House debates

Tuesday, 28 October 2014

  • Condolences (0 speeches)
    • Whitlam, Hon. Edward Gough, AC, QC (29 speeches)
      Let me end on a personal note. I was born in 1972. When my mother's pregnancy reached the nine-month mark she pinned an 'It's time' badge onto the part of her shirt that covered her belly....
  • Ministerial Statements (0 speeches)
  • Committees (0 speeches)
    • Public Works Committee; Reference (1 speech)
      I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the Public Works Committee Act 1969, the following proposed work be referred to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works for...
    • Agriculture and Industry Committee; Report (1 speech)
      Yesterday in this House on behalf of the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Industry I presented A clearer message for consumers: report on the inquiry into country of origin labelling for...
    • Economics Committee; Report (4 speeches)
      On behalf of the Standing Committee on Economics I present the committee's report entitled Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia annual report 2013 (third report), together with the minutes of...
    • Economics Committee; Reference to Federation Chamber (1 speech)
      I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to.
    • Treaties Committee; Report (2 speeches)
      Is always a pleasure to follow the member for Higgins. On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the committee's report 144, entitled Treaty tabled on 14 July 2014. Report...
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Statements by Members (0 speeches)
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      Over 60 per cent of metro students say they are keen to go to university, compared with only 32 per cent from regional and remote communities. There is already a divide between city and country...
    • Higgins Electorate: Relay for Life (1 speech)
      Relay for Life was started in 1985 by US surgeon, Dr Gordy Klatt, who spent 24 hours circling a running track in Tacoma, Washington, raising over US$27,000 for cancer research—proving that...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      I rise to report to the House the opposition I am finding among the local community of Lalor to this government's planned, cruel changes to higher education. The changes will see 20 per cent cuts...
    • Bushfires (1 speech)
      This week is Bushfire Action Week, when we remind all South Australians to prepare for the fire danger season by knowing the risks, preparing their properties and knowing how to stay informed. I...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      I am pleased to join my colleagues, the member for Bendigo and the member for Lalor, in condemning the Abbott government's unfair changes to universities and in voicing the concerns of so many in...
    • Mallee Electorate (1 speech)
      One of the great things about this place is that it is the people's house. Last night I put a post on my Facebook page asking, 'What is it you want me to raise in the federal parliament?' The...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      There are many ways this government has failed the people of Australia, but one is the most indefensible and short-sighted—the concerted attack on access to higher education. If the changes...
    • Domestic Violence (1 speech)
      I would like to take this opportunity to talk about an issue that sadly still affects many people in Australia. That issue is domestic violence against women. There are various forms of domestic...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      Today the member for Cunningham and I stand in parliament and challenge the Minister for Education, Christopher Pyne, to come to Wollongong and explain his egregious changes to the higher...
    • Domestic Violence (1 speech)
      I thank my friend the member for Petrie for raising an important issue. Recently I attended a forum hosted by the Central Coast Domestic Violence Committee. This committee consists of community...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      A couple of weeks ago I attended the University of Technology, Sydney graduation ceremony. I went there to see a young Vietnamese girl graduate with first class honours in law and a high...
    • Fiscal Policy (1 speech)
      There has obviously been a strategy being worked by the opposition, where every speaker suddenly has this passion about higher education. But the debt levels that they talk about are debt levels...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      I do not believe I would be standing in this chamber today making this speech about higher education had it not been for the changes that Gough Whitlam introduced in the seventies to allow access...
    • Deakin Electorate: Our Lady of Perpetual Help Primary School (1 speech)
      I rise today to pay tribute to the hard-working parents, friends and parishioners of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Primary School and Parish in Ringwood, who last weekend held their annual...
    • Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (1 speech)
      It gives me great pleasure today to welcome into this Australian Parliament House six very special people: four women leaders from the Torres Strait Islands and two women who are their trainers....
    • Cancer (1 speech)
      I rise to acknowledge the efforts over the weekend of the organising committee and participants in the Murraylands Relay for Life held at the Sturt Reserve Murray Bridge that I had the privilege...
    • Higher Education (1 speech)
      We have heard a lot of spin and slogans from the government about their broken promise on university fee deregulation. We have heard the Minister for Education claim that 'students will always be...
    • Conaghan, Mrs Lynise (1 speech)
      I wish to pay tribute to a mother from an isolated cattle property in Central Queensland who has been named in the nation's top 100 women of influence for 2014. Lynise Conaghan of Barmount...
    • Higher Education (6 speeches)
      Bella, a 17-year-old Perth girl, contacted me recently to describe the impact that the massive increases in university fees and funding cuts have already had on her. Bella is an energetic,...
    • Mackenzie, Mrs Dawn (2 speeches)
      Dawn Mackenzie was 70 when she died last Monday, 20 October 2014. She was a warm and generous person, well respected and an icon of the bush. Born on a property near Baralaba, she spent her...
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Fuel Prices (11 speeches)
      Madam Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's gutless decision today to ambush motorists with a new $2.2 billion petrol tax with no mandate from the...
    • G20 Meeting (9 speeches)
      Madam Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on developments associated with the G20?
    • Fuel Prices (4 speeches)
      I apologise; I am a new member! Madam Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's decision to ambush motorists with a $2.2 billion petrol tax with no mandate...
    • Economy (8 speeches)
      Madam Speaker, my question is to the Treasurer. Will the Treasurer outline the importance of addressing the debt and deficit burden facing Australia? How will cutting debt and reducing the...
    • Private Health Insurance (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. I refer to the Treasurer's comments this morning that the coalition previously 'let pass through the parliament Labor's changes to make the private health...
