MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE Energy SPEECH

August 21, 2018

I'll give this to the member for Kooyong: he's a trier. He keeps following up. He keeps trying. He's a stayer. Unfortunately, he's also the Groucho Marx of energy ministers, where he's saying, 'This is my energy policy. If you don't like this one, I've got another one! I've got another one ready to go.' He's had five energy policies in two years—five in two years! He's had three in seven days, since Tuesday of last week, when he had his tr...

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COMMITTEES - Select Committee on Intergenerational Welfare Dependence - Report

August 20, 2018

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BILLS - Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 - Consideration in...

August 15, 2018

This is a government that is intent on putting Australian seafarers out of work. There is no sugar-coating it. This is a government that is intent on putting Australian seafarers out of work. You just have to see what they did around the MV Portland and the CSL Melbourne. They issued temporary licences to replace Australian crewed ships doing very regular work. For 27 years the MV Portland shipped alumina from Western Australia to the Portland...

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BILLS - Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 - Consideration in...

August 15, 2018

I want to pick up on something that the shadow minister finished up on—that is, the need for a bipartisan position on coastal shipping policy. What happened with this policy contrasts strongly with Labor's legislation that we put through during the last Labor government, which was a product of probably the most extensive industry consultation I've seen in a couple of decades. It took almost four years to go from initial industry consultation t...

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BILLS - Coastal Trading (Revitalising Australian Shipping) Amendment Bill 2017 - Consideration in...

August 15, 2018

I rise to echo the points made by the shadow minister about this being an island nation and the great national security necessity of having an active merchant maritime. It's a little known fact that, outside Bomber Command, the Australian merchant mariners had the highest casualty rate during World War II. There's a direct link between having an active, skilled and vibrant merchant marine and naval forces, our Navy. This bill undermines it, be...

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MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE - Energy

August 14, 2018

What would the NEG deliver in terms of decarbonising our economy? It would deliver four wind turbines over a decade—not four wind farms, four wind turbines. That is less than what we put in place each week! That is the sad truth of this policy: emissions reductions of fewer than two per cent over a decade. What's even worse is that we're now at a stage in the energy market where investing in renewable energy is also investing in lower power pr...

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