I welcome the opportunity to follow the speaker from the opposition, the shadow ag minister—thanks, Joel—who is probably one of the few members on the other side of the House who understands the complexities of this bill that is before the House today. The Tax Laws Amendment (2014 Measures No. 1) Bill 2014 quite simply…
I rise to inform the House that, regretfully, in the coming days I will be travelling to Central Queensland to pass my respects to the family and commemorate the passing of someone who I believe to be an icon of the Australian bush—a man whose growth in the industry has known no bounds. I speak…
The Logan Country Chamber of Commerce recently held their annual business excellence awards, designed to acknowledge and celebrate the success and achievements of small businesses in the Logan country community. This year, there were over 100 businesses nominated and nearly 200 people who attended, which speaks volumes for the strength of our local small business…
Mr BUCHHOLZ (Wright—Government Whip) (14:50): My question is to the Minister for Education. What benefits will flow to students as a result of the government's higher education reforms? Mr PYNE (Sturt—Leader of the House and Minister for Education) (14:50): I thank the member for Wright for his question. I can tell him that the higher…
I rise to speak on the Defence Force Retirement Benefits Legislation Amendment (Fair Indexation) Bill 2014 which will deliver this government's election commitment to fairly index Defence Force retirement benefits, Defence Force retirement and death benefits and pensions for recipients aged 55 and over from 1 July 2014. It would be remiss of me not…
There are three cognate bills before us: the Statute Laws Provisions Bill, the Omnibus Repeal Day (Autumn 2014) Bill and the Amending Acts 1901 to 1969 Bill. It is a pleasure to follow the previous speaker, the member for Greenway. In the opening parts of her comments, the member alluded to members of the House…
Just recently I had the pleasure of attending the 16th birthday celebrations for the Logan City community cadets. They were first started in 1998 by a group of parents from the local community which included serving and ex-serving members of the ADF. The Logan cadet unit has an ethos of 'serve, learn and remember'. In…
It is with great pleasure that I rise to speak on the Farm Household Support Bill 2014 and Farm Household Support (Consequential and Transitional Provisions) Bill 2014 this evening in the chamber. Before I speak directly to the bill, it would be remiss of me not to take charge of some of the comments that…
The electorate of Wright is an extraordinary, resilient electorate. Recently, we have suffered floods, but outside that we have also suffered drought. Whilst we have had our times of suffering, there are some operators in the business sector, and particularly in the agricultural sector or with links to that sector, who have excelled beyond expectations…
Mr Deputy Speaker Mitchell, it is good to see you back in the chamber. I know full well that you know the hardship that is going on in the seat of McEwen with the recent fires. I know the thoughts and prayers of the people from my electorate are going out to that electorate. The…