I commend the amendments. Although the funding was allocated in this year's budget for a PBO, we are now almost three months down the road in the financial year and only now beginning to debate the policy in earnest. It will be astonishing if the PBO is up and running by the end of this…
Paul Lockyer, just 11 days before the horrific crash, visited the township of Grantham, where he was doing a follow-up story. Eleven days beforehand was the last interview that I did with him and I feel sure, though I would need to check the records, that that was the last interview Paul did—the follow-up story…
I rise to lend my support to the Tax Laws Amendment (2011 Measures No. 6) Bill 2011. The bill is not controversial. It is broken up into three segments. The first schedule amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 in order to ensure that certain payments made under the Better Start for Children with Disability…
This bill, the National Health Reform Amendment (National Health Performance Authority) Bill 2011, proposes to establish a statutory authority known as the National Health Performance Authority. It introduces amendments to the National Health and Hospitals Network Act 2011, which was only passed by the House on 21 March this year. The National Health and Hospitals…
I rise to inform the nation and the House of the resilience that the people in my electorate have shown in recent months. Earlier this year in January, we were disastrously impacted by the floods and we lost several lives in my electorate. Resilience has also been shown by the 36 dairy farmers who have…
I rise to speak on the Auditor-General Amendment Bill 2011 to amend the Auditor-General Act 1997. The coalition's main concern is that independent contractors will be subject to auditors from the Auditor-General if they receive government contracts. This would create an extra layer of bureaucracy and increase costs and convince many smaller contractors not to…
I sit on the Standing Committee on Economics and this bill seeks to introduce major changes to the relationship between credit providers and consumers in respect of credit cards and home loans. It forms part of the banking reforms announced by the government designed to empower consumers, to support smaller lenders and to secure the…
I rise to congratulate and thank the Logan Country Chamber of Commerce, which recently held an awards night for 120 businesses within the district of Jimboomba in the electorate of Wright. I am so proud of the business and the mindset that these guys are conducting in an environment where the cost-of-living pressures are having…
I rise to speak on the Carbon Credits (Carbon Farming Initiative) Bill 2011. The objects clause of the bill states: (1) This section sets out the objects of the Act. Climate Change Convention and Kyoto Protocol (2) The first object of this Act is to implement a certain obligations that Australia has under (a) the…
The four bills contained in this package are the Taxation of Alternative Fuels Legislation Amendment Bill 2011, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Taxation of Alternative Fuels) Bill 2011, the Customs Tariff Amendment (Taxation of Alternative Fuels) Bill 2011 and the Energy Grants (Cleaner Fuels) Scheme Amendment Bill 2011. I just sat and listened to the previous…