Joel Fitzgibbon's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2022-07-06T23:05:39+00:00
items: Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
items: Genocide | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Cybersecurity | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Armenia | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Climate Change | Adjournment | House debates
items: Rugby League, Indigenous Australians | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Consideration of Senate Message | Resolutions of the Senate | House debates
items: Gas Sector | Motions | House debates
items: Sneddon, Mrs Dianne | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Education Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Armenia, Azerbaijan | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Member for Hunter: Shadow Cabinet | Adjournment | House debates
items: Workplace Relations | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Climate Change | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2020-2021, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
type: item
description: on indulgence—I congratulate the member for Parramatta on a very fine speech. While I've done so privately, this is my first opportunity in this place to congratulate you on your promotion...
encoded: on indulgence—I congratulate the member for Parramatta on a very fine speech. While I've done so privately, this is my first opportunity in this place to congratulate you on your promotion to high office. I know that you will do all you can to maintain the dignity of this House, a subject you know I'm very interested in. And I thank the whip and the member for Macquarie for allowing me to deliver a few thoughts this morning from this place. Of course, in COVID some of us don't have a permanent home in this chamber. I did contemplate seeking permission to share my thoughts from the dispatch box, where I spent most of my time here—sadly, the one nearer rather to me than the one closer to the member for New England—but then I thought it might be even more appropriate if I deliver my speech from this place where I delivered my first speech almost 26 years ago. For the interested of—I was going to say younger members—all members, other than a few of us, sitting immediately to my right was the Hon. David Beddall, former member for Rankin, just to my left was Ralph Willis, the former member for Gellibrand and former Treasurer, and directly in front of me was the Hon. Robert McClelland, still a great mate of mine, a former Attorney-General and now, of course, Deputy Chief Justice in the family court—or whatever it's called now after the most recent reforms. The member for Grayndler was roughly where the member for Lingiari was sitting. That's not a reflection of seniority in any sense. I think it's more a reflection of marginality, and, of course, Anthony Albanese had a very safe seat, and I think he delivered his first speech from that place as well. Sitting where he is now, of course, was Kim Beazley, and where the member for New England is was our newly elected Prime Minister, John Howard. It seems an eternity ago, and I suppose it was. They were very tough and dark days for the Labor Party. We had been reduced at that election to just 49 seats, and to put that into pers…
date: 2022-02-17T10:04:00+00:00

Genocide | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I second the motion, and I rise in support of the motion moved by my friend, the member for North Sydney. Together, we convene the Australia-Armenia parliamentary group. The International Day of...
encoded: I second the motion, and I rise in support of the motion moved by my friend, the member for North Sydney. Together, we convene the Australia-Armenia parliamentary group. The International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of the Crime of Genocide and the Prevention of this Crime is an important one, and those of us who are making a contribution to the debate tonight would like to see it receive more attention. In particular, we'd like to generate more attention for the Armenian genocide. For too many years, survivors and their descendants of that terrible event have been ignored. Their calls for historic justice have largely fallen on deaf ears. A little more than 106 years ago, more than three million Armenian, Assyrian and Greek peoples lost their lives for no other reason but for their ethnicity and their beliefs. That is genocide: there is no other word for it. And it's time that the Australian parliament joined with many others who have recognised it as such. This is important, not only to give closure to those affected by the events of 1915 but to send a clear signal to the world that genocidal behaviour will not be tolerated by our community of nations. Support for the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide means taking resolute action on all genocides—tolerating genocide denial does all of us harm. It's a stain on our conscience and it prevents survivors from achieving proper healing. I understand the events of 1915 are a sensitive issue amongst Australians of Turkish heritage. But recognition of the crimes of the Ottoman Empire's leaders is no more a reflection on our Turkish friends here in Australia than is the recognition of the crimes of the Nazis on Australians of German heritage—zero reflection. Earlier this year, as indicated by the member for North Sydney, the United States took the important historic step of recognising the Armenian genocide. President Biden's recognition is a significant shift in US f…
date: 2021-11-29T18:21:00+00:00

