“Labor’s secret agenda to rig the political donations and disclosure system to give them an unfair political advantage has been exposed today,” Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham is a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters which today heard evidence as part of its inquiry into Labor’s plans to…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham has called for the withdrawal of a promotion offending many ABC television viewers and for a review of ABC policies relating to such promotions. Last night, the ABC aired on television a promotion encouraging its audience to vote for ABC identities nominated for the TV WEEK Gold Logie for “most…
DetailsPlans to rip out an extra 75 billion litres of water a year from the Murray-Darling Basin should be abandoned in light of revelations the stressed system might already not be able to meet basic human needs, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham said it was astonishing that the Victorian and Australian…
DetailsClaims that estimated water savings underpinning a controversial planned pipeline have been inflated must be investigated, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The claims have today been presented by the ‘Plug the Pipe’ campaign to a Senate committee inquiry into a Bill designed to prevent the Sugarloaf or ‘North-South’ pipeline from sending 75 billion…
DetailsThe leaking of a supposed list of websites blacklisted by the Rudd Government highlights problems with its approach to cyber safety, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham is Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts and through the Estimates process has regularly questioned the Government on…
DetailsAustralia risks sending jobs overseas under plans to include new “greenhouse triggers” in expanded environment protection legislation, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Coalition Senators are firmly opposed to the greenhouse trigger canvassed in today’s Government-controlled majority report of a Senate committee inquiry into the effectiveness of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act…
DetailsWater Minister Penny Wong has today described court action threatened by the South Australian Rann Government as hypothetical, but was unable to indicate action being taken to prevent it, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. “Senator Wong today agreed that ideally states would be working together cooperatively and that an open water market would…