The SPEAKER ( Hon. Tony Smith ) took the chair at 12:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.
That Mr Wilkie be appointed a supplementary member of the Standing Committee on the Environment and Energy for the purpose of the committee's inquiry into the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting Amendment (Transparency in Carbon Emission Accounting) Bill 2020.
Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020
I've never really been one to ask for a pity party, but I've been through enough and have seen many friends suffer from complications such as early onset glaucoma to let this one slip. I feel as though I'm being punished for not having decent enough control of my diabetes to not warrant an Ambulance call-out. Please when someone asks how we can improve our system, talk about type 1 and how complications can be prevented.
Can you point me to where this national bushfire recovery fund is in the Portfolio Additional Estimates Statements? I've had a look and I can't find it.
The $2 billion fund is a notional fund …
Could I ask this way: can you just confirm that there is no additional appropriation in the additional estimates statement for this portfolio for the $2 billion?
Correct.
… no challenge poses a greater threat to our future and future generations than a change in climate.
The moment of crisis has come. We can no longer prevaricate.
Climate change creates additional stresses on land, exacerbating existing risks to livelihoods, biodiversity, human and ecosystem health, infrastructure, and food systems
Providers are accustomed to dealing with influenza each winter and are adding to these protocols through the updated COVID-19 guidance from the Department of Health.
We work with a vulnerable group, so every flu season we need to be ready to support these people. It is an evolving situation and we are constantly liaising with health authorities.
… there was no direct involvement by any of your staff members in deciding where the money went in tandem with Bridget McKenzie's staffers?
That the House:
(1) notes that:
(a) at 12.21 pm on 10 April 2019, Senator McKenzie's office sent a letter from Senator McKenzie to the Prime Minister attaching a list of sports rorts projects she intended to approve;
(b) at 8.30 am on 11 April 2019, the election was called and caretaker conventions commenced;
(c) at 8.46 am on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office emailed the approval brief dated 4 April 2019 to Sport Australia with a list of approved projects attached;
(d) according to the Audit Office, between the 12.21 pm email to the Prime Minister's office on 10 April and the 8.46 am email to Sport Australia on 11 April, one project had been removed and one project had been added "at the request of the Prime Minister's office";
(e) at 12.35 pm on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office sent a different list of projects to the Prime Minister's office, with one project removed and nine new projects added;
(f) at 12.43 pm on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office sent the approval brief dated 4 April to Sport Australia with the final revised list of approved projects attached;
(g) the Audit Office found there were emails between the Prime Minister's office and Senator McKenzie's office on 10 and 11 April "sorting out what the final list of approved projects would look like";
(h) the Audit Office confirmed that although Senator McKenzie's approval brief was dated 4 April, the list of approved projects attached to the brief kept changing up until 12.43 pm on 11 April; and
(i) the Prime Minister has repeatedly claimed his office simply passed on information about sports grants and claimed the projects were approved on 4 April, but this new evidence proves beyond doubt:
(i) the Prime Minister was up to his neck in decisions on the corrupt sports rorts scheme;
(ii) the approval brief dated 4 April 2019 kept changing up until 12.43 pm on 11 April; and
(iii) the final list of approved projects wasn't sent to Sport Australia until four hours after the election was called and caretaker conventions commenced; and
(2) therefore, finds this Prime Minister has repeatedly and deliberately misled the Parliament and the Australian people about the corrupt sports rorts scheme.
That so much of the standing orders be suspended as would prevent the Leader of the Opposition from moving the following motion immediately—
That the House:
(1) notes that:
(a) at 12.21 pm on 10 April 2019, Senator McKenzie's office sent a letter from Senator McKenzie to the Prime Minister attaching a list of sports rorts projects she intended to approve;
(b) at 8.30 am on 11 April 2019, the election was called and caretaker conventions commenced;
(c) at 8.46 am on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office emailed the approval brief dated 4 April 2019 to Sport Australia with a list of approved projects attached;
(d) according to the Audit Office, between the 12.21 pm email to the Prime Minister's office on 10 April and the 8.46 am email to Sport Australia on 11 April, one project had been removed and one project had been added "at the request of the Prime Minister's office";
(e) at 12.35 pm on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office sent a different list of projects to the Prime Minister's office, with one project removed and nine new projects added;
(f) at 12.43 pm on 11 April, Senator McKenzie's office sent the approval brief dated 4 April to Sport Australia with the final revised list of approved projects attached;
(g) the Audit Office found there were emails between the Prime Minister's office and Senator McKenzie's office on 10 and 11 April "sorting out what the final list of approved projects would look like";
(h) the Audit Office confirmed that although Senator McKenzie's approval brief was dated 4 April, the list of approved projects attached to the brief kept changing up until 12.43 pm on 11 April; and
(i) the Prime Minister has repeatedly claimed his office simply passed on information about sports grants and claimed the projects were approved on 4 April, but this new evidence proves beyond doubt:
(i) the Prime Minister was up to his neck in decisions on the corrupt sports rorts scheme;
(ii) the approval brief dated 4 April 2019 kept changing up until 12.43 pm on 11 April; and
(iii) the final list of approved projects wasn't sent to Sport Australia until four hours after the election was called and caretaker conventions commenced; and
(2) therefore, finds this Prime Minister has repeatedly and deliberately misled the Parliament and the Australian people about the corrupt sports rorts scheme.
