Jonathon Duniam's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-05T22:06:01+00:00
items: Selection of Bills Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates
items: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
items: Days and Hours of Meeting | Business | Senate debates
items: g251.5
items: g246.3
items: Rearrangement | Business | Senate debates
items: g76.11
items: g76.9
items: g76.6
items: g76.1
items: g41.13
items: g33.4
items: g16.3
items: Answers to Questions | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
items: Crime: Illicit Tobacco | Questions without Notice | Senate debates

Selection of Bills Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I ask that the two elements of Senator McKenzie's amendment be put separately.
encoded: I ask that the two elements of Senator McKenzie's amendment be put separately.
date: 2026-02-05T11:48:00+00:00

Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: What a sorry road we've travelled as a country to this point in time. By that, I refer to the years leading up to the massacre at Bondi on 14 December last year, an event we've talked about in...
encoded: What a sorry road we've travelled as a country to this point in time. By that, I refer to the years leading up to the massacre at Bondi on 14 December last year, an event we've talked about in this place in an appropriately respectful way, both in our condolence motion yesterday and, of course, in relation to the legislation that has just passed the House in the form of the firearms laws. The event on 14 December was not a standalone event. It didn't just happen in isolation. The sorry road this nation has traversed I referred to are the years of antisemitic behaviour that have been allowed to flourish in this country unabated, unchecked and unchallenged, and which resulted in those events in Bondi just over a month ago—events which have changed this nation forever, deeply wounding the Jewish community in a way many of us can't even begin to imagine. Of course, as a starting point, it's important to remember not only that this is the worst terror event that has happened on Australian soil in our history but that, of course, it was one motivated by hate, targeted at a group of people defined by who they are—the Jewish community. It was a targeted event relating to Jews celebrating the beginning of Hanukkah, the festival of light, that so many people referred to in their condolence speeches yesterday. As I said before, what led to those events on 14 December was more than two years of failure to stand up against, to stamp out and to challenge the source of antisemitism which has been ravaging our world. We only have to turn our minds back to 7 October 2023, those terrible events, the atrocity in Israel committed by Hamas—again, targeting Jewish people in an act of pure antisemitism where so many people lost their lives. It was the biggest loss of Jewish life since the Holocaust. Two days later on 9 October, we saw those terrible, despicable events on the steps of the Sydney Opera House, where we had individuals revelling in what had occurred in Israel—the deaths of so…
date: 2026-01-20T19:07:00+00:00

Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: Praise the lord, yes. Look, if we could please just stick to the issues at hand here, the other concern that the coalition had in this was the suggestion that dealing with gun laws was going to...
encoded: Praise the lord, yes. Look, if we could please just stick to the issues at hand here, the other concern that the coalition had in this was the suggestion that dealing with gun laws was going to be a silver bullet to deal with issues related to antisemitism. The first response of this government after Bondi was to announce that there would be a review of and changes to gun laws. That is not the cause of what happened here. The gun laws we have in this country were not what caused the event in Bondi on 14 December last year. Yes, firearms were used. They were a weapon, along with homemade bombs. As we know by the proliferation of terrorist activity across the globe, there are a range of weapons that people use beyond firearm, sadly. Indeed, there was an impassioned contribution by another colleague of mine, Senator Liddle, around perpetrators of domestic violence and how there are a proliferation of weapons used there. To suggest that the terrible terrorist event perpetrated by Islamic extremists, the worst terror attack on our soil in our history, would be fixed by changing the gun laws in the way we do is, sadly, a misnomer. So we took issue with the fact that the government's first and only response for a period of time was indeed to change the gun laws and say: 'You know what? All will be well.' As we know, as history has shown and as the Prime Minister was forced to concede, there was a need for a royal commission. Everyone was calling for one. The world united to have that beyond a response in the form of firearms legislation amendment. You had the victims' families calling for a royal commission. That's much more than just changes to gun laws. You had business leaders, community leaders and not only the opposition but others in this party calling for a royal commission. They finally did it, beyond firearms legislation amendments, and indeed there was much more required. An omnibus bill landed on the table of this parliament—not even this parliament but the Parl…
date: 2026-01-20T15:07:00+00:00

Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I'm not sure what Senator Shoebridge is worried about there, but I was just giving a voice to some of the concerns that have been raised in a very reasonable fashion. Indeed, I'm sure that I'll...
encoded: I'm not sure what Senator Shoebridge is worried about there, but I was just giving a voice to some of the concerns that have been raised in a very reasonable fashion. Indeed, I'm sure that I'll be able to interrupt Senator Shoebridge's contribution on the subsequent bill, which, of course, will be very interesting to hear.
date: 2026-01-20T15:07:00+00:00

Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I'm pleased to be able to rise on behalf of the coalition to start debate in the Senate on the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026. As the Senate...
encoded: I'm pleased to be able to rise on behalf of the coalition to start debate in the Senate on the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026. As the Senate would recall, the legislation that we're currently debating was, in fact, part of a broader package of laws all jammed together, all tied in together, as an omnibus bill. These laws, for the most part, deal with gun laws—a framework to set up a gun buyback scheme; a system to enable Commonwealth intelligence agencies to share information around background checking for state and territory law enforcement agencies, which are the responsible bodies to issue licences for firearms in this country. It expands that background check arrangement; it expands the importation controls and new tests; it expands customs import and export prohibitions relating to extremists and hate linked materials, symbols and weapons. One of the big concerns we had about this legislation in the first instance was that it was legislation jammed in with other legislation relating to matters to deal with the antisemitism crisis we face in this country, to deal with how we might proscribe and manage hate groups in this country, how we might deal with individuals under these laws who, of course, are spreading hate, inciting violence, are seeking to do terrible things to unpick the social fabric of our country that are not in our national interest, to deal with people who hate this country, who do not want democracy to succeed, who do not feel that the way we live in this country is indeed the way that it should be. They want to change everything. So to have this set of laws jammed in together was a huge concern for us. I will also point out that these laws were slapped down on the table by the Prime Minister, by his government, and he said, in doing so: You've got a week to look at this. The parliament will be coming back—and here we are—and you've got to get it right by then. You've got to go through the 150 p…
date: 2026-01-20T15:07:00+00:00

Bondi Beach: Attack | Condolences | Senate debates
type: item
description: When parliament rose at the end of 2025, none of us foresaw what was about to happen in New South Wales, in Bondi, on 14 December. To end 2025 with such sadness and horrific loss will be...
encoded: When parliament rose at the end of 2025, none of us foresaw what was about to happen in New South Wales, in Bondi, on 14 December. To end 2025 with such sadness and horrific loss will be remembered as a very dark chapter in our nation's history, a chapter laced with hate, antisemitism, extremism and, of course, such great cost and loss. Fifteen innocent lives that are no more. Fifteen people who were going about their lives in this peaceful and freedom-loving country, privately. Fifteen people whose lives were taken away just because of who they were. Fifteen people whose lives were taken away by people inspired by extremist ideology. On Monday 15 December last year, I joined the Jewish community in Bondi. The impact so clearly and obviously felt will forever stay with me as a memory of this time. The deep wound inflicted on the Jewish community by these events was clear in a way that words just can't explain. The grief on the faces of Jewish Australians, who were the target of the worst ever terror attack on our soil in our history, makes clear that things in this country do have to change—that this can never happen again. Over the course of the week, I stayed to show unity with this community and support our Jewish brothers and sisters. Beyond the impact, one thing became clear to me. While Jewish leaders and members of their community, ordinary men and women, were grateful for them, they wanted more than the thoughts and prayers that were being offered. Thoughts and prayers didn't stop this senseless loss of life. Thoughts and prayers didn't stop two people inspired by hate and radical Islam from taking the lives of 15 innocent people. We have let Jewish Australians down, and, indeed, action must be taken. This community has been warning us and has been crying out for action for some time. Despite what I've described, I believe truly and I think the facts and history bear out that this is a resilient community, after years of sustained abuse, harassment and vilif…
date: 2026-01-19T11:23:00+00:00

