The SPEAKER ( Hon. Tony Smith ) took the chair at 12:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
Major Bank Levy Bill 2017
Bill and explanatory memorandum presented by Mr Morrison.
Bill read a first time.
That this bill be now read a second time.
Treasury Laws Amendment (Major Bank Levy) Bill 2017
That this bill be now read a second time.
Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors Online) Bill 2017
ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy Bill 2017
ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Collection) Bill 2017
ASIC Supervisory Cost Recovery Levy (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2017
…prioritised revenue and fee generation over the delivery of advice and services paid for by their customers.
…advisers were allowed to have many more ongoing advice customers on their books than they would have been able to monitor or advise on an annual basis. For example, some advisers had many hundreds of customers—often having 'inherited' these customers, and the stream of fee revenue, from other advisers who had departed from the licensee.
That these bills be now read a third time.
Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Minors Online) Bill 2017
New forms of communication mean we need new laws to protect our children … Research conducted by the Office of the Children's eSafety Commissioner showed that teenagers spend 33 hours per week online outside of school …
… In cyberspace, we cannot stand by their side as they explore the world. We cannot always set rules and curfews, because our kids can be sitting safe in their rooms even while they are in danger.
This bill is an attempt to address some of the techniques used by online predators, so that we can put an additional safeguard in place for our children.
This represents an extraordinary extension of criminal liability and there is a real risk that benign or otherwise unobjectionable conduct may be caught by the proposed offence.
… parties will reach preference deals in order to maximise their chances of success.
The truth is that our power station fleet is very old.
The replacement is very unlikely to be new coal-fired power.
… a small parish primary school that is opposite housing commission flats, where parents are making sacrifices to send their kids to this school ... 10 per cent of the kids are on healthcare cards … they are saying—
that it is richer than Geelong Grammar. That is how flawed this system is.
The Government’s failure to plan for the future by investing in nation building infrastructure.
… construction period (2013/14 to 2019/20) … The contribution is estimated to be in the order of $715M each;
Hence a substantial public funding contribution is required to deliver Inland Rail.
We cannot identify any currently proposed infrastructure projects which are commercially viable and not already attracting finance; therefore we cannot see how the IFU will increase the pace of infrastructure project delivery; …
Well that’s not right Ellen. Take WestConnex for example, we funded the work in terms of planning. $25 million was already spent from us and $1.8 billion was included in last year’s budget for the WestConnex project.
We provided $25 million for planning, Fran, that’s the whole point. They say they support planning, we provided $25 million, not for construction, not a dollar, did we provide for construction.
Inland Rail is a true game-changer and we commend the Government for its commitment to such an important nation-building project.
Social Services Legislation Amendment (Energy Assistance Payment and Pensioner Concession Card) Bill 2017
That all the words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words:
"whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House:
1. condemns the Government’s cuts to Australian pensioners;
2. notes that the Government is giving a one-off payment of $75 to single pensioners with one hand, while removing the permanent Energy Supplement of $365 per year from all new pensioners;
3. calls on the Government to drop its unfair cuts to pensioners and vulnerable Australians; and
4. calls on the Government to drop its plan to increase the pension age to 70, the oldest pension age in the world.
I am an aged pensioner and currently renting the premises in which I am residing.
The cost of power has risen significantly.
The cost of heating is a major portion of that cost.
I am sure that many pensioners, even those that own their own homes, are going without adequate heating rather than facing a bill for power that takes up a fortnights income, leaving them with little to cover essentials such as groceries and or medication. I am one of them.
It comes as no surprise to see what the present government is trying to do to people of our age, after telling us for years to save and sacrifice towards retirement, they try and change the game and change the rules. The one thing that gets under our skin is the changing of the retirement age. We think it is disgusting that people who have to work hard all of their lives may now be expected to work until they are 70 years of age. We may have voted them in last time, but it was a first and last time. They have made blunder after blunder, and if what people at that time know, if that's what they are going on, it will be the last time we see this coalition government in.