That the Member be no longer heard.
The House divided. [15:00]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
That the Member be no longer heard.
The House divided. [15:04]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
That the question be now put.
The House divided. [15:06]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
The House divided. [15:12]
(The Speaker—Hon. Tony Smith)
The government's failure to adequately support the economy.
… the extended period of unusually slow growth in household incomes has been weighing on household spending …
Australia's economic fundamentals remain very strong and they provide a solid foundation for us to be optimistic about our future.
Rising incomes, low public debt, an affordable welfare state, popular support for mass immigration and a broad consensus on the policies underpinning these things—that is a distant dream in most rich countries. Many Western politicians could scarcely imagine a place that combined them all. Happily, they do not have to, because such a country already exists: Australia. Its economy is arguably the most successful in the rich world.
Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2019-2020
Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2019-2020
Cognate debate.
Consideration resumed of the motion:
That this bill be now read a second time.
to which the following amendment was moved:
That all 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 notes that:
(1) after six years in office the economy is floundering on the Government's watch;
(2) Australians are struggling with stagnant wages, with wage growth stalling further;
(3) net debt has more than doubled under this Government;
(4) the Government does not have a plan to boost wages or growth in the economy; and
(5) it is because of the Government's failures that Australia meets the challenges and uncertainties of the bushfires and coronavirus from a position of weakness, not strength"—
When will work begin on eliminating the dangerous level crossing at Boundary Road in Coopers Plains?
I’m not putting this policy forward because I’m aware of any corrupt conduct—if I was, I would report it.
Well, it's an integrity commission, it's investigating matters of integrity. That doesn't necessarily mean criminal offences.
That's just not correct. So, integrity commissions or corruption commissions or whatever they're called, investigate things which are written into statute as offences.
But not the sports grants?
Neither the police nor integrity commissions investigate things that aren't offences. That's just how it works.
This government must stand by the Williamtown community, who, through no fault of their own, have found themselves in an impossible situation. Their properties are no longer fit for purpose—they are devalued and potentially worthless. Their soil and water is contaminated, their health potentially compromised, their lives destroyed, their anxieties heightened, and their trust and faith in all of us low. The PFAS contamination must be stopped, land and soil remediated, and people who want out must be able to go. Governments cannot be allowed to poison our environment and our people. Governments cannot be allowed to walk away. It is time for this government to put things right.
The Federal Government will establish a new agency with an initial $2 billion for a national bushfire recovery fund …
If we don’t lift our weight, it takes the moral and political pressure off emitters of all sizes and makes a global solution much harder.
That the House do now adjourn.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mrs Wicks) took the chair at 16:00.
When it comes to government assistance, it's a big fat zero with 100 per cent of respondents saying they have received no government assistance at all.
Climate change is causing an increase in frequency and intensity of heatwaves, fire weather and contributing to drought. Our world-leading science agencies have told us that we can expect more extremes into the future, longer disaster seasons and compounding events.
When things are going well we may value efficiency and cost-effectiveness; but when faced with disruption the need for safety and security comes into sharper focus.
The economic cost of natural disasters is currently estimated to be $18.2 billion a year … The costs of disasters are projected to rise to $39 billion by 2050 even without accounting for a changing climate … If you put the investment in upfront to build your resilience, then you're more likely to get through. The overall cost could ultimately be less.
The primary challenge to the growth of Australian agricultural output is that of the intensifying propensity of natural hazard consequence risks due to increasing frequency and accentuation of climatic variability oscillations.
The 2008 Garnaut Climate Change Review foreshadowed serious impacts of climate change on the Australian agricultural sector (Garnaut, 2008).
CAIRNS will be a major recipient of a new $40 million campaign to reignite international tourism as the Federal Government opens up bushfire tourism recovery funds to destinations peering over a coronavirus travel cliff.
The Morrison Government will invest $25 million into a marketing effort with a significant focus on Far North Queensland—money directed from a $76 million crisis package already announced for areas struggling in the wake of bushfires.