It is easy to catastrophise electoral outcomes. The byelection loss in Aston was bad for the Liberal Party. Very bad. However, if the messages from this electoral drubbing are heard and the wake-up call seized, then good can come of bad. The impact of changing social and demographic trends sees the Liberal Party holding just one in…
28 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (03:56): It’s no secret that the politics of climate change have frustrated me over my 16 years in this place, bearing witness to debates here, around our country and around the world. Too often I have borne witness to extreme arguments, variously coming…
22 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (10:35): As colleagues have noted, Australians do not change the Constitution of Australia lightly. Only eight of 44 referenda conducted in Australia have been successful, and the last successful referendum was conducted in 1977. Many members of this parliament and many voters were not…
20 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (10:12): I begin by acknowledging all Australian servicemen and servicewomen who served in Iraq and who continue to serve in Iraq—those who have paid a price and for their service and particularly the families of those who have paid that price. We…
20 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (16:33): I move: That, in the opinion of the Senate, the following is a matter of urgency: The need for the Senate to recognise that AUKUS expresses Australia’s ambition for enduring peace and prosperity in our region, and to reject criticism from former…
8 February 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (19:34): Towards the end of last year I welcomed the opportunity to join the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Senator Wong; the Minister for International Development and the Pacific, Mr Conroy; and the shadow minister for international development and the Pacific, Mr McCormack, on…
8 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (10:10): Closing the gap is a powerful concept because it bridges from the symbolic to the practical. The concept of closing the gap is to establish and pursue measurable, verifiable targets to achieve genuine equality in outcomes, in outcomes that are real to…
7 March 2023 Senator BIRMINGHAM (South Australia—Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) (15:42): Ira Lyubarskaya is a young woman, a young university student with dreams and hopes. But Ira is from Mariupol. Ira is one of so many human faces with human stories that have been told as part of the bloody war that…
Monday 6 February, 2023 Condolence Motion – Australian Senate Simon Birmingham: I move that the Senate records its deep sorrow at the death on 16th January 2023 of, Senator Andrew James (Jim) Molan AO DSC, Senator for New South Wales and retired Major General. And places on record its appreciation and gratitude for his service to…
Address to the National Congress, Palikir, Federation States of Micronesia 14 December 2022 Simon Birmingham: Thank you so very much for the opportunity to be here at the People’s House. Mr. Speaker, a parliamentary guy, as you said in your remarks. I thank you, the Deputy Speaker, Chairman, for your welcome to this esteemed place…