Senate debates

Wednesday, 31 August 2016

Governor-General's Speech

Address-in-Reply

12:31 pm

Photo of John WilliamsJohn Williams (NSW, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to contribute to this debate. It is always good to follow Senator Rhiannon when we talk about political donations. It is very interesting that $1.58 million, I believe, was donated by Wotif founder, Graeme Wood, to the Greens for the 2010 election. I wonder about the loyalties there.

The election we just had was about the ABCC, the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Who is voting against it? The Labor Party are and, of course, the Greens are. What is this policy that we want to introduce—which we went to a double dissolution on—about? It is about corruption in the building industry. Deloittes say it costs $6 billion a year through loss of production, rorting and overcharging, whether it be for private buildings or for public sector buildings like hospitals et cetera. Of course, the CFMEU vehemently oppose this. And who donates to the Greens and to the Labor Party? Madam Acting Deputy President Polley, you would be aware of how many hundreds of thousands of dollars the CFMEU have given to the Greens and to the Labor Party. That is just part of the contribution of some $100 million over the last 20 years from the union movement to the Australian Labor Party. We talk about political donations and influence. I wonder why the Greens so vehemently oppose cleaning up corruption in the building industry. Why is that? Do they condone the behaviour? Do they condone the $6 billion worth of rorts?

It was quite amazing to read in the Guardian that, in a recent interview with former Senator Bob Brown on the ABC's 7.30 program, former Senator Bob Brown 'intensified his attack on sitting NSW Greens senator Lee Rhiannon, accusing her of holding the party back, not hitting a chord with voters and introducing factionalism to the party'. Those are pretty powerful words from a former leader, aren't they, Madam Acting Deputy President? The article went on to say:

The power struggle between elements of the NSW party and the other states has long been a feature of internal Green politics but it is increasingly spilling into the public arena—this time ahead of a NSW preselection.

Brown said the NSW Greens party was a 'long term disappointment' which 'lags right behind' and had consistently opposed simple party reforms which the public expected.

'The incumbents in New South Wales—certainly that’s Lee in the Senate—have given great service, but are not hitting a chord with the voters at the moment and we need to move on,' he told the ABC’s 7.30 program.

That is what he told the ABC's 7.30 program.

Following on from Senator Back's comments here in relation to fires and the CFA, the dispute in Victoria and the union bullying by the Victorian government as we went to the federal election, I have said for years that the biggest problem we have with bushfires in Australia is actually controlling the vegetation, the fuel, in national parks. The Greens, with their great friends the National Parks Association, pursue this policy of locking up and leaving country. When it rains this leads to the fuel level getting higher and higher as the grass grows and then of course it gets struck with lightning and away it goes. We cannot control the heat—although some think we might—and we cannot control the wind, but, to a certain extent, we can control the level of fuel on the ground by allowing grazing and reducing the fuel. Once you get to five or 10 tonnes per hectare of fuel, on a 40 degree day with 50 kilometre winds the fire is uncontrollable—as we saw on Black Saturday, with all that country, a lot of it in national parks, burned and, sadly, with so many lives and houses lost. I remember seeing the story of one bloke who cleared the country around his house and his sheds. I think he faced a $50,000 fine under vegetation laws in Victoria. His house was the only house not burned down. The insurance company should have paid his fine, because they did not have to rebuild his house. He used a common-sense approach to reduce the fuel levels around his house and its surroundings and his house was saved—but, of course, it is wrong to disturb the native vegetation, according to some of the greenies and their policies.

I will go back to the Governor-General's speech yesterday. I am glad the election is over. It was a filthy election campaign. Madam Acting Deputy President, you would have heard things like, 'The coalition government is going to privatise Medicare.' What a load of rot!

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