in December 1975. I've had the opportunity, being very …
date: 2025-02-06T11:44:00+00:00

Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: Indeed, it is, in some ways, a great disappointment to speak on a bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024, that has become necessary because of actions that are happening within...
encoded: Indeed, it is, in some ways, a great disappointment to speak on a bill, the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024, that has become necessary because of actions that are happening within our community that I never thought I would live to see in modern day Australia. Some of the things that we see in the news, in fact, and experiences I have had in the streets of the Adelaide CBD belong more in a Hollywood movie about a bygone era that we look upon and think how grateful we are that that is in history. Alas, we are far from that. We are seeing this remarkably depressing blooming of disgusting antisemitic behaviour in our community, which brings us to the need to consider legislative change to address behaviour that we couldn't have foreseen would occur in modern Australia. My heart certainly goes out particularly to members of the Jewish community in my electorate and across this country. I cannot imagine how they are feeling about the unrecognisable behaviour that they see and experience in this country that they love. Many of them descend from families that came to this country for refuge from disgusting antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust and have built such an amazing future for themselves and their families in this country. In some cases, they find themselves considering whether or not they have a future in this country anymore because of what we've seen happen, particularly since 7 October. It's been confronting. It's been appalling. It is completely un-Australian. We find ourselves in a situation where we have an opportunity with the bill before us to strengthen our legislative framework at the Commonwealth level to address these remarkably disgusting, impossible-to-predict developing elements of behaviour in our society. The coalition has some specific issues and hesitations around amendments and around seeking to improve the legislation from the government that is before us, and I commend other coalition speakers who have contributed on th…
date: 2025-02-04T18:02:00+00:00

Energy | Adjournment | House debates
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description: I rise to welcome the very important contribution that's recently been made to the public policy debate by Frontier Economics. Their founder, Danny Price, is a very highly respected and regarded...
encoded: I rise to welcome the very important contribution that's recently been made to the public policy debate by Frontier Economics. Their founder, Danny Price, is a very highly respected and regarded energy economist who released an important analysis into the cost of the current trajectory of Labor's policies when it comes to energy in this country. Regrettably but not surprisingly, it has revealed a very frightening difference between what Mr Price believes will be the cost of Labor implementing their energy plans and what Labor claim that cost will be. It's a pretty significant number: half a trillion dollars. That's $500 billion. The government says it will be $122 billion. Mr Price says it will be more than $600 billion. That is a very dramatic revelation when it comes to the path that we are currently taking under this government's policies in regard to energy. Mr Price is a valued adviser to Labor governments, particularly in my home state of South Australia. He has advised the Weatherill government and now the Malinauskas government on a number of energy policy issues, and they consider his views to be absolutely expert. Well, his expert view is that, under this government if we continue with its policies, we'll be spending an extra half a trillion dollars on its plan to get to net zero by 2050. Thankfully there is an alternative to the current approach. It is what the coalition has been articulating when it comes to engaging the opportunity of embracing nuclear power for civilian energy generation in this country. Of course we're already embracing nuclear when it comes to naval shipbuilding with the AUKUS agreement, which is a fantastic opportunity to acquire the best capability that has been technologically pioneered by the United States and now in partnership with the United Kingdom. We are the third nation to have access to this technology. In Adelaide, where my electorate of Sturt is located, we will be building eight submarines with nuclear reactors in thei…
date: 2024-11-27T19:30:00+00:00