Cybersecurity | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was looking for some latitude, of course, because this is an unanticipated expectation. So I'm just going to close by saying that I appreciate the attention...
encoded: Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I was looking for some latitude, of course, because this is an unanticipated expectation. So I'm just going to close by saying that I appreciate the attention that Minister Hunt has given to this issue for me in recent days, but I still have a number of issues, including in my home town of Cessnock. I have seen many models used to address this malapportionment. None of them have been perfect. The current system is not perfect, and I hope I can work with the minister to address some of the existing problems, particularly in western Lake Macquarie and, of course, in my home town of Cessnock.
date: 2021-10-25T13:21:00+00:00

Cybersecurity | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: Alas in more regional and rural areas, we struggle. Even in a township like Morisset, which is very close to the western side of beautiful Lake Macquarie, on the major train station taking people...
encoded: Alas in more regional and rural areas, we struggle. Even in a township like Morisset, which is very close to the western side of beautiful Lake Macquarie, on the major train station taking people to Sydney and two minutes drive from the M1.
date: 2021-10-25T13:21:00+00:00

Cybersecurity | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: you're very fortunate because I'm sure you have plenty of GPs in your electorate of Parramatta, Madam Deputy Speaker.
encoded: you're very fortunate because I'm sure you have plenty of GPs in your electorate of Parramatta, Madam Deputy Speaker.
date: 2021-10-25T13:21:00+00:00

Cybersecurity | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: In my more than 25 years in this place representing the good people of the Hunter electorate, there have been issues which have stayed with me as a challenge for all of that period. Two really...
encoded: In my more than 25 years in this place representing the good people of the Hunter electorate, there have been issues which have stayed with me as a challenge for all of that period. Two really stand out. The first issue is intergenerational unemployment. This is an area in which we've made some inroads, but I have a very strong view that we won't succeed in overcoming this issue until we have an education system that maximises intervention with children at the earliest age, preferably at the level of preschool, if not early child care. It remains my view that that intervention at the earliest possible age is critical with children who have never known their parents or grandparents to have worked, who have never woken up to an alarm clock—or seen others do so—and have certainly never worked to a routine and a schedule. These are people who are, effectively, born to be unemployed. The intervention of those wonderful people who work in early child care, preschool, kindergarten and primary school more generally will be very, very critical in achieving more success on that front. The second issue is the shortage of GPs in many of the towns I represent or have represented. It's not quite as big a challenge to me these days because, with the 2015 redistribution, my electorate substantially shrank from 20,000 square kilometres to 10,000 square kilometres, excising from my electorate many of the more rural townships that found this such a difficult challenge. Alas, though, I still have challenges in townships. I was very pleased that, earlier this year, the minister agreed to provide DPA status, or distribution priority area status, to Muswellbrook LGA in my electorate, which is going to make an enormous difference to people in Muswellbrook, Denman and indeed, the township of Merriwa in the electorate of the member for New England. But what has been consistent, is the inadequacy of the system for all of that time. We don't have a GP shortage in New South Wales; we have a mal…
date: 2021-10-25T13:21:00+00:00

Armenia | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I'm proud that, for many years now—more recently, with the member for North Sydney—I've co-convened the Australia-Armenia parliamentary group. My relationship with the community was,...
encoded: I'm proud that, for many years now—more recently, with the member for North Sydney—I've co-convened the Australia-Armenia parliamentary group. My relationship with the community was, in part, born out of the relationship that the Anzacs forged with Armenian forces during the First World War and, of course, my interest in the terrible events of 1915 known as the Armenian genocide. It's been a little more than a year since Azerbaijan launched indiscriminate and unprovoked attacks against the Republic of Artsakh. Formerly known as Nagorno-Karabakh, the former Soviet Union satellite remains occupied by Turkish-backed Azerbaijani forces. The Azerbaijani invasion resulted in the death of around 5,000 young Armenian men. Azerbaijani forces destroyed civilian infrastructure, including hundreds of schools and places of worship. More than 100,000 innocent civilians have been displaced. The Australian Armenian community has been in a state of overwhelming devastation, shock, and despair as they've witnessed their homeland desecrated at the hands of Azerbaijani forces, including paid Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries. The relative silence of the international community is, of course, of great concern to the Armenian diaspora. Azerbaijan's military aggression against indigenous Armenians in Artsakh involved alleged war crimes using cluster and white phosphorus munitions and attacks on Armenian churches, hospitals, civilians and schools. Armenians around the world are rallying to assist those who were displaced, to their great credit. Australian Armenians have joined the diaspora around the world in calling for the international community to call out Azerbaijan and to stop their belligerent activities. Australia should do just that. A number of countries, including France and the USA, and bodies such as the European parliament have rightly publicly condemned Azerbaijan's deliberate violations of international law. We should join with the many across the globe by making our unhapp…
date: 2021-10-25T10:47:00+00:00

Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021. This bill and the bill that was debated, I think, last year in this...
encoded: I rise to speak on the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Standards and Assurance) Bill 2021. This bill and the bill that was debated, I think, last year in this place, both seek to amend the EPBC Act and to implement the recommendations of the so-called Samuel review. The EPBC Act is now 21 years old. It was a creature of the Howard government and a welcome reinforcement of the Commonwealth's role in environmental policy in this country. It was a Labor government, I think, in 2008 that decided to put in place a statutory 10-year review of the act. The first one was done immediately under Dr Allan Hawke. Ten years on there was one done under Graeme Samuel, the former chair of the ACCC and a pretty highly regarded Australian. There is no doubt, and I have heard many say it throughout the course of this debate, that our environmental challenges are very, very significant—there can be no doubt about that and I don't think anyone in this building is arguing otherwise—but so too are our economic challenges. We need to get the balance right. As the Samuel review noted, 'Our natural environment is in a state of decline and is coming under increasing threats from human and other behaviour.' But it is also true that investors are being held back by a complex and cumbersome regulatory regime. I say 'regimes', plural, very deliberately, because projects which trigger Commonwealth scrutiny face two very long processes. Firstly, at the state level. It can take years. Then, of course, at the Commonwealth level, where, again, the process can take years. Given the impacts of COVID-19, as we, hopefully, work our way out of it—we're all fearing tonight that we might be going back into it—we are all acutely aware that it is now more important than ever to stimulate investment and nation building in this country. Graeme Samuel made it clear that the EPBC Act, in its current form, is delivering neither for the environment nor for the economy and those who op…
date: 2021-06-23T18:31:00+00:00

Climate Change | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: I join with the previous speaker, the member for Menzies, in paying tribute not only to the soldier he just named but also to our first responders. I also acknowledge his outstanding service to...
encoded: I join with the previous speaker, the member for Menzies, in paying tribute not only to the soldier he just named but also to our first responders. I also acknowledge his outstanding service to this House over a 30-year period and wish him the best after the next election. But, on a more sombre note, I can sadly report to the House that a new form of McCarthyism has kept crept into the Australian culture, and it's alive and well in the Hunter region, deep in coal-economy heartland. This 21st century version of the Cold War doctrine has been on display at our local university, where a quite extraordinary, misleading, ideological and shrill campaign has resulted in former Deputy Prime Minister Mark Vaile's decision to decline the offer of the position of Chancellor of the University of Newcastle. During the Cold War, people found themselves blacklisted on suspicion they were supporters of or sympathised with the Communist Party. Suffice to say, many on the blacklist appeared without cause and suffered greatly as a result. Many lost their jobs or were discriminated against in the workforce. In Australia today, the blacklist is not so shadowy; Mark Vaile's listing has been very public. The crime he has been publicly shamed for is his association with the coalmining industry. It's a very slippery slope. Today the excessive progressives target those associated with the coal industry, but no doubt tomorrow it will be anyone associated with the oil, gas and fuel-refining industries. What's next? The meat-processing industry? The steel-manufacturing sector? Will the blacklist extend to those who invest in or work in the energy intensive aluminium smelters or the wool industry, which regularly cops it from animal welfare groups? Maybe those industries that manufacture our fertilisers and crop protection products will be next. Who is the final arbiter of these things? Where and when will this madness end? The world is moving rapidly towards a lower carbon economy. So too is th…
date: 2021-06-22T19:49:00+00:00

