Jim Molan's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2023-07-30T23:05:23+00:00
items: Address | Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ii and Accession of His Majesty King Charles Iii | Senate debates
items: China | Statements | Senate debates
items: National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
items: Australian Natural Disasters | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
items: Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Amendment Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Motions | Senate debates
items: Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for At Risk Participants) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
items: COVID-19: Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | Senate debates
items: Covid-19 | Questions without Notice | Senate debates

Address | Death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth Ii and Accession of His Majesty King Charles Iii | Senate debates
type: item
description: The incorporated speech read as follows Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II earned the admiration of generations through a life committed to selfless public service that stretched across the better...
encoded: The incorporated speech read as follows Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II earned the admiration of generations through a life committed to selfless public service that stretched across the better part of a century. For 70 years, she reigned as Australia's Head of State, and for other nations of the Commonwealth spread across the world's continents and oceans. She was a monarch who ruled with an empathetic heart and wisdom. And though the world changed around her, she remained steadfast in her devotion to God, her country, and to the Commonwealth. As the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, said, she embodied humanity's very best virtues and values; service and sacrifice, fortitude and humility, grace and generosity, forgiveness and empathy. In my lifetime, I swore two oaths to serve Her Majesty. The first, as a teenage officer cadet entering the Australian Defence Force, where I swore to resist Her enemies, and faithfully discharge my duties according to law. Later in life, I again committed to be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty, this time as a member of Her Australian Parliament. Throughout, for an exemplar of steadfast duty, courage, dignity and selflessness, I have needed to look no further than Her Majesty. From the young age of 21, the then-Princess dedicated her life to the service of the Commonwealth, declaring that her "whole life whether it be long or short shall be devoted to your service and the service of our great imperial family to which we all belong". And just a few years later, upon her coronation in 1952, the Queen reaffirmed her unwavering dedication to the Commonwealth, when she said, "l have in sincerity pledged myself to your service, as so many of you are pledged to mine. Throughout all my life and with all my heart I shall strive to be worthy of your trust." Not only did our Queen earn our trust, she also won our admiration. It was no secret she had a deep and abiding affection for Australia, visiting our country 16 times dur…
date: 2022-09-23T11:32:00+00:00

China | Statements | Senate debates
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description: I rise in this place this afternoon to address a particular issue, and that is the disjointed reporting and the use of language under the general theme of 'an aggressive China'. We see an awful...
encoded: I rise in this place this afternoon to address a particular issue, and that is the disjointed reporting and the use of language under the general theme of 'an aggressive China'. We see an awful lot of articles in the newspapers—of course, newspapers and other media, our main way of receiving information—where we have US generals, many, many of them, admirals and other officials coming to this country and warning of the progress that China has made in relation to its military capability: how it now has the largest army, the largest navy, the largest maritime militia and the largest sub strategic rocket force that the world has ever seen. China is out there, bullying and dominating, according to these many people, particularly in the western Pacific, and it's much more aggressive. We see nuclear powered torpedoes and we shake our heads in amazement. We think about the extraordinary technology, because we will get nuclear powered submarines in 20 years time but, all of a sudden, China has nuclear torpedoes. And they're saying that in 10 years time they'll have nuclear torpedoes. Speaker Pelosi, of course, wants to go to Taiwan, and if you want a trigger for a bad thing to happen then it seems to me that's a pretty good trigger. But one by one these things are of vague interest. Put them together and they are absolutely terrifying. It's a beautiful use of language if we talk about the 'massive failure of deterrence'. But what really is the massive failure of deterrence? The massive failure of deterrence is what is commonly referred to as 'war'—that's the massive failure of deterrence. It's quite a simple word, but the next question we have to ask is, 'What are we doing about it?' (Time expired)
date: 2022-07-28T13:30:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: Beyond what our agencies report in their threat assessments, are there any other risks you are aware of when considering Australia's national security?
encoded: Beyond what our agencies report in their threat assessments, are there any other risks you are aware of when considering Australia's national security?
date: 2022-02-10T14:39:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: How is the Liberal and National government working together to strengthen our national security and combat the threat of violent extremism?
encoded: How is the Liberal and National government working together to strengthen our national security and combat the threat of violent extremism?
date: 2022-02-10T14:37:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Cash. In light of the Director-General of Security's annual threat assessment speech yesterday, can you please update the Senate on how our...
encoded: My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Cash. In light of the Director-General of Security's annual threat assessment speech yesterday, can you please update the Senate on how our security environment has changed in recent times?
date: 2022-02-10T14:35:00+00:00