g33.1
type: item
title: Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024, Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Charges) Bill 2024, Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
description: I would like to start by commending my colleague the member for Nicholls, who has made an exceptional contribution on this bill, the Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024. In...
encoded: I would like to start by commending my colleague the member for Nicholls, who has made an exceptional contribution on this bill, the Future Made in Australia (Guarantee of Origin) Bill 2024. In fact, I fear I am at risk of repeating many of his fine arguments in my own contribution. I rise to speak in favour of the member for Fairfax's second reading amendment. As has been made very clear, we in the coalition do not support this Labor version of the guarantee of origin. When we were in government, we had a very different scheme that we hoped to be supporting through this parliament, but, regrettably, what has been brought forward by the government is vastly different to what we intended to do when we were in government. That is regrettable because a proper guarantee-of-origin scheme would be an excellent thing for this country. What is being proposed in this bill is a lost opportunity to give that certainty and that opportunity to so many industries that would be looking for the system that we intended to legislate for. I would like to start by giving a shoutout to the HILT CRC, coordinated by the University of Adelaide. I have had a lot to do with them over the years. I met with them when they were applying for and, happily, were successful under the previous government through the CRC funds at getting support. 'HILT CRC' stands for the Heavy Industry Low-carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre. They are doing work on trying to crack some of the challenges that are in place when it comes to industrial chemistry and commercially viable technology to undertake some of those very high-emitting heavy industry processes. We know that getting the energy that's generated and zapped down the transmission lines of this country to net zero through zero emissions technology is nowhere near enough to address the totality of emissions. One of the big ones that's probably got one of the most challenges is those industrial processes and heavy industries that emit a lot. It …
date: 2024-11-27T11:41:00+00:00

Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. South Australian Rick Wahlheim lost both his legs to diabetes and now relies on electricity powered devices, including his motorised wheelchair. His wife Lyn...
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. South Australian Rick Wahlheim lost both his legs to diabetes and now relies on electricity powered devices, including his motorised wheelchair. His wife Lyn said that without power, they can't lift him out of bed. Their electricity bills have increased from around $900 to $1,400. Why are Australians paying the price for Labor's reckless energy policies?
date: 2024-11-25T15:01:00+00:00

Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I'm thrilled to speak on the Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024. I'm disappointed that I seem to be the...
encoded: I'm thrilled to speak on the Customs Amendment (ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Area Second Protocol Implementation and Other Measures) Bill 2024. I'm disappointed that I seem to be the only speaker, because I think this bill is on one of the extremely important issues that we should all be seeking an opportunity to discuss in this chamber—and that is expanding the economic opportunity that free trade provides. Free trade is under siege in some parts of the world at the moment. Quite concerningly, some parts of the world are looking to engage in an increase of protectionism. Thankfully, in this country, we have a very important political consensus between our major parties that free trade is a good thing. As a nation with a very healthy, and proudly healthy, trade surplus, we know that we are a wealthier country because of trade than we would be without trade. Indeed, when you look at just agriculture as an example, there are a little over 27 million people living in this country and the often quoted figure, which I'm quite sure is accurate, is that we produce enough food in this country to feed 70 million people. That means we feed 27 million Australians and 43 million other people around the world. That's good for those people that need the food but also good for our primary producers, who are able to produce more than what could be consumed just in this nation and make wealth from selling overseas. Whether it's the mining sector, the manufacturing sector or the services sector, we know that the wealth of this country is underpinned by that trade. If you think about our largest export, it's iron ore. The amount of iron ore that we use in this country to transform into steel in my home state in Whyalla for longform products and in Wollongong, the other major steel plant for sheet steel, meets the needs of this country and we have spectacular quantities of iron ore which are exported in equally spectacular quantities around the world for the steelmaking needs…
date: 2024-11-21T10:12:00+00:00

Migration Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I start by thoroughly agreeing with the member for Indi that the Migration Amendment Bill 2024 should go to a Senate committee. That's the position we have outlined. The lead speaker, the member...
encoded: I start by thoroughly agreeing with the member for Indi that the Migration Amendment Bill 2024 should go to a Senate committee. That's the position we have outlined. The lead speaker, the member for Wannon, made it clear that in principle we hope to support this bill if it indeed does what the government claims it will, but regrettably the government have made these claims before and this is a subsequent piece legislation they are bringing into this place. It's nearly 12 months after the NZYQ decision was handed down last November and we still don't have a proper legislative framework in place to deal with dangerous, hardened criminals who are out there reoffending against Australians as we speak. The November decision of the High Court was thoroughly foreseen in comments by Justice Gleeson months earlier in the High Court which clearly foreshadowed that there was a risk that this decision would be made and that the High Court would go down this path on the current arrangements that are in place to keep detained dangerous people who have had their visas cancelled, some of them child sex offenders and rapists and all sorts of heinous criminals, who we don't want to this country, who don't deserve to be in this country, who don't follow the laws of this country and who are not safe to be on the streets of this country. Regrettably, despite a great deal of warning via Justice Gleeson's commentary months before, the government was completely flat-footed and caught completely by surprise when that decision was handed down and we immediately had hundreds of people let out onto the streets. Regrettably, the most tragic episodes in this whole sorry saga of government incompetence are the Australian victims of the reoffending of these criminals because they were released by this government. The government have tried to claim that they had to do it because of the High Court decision. We happen to be debating a year later legislation that they're claiming will fix this problem…
date: 2024-11-20T10:30:00+00:00