Rugby League, Indigenous Australians | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: It was a great pleasure and, indeed, a relief to be present for the Newcastle Knights victory over the Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday. The Sea Eagles have lifted the legendary Bob Fulton the week...
encoded: It was a great pleasure and, indeed, a relief to be present for the Newcastle Knights victory over the Manly Sea Eagles on Sunday. The Sea Eagles have lifted the legendary Bob Fulton the week before and almost did so again this week. We were lucky to get away with the win. I pay tribute to Bob Fulton, my childhood footy hero. We will farewell him at a state funeral service on Friday, where we will extend our sympathies to his friends and his family. While the Knights' win was a highlight in my week, so too was the briefing those of us in the captain's box received from Professor Nathan Towney, Pro Vice-Chancellor Indigenous, Strategy and Leadership at the University of Newcastle. The weekend's games were part of the NRL's Indigenous round of events, a time when we both reflect on and urge more action on Indigenous disadvantage and we celebrate the very significant contributions Indigenous players have made and continue to make to the NRL. They are amongst the games biggest stars. The University of Newcastle has a proud history of participation and engagement with Indigenous Australians. It is committed to reconciliation and to its responsibility as educator in this process. The university has an outstanding track record in Indigenous education and research and is a national leader in Indigenous engagement. A total of 4.6 per cent of its students are Indigenous, the highest percentage of any university in the country. A total of 2.4 per cent of its staff are Indigenous, the highest percentage of any university in Australia. Newcastle has graduated more than 110 Indigenous medical students, the highest number in the country. It has graduated more Indigenous teachers than any other university in Australia. The uni has three pathway programs for Indigenous students. The University of Newcastle is a national leader in reconciliation, not only through the development of its own reconciliation action plan but also through supporting industry and businesses in the Hunter an…
date: 2021-06-01T16:18:00+00:00

Consideration of Senate Message | Resolutions of the Senate | House debates
type: item
description: I acknowledge all those who serve or have served, including those with us this afternoon, including the member for Braddon, who is still in the chamber. Of course, I too acknowledge Heston...
encoded: I acknowledge all those who serve or have served, including those with us this afternoon, including the member for Braddon, who is still in the chamber. Of course, I too acknowledge Heston Russell, Julie-Ann Finney—who has had to leave us—and Sapper Tim Lowe, who have been maintaining a vigil in the Speaker's gallery throughout the course of this debate. I also, too, as others have done, acknowledge Senator Jacqui Lambie, who has been on a real crusade with respect to veterans' issues and in particular the atrocious level of veteran suicide. It reminds me never to get on the wrong side of Jacqui! A commissioning certificate hanging on the wall in my office reads as follows: 'I, Phillip Michael Jeffrey, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, pursuant to section 64 and 65 of the Constitution, hereby direct and appoint the Hon. Joel Fitzgibbon MP a member of the federal executive council to hold the office of Minister for Defence and to administer the Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs.' Unsurprisingly, I occasionally pause to read and reflect on that certificate—what it means and what it meant to me. Unsurprisingly again, these private moments bring different emotions at different times. Sometimes it's pride. Sometimes it's regret. And, sometimes, it brings great sorrow. On days like today, it's a mix of regret and sorrow. I regret I missed an opportunity to do more for our veterans, and I think we all take collective responsibility for that. I, of course, feel sorrow for those who have paid such a terrible price, whether it's because they've lost their lives in theatre or after serving they've taken their lives or they've suffered disability. I have sorrow for the families who have been affected by loss, disability or any consequence of the service of a loved one. The grief of parents who have suffered the loss of a child when wearing the Australian military uniform is unimaginable to those who haven't experienced it. The member…
date: 2021-03-22T16:41:00+00:00

Consideration of Senate Message | Resolutions of the Senate | House debates
type: item
description: He's a private. That's what he wants to be.
encoded: He's a private. That's what he wants to be.
date: 2021-03-22T16:15:00+00:00

