KIERAN GILBERT: With me on the program now for the rest of the day’s issues, Parliamentary Secretary to the Prime Minister Ed Husic and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham. Gentlemen, before we start our discussion I want to play you a little of the closing arguments made by the Attorney-General, Mark…
DetailsGREG HUNT: Two days into the job and Kevin Rudd is trying to con the Australian people. Mr Rudd thinks that changing the name of the carbon tax will somehow satisfy the concerns of the Australian people. This election will be a choice. Under the Coalition, there really will be no carbon tax. Under…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: What we’re witnessing from the Labor Party at present is a near condemned house undergoing a dodgy makeover. What we’re seeing is the Labor Party putting a new façade on the condemned house in the name of a new leader with Kevin Rudd and they’re now going to go through a process…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Today in the House of Representatives the Coalition will move to stop Labor from increasing the carbon tax next year. Labor currently plans to increase its carbon tax by 5 per cent next [financial] year and to increase it again in 2014. They further plan to include Australia’s trucking industry in the…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Can I start by congratulating all those in the press gallery responsible for a great event last night at the Midwinter Ball and I hope that my colleagues today will speak perhaps in slightly softer tones in recognition of some of the sore heads that may exist around the gallery. To…
DetailsLYNDAL CURTIS: I’m joined by Labor MP Shayne Neumann and Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham. Welcome to you both. … LYNDAL CURTIS: Simon, you’ve been in the Senate. You would have seen… worked with Trish Crossin. The sorts of things she was talking about… doing a broad range of things… it shows the…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Last night in the Senate, the Government rejected Coalition attempts to provide an option to streamline environmental laws as they relate to coal seam gas. Important new laws are passing the Parliament* as it relates to coal seam gas but the Coalition wants to make sure that we eliminate duplication between the…
DetailsKIERAN GILBERT: This morning, Labor leadership ‘take 20′ in the face of dire polling around the country and immense pressure from Parliamentary and now union colleagues, powerbroker Bill Shorten’s understood to be reconsidering his support for Julia Gillard. His close ally Paul Howes from the Australian Workers’ Union this morning did express his…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Evidence tendered in Senate Estimates has demonstrated that Australians are still paying the price from some of this Government’s major schemes in its early days. More than $28 million of bad debts have been incurred as a result of the Government’s disastrous green programs, in particular the disastrous ‘Pink Batts’ program [Home…
DetailsLUKE GRANT: Now, I want to follow up on these green schemes and, in particular, solar panel installations because I was astounded to learn that at Senate Estimates on Monday, the head* of the Clean Energy Regulator, Andrew Livingston, told the inquiry that, after random checks of 7000 solar units, 19 per cent were…
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