Days and Hours of Meeting | Business | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That the Senate— a) Omit paragraphs (3) (d) and (e); and b) Amend paragraph (3) (f) as follows: omit "on the motion of a minister" and substitute "once consideration of the bills...
encoded: I move: That the Senate— a) Omit paragraphs (3) (d) and (e); and b) Amend paragraph (3) (f) as follows: omit "on the motion of a minister" and substitute "once consideration of the bills has concluded".
date: 2026-01-19T09:32:00+00:00

g251.5
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: It'll be very good for your Facebook.
encoded: It'll be very good for your Facebook.
date: 2025-11-27T18:21:00+00:00

g246.3
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: We can extend again!
encoded: We can extend again!
date: 2025-11-27T18:09:00+00:00

Rearrangement | Business | Senate debates
type: item
description: Pursuant to contingent notice standing in the name of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, I move: That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent further consideration of...
encoded: Pursuant to contingent notice standing in the name of the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, I move: That so much of standing orders be suspended as would prevent further consideration of the bills until 6.30 pm. In moving this motion, I think it's a great opportunity to continue to ventilate this dodgy deal that we've seen over here between Labor and the Greens, done in a smoke filled room in the ministerial wing of this building away from prying eyes, or maybe it was in the new sumptuous Greens party room down the corridor. We will never know, because these deals will never come out, but I think it is good to have this extended time for scrutiny. I now have realised why Labor and the Greens want to get out of this building tonight. The last speaker belled the cat on why. I now suspect that Senator Wong, Senator Gallagher and others are joining the Greens at this paddle-out in Newcastle. I did not know that the Labor Party were surfers as well, but they're going to go out, and they're going to blockade this coal port and prevent these important fossil fuels from getting in or out of our country and prevent the economy from functioning. I think it is important that this sham process that these poor members of the Public Service have had to sit through—forced to sit here and watch the sausage being made. I'm sorry. I really am. There's no time for scrutiny, no proper accountability, no respect for this chamber of the parliament, no ability to answer basic questions and no respect for the people of Australia and the people of the forestry industry. We have established that here by the simple fact that the Australian Greens have celebrated this victory today. This deal done between Labor and the Greens is something that they've been wanting for a very long time because it brings about the death of the native forestry industry in Australia. They would not be voting for this if it didn't do that. The ridiculous claims by the minister of, 'No, no. The Greens are voti…
date: 2025-11-27T16:59:00+00:00

g76.11
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: Yes. I'm about to ask a question, Senator David Pocock. I've got three minutes to ask my question. I will do that. Let's not forget, though, that we had 700 pages of legislation thumped on the...
encoded: Yes. I'm about to ask a question, Senator David Pocock. I've got three minutes to ask my question. I will do that. Let's not forget, though, that we had 700 pages of legislation thumped on the table. We had a Senate committee inquiry process out to the end of March. I'll try and find it in this pile of paper that's been put on my desk today by the government, who want these bills passed—I'm just going to quote Senator Sarah Hanson-Young again. She said in a Senate inquiry last week, 'The people know it stinks'—'it' is this legislation—'It absolutely stinks, and that's why it needs scrutiny.' Senator Hanson-Young also just said to the chamber, in asking her question before, that she appreciates the urgency with which this is now being attended to. I don't know what's happened in the last week. Something big, something seismic, has shifted here. Senator Hanson-Young, who is normally so strident in her opposition to terrible bills, has suddenly found a way to agree with the government on this arrangement. It was, as I say, a deal to make it harder for resources projects to start. It will make it harder to get more gas into the grid, so we're going to have problems with supply when it comes to this critical resource of energy. It will make it harder to get housing developments up, despite any rhetoric we hear from the government on this. It's just going to be ridiculous. Of course, the crown jewel in their achievements of this week is to shut down the native forest industry and take away tens of thousands of jobs. And, of course, we won't be getting the beautiful timbers that adorn this chamber from Australia forests; we'll be ripping them out of the Congo Basin and we'll be displacing human populations and endangering even more species overseas. But, hey, if it's over the horizon, we don't care. My question to the minister is: can the minister guarantee that not one job will be lost in the forest industry as a result of the arrangement that has been put in place here t…
date: 2025-11-27T12:29:00+00:00