Nuclear Energy | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to welcome the important body of work undertaken by Frontier Economics and recently released by the shadow minister for climate change and energy. It's a very important contribution to...
encoded: I rise to welcome the important body of work undertaken by Frontier Economics and recently released by the shadow minister for climate change and energy. It's a very important contribution to public policy and, frankly, something that is also highly alarming and concerning because what it has revealed is that the current government's plans for this country's energy generation into the future, which they claim would cost a little over $100 billion, will in fact cost more than $600 billion—thanks to this independent analysis from Frontier Economics. We welcome that important clarification, and that is on the record and is not being disputed in any academic, significant or scientific way by anyone that knows anything about this topic. In fact, Frontier Economics have quite a heritage in working for Labor governments, and they are very highly respected by those Labor governments. Mr Danny Price, the founder of Frontier Economics, is a very consistent adviser to the South Australian Labor government, in my home state. Both former premier Jay Weatherill and current premier Peter Malinauskas have engaged him to undertake major analysis and consultations for them when they've been undertaking significant policy development related to energy. So it's no surprise to me, given Danny Price is such a consistent adviser to Peter Malinauskas, that the current premier is such a consistent advocate for nuclear. Indeed, it was just a few months ago that Premier Peter Malinauskas made this important point: I'm okay with the presence of a nuclear industry within our country and I mean more broadly, I actually firmly believe that nuclear power is a necessary part of the global energy mix if we're going to achieve net zero. And the Labor Premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, is not a Johnny-come-lately to this debate, either. In fact, before he was in the parliament, he was a very consistent advocate for nuclear energy in this country. When he was the Shop, Distributive and Alli…
date: 2024-11-20T09:41:00+00:00

Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I rise to speak on the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024. This bill responds to this parliament's inquiry into the 2022 election, conducted by the Joint Standing...
encoded: I rise to speak on the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Reform) Bill 2024. This bill responds to this parliament's inquiry into the 2022 election, conducted by the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters. Each parliament conducts such an inquiry to consider both the performance of the electoral system and its legislation following an electoral event, and to consider any further changes that might be required to keep our electoral regulations consistent with current behaviours and practices. The bill that was introduced by the government yesterday looks to implement recommendations from that committee's work, which the assistant minister referred to as being 'multipartisan'. But it was not multipartisan in agreement of the recommendations of that committee and its inquiry. Coalition members of that committee reflected our position when they provided a dissenting report to that committee's work. As coalition members stated, the coalition believes that any proposed electoral changes should support our system of fair, open and transparent elections which treat all political participants equally. Our system must encourage political participation that protects freedoms of speech, belief, association and thought. No participant should have fear of retribution for their beliefs or their support. The coalition believes that those who join or actively support political parties, like those who support civil society movements or not-for-profit organisations, do so on the basis of sincerely-held beliefs and a genuine desire to participate in their democratic society. Members of established political parties are not less worthy than those who support other forms of political campaigning movements or civil society causes. Changes to regulations at federal and state levels of government have increased the regulatory burden on political parties, making it harder for active grassroots participation. This is not a good outcome for democratic participation in Australia.…
date: 2024-11-19T12:33:00+00:00

