The Rudd Government and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) had demonstrated a very strange set of spending priorities in recent months, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham, as Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts, has today been involved in questioning the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s management in…
DetailsThousands of households could be forced to pay a second time just for access to free-to-air television in a ‘best case’ scenario, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The revelation has come in questioning of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and departmental officials as part of Senate Additional Estimates. “Having already paid to install…
DetailsA key election commitment of the Rudd Government appears to be in disarray and no closer to reality nearly two years after first being promised, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Ongoing delays have already beset the Government’s Green Loans program, details of which were announced on Budget night last May. Questioning in…
DetailsRudd Government assurances that water ripped out of the Murray-Darling Basin and piped to Melbourne would be matched by increased environmental flows appear to have been exposed as baseless, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The proposed extraction of up to 75 billion litres of water a year towards Melbourne’s urban water supply has…
DetailsWater Minister Penny Wong has today described court action threatened by the South Australian Rann Government as hypothetical, but was unable to indicate action being taken to prevent it, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. “Senator Wong today agreed that ideally states would be working together cooperatively and that an open water market would…
DetailsAustralia risks sending jobs overseas under plans to include new “greenhouse triggers” in expanded environment protection legislation, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Coalition Senators are firmly opposed to the greenhouse trigger canvassed in today’s Government-controlled majority report of a Senate committee inquiry into the effectiveness of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act…
DetailsThe leaking of a supposed list of websites blacklisted by the Rudd Government highlights problems with its approach to cyber safety, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham is Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts and through the Estimates process has regularly questioned the Government on…
DetailsThe Rudd Federal Government should use its power to ensure the impact of flooding the Lower Lakes with seawater is assessed independently, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham announced he has written to Environment Minister Peter Garrett urging him to require independent oversight of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared on…
DetailsThe Rudd Government is risking a lack of public confidence in the process surrounding moves to flood the Lower Lakes with sea water, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Under national environmental law, the Rann State Government has been required by Federal Minister Garrett to prepare an EIS on its proposal to open the…
DetailsToday’s appointment of new Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS) Board members has cost too much and taken too long, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Questions asked by Senator Birmingham in recent Senate Additional Estimates revealed the new board appointment process had cost more than $200,000, with the new…
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