g76.9
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: Thank you, Chair. Now that the temperature has been taken down a couple of degrees, we might get back to the truth of the matter, and that is that the Australian Labor Party have teamed up with...
encoded: Thank you, Chair. Now that the temperature has been taken down a couple of degrees, we might get back to the truth of the matter, and that is that the Australian Labor Party have teamed up with the Greens to kill forestry. Let's not forget, though, that this is the same party that was toying with the idea of—
date: 2025-11-27T12:29:00+00:00

g76.6
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: 'Save the forests,' says Senator Faruqi. I will take that interjection. What the Labor Party and the Greens have signed up to today is a deal to kill native forestry and, of course, take away all...
encoded: 'Save the forests,' says Senator Faruqi. I will take that interjection. What the Labor Party and the Greens have signed up to today is a deal to kill native forestry and, of course, take away all of the jobs that go with it. We can't escape that fact. It is just that simple. The Greens would not have signed on if it did not mean this industry would now be brought to its knees. Ms White, the member for Lyons; Ms Collins, the member for Franklin in Tasmania; and my good friends in the Labor Senate team from Tasmania—we should go out on a road trip and talk to the forest workers of Tasmania who have been let down by this Labor government and have had their jobs suddenly pulled out from underneath them. These are people who have mortgages. They live in regional communities like those on the north-west coast of Tasmania. These are people who have kids in schools. These are people who are a part of communities, volunteer fire brigades and sporting clubs. And the Australian government have decided that they don't support these individuals anymore. They've cast them on the scrap heap. Their jobs are not important. They do have a $300 million bailout package—buyout package, scale-down package, whatever it is—to try and ease the pain of shutting down this industry, to soften the blow of the news that today the Labor Party have sold you out. It is interesting, though. I do wonder how the Greens managed to be talked into providing a further $300 million to the native forest industry, an industry that just last Friday Senator Hanson-Young said— Honourable senators interjecting— Sorry, Chair. I can't hear myself.
date: 2025-11-27T12:29:00+00:00

g76.1
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; In Committee | Bills | Senate debates
description: The proponents of the legislation we are dealing with here seem to have a bet each way when it comes this legislation. They say it's terrible and it's bad and it's written by these awful people...
encoded: The proponents of the legislation we are dealing with here seem to have a bet each way when it comes this legislation. They say it's terrible and it's bad and it's written by these awful people in Labor, but they're backing it; they're signing up to it. Have your cake and eat it too, Australian Greens! That's exactly what's going on here. I will say that I understand that the amendments before the chair are identical to the government's amendments relating to unacceptable impact. Hopefully, the government will support these amendments when they're moved. I want to reflect more generally on the debate before— No? We'll talk about it later, I'm sure, Minister. I have to commend the minister for being able to pull off this deal. It was masterful. I don't like it. I think it's terrible. I think it's dirty. I think it's dodgy. But you did a great job of getting this mob down here, the Australian Greens, to again name a price they were willing to pay. Of course it's the shutdown of the native forest industry. The workers out there are screaming into the phones now on radio stations across the country, and they're providing comments to journalists in print and the TV newsrooms. They are wondering how a Labor government that once used to stand for the worker has today said that they will sign the death warrant of the native forest logging industry. The Prime Minister, ahead of the 2022 election, wrote a letter to Tasmanian forest workers committing that he would never do this. He reiterated that commitment in 2025, saying he would never do this. Guess what, he's gone and done it now. There's a bit of a concern now in Tasmania; I think there's a missing person report for the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Ms Collins, who's nowhere to be seen on this issue. Has she popped up to justify what the government have done? Has she popped up to defend this dirty, dodgy deal with the Greens? The Greens are celebrating. I heard Senator McKim on the radio just before …
date: 2025-11-27T12:29:00+00:00

Selection of Bills Committee; Report | Committees | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move an amendment to the motion, as circulated: At the end of the motion, add: "and, in respect of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription...
encoded: I move an amendment to the motion, as circulated: At the end of the motion, add: "and, in respect of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025, the bill be referred immediately to the Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for inquiry and report by 3 February 2026".
date: 2025-11-27T11:48:00+00:00

g41.13
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; Limitation of Debate | Bills | Senate debates
description: I was wondering if we could put paragraph (b) separately.
encoded: I was wondering if we could put paragraph (b) separately.
date: 2025-11-27T11:34:00+00:00

