Blow the Truth

Senator Pauline HANSON: Economic Recovery Package (JobMaker Hiring Credit) Amendment Bill   (Queensland—Leader of Pauline Hanson's One Nation): The JobMaker scheme has not been properly thought through. It has too many flaws to successfully entice businesses into hiring extra employees and help rebuild the employment sector post-COVID-19. This pandemic induced recession is an extraordinary once-in-100-year event that has brought Australia and much of the world to its financial knees, and it needs something special to turn it around. JobMaker falls short. The Senate might recall that on 24 February I was the first member of the Senate to question why the Morrison government allowed Australian universities to put profits before the health and security of this nation. Why I asked that series of questions was that a handful of universities here in Australia were circumventing international border closures unnecessarily and further spreading cases of the virus. It was a precursor to the

Senator Nicholas McKIM Senate Speech 9 Nov 2020 (Tasmania—Deputy Leader of the Australian Greens in the Senate) (10:39): The National Consumer Credit Protection Amendment (Small Amount Credit Contract and Consumer Lease Reforms) Bill 2019 (No. 2) effectively copies, word for word, the government's 2017 draft bill to better regulate payday lending. Of course, we do need to better regulate payday lending in order to protect people from rapacious lenders and, on that basis, the Australian Greens will be supporting this legislation. Unfortunately, after releasing a draft bill in 2017, the government walked away from any reform of payday lending, until it decided to include a new set of reforms for payday lenders in its recently announced package. Again, unfortunately, the government's recently announced package basically blows up the entire system of consumer credit protection in this country so that the banks can continue to profit at the expense of the lives of so many Australian

Senator HANSON-YOUNG (South Australia) 7 Oct 20 BILLS - Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020 - Second Reading: I rise to speak in opposition to this terrible piece of legislation, the Higher Education Support Amendment (Job-Ready Graduates and Supporting Regional and Remote Students) Bill 2020. Firstly, I'd like to associate myself with the comments made by my colleague Senator Faruqi, who leads this area for the Australian Greens. https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=334971904445773 I am gobsmacked at the dodgy deal done this week by Centre Alliance—Senator Griff and the member for Mayo, Rebekha Sharkie. After months of them telling the South Australian people that they had problems with this bill, that they knew this piece of legislation was bad—bad for students, bad for the economy and bad for education—we have seen the most significant backflip Centre Alliance has done since Nick Xenophon left this building.

Senator Hanson-Young (South Australia): Environment Senate Speech  I move: That the Senate take note of the answer given by the Minister representing the Prime Minister (Senator Cormann) to a question without notice asked by Senator Hanson-Young today relating to the environment. I asked Senator Cormann about the government's plans to rush through legislation that is ultimately going to weaken Australia's environmental laws and to make it easier for big mining corporations and big gas companies to continue to destroy Australia's precious environment and to put in harm's way our native wildlife and animals. We know that the environment is already suffering greatly. It is in a huge state of decline. We know climate change, land clearing, pollution are pushing our environment and our natural world to the brink. And what do we have from this government? More ways to make more money for these companies while destroying our environment, and it's being done under the cover

Di Natale Senate Video Conference of last speech : Let me begin by acknowledging the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation from whose land I am speaking today, the Ngunawal and Ngambri people on whose land our national parliament meets and the traditional owners of the lands from right across the country. Mr President, I hope you don't mind me saying that, after announcing my resignation—I'm going to share this with the rest of the world—you sent me a cheeky text message saying that you wouldn't kick me out of the Senate during my final speech. Now I'm not sure how you're going to do that from Melbourne, but I'm going to do my best to behave. I didn't expect that my final speech would take place in a virtual parliament from a locked-down city amid a global pandemic. It's a pandemic that's causing untold suffering and hardship across the world. It's a pandemic that follows a devastating summer of bushfires. And it's a pandemic that concludes m

Senator Mehreen Faruqi ( The Senate Fair Work Amendment (COVID-19) Bill 2020 ) Speech: I rise to speak to the Australian Greens Fair Work Amendment (COVID-19) Bill 2020 that I introduced in the Senate during the last sitting. This bill will protect all workers during the crisis of the COVID-19 pandemic. We are living through unprecedented times—I don't know how many people have said that or how many times, but it is true: COVID-19 is drastically changing our way of life. This is a global health crisis with no-one left untouched by its impacts. This is a difficult time for all of us, there's no doubt. This is a strange time. This is not a normal time. This is a crisis that touches every aspect of our lives: our wellbeing, our economy, our society and our day-to-day lives. That's why what we do, how we make sure that we do everything possible so we can keep our parliament going, is absolutely important. People out there, Australians, are relying on their leaders to make su

Senator Jacqui Lambi Trade with China Senate Speech 2020: Do you know what the Chinese ambassador did when our government called for an inquiry into the coronavirus? He threatened us. He said that if Australia pushes too hard on this inquiry idea China will stop buying our meat and drinking our wine. He told us that international students would think twice about coming here to study, that the tourists would stop coming. And he knew he could make those sorts of threats. Why? Because he knew our economic dependence on China is like a vein, and if they turn it off the heart of our economy stops beating. For far too long we've let the mantra of free trade blind us to the fact that we are selling our country right from under our very own feet. We've fallen into this false sense of security that whenever we need something we'll always be able to buy it from somewhere else. But our supply chains are so fragile, and this crisis has definitely shown us that those supply chains brea