Australian Natural Disasters | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: With the high-risk weather season in full force during the last few weeks, particularly in my state of New South Wales, can the minister please update the Senate on what support the government...
encoded: With the high-risk weather season in full force during the last few weeks, particularly in my state of New South Wales, can the minister please update the Senate on what support the government has provided to the communities recently affected by flooding across the country?
date: 2021-11-29T14:47:00+00:00

Australian Natural Disasters | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: With COVID-19 restrictions still in place in some states and territories and a new variant of concern, what has the Commonwealth government done to prepare for the movement of essential personnel...
encoded: With COVID-19 restrictions still in place in some states and territories and a new variant of concern, what has the Commonwealth government done to prepare for the movement of essential personnel during COVID related border closures?
date: 2021-11-29T14:45:00+00:00

Australian Natural Disasters | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: My question is to the Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator McKenzie. Can the minister update the Senate on what arrangements the Liberal and Nationals...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Emergency Management and National Recovery and Resilience, Senator McKenzie. Can the minister update the Senate on what arrangements the Liberal and Nationals government has in place to ensure we are well prepared for bushfires, floods and other natural disasters this high-risk weather season.
date: 2021-11-29T14:43:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: In addition to managing individual offenders, Attorney, what is the government doing in relation to the organisations that plan, finance and carry out terrorist acts?
encoded: In addition to managing individual offenders, Attorney, what is the government doing in relation to the organisations that plan, finance and carry out terrorist acts?
date: 2021-11-24T14:20:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: To the Attorney-General again: how does the recent passage of the high risk terrorist offenders legislation build on and expand the framework that is provided to our law enforcement and security...
encoded: To the Attorney-General again: how does the recent passage of the high risk terrorist offenders legislation build on and expand the framework that is provided to our law enforcement and security agencies to manage high risk offenders and protect Australians?
date: 2021-11-24T14:19:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Cash. Can the Attorney-General inform the Senate of how the Liberal and National government is protecting the Australian way of life and ensuring...
encoded: My question is to the Attorney-General, Senator Cash. Can the Attorney-General inform the Senate of how the Liberal and National government is protecting the Australian way of life and ensuring that Australians remain safe from ever-evolving threats of terrorism?
date: 2021-11-24T14:17:00+00:00

Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Amendment Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: I'm caught remarkably short today, because a lot of what I had to say to the Senate was based on the assumption that the Greens would reject the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor...
encoded: I'm caught remarkably short today, because a lot of what I had to say to the Senate was based on the assumption that the Greens would reject the Independent National Security Legislation Monitor Amendment Bill 2021. Instead, I thank Senator Thorpe for her support of the bill, although it leaves me with not much to say! When she spoke, Senator Thorpe pointed out to us the need for this legislation because of the 70 counterterrorism laws that this country has enacted in the last 20 years. I don't see it as a failure that those laws have not been used; I see it as an absolute triumph. Laws act both as a deterrent and as a punishment, and I think that's very, very important to realise. Senator Abetz went through a good deal of the detail of the bill. As a man who's been on the PJCIS for a very long time, he understands the value of this extraordinary committee, and later today the chair of that committee, Senator Paterson, will take us through the real detail of the bill. In the last 24 hours we've certainly had national security as a theme. It's been on the agenda as a theme, and it's a very important theme both internally in Australia and as an external activity facing external threats. In the last 24 hours we've had the high-risk terrorist offenders bill in which we balanced continuous detention orders with extended supervision orders. This is a manifestation of the flexibility that we need in order to react to any situation. Of course, once a court becomes involved, extended supervision orders can be applied to someone who's been jailed for terrorist offences and is coming out of that detention if there is a reasonable belief that the individual still holds very extreme views. The extended supervision order can be put on for three years. Even before the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021, we looked at the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021. Really, that's legislation to defend ourselves a…
date: 2021-11-23T12:57:00+00:00

Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: Like other senators in this place, I rise to speak to the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021. I listened to other senators who have addressed this...
encoded: Like other senators in this place, I rise to speak to the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (High Risk Terrorist Offenders) Bill 2021. I listened to other senators who have addressed this bill. It always restores my faith when I hear reports from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. As explained to us by Senator Keneally, bipartisan support came out of the process within that committee. I spent some time on that committee in my first iteration within the Senate. It's an excellent committee. The way it gets bipartisan support for various bills is excellent. I was very happy to hear that Labor does support the bill. I listened to Senator Thorpe, and I thank Senator Thorpe for her contribution. I guess there has to be an objection from the Greens in relation to this, but I would say that a very solid argument can be made that we do need both continuing detention orders and extended supervision orders. They are two quite different functions and they give an extraordinary amount of flexibility to courts and other officials in how they handle terrorists who have been incarcerated but still hold extremist views. I think these powers are justified. It is very important that we look at these powers as a whole, as Senator Thorpe explained. When you do look at them in context, I think it is possible to see that both the CDO and ESO are of value and are needed. Senator Van spoke to us and reminded us that terrorism is a significant problem. There have been nine attacks and 21 disruptions. That's still a significant problem. Since 2001 there have been 92 convicted terrorists—50 of which are still incarcerated. He reminded us that the Director-General of ASIO spoke very strongly and openly about the impact of COVID on the terrorist situation in this country—ideologically motivated terrorist groups are there and they became more active during the COVID period. He also gave us examples of released offenders conducting terrorist activities. So I thin…
date: 2021-11-22T20:11:00+00:00

Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Motions | Senate debates
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description: ( Australia faces what is without doubt the most uncertain strategic environment it has faced since 1945. For the last 75 years Australia has achieved prosperity and security to a degree almost...
encoded: ( Australia faces what is without doubt the most uncertain strategic environment it has faced since 1945. For the last 75 years Australia has achieved prosperity and security to a degree almost unheard of in human history.Much of that security and prosperity is due to the stabilising presence of the United States. I acknowledge, as someone who has worked with, trained and fought beside the United States, that the United States is far from a perfect power but it is a far better world power than many others. Australia has benefited from the relationship with the United States. But the world is changing and Australia is trying to change to accommodate the new world. The new world has characteristics of the old world. The new world is still based on power politics. The new world has nations and leaders who do not have as much of an interest in the world order as Australia does. The new world has powers like China who look back on the appalling way that the old world treated them and want to take that out on the new world—on our world. For 75 years, when most of our critical infrastructure was built, Australia knew that, because of our geographical location and because of our alliances, we faced no direct threat in this country. This was a luxury that we are only now really coming to appreciate. We now find that our region, the Indo-Pacific or the western pacific or whatever you want to call it, is pretty well the centre of the world's strategic environment and certainly the world's interest. Several things are happening in our region which make the Security Legislation Amendment (Critical Infrastructure) Bill 2021 and the government amendments in 2021 very important indeed. The first is that the military power of the United States to stabilise our region has fallen by 30 to 50 per cent since the end of the Cold War. This is admitted by the United States in how they express their national defence strategy. For a long period of time many of us have thought that the United…
date: 2021-11-22T12:54:00+00:00

Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: The second reason is to keep Australians safe. We've heard an awful lot about that. We've gone through the number of murders, the number of rapes and the amount of family violence. The second...
encoded: The second reason is to keep Australians safe. We've heard an awful lot about that. We've gone through the number of murders, the number of rapes and the amount of family violence. The second reason is to keep Australians safe, and that is the ultimate obligation of any government. The third reason is to support victims, such as rape victims and the family members of those who have been murdered. Any number of commendations for this bill have been given by people who made the simple statement that, if this bill had existed, their family member would not have been killed, raped or beaten. The fourth reason—I will limit my presentation to that at this stage—is respect for citizenship. We have an extraordinarily welcoming country. We give citizenship, after a period of time, to anyone who comes here legally and we are very, very generous in it. But it's not a right. It is a privilege for people who are prepared to obey Australian laws. That is what the character test is all about: whether you are, in fact, willing to obey Australian laws. This is, I believe, illustrated most specifically by the figures. A simple figure to begin with is that the Rudd-Gillard government only cancelled and refused a total of 1,128 visas on character grounds. We are very proud of the fact that, by contrast, after significant reforms in 2014, this government has already cancelled or refused visas to over 9,900 serious criminals. If people don't think that this was for serious crimes, then they really haven't looked at the detail of what is going on. Let me just run through it once again for the benefit of Labor and the Greens. Of the 9,900 cancellations and refusals, 216 were for murder and 1,372 were for sexual offences, including 905 for child sex and child pornography offences. So whose interests are we looking after by claiming the right of these non-Australian, noncitizen criminals to stay in this country? Are we looking after the families of those who were murdered? Are we looking aft…
date: 2021-10-20T11:07:00+00:00

Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: This is a very important amendment to a bill. I see it as a continuation of the support for border control and stopping the boats, which has been a totally successful aspect of how this country...
encoded: This is a very important amendment to a bill. I see it as a continuation of the support for border control and stopping the boats, which has been a totally successful aspect of how this country runs itself. I see it as a very important part of Operation Sovereign Borders, of which I was co-author and one of the people who made that policy work. This is probably the single most successful policy with regard to this country defining itself as a sovereign nation, and sovereign nations control their own borders. Greens and Labor got that appallingly wrong over a very long period of time. We have just heard Senator Faruqi say that these are political games we're playing, and all that we care about is exploiting newcomers to this country. What an appalling statement. What an absolutely appalling statement. I took part in Operation Sovereign Borders for the simple reason that Labor and the Greens had caused the deaths of 1,200 people through their incompetence in applying border controls. Time and time again, we have saved many multiples of that 1,200 that were lost at sea—women and children—who our sailors saw on a daily basis rotting in the sea and taken by sharks. This is an essential manifestation of being a sovereign country, and there are various reasons that we can look at as to why we should proceed with this bill, the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2019, and with this amendment. The first one is that it is a national security issue. The people of Australia must have faith that the borders will be controlled. Border control is not an easy policy; it is a difficult policy, and there are aspects of it which are very, very unpleasant. For the Australian people to have faith in how our borders are managed, it is critically important that we continue to maintain them. Criminals or non-Australians who do not subscribe to the Australian way of life, which is to obey the law, have no right to remain in this country. So that's the first point. I…
date: 2021-10-20T11:07:00+00:00

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for At Risk Participants) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
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description: I spoke earlier today on the humanitarian aspects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for at Risk Participants) Bill 2021 and the protection of participants...
encoded: I spoke earlier today on the humanitarian aspects of the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for at Risk Participants) Bill 2021 and the protection of participants from the kinds of disastrous and sickening deaths that we saw in the case of Ms Smith. I would like to continue now on one of the most important aspects of what we've been talking about today. We have been talking about participant experience of the NDIS, affordability and fairness. I'd like to speak for the remainder of my time on affordability and sustainability of the NDIS. As you know, the NDIS was established on a multipartisan basis, and all governments continue to share a firm commitment to achieving positive outcomes for all people with disability. We cannot ignore the fact that there are serious sustainability pressures facing the NDIS. The NDIS is funded by all states and territories and the Commonwealth, and that's an important point. Disability ministers commissioned work in August 2021, at the disability reform ministers' meeting, to develop an NDIS sustainability work plan to address sustainability pressures. The NDIS does need reform, but this can be done only by working together as a federation. We recognise that the scheme needs to continue to improve so that it can be fairer and more consistent for the future. The cost of the NDIS continues to increase at a much higher rate than was ever expected, which means that it's now facing sustainability challenges. All governments have made a commitment to tackling these issues, while ensuring that every eligible Australian who relies upon the NDIS continues to receive the support they need. This is about continuing NDIS growth but doing so sustainably. Both the number of participants and the scheme's overall budget will continue to grow, and NDIS participants with significant and permanent disability will continue to receive the reasonable and necessary support that they need. I would remind the opposition of their…
date: 2021-10-19T18:33:00+00:00

