SENATOR BIRMINGHAM: (South Australia) (6:32 PM) -I also rise to contribute to this very important discussion on Afghanistan. This is a very sombre and serious debate because it goes to perhaps the most important of all topics that we in this parliament could ever discuss-people’s lives. First and foremost, the decisions made within this parliament…
DetailsSenator Birmingham: (South Australia) (5:15 PM) -Madam Acting Deputy President Kroger, congratulations on your appointment to the office of Acting Deputy President, which I am sure you will fill well. This Labor government simply cannot manage a reform agenda. Anything of substance, anything of note, that they touch just turns into mush, turns into waste,…
DetailsState and Federal Labor Government delays in progressing water saving infrastructure projects across the Murray-Darling Basin have today been confirmed in an independent progress report, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Reform Council progress report has found significant delays in delivering 17 ‘priority projects’ under the…
DetailsA $4.6 million Gillard Government advertising campaign only highlights its failures on water reform, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. Television advertising* has begun screening this week, following last week’s newspaper ads throughout the Basin supposedly promoting the Government’s claimed water initiatives and encouraging people to take part in the current…
DetailsWhat the Government now says it said during the election campaign: “What the Prime Minister said was that we would as a government implement the Murray-Darling Basin Authority plan. That document is the final document that comes out at the end of next year after there has been an opportunity for ministerial intervention,…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Today the Murray-Darling Basin Association [Authority] goes to Narrabri. Tomorrow they go to Moree and St George. The Coalition would like to make an offer. We want to offer Tony Burke a pair, so that he can attend one of these community consultation sessions about this important reform process. This process is too…
DetailsCleaning up the Gillard Government’s insulation disasters has so far cost Australian taxpayers $98 million with the meter still running. The mounting cost of inspections and related rectification work was revealed this evening by departmental officials in Senate Supplementary Budget Estimates under questioning from Senator Simon Birmingham, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment.…
DetailsAustralian taxpayers are paying millions of dollars for round-the-world travel by public servants attending global talks on climate change at a rate of more than one global gathering per week, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. The Gillard Government spent $2.74 million on travel by public servants to attend…
DetailsA last-minute handover of a key economic report will only create further doubt in the minds of stakeholders about the thoroughness of the Murray-Darling Basin reform process under the Gillard Government, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. It was revealed in Senate Estimates this morning, under questioning from Senator Birmingham, that the…
DetailsMARIUS BENSON: Simon Birmingham, has the Government done the right thing by announcing this Parliamentary committee to be headed by Tony Windsor to look at the human impact of cuts in water supplies in the basin to residents in the Basin? SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Well any type of Parliamentary oversight involvement is always welcome,…
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