We would be struggling to have to take a huge increase in power at this time of our lives …
We have to put away nearly 300 [dollars] a fortnight and that's to cover our gas, our power, our water and our rates and that doesn't cover our private health fund or ordinary living expenses. …
We own our own home, we don't have huge debts but even so we can't take huge power increase considering the pension has only gone up $5 a fortnight each.
If you're careful with your money you can survive but … you can't afford to waste it …
… rather than applying only to new income support claimants, it would apply to anyone who started receiving a payment from 20 September 2016. These people would therefore experience a loss in income. Cessation of the supplement would also create two levels of payment because most existing recipients would continue to receive the supplement. This would create inequity as two people in the same circumstances would receive different rates of payment and would add further complexity to an already complicated income support system.
A clear message from the reaction to the 2014 Budget and the 2016 Election was that the community expects budget measures to be fair and equitable. People are deeply concerned about growing inequality in Australia. It is therefore alarming that the Government is cutting social security payments to those on the lowest incomes by removing the Energy Supplement, including people struggling on Newstart, and at the same time proposing to cut taxes for those on higher incomes.
… lavish government subsidies plus the structure of electricity network tariffs means that the cost of solar PV take-up has outweighed the benefits by almost $10 billion.
… purchasing, installing and maintaining the solar PV systems—
until 2030 will cost $18.7 billion, outweighing the benefits by more than double.
Given the current electricity prices and uncertainty around future supply, we need to consider options for shutting our smelter and refinery [and] ship copper anodes direct to market and/or refine at one of our other plants offshore.
… the investment environment in Australia has materially changed. The current uncertainty and escalating costs do not support further investment in these assets at this time.
… anyone who currently has a Pensioner Concession Card will continue to receive a concession card that provides the same benefits …
Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery.
The globalisation of LGBT rights, including the legalisation of same-sex marriage in the United States, also contributes to the rise of anti-LGBT attitudes … Most of the anti-LGBT arguments revolve around westernisation, and how we have to counter westernisation of our country. This is the number one reason behind it.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Wicks ) took the chair at 12:15.
Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2017-2018
Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2017-2018
Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2017-2018
How does Mr Turnbull expect construction workers, nurses and farmers to work until they’re 70? He’s completely out of touch.
Casual work — the requirements to obtain causal work is almost impossible, you have older retirement age and young adults (school leavers) in the workforce and university students, and stores are going automated. Penalty rates and stagnant wages.
I think working for the dole is no good and you should bring back free education and healthcare. The youth allowance is not enough to live on.
Keeping university affordable. Making jobs available to people over 18 years old. Ensuring that young people aren't paying more so baby boomers can earn more – accountability.
Plans to combat the increasingly obvious underpayment of students in the hospitality and service industries. I'm referring specifically to the Fairfax investigation published late last year, highlighting the prolific exploitation of young workers by supposedly 'great local businesses' in the Illawarra area.
I think Mr Turnbull should realise that what he believes what will help the nation Australia will actually make it much worse for the future. I think also, if no one will reverse these damages, then we will have more hungry homeless people living in our land, which would be us all, and the only housing we would afford will be tents. And also if education will rise up more, then we will have no future for our country because no one can afford an education to lead us forward. No jobs + no money + no education = no future.
Fair penalty rates. Fish and chip shops have to pay $35ph while maccas get away with $22. This is how our businesses die.
Affordability of housing in the city is becoming so high that most university or TAFE students cannot hope to work, study full time and live comfortably. As a commuting student, I believe youth wages need to be reviewed.
Minimum rate of pay is too low making it impossible to break into the housing market. Competition in the local housing market and fake inflation by real estate agents makes it impossible to buy your first home/apartment …
I have recently completed a 2 year TAFE course and was unlucky enough to start in a year that it went from $1200 to $12000 a year. The way things are, I'm worried about the education of the children of the future …
To put it simply Wollongong TAFE if not the whole TAFE system is a complete circus. Soon to come out of my time as an apprentice I know the future isnt that bright, with only 1 4th year apprentice last year securing a full time job out of 10. Some got casual work but how am I meant to get a house loan with a casual job, or any job? Maybe i should of just gone to uni and avoided the TAFE system, racked up a massive hex debt and never find a well paying job so all the thoughtful tax payers have to pay my debt off for me.