Gas Sector | Motions | House debates
type: item
description: If you could extend me a little bit of latitude, I am conscious of the fact that while we participate in this important debate Brittany Higgins is on her feet addressing the rally outside. I'd...
encoded: If you could extend me a little bit of latitude, I am conscious of the fact that while we participate in this important debate Brittany Higgins is on her feet addressing the rally outside. I'd like to acknowledge and thank her for her courage and her activism. I'd like to express my sorrow for her experience and wish her the very best into the future. But life goes on inside the building. This is an important debate. I congratulate the member for Grey, because he has been able to bring a group of people together from all political persuasions to talk about the importance of gas. In this country the gas sector remains a bedrock of the Australian economy, both in consumption terms and in export terms. It's our second biggest export earner. We use it domestically to generate electricity and to power our manufacturing plants. We use it as a feedstock in just about every product we use in our daily lives, including personal protective equipment that we relied upon so much during the COVID period. It keeps us warm in our homes. I see some Victorians here; Victorians are the biggest per capita consumers of gas in the country. In fact, I think the biggest consumers of gas in absolute terms are the Victorians, and yet they are so reluctant to get gas out of the ground. We use it to cook our food, and we use it to heat our water. Gas provides 25 per cent of our energy consumption. I'm not talking about electricity consumption now. I'm talking about energy. I'm talking about the planes in the air, the cars on our roads, what we consume in our homes and what we consume in industry. By comparison, oil is 38.7 per cent and coal is 29.9 per cent, so, at 25 per cent, it's a big part of our energy supply. It will be an important part for many, many decades to come. Importantly, only 37 per cent of that 25 per cent is used for electricity generation, highlighting what I said earlier. This debate is not just about electricity generation, as important as that is. This debate is about w…
date: 2021-03-15T13:04:00+00:00

Sneddon, Mrs Dianne | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: In every regional community you will find several people who might be described as community leaders, people who go above and beyond what might be expected of them, people who work tirelessly in...
encoded: In every regional community you will find several people who might be described as community leaders, people who go above and beyond what might be expected of them, people who work tirelessly in the interests of their local community. Singleton's Di Sneddon is one of those people, and I was pleased to learn last week that she'd become the Upper Hunter New South Wales Woman of the Year. It's not Di's first award—far from it! In fact, in 2013 she was named Singleton's Citizen of the Year. Di is involved in just about everything. Everywhere I go in support of a good cause, Di is there too. There are many examples, but her work with the Red Cross, where she has been the recipient of a Humanitarian Partner Award, stands out. But Di is possibly best known for her many years at TheSingleton Argus, where she first worked after leaving high school in 1980. Yes, Di is a fully-fledged local! Di went on to become a long-serving editor of The Singleton Argus. There can be no doubt Di was not fully remunerated for the hours she dedicated to her role there. Both as a journalist and editor, Di used her position for the common good. She didn't just report on and oversee the news; she helped shape it. Her work with the Red Cross and newspaper came together in 1999 when the government decided Singleton's army camp would become host to 500 displaced people from war-torn Kosovo. Di was quick to realise that the men, women and children being given safe haven would need the support of the local community and that it would be important to ensure the community had all the facts. Di knew that misinformation or even a dearth of information would fuel community suspicion of and opposition to the safe-haven arrangement. She fought for special access to the camp for her local newspaper to ensure all the facts were known in the community and to foster local sympathy and support for the refugees. Di's efforts met with spectacular success and history now records how warmly the Kosovo people were re…
date: 2021-03-15T10:48:00+00:00

Education Legislation Amendment (2021 Measures No. 1) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Sorry!
encoded: Sorry!
date: 2021-02-24T12:53:00+00:00