g33.4
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; Limitation of Debate | Bills | Senate debates
description: We ask that paragraph (c) be put separately.
encoded: We ask that paragraph (c) be put separately.
date: 2025-11-27T11:21:00+00:00

g16.3
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
description: What a great opportunity this is to have a little bit of scrutiny of the legislation that's before the chamber, which will now be rammed through in record time. This is a pattern of behaviour of...
encoded: What a great opportunity this is to have a little bit of scrutiny of the legislation that's before the chamber, which will now be rammed through in record time. This is a pattern of behaviour of the Greens down the end there. At the end of every sitting year we see this arrangement. The mighty new Labor-Greens alliance comes together. They've been behind closed doors for a couple of weeks now, hatching this one up. I'd very much love to know what the price of this latest agreement between the government and their natural bedfellows the Australian Greens political party is this time. Last time, as we know, it was that sumptuous party room down the end of the corridor, lined with myrtle and Huon pine and other endangered old-growth species. But, hey, that doesn't matter. That was the price last time. What have they got this time? Let's not forget that these laws were so important they had to be fully interrogated through the Senate committee process. We had the Greens environment spokesperson, Senator Hanson-Young, saying, 'We must have a full interrogation of these bills by the committee and we cannot report before the end of March.' Well, here we are, and who's voting to ram the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and related bills through the Senate today? None other than the Australian Greens environment spokesperson, Senator Hanson-Young, and all of her colleagues. If you look at the Greens press release issued today about the dirty, dodgy deal they've done, with the price unspecified—the price tag we can't find anywhere on the product before us—there are criticisms of the legislation that the Greens are supporting. This is them wanting to have their cake and eat it too. It says, 'Despite significant wins for nature, the bill is still woefully short of what the climate needs, with Labor's refusal to take meaningful climate action,' et cetera, et cetera. You've got the whip hand here, Australian Greens. You signed up. You're supporting the legislation, but you…
date: 2025-11-27T09:27:00+00:00

Answers to Questions | Questions without Notice: Take Note of Answers | Senate debates
type: item
description: I move: That the Senate take note of answers to all questions asked by coalition senators during questions without notice today. In moving that motion, I want to start with the question that I...
encoded: I move: That the Senate take note of answers to all questions asked by coalition senators during questions without notice today. In moving that motion, I want to start with the question that I asked, and that was in relation to the exploding industry of illegal tobacco in this country that has happened on this government's watch. It didn't just happen overnight. It's happened over the last three or more years now while this government has been on the Treasury benches, and it has had devastating impacts on the lives of many Australians. Indeed, the government itself is not immune to the impacts of the illicit tobacco trade, losing billions of dollars of revenue in excise collections every year as a result of their hands off approach when it comes to dealing with this insidious issue. There's not an Australian—particularly in major population centres like Melbourne or Sydney, Brisbane perhaps, or even, indeed, some of the regional communities around Australia—that cannot see firsthand the impacts of the illicit tobacco trade. I understand that every day in this country these cartel operations, these crime gangs, are making a $13 million profit off illegal tobacco, and this government has sat on its hands for the last 3½ years. They talk about hundreds of millions of dollars being ploughed into enforcement initiatives. The problem is that it is not stopping the problem. It is not stemming the flow of these terrible products coming into our country, be they illegal cigarettes, loose leaf tobacco or illegal vape products. Of course, we know that these products can be laced with some of the most harmful chemicals with terrible consequences for human health with no approval from the Therapeutic Goods Administration. Again this government and the Minister representing the Minister for Home Affairs say, 'Virtually nothing to see here.' This is a terrible indictment on government that should have, in its top few priorities, a desire to keep this nation secure and a desire to …
date: 2025-11-06T15:12:00+00:00

Crime: Illicit Tobacco | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: I was after an exact figure. Anyway, in light of the answers to both of those questions, what is the minister's response to the clear exasperation of the New South Wales health minister, Ryan...
encoded: I was after an exact figure. Anyway, in light of the answers to both of those questions, what is the minister's response to the clear exasperation of the New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, who told reporters yesterday that he was very disappointed with the lack of action from the federal government, including that the government has no intention to change anything in this area despite the near constant pledge from state governments to do something about it?
date: 2025-11-06T14:36:00+00:00