Penalty rates being slashed — pretty obvious why this is a bad thing. Rising TAFE and Uni costs - It's important to improve the accessibility and affordability of education.
My generation will never be able to afford a property if the market continues the way it is.
… we need real, immediate action on climate change. Stop putting profits before people and our environment. NSW is our worst state for renewable energy. This deeply saddens me. We could be leaders …
Increasing the pension age to 70 is a measure that we remain committed to …
One of the most urgent challenges of our time is climate change …
The proportion of Tasmania's population with a bachelor's degree or higher is 6.2 percentage points below the national average, while the proportion of the population with no qualification beyond Year 10 of high school is 10.4 percentage points above the national average.
Higher levels of educational participation and attainment won't solve all of Tasmania's economic and social challenges — but they will make them less difficult to solve, not least by sustainably increasing the resources which can be used to solve them …
A man was trapped in his house during a flood. He began praying to God to rescue him. He had a vision in his head of God's hand reaching down from heaven and lifting him to safety. The water started to rise in his house. His neighbour urged him to leave and offered him a ride to safety. The man yelled back, "I am waiting for God to save me." The neighbour drove off in his pick-up truck.
The man continued to pray and hold on to his vision. As the water began rising in his house, he had to climb up to the roof. A boat came by with some people heading for safe ground. They yelled at the man to grab a rope they were ready to throw and take him to safety. He told them that he was waiting for God to save him. They shook their heads and moved on.
The man continued to pray, believing with all his heart that he would be saved by God. The flood waters continued to rise. A helicopter flew by and a voice came over a loudspeaker offering to lower a ladder and take him off the roof. The man waved the helicopter away, shouting back that he was waiting for God to save him. The helicopter left. The flooding water came over the roof and caught him up and swept him away. He drowned.
When he reached heaven and asked, "God, why did you not save me? I believed in you with all my heart. Why did you let me drown?" God replied, "I sent you a pick-up truck, a boat and a helicopter and you refused all of them. What else could I possibly do for you?"
You can do whatever you like …
But if they’re going home and getting bashed at night, if they’re going home and they are starving, they’re going to reoffend. That is the reality.
A budget crisis looms because the Turnbull government is asking ordinary households and workers to do the heavy lifting of budget repair by paying higher income taxes as company taxes and wages sag, top budget experts say.
The 2017 budget is built on heroic assumptions about company taxes and wages growth returning to pre-global financial crisis levels, and the burden will instead fall on wage and salary earners who will have to pay higher effective income tax rates … to close the gap.
Our chamber board has been actively keeping in touch with many flood-affected business owners and we are desperately worried about many of them due to the lack of suitable financial assistance available and the inconsistencies and barriers that exist to access funding and other financial support.
The ability of our businesses to recover is integral to the long-term recovery of our town as a whole.
I recommend that you do not enter into financial commitments or begin any construction work on the project until such time as a Deed of Agreement has been signed with the Australian Government.
After appointing a qualified testing provider, the ACCC will commence the program in May 2017 …
That orders of the day Nos 2 and 3, government business, be postponed until a later hour this day.
With growth forecast to continue, investment is urgently needed in landside infrastructure to allow access to these gateways.
The WestConnex project had not proceeded fully through the established processes to assess the merits of nationally significant infrastructure investments prior to Australian Government funding being committed. This situation was identified in departmental advice to decision makers prior to decisions being taken.
I think the comparison is pretty clear. A lot of our city students have the opportunity when they’re living in a metropolitan area to live at home and attend university. A lot of our regional students don’t, so they’ll be the types of things we’re discussing.