Services Australia | Private Members' Business | House debates
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description: I thank the member for Bradfield for bringing this important issue before the chamber by way of this motion. Like any member of parliament here in the room, I obviously deal with a copious number...
encoded: I thank the member for Bradfield for bringing this important issue before the chamber by way of this motion. Like any member of parliament here in the room, I obviously deal with a copious number of constituents that have issues accessing the government services they are duly entitled to. Certainly, matters regarding Services Australia are one of the higher volume categories of cases that come through my office, and I'm sure it's quite similar for most members. The member for Bradfield outlined some very concerning statistics around the performance of processing claims within Services Australia, comparing the last year of our coalition government with the most recent year under the new Labor government. Unfortunately, all the numbers are going the wrong way. The staffing is up, the efficiency of processing is down and, of course, people aren't getting the support they are entitled to from their government, because they're waiting far too long. In the recent budget, we saw a dramatic increase in the size of the Public Service; 36,000 more public servants are being employed under this government compared to the last year under the coalition. We are certainly not getting 36,000 people's worth of efficiency at Services Australia; that's for sure. It's really galling to people wanting the efficient delivery of government services, those that are waiting for their duly entitled claims to be processed and, frankly, any taxpayer that wants us to have an efficient system that gives people the support that they deserve, processes it in a timely matter and makes sure government can be as efficient as possible. The new government are bragging about increasing the number of people being employed at Service Australia. I don't know if that's something to be proud of if the performance is commensurately deteriorating at the same time. As the member for Bradfield pointed out, while the size of the workforce has gone up by a couple of thousand, the efficiency in processing and the ou…
date: 2024-11-18T17:43:00+00:00

Services Australia | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
encoded: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
date: 2024-11-18T17:32:00+00:00

Trinity Gardens School | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: It was a great delight, as it is every year, to attend the Trinity Gardens School fun day last weekend. The whole school community do a fantastic job in pulling together what is a...
encoded: It was a great delight, as it is every year, to attend the Trinity Gardens School fun day last weekend. The whole school community do a fantastic job in pulling together what is a surprisingly—for the size of the school—significant community event. People well beyond those in the school community come from all of the surrounding suburbs to support the school. It's also just a very enjoyable fun filled day. My congratulations to the school governing council, to the school principal and to all those who were involved. All members would have thriving school communities, and the primary schools in particular throughout my electorate do fantastic work in holding events that raise money to supplement the activities that the schools undertake and to support the kids but also add a real sense of community to the local areas in which they serve. Last weekend happened to be Trinity Gardens School's turn to have their event. It was an excellent day, but so many of my schools do similar events throughout the year, and they really do knit and stitch our community together so very effectively. Congratulations to Trinity Gardens School. Thanks for having me. As usual, I look forward to being with you again next year.
date: 2024-11-18T16:14:00+00:00

Select Committee on PsiQuantum Funding | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I appreciate the lecture from those opposite who are opposing a probity motion and a governance and integrity motion merely to look at something. If there's nothing to be concerned about, the...
encoded: I appreciate the lecture from those opposite who are opposing a probity motion and a governance and integrity motion merely to look at something. If there's nothing to be concerned about, the government should have no fear whatsoever in seeing the motion progress, but we seem to have touched a nerve. They seem to be very concerned about any avenue that would see a bit of sunlight shone upon what seems to be a very, very murky deal that the government has done over this massive grant to PsiQuantum of Commonwealth and state funds. I congratulate Premier Crisafulli and express some relief that we now have him at the helm in Queensland. The Queensland government shares the same concerns that the federal opposition do about just what is going on with this billion-dollar allocation of state and federal funds to this American company to build a quantum computer to a specification that has never before been successfully constructed. In the process, we seek to find out why it is that so much murkiness and such a shroud of secrecy have been cast over the decision-making process. As I say, it really does surprise me that the government has a problem with what this motion will do, which is to establish an inquiry into all these things. If you've done nothing wrong, you've got nothing to fear and you should have nothing to hide. If successful, this motion would have a process that, if you believe the government, would merely confirm that everything they've done regarding this half-a-billion commitment of Commonwealth funds to an American company called PsiQuantum is completely above board. The member for Bradfield, who has moved this motion and brought it to this chamber, has made very important points in the past in scrutinising this. We know there has been correspondence with the Auditor-General. Other integrity bodies may or may not want to look at this murky deal and, in particular, some of the personalities involved in getting special access to the ministers that made these…
date: 2024-11-18T12:02:00+00:00