Less than two weeks before contract negotiations are supposed to have been concluded for providing Australia’s international TV service, it’s been revealed negotiations are yet to begin, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The ABC’s current five-year Australia Network contract worth about $20 million per annum with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade…
DetailsCommunications Minister Stephen Conroy, representing the Minister for Water, has refused to allow officials from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) to provide a copy of a contentious email to a Senate Estimates hearing in Canberra today. Peter Cosier from the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists emailed his resignation from a position on the…
DetailsThe Australian Greens yesterday abandoned any pretence of not sharing power in a Labor-Greens Government or that they care about climate change or both, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It follows an extraordinary and unprecedented virtual ‘no show’ from the five Greens Senators for a key Parliamentary scrutiny…
DetailsPeople wanting to know more about climate change should dust off their best crockery and polish their cutlery, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It follows revelations in Senate Budget Estimates late yesterday that ‘kitchen table discussions’ are to be held as part of a $6 million program of…
DetailsThe credibility of the Gillard Government’s promise to deliver a budget surplus in 2012-13 has been undermined by the refusal of its Finance Minister to guarantee the carbon tax won’t erode it or wipe it out altogether, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Simon Birmingham said today. The Government has previously stated the impact of the…
DetailsLabor’s promise that more than 50 per cent of carbon tax revenue will go to households has been exposed as yet another carbon tax hoax, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It is now clear Labor is counting fuel tax offsets in its commitment to spend more than half…
DetailsThe removal of regulators in the Goolwa Channel in the lower reaches of the River Murray has long been overdue, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. It follows today’s announcement of $9 million in federal funding for their removal. “These regulators were supposed to have softened the impact of drought…
DetailsSenator Joyce and Senator Birmingham called on the Government to refocus its efforts on the Murray-Darling following the resignation of Rob Freeman, CEO of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. “We all know that the Government has completely mishandled this process from day one,” said Senator Joyce today. “It is extremely distressing for all…
DetailsThe Gillard Government’s Leader in the Senate has today refused to confirm its commitment to budget neutrality for its planned carbon tax, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. “The Government’s shelved ‘Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme’ (CPRS) was forecast to run at an annual deficit of up to $1.6 billion[1],”…
DetailsLast night’s budget confirms that the Government’s commitment to real change in the Murray-Darling Basin is lukewarm at best said Senator Barnaby Joyce and Senator Simon Birmingham today. “It’s now almost 3 years since Labor launched its Water for the Future reform. Since then its record has been nothing but delay and disaster. “Last…
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