SENATOR BIRMINGHAM:(South Australia) (17:00): I want to commence my contribution to this debate with a quote: You do not just need to be here in this chamber to realise how arrogant and out of touch this government has become, with the ramming through of legislation, ridiculously tight deadlines for legislation, changing the sitting pattern all…
DetailsSENATOR BIRMINGHAM: (South Australia) (20:57): I am pleased to speak on the National Water Commission Amendment Bill 2012. The National Water Commission was established in 2005 by the coalition government led by Prime Minister Howard. At that stage Mr Anderson was the Deputy Prime Minister. Both were very cognisant of the importance and significance of…
DetailsCHRIS KENNY: Well, there we have it. After 100 years or so of Federation we’ve still got states and federal governments at loggerheads over the future of the Murray-Darling Basin. I must say we have got bids in to speak to the Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke. He is available but because of various…
DetailsNATASHA STOTT DESPOJA: Well, some of you may have seen that there’s a big debate going on in Federal Parliament yet again about same-sex marriage and two pieces of legislation are being debated in the House of Representatives. Today in the House of Representatives a report came down into the issue and a majority…
DetailsSouth Australians will be paying more for electricity and gas than they should, due to the carbon tax. The rising cost of living is already a challenge for South Australian families and adding another price hike to rising bills is a real blow. The Prime Minister should apologise to South Australian families…
DetailsJULIE DOYLE: Hello and welcome to Capital Hill. I’m Julie Doyle. Politicians, business leaders and unions are gathering in Brisbane for the Prime Minister’s economic forum which starts tonight. It’s a busy agenda but will the forum be more than just another talkfest? Joining me today to discuss this, we have Labor Senator Glenn…
DetailsAustralian taxpayers have been owed so much for so long from Labor’s $2.5 billion ‘Pink Batts’ disaster that the Gillard Government is calling in the debt collectors, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. A lingering ‘Pink Batts’ or Home Insulation Program debt of $21.8 million has been detailed by…
DetailsAustralian taxpayers are footing an even bigger bill for Labor’s ballooning carbon tax bureaucracy as a result of a steep hike in building rent, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. Rent for the Canberra building to accommodate the Clean Energy Regulator or ‘carbon cop’ has jumped $1.3 million a…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: A couple of points I want to make today… firstly, Tony Burke has said that he believes this Plan isn’t necessarily the right Plan and that he reserves the right for changes. If Tony Burke has changes in mind to this Plan, he should say right now what those changes are that…
DetailsThe following questions from the Coalition about NBN Co’s current or projected financial, network and operational performance were not answered at Senate Estimates last night. While many of these forecasts and projections will apparently be included in the revised NBN Co three-year Corporate Plan if and when the Government makes this document public,…
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