When the PM flies for free she goes to Rio… de Janeiro (but with more than 50 companions and costing taxpayers $850,000+)

  Australian taxpayers have footed a bill approaching $1 million to send an extravagant 52 person delegation to a single three-day conference in Brazil, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.   Details of the size and cost of Australia’s attendance at the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, in Rio de…

Doorstop interview, Parliament House, Canberra – Labor’s soap opera; Labor’s attack on free speech; National Broadband Network

  SIMON BIRMINGHAM: The Labor Party, through their internal wrangling, seems to be doing their best to destroy the old political adage that your worst day in government is always better than your best day in opposition. This Government is managing to tear itself apart from the inside and demonstrating to the rest of the…

Doorstop interview, Parliament House – Murray-Darling Basin reform; the Government’s proposed media reforms; federal election; Labor leadership

  SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Can I start by noting that today is the final day for potential disallowance of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan? That means that this Plan, this historic reform, will come into law, will take effect and will be an important mechanism to improve the management of the Murray-Darling after, frankly, 120 years of…

Breakfast, ABC Radio National

  FRAN KELLY: Well, the Prime Minister says her Government is open to, quote, ‘sensible suggestions’ from the media industry over its reform bills* but it won’t be, quote, ‘cross trading or horse trading’ with key crossbenchers who are withholding their support. Coalition frontbencher Simon Birmingham is a member of both of the Parliamentary committees…