    • Paid Parental Leave (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. If we want women to fully participate in the workforce we need to allow them to do so. Paid Parental Leave only deals with the immediate afterbirth needs....
    • Carbon Pricing (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Will the minister inform the House of the savings that have been passed on to families and businesses in the Deakin electorate and elsewhere...
    • Fuel Prices (5 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's decision today to ambush Australian motorists with a new $2.2 billion petrol tax with no mandate from the Australian people...
    • Higher Education (2 speeches)
      My question to the Minister for Education: would the minister inform the House how the government's higher education reforms will improve the quality of Australian universities and spread...
  • Distinguished Visitors (0 speeches)
    • (1 speech, 1 comment)
      I wish to advise the House that we have with us in the chamber and in the Speaker's gallery the Speaker of Malawi, the Hon. Richard Msowoya. We also have a visit from the Speaker from Norfolk...
  • Questions without Notice (0 speeches)
    • Fuel Prices (7 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's decision to ambush Australian motorists with a new $2.2 billion petrol tax, with no mandate from the Australian people and no...
    • Iraq and Syria (2 speeches)
      My question is for the Minister for Foreign Affairs. Will the minister advise the House how the government is preventing young people from being radicalised and travelling overseas to fight in...
    • Budget (11 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister's unfair budget already means a single income family with children will be around $6,000 worse off every year. As if that is not enough,...
    • Asylum Seekers (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection. Will the minister explain to the House how the government is successfully ending the people-smuggling trade. Are there any...
    • Goods and Services Tax (16 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Agriculture. Minister, given the Prime Minister's failure to rule out a GST on food, just how much will a lamb roast cost with the introduction of a GST?
    • National Security (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Justice. Will the minister explain to the House how the government is supporting the work of the Australian Federal Police at our international airports to keep...
    • Goods and Services Tax (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the election, the Minister for Education said: Tony Abbott has said it, I've said it, Joe Hockey has said it, Julie Bishop has said it, there will be...
    • Broadband (2 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Communications. Will the minister update the House on the progress of the National Broadband Network in my home state of Victoria and on steps the government is...
    • Higher Education (18 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's plans to Americanise our universities. Given that the Prime Minister is already saddling Australian students with a debt...
    • Vocational Education and Training (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Assistant Minister for Education. How will the government ensure effective skills and trade training for students in Australia? Why is a consistent approach to training...
    • Budget (5 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. Before the last election, the Prime Minister promised Australians no increases to taxes. Now millions of Australians are being slugged with a GP tax, a...
    • Building and Construction Industry (9 speeches)
      My question is to the Minister for Education, representing the Minister for Employment. Will the minister explain why it is important to restore respect for the rule of law on building and...
    • Higher Education (8 speeches)
      My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to NATSEM modelling which shows that under the Prime Minister's plan to saddle Australians with a debt sentence, a Victorian nursing student would...
    • Goods and Services Tax (10 speeches)
      My question is to the Treasurer. Can the Treasurer advise the House of any recent government modelling on changes to the GST?
  • Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
    • (3 speeches)
      Madam Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.
  • Questions without Notice: Additional Answers (0 speeches)
  • Personal Explanations (0 speeches)
    • Agriculture (6 speeches)
      I wish to make a personal explanation.
  • Questions to the Speaker (0 speeches)
    • Questions in Writing (1 speech)
      In accordance with standing order 105(b) I ask that you write to the Minister for Social Services seeking reasons for the delay in answering questions in writing. The relevant questions appear as...
  • Statement by the Speaker (0 speeches)
    • Potential Matter of Privilege (1 speech)
      Yesterday, the Manager of Opposition Business raised with me, as a potential matter of privilege, whether the Hansard record of an answer provided by the Minister for Agriculture, last week on 20...
  • Documents (0 speeches)
    • Presentation (1 speech)
      Documents are presented as listed in the schedule circulated to honourable members. Details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings.
  • Motions (0 speeches)
  • Matters of Public Importance (0 speeches)
    • Higher Education (24 speeches)
      I have received a letter from the honourable the Leader of the Opposition proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely: The Prime...
  • Committees (0 speeches)
  • Bills (0 speeches)
  • Adjournment (0 speeches)
    • Grayndler Electorate: Norton Street Festa, Millers Point Public Housing (1 speech)
      Last weekend I was very honoured to attend once again the Norton Street Festa, an Italian community festival at Leichhardt in my electorate. As I wandered among the stalls and greeted old friends...
    • Dang, Mr Dieu Xuan (1 speech)
      I take this opportunity tonight to speak about the arrest and imprisonment in Vietnam of Dang Xuan Dieu. Dieu was arrested on 30 July 2011 and charged with attempting to overthrow the government...
    • Melbourne Electorate: University High School (1 speech)
      There are some amazing people in Melbourne. On Friday night I attended the University High valedictory assembly together with Ellen Sandell, our Greens candidate for Melbourne in the upcoming...
    • Suicide (1 speech)
      Throughout October the issue of mental health has been highlighted, not least with World Mental Health Day on 10 October. There are a wide range of mental health conditions, but I rise today to...
    • Broadband (2 speeches)
      Before the last election Tony Abbott promised to trash Labor's NBN, and that is a promise he has kept. Labor's NBN was due to be under construction in the suburbs around Parramatta right...
    • HIV/AIDS (2 speeches)
      Thank you, Madam Speaker, and may I wish you a happy birthday for yesterday. I would like to speak about what I think is one of the great health tragedies of our time, and that is the subject of...