24/06/2010
My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Senator Sherry. Is the minister aware of the discovery in the United States of the Chinese fruit fly, Drosophila suzukii, or spotted-wing drosophila? Is he also aware that the Chines... ...more
Just when you thought the government could not come up with another bad idea, here comes another one, wham! It is unbelievable—bad idea, after bad idea. It is just extraordinary to watch how many stupid ideas this government can actually come up with. This one is an absolute ripper. What have we got... ...more
I rise tonight to talk about apples. ‘Apples are not apples’—and they certainly are not in this instance. In particular, I want to talk about the Australian apple industry and the potential importation of apples from China. There is a very serious issue looming for the Australian apple industry. It ... ...more
It is always a delight to follow my very good colleague Senator Mason. At the outset, I would like to commend him for the work he has done on this issue. It has been, as he said, a particularly arduous process for nearly a year now. I think it was last May that we started on this process. It has bee... ...more
I would like to very briefly reiterate my earlier comments. The amendment simply says that all regional students should be treated the same. By including the inner regional zone, all regional students should be treated the same. The government has this view that all men are equal but some are more e... ...more
It is an extraordinary situation here. I rise to take note of answers given by Minister Wong. As my very good colleague Senator Ryan referred to in his opening remarks, if it was not so very serious, it would be like a Monty Python skit. And it absolutely is. The government is like the Black K... ...more
I note with interest the contribution from Senator O’Brien on the Food Importation (Bovine Meat Standards) Bill 2010. At the outset he seemed to suggest that we were trying to bring this to a vote today. The senator knows full well that, by agreement, there are no votes in the chamber after 4.... ...more
I rise tonight to make some comments on an issue that I think is top of mind at the moment for people right across the country, and that is paid parental leave. There are varying views on this issue but, when it comes to bringing up children, it is incredibly important because Australia’s futu... ...more
I rise to make some comments on the changes the government is proposing to the private health insurance rebates. The chamber would be well aware that after the introduction of Medicare in 1984 membership of private health funds fell. By 1998, only 30.4 per cent of the population was covered by priva... ...more
I rise, in following my colleagues, to outline our concerns about the relaxation of the importation of beef from countries that have had BSE or, as people would more commonly know it, mad cow disease.
Firstly, I take exception to Senator Sterle’s comment about the comments coming from this... ...more