$325 million promised by Labor for regional communications has vanished from the budget, leaving regional Australia with little hope of seeing improved services, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Under questioning in Senate Budget Estimates today it was revealed that of the $400 million interest earned by the former Communications Fund and promised…
DetailsSupposed extra funding for SBS might be little more than an accounting trick, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The Rudd Government claimed in its recent budget that it was allocating additional funding of $20 million over three years to SBS. However, in Senate Budget Estimates today it was revealed that the Government…
DetailsCoalition, Greens and Independent Senators have today expressed unusually strong and united opposition to the Victorian Government’s Sugarloaf Pipeline now under construction, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The parties have taken the rare step of issuing a consensus dissenting report to the Government-controlled majority report for the Senate inquiry into the Water Amendment…
DetailsThe failure to include water issues and management of the Murray-Darling Basin on the agenda for tomorrow’s COAG meeting will cost taxpayers millions in legal fees, according to Liberal Senator for South Australia Simon Birmingham. The Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meets in Hobart tomorrow. “With South Australia threatening to take Victoria…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham said members of the public with a Centrelink, Child Support or Medicare enquiry needn’t bother turning up to Steve Georganas’s office any more after the Minister for Human Services scrapped a vital program. “Anyone who goes into Steve Georganas’s office with a Centrelink, Child Support or Medicare enquiry will now…
DetailsPlans by the Prime Minister to talk about alcohol warning labels at the COAG meeting in Adelaide today but not the River Murray just aren’t good enough according to South Australian Senator Simon Birmingham. “Making alcohol producers put warning labels on their products is an easy decision for a Prime Minister looking for…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham today called on Communications Minister Stephen Conroy to publicly confirm he will not unnecessarily delay signing off on a business plan to deliver a new high speed wireless broadband network to rural Australia. Optus and Elders joint venture OPEL’s business plan for building its wholesale broadband network in regional and…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham has called on the Member for Wakefield, Nick Champion, to speak for himself and not try to put words into the mouths of others. Responding to a press release issued by Mr Champion, Senator Birmingham said that Mr Champion needed to be careful his party’s industrial relations reforms don’t sell…
DetailsA truly independent panel must be appointed to select future Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) Board members, Senator Simon Birmingham today. A so-called “independent panel” is planned to provide Communications Minister Stephen Conroy with a shortlist for board vacancies as part of Labor’s election policies, a scheme similar to the BBC’s board appointment process.…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham today expressed disappointment at revelations the Rudd Labor Government had broken election commitments in relation to the National Plan for Water Security to the tune of at least $85 million. Water Minister Penny Wong today told a Senate Additional Estimates committee that despite an election commitment to bring forward to…
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