DAVID LIPSON: Well, it’s been a while since we’ve seen Labor MP Craig Thomson on the doors of Parliament House arguing the Government’s case but today he felt that he was on a winner after a letter was sent to him this week from the Opposition, courting his vote on the matter of superannuation.…
Australian taxpayers have been informed that the late Home Insulation Program has cost them an estimated $2.156 billion in installation and clean up over four years. Final costs and written off bad debts associated with the disastrous program have been detailed by Climate Change departmental officials at Senate Estimates under questioning from Shadow…
Boosting public service productivity is apparently as simple as installing expensive coffee machines, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It follows confirmation from the Clean Energy Regulator in Senate Estimates today, under questioning from Senator Birmingham, that the installation of eight ‘Nespresso’ coffee machines at a cost of $20,175…
Climate Change bureaucrats have today confirmed that Europe will effectively set the rate of the carbon tax adding to Australians’ electricity bills, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It follows carbon tax redesign and linkage with the European Union announced by the Gillard Government in August. The announced…
Department of Climate Change officials have confirmed today that a tender is underway for the purchase of a stainless steel wine cabinet to be housed in the Department’s plush new building’s executive dining room. Under questioning by Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham in Senate Estimates, Departmental Secretary Mr Blair Comley…
ANNABELLE HOMER: Well, pressure is being put on the South Australian Government to justify why so much Federal Government money was invested to increase the size of the desal plant. Federal Coalition spokesperson for the Murray-Darling Basin Simon Birmingham is calling for the Commonwealth Auditor-General to investigate this further. The Federal Government invested $228…
BELINDA HEGGEN: What an end to a tumultuous day in Federal Parliament yesterday, of course, which finished off in grand style last night I was glued to ABC 24 last night with the shock resignation of controversial Speaker Peter Slipper, but only hours after fierce debate in which the Prime Minister and…
South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill should apologise for misguided remarks attacking irrigators over Murray-Darling Basin water use, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. Mr Weatherill has suggested farmers suffering stock loss and property damage as a result of any flooding associated with increased environmental flows in the Basin do not deserve compensation.…
The Coalition welcomes the release of today’s hydrologic modelling report. We hope it will assist the state and federal governments to end the bickering and reach some agreement around this important reform. The Coalition remains committed to Murray-Darling reform that delivers a triple bottom line that considers economic, environmental and social sustainability…
The Auditor-General should investigate the provision of hundreds of millions of dollars in Commonwealth grants for a mothballed desalination plant, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham’s letter* to Auditor-General Ian McPhee follows the decision last week to place the $1.8 billion Adelaide Desalination Plant ‘in standby mode’ until at…