Armenia, Azerbaijan | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: Over the past two months, the Armenian Australian community has been in a state of overwhelming devastation, shock and despair as they've witnessed their homeland desecrated at the hands of...
encoded: Over the past two months, the Armenian Australian community has been in a state of overwhelming devastation, shock and despair as they've witnessed their homeland desecrated at the hands of Azerbaijani forces including paid, Turkish-backed Syrian mercenaries. On 27 September 2020, the enemy forces launched large-scale attacks against Armenians of the Nagorno-Karabakh region. Watching this unfold from halfway around the world, today Armenian Australians are gathering outside our parliament to demand an end to the carnage being played out in Artsakh. The relative silence of the international community, including us here in Australia, is of course of great concern to those gathering outside parliament today. Azerbaijan's 44-day military aggression against the indigenous Armenians of Artsakh involved alleged war crimes through the use of cluster and white phosphorus munitions, as well as attacks on Armenian churches, hospitals, civilians and schools. Russia has brokered a ceasefire deal, but it means much of this part of the Armenian Australian community's ancestral homeland is now under occupation. The community represented by the protests outside this building today rejects the ceasefire terms imposed on Armenia and Artsakh as a one-sided deal which ignores the fundamental human right to self-determination of the people of Artsakh, who declared their independence in the 1991 referendum in accordance with international law. Coincidentally, the 29th anniversary of the expression of their democratic rights is tomorrow. The people of Armenia and Artsakh are reeling from the aftershock of six weeks of violence, with the primary battlefields shifting from the trenches to the cities, where the Armenian community is rallying to help refugees, the injured, the traumatised, the orphaned and the widowed. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 10 : 03 to 10 : 18 The pathway to a lasting peace in the Nagorno-Karabakh region is interna…
date: 2020-12-09T10:00:00+00:00

Member for Hunter: Shadow Cabinet | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: Walking away from Labor's shadow cabinet was obviously not an easy decision for me. The reasons are many and obvious. The issue I want to speak to tonight is the impact on my staff. As a result...
encoded: Walking away from Labor's shadow cabinet was obviously not an easy decision for me. The reasons are many and obvious. The issue I want to speak to tonight is the impact on my staff. As a result of my decision, three people in my office lost the jobs they held with me. When I spoke at my press conference about my decision three weeks ago I had intended to speak about my shadow ministerial staff and pay tribute to them. Alas, the weight of the moment and the length of the press conference caused me to lose my way and I omitted to do so. So I want to do so tonight. I'd like to thank and pay tribute to Mark Abernethy and Kate Boyd, who served me loyally, energetically and very effectively for the last 18 months. But I also want to talk about my former chief of staff, Natasa Sikman, who worked with me for more than 10 years—first when I was Chief Government Whip, then a minister—albeit for a short time—and then, for a long period of time, shadow minister for agriculture and later the shadow minister for both agriculture and resources. In opposition you need people with agility and flexibility. In the top job you need an all-rounder, and Natasa Sikman was certainly that. I'm sure she'll be certainly that in a new job in the future. Over the course of that decade Natasa did media, administration, people management, stakeholder management, legislative management, policy development, parliamentary management and parliamentary tactics, and, of course, had to deal with the madness of her boss! Natasa built Labor's country caucus—one of her bigger achievements. She developed Labor's successful 2009 forestry policy—for the first time in many decades the industry rated Labor's forestry policy to be superior to that of those who now serve in the government—and she did so after extensive negotiation and consultation with industry and unions. It was a magnificent outcome for the party. In the Chief Government Whip's office, she managed to steer the Labor team—a minority government—t…
date: 2020-12-02T19:50:00+00:00

Workplace Relations | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: On this government's watch, many of our coalmining companies have dramatically increased their use of labour hire companies. I support our coalmining companies. They pay lots of tax, which we, of...
encoded: On this government's watch, many of our coalmining companies have dramatically increased their use of labour hire companies. I support our coalmining companies. They pay lots of tax, which we, of course, use to build schools, hospitals and roads and, most importantly, they create hundreds of thousands of jobs, including many thousands of jobs in my own electorate. But I don't support the use of labour hire for the sole purpose of lowering the cost of doing business, at the expense of our mineworkers. We have far too many mineworkers working alongside their mates on less pay and without all the leave and other entitlements enjoyed by their mates. At BHP's Mt Arthur mine, for example, a mineworker working for the company under the enterprise agreement secured by the union earns $159,000 a year, while his or her mate working alongside him or her earns only $106,000 working for the labour hire company—and, in this case, a labour hire company wholly owned by the mining company, BHP. In other words, it was established for one purpose only. So same job, different pay; same roster, different pay; and same hours, different pay—year in, year out. Labor went to the 2019 election promising to fix this by inserting into the Fair Work Act an objective definition of what is a casual employee. At the time, members of the government, including Senator Matt Canavan, ran around the electorate saying, 'We already got this covered; we have a bill in the House to fix this.' Mysteriously, that bill just disappeared after the election. But, worse, that bill would have made the situation worse for our coalminers, because what that bill is about and what this government is really about is overtaking the so-called WorkPac case, where the Federal Court said, 'If it walks like a duck and squawks like a duck, it's probably a duck,' and found that these mineworkers year in, year out, on the same roster, working the same days are entitled to the same rate of pay as their mates working for the mini…
date: 2020-10-27T16:06:00+00:00