COVID-19: Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | Senate debates
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description: I have to admit that I found the MPI in its written form somewhat confusing, and Senator Gallagher has now clarified it a little bit. I thought that it had something to do with the Doherty...
encoded: I have to admit that I found the MPI in its written form somewhat confusing, and Senator Gallagher has now clarified it a little bit. I thought that it had something to do with the Doherty modelling. The Doherty modelling lies at the centre of everything that we're doing, but I think I may have missed any reference that she may have made to that. We are in a process of opening up safely, and I don't accept that we are less than transparent in what we're doing. We've all made sacrifices. It has taken a personal toll on Senator Gallagher, and we're aware of that, and I'm very sensitive to that. I have been a user of those same hospitals that Senator Gallagher was talking about, for uses other than COVID. In March of this year, when I started using them, I sent thanks both to Senator Gallagher—who was responsible, in her previous iteration, for the extraordinary cancer set-up that we have in the ACT—and to Senator Seselja, as someone who has worked in the ACT. So the hospitals are in use by others, and there will be a call on them. There is lots of information being shared. I don't want to trivialise the virus in any way, shape or form. I would be terrified as a parent if I had to nurse any of my children through this period of time. Senator Gallagher counsels us to be careful not to scaremonger, and that's very, very important. That's why accurate information is so important. Let's get the facts and the plans right. Let's not be paranoid about this. Let's not push it too hard. Let's get it right before we release the facts. We are in a process of suppressing the virus and delivering the vaccine. If there were something fundamentally wrong with what we're doing, we wouldn't see the results that we are seeing at the moment, which are quite extraordinary. Senator Gallagher mentioned the fact that we are vaccinating people at a quite phenomenal rate. Australia's first-dose vaccination rate is now higher than the rate in the US; it's higher than the rate in Germany; it's h…
date: 2021-10-19T16:07:00+00:00

National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for At Risk Participants) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | Senate debates
type: item
description: I start by acknowledging the feeling and the passion behind the contributions that have been made so far by all senators in this debate. There's a lot of similarity between this debate and the...
encoded: I start by acknowledging the feeling and the passion behind the contributions that have been made so far by all senators in this debate. There's a lot of similarity between this debate and the stillbirth issue that we dealt with so well many, many years ago. There is so much agreement on all of this because there needs to be agreement on so much of this. We've heard Senator Farrell speak, and he said that fundamentally Labor agrees with this bill, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Improving Supports for At Risk Participants) Bill 2021. They have some differences, but generally they agree with it. We have heard Senator Steele-John speak remotely, and the people that he represents—the people who know the NDIS because they are participants in the NDIS—are telling him certain things, and the intention is to make this situation much, much better. Again, Senator Hughes knows this issue from top to bottom and, as we all say to her, she could talk for days on this particular issue. Of course, Senator Griff took us through some of the appalling, sad, terrible details and agreed with Senator Hughes that the situation that applied to Ms Ann-Marie Smith was an incredible situation, and not just that; it was sad and unforgivable. As Senator Smith said, it was sickening. It's something which we cannot allow in this nation of ours or in the legislation that we put in place, which the parliament uses to express its humanity in respect of this situation. Let me try and put some context to this bill. The objective of the bill really revolves around the fact that it will strengthen the support and protections for people with disability by ensuring a clear and effective legislative basis for the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commissioner's powers, for his or her compliance and enforcement arrangements, for the provider registration provisions and for efficient information sharing across government and government agencies. So that's the objective of the bill. I think wha…
date: 2021-10-19T13:18:00+00:00

Covid-19 | Questions without Notice | Senate debates
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description: Minister, what further measures will help to ensure confidence in our economic recovery and secure Australia's reopening in a safe and responsible way?
encoded: Minister, what further measures will help to ensure confidence in our economic recovery and secure Australia's reopening in a safe and responsible way?
date: 2021-10-18T14:13:00+00:00