M r George Christensen (Dawson): It's my pleasure to speak to the National Skills Commissioner Bill 2020. This legislation, these laws, we are about to pass here couldn't be more timely as we all seek to address the critical challenge that will come about, economically, in this country from the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. The National Skills Commissioner office to be established will help prepare our labour market, our workers, in this country for recovery. They will be establishing a robust, new, fact-based system that will strengthen our education and training networks. The varied roles of this commission demonstrate a huge potential for it to quickly become a vital hub in supporting and enhancing the operation and analysis of the workforce we need, which is important for those people entering the workforce—to know where the gaps are, where to get training. Australia's economic recovery will be very reliant on its workers, working Australians, being skilled, resilient and
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That the House:(1) notes that: (a) on 6 May 2020 the Minister for Agriculture put out a media release titled "Time to stop milking dairy, fair go for farmers"; (b) nearly 500 dairy farmers have left the industry in the past year; (c) the ACCC in 2018 identified that there is a market imbalance between processors and farmers; (d) in the state of Queensland alone the number of dairy farmers has dropped from 1,305 in 2000-2001 to 356 in 2019; (e) Australia had 12,896 dairy farms in the year 2000; (f) in 2018 there were just 5,699 dairy farms, a reduction of 57 per cent which is likely to have increased in the last 12 months; (g) in the North Queensland dairy area before deregulation farmers got 60.4 cents per litre, but after deregulation they got 41.1 cents; (h) Dairy Australia's Situation and Outlook March 2020 report says dairy farmers have been impacted by the summer bushfires adding additional price pressures to their operations, including in: (i) NSW, 32 dairy farms on
We gather again today in unusual circumstances, during extreme times to consider extraordinary responses to the twin crises our nation faces - to our nation’s health and to our economy. What we do today is what Governments have always done in such circumstances, when our nation is under threat that previous generations of Australians have done before us. Today we act to protect our nation’s sovereignty. When Australian lives and livelihoods are threatened, when they are under attack, our nation’s sovereignty is put at risk and we must respond. As a Government, as a Parliament, as a nation, together. Nurses, teachers, drivers - cleaners, doctors, police, and paramedics - factory workers, engineers, bankers - grocers, miners and farmers - pastors, priests and imams - politicians, union officials, even lawyers - mums, dads, grandparents, kids, families. All of us. Our sovereignty is measured in our capacity and freedom to live our lives as we choose in a free, open and democratic society
Mr Bob Katter (Member for Kennedy): I rise to speak on this matter of public importance. I do not share the views of my crossbench colleagues. I greatly respect them and I greatly respect their honourable beliefs but I do not agree with them. We are talking about Julian Assange. He, in fact, comes very much from my homeland, and I would have natural prejudices for him. But we have a country that is a dictatorship called China. It has made no secret of ambitions that go well beyond its own borders. Its power is enormous. I share my crossbench colleagues' view that this country is no longer being run by this country; this country is being run by the corporates. I think all of us on the crossbenches would share that view, which is not held by either side of this parliament. The corporates are running this country. Most of the corporates happen to be Chinese, and if you think they're running those corporations in the interests of Australia then you would be very much misguided. Th
Dr Anne Aly (Cowan) Private Business Gender Senate Speech: I start by commending the member for Newcastle for bringing to the House's attention International Women's Day on 8 March and the theme for this year: each for equal. I would like to take this opportunity to broaden the lens a bit on International Women's Day and draw attention to the fact that a singular focus on gender, as well-meaning as it is, inadvertently excludes some women. The fact is that women's rights have not always worked for all women. When women first got the vote, not all women were allowed to vote. We had to fight for that. When women first entered the workforce, not all women entered the workforce. We had to fight for that. The gender pay gap in the US—a Hispanic woman or an African-American woman is likely to earn less than other women. While we don't have the statistics here for Australia, I'm sure that the gender gap for women of colour is much bigger than the gender gap for other w