Climate Change | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I'm going to resist responding to the provocation of the member for Hughes because I will run out of time, but I respect his contribution—I mean, the member for Hughes does show a keen...
encoded: I'm going to resist responding to the provocation of the member for Hughes because I will run out of time, but I respect his contribution—I mean, the member for Hughes does show a keen interest in this important subject. But extreme views from the Right, just like extreme views from the Left, are our biggest challenge within this debate. We need a consensus on this important issue. That's why I rise to oppose the motion from the member for Clark, not because I disagree with everything he says in his motion—in fact, there are points on which we can absolutely agree—but I have no opportunity to amend the motion so therefore I am left with no choice but to oppose it. We've been having these climate wars now for more than 20 years, and sadly I've been around for more than 20 years and have been involved in them. The only way we're going to front up to our responsibilities as a country is to work with the international community and to build a consensus here at home. We need to be realists, not idealists. I remind members of the House that 90 per cent of our country's energy still comes from fossil fuel sources, and of course I'm not just talking about the electricity generation sector, which usually focuses the minds of most people—that's what the member for Hughes spent most of his time talking about. I'm also talking about our planes and our cars and our trucks and our mining equipment and our tractors and other equipment on our farms. I'm talking about heating for our manufacturing plants. All of these things rely heavily on fossil fuels. There will be a time—sadly, I won't be around, neither in this place or else well—when we won't be so dependent on fossil fuels, but it is a long way down the track. We use coal to make steel, we use gas as feedstock, we use gas to keep us warm, we use gas to cook and, of course, we use gas to make PPE—a very topical product at this point in time. We have had our industrial revolution. That is behind us, but many other countries aro…
date: 2020-10-26T13:22:00+00:00

Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2020-2021, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2020-2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: They really should stay and listen to this, Mr Deputy Speaker. They might learn something! He's certainly the first Treasurer since the Second World War who has been given an opportunity to rack...
encoded: They really should stay and listen to this, Mr Deputy Speaker. They might learn something! He's certainly the first Treasurer since the Second World War who has been given an opportunity to rack up eye-watering debt and deficit with very little criticism from the opposition parties, the business community or, indeed, the community more generally. I also said at the National Press Club, 'Let's hope that the debt he has raised on behalf of the Australian community is money well spent in our economy.' Now, I also said on that occasion that it will be some time before we know the answer to that question, before we know whether the way the money was spent maximises economic stimulus, maximises job retention and creation, and maximises our opportunity to give a helping help to those who are most adversely affected. I fear today that we might not have to wait as long as I thought we might. I think we can all already see signs of cracks appearing in the budget strategy. Economic commentators everywhere are talking about the economic inefficiency of the spend. For example, I think it was Ross Gittins who said investment in social housing would have given more stimulus, alongside a long-lasting impact on our infrastructure and, indeed, on some of our poorer communities. We can see that the precipitous withdrawal of JobKeeper was probably unwise. I suspect the government has left the opportunity open to address that. Let's hope it does, because it's very clear that the economy hasn't yet sunk to its lowest depths, that things will get worse, and people will need ongoing assistance. I'm very disappointed in the decision to allow only those 35 years of age and under to benefit from the so-called JobMaker scheme. It makes no sense to me. We know, because commentators have reacted and responded to this constraint by analysing who have been most hurt, that the reality is that those who have been most hurt are our older Australians, many of whom are still of working age. It makes no…
date: 2020-10-22T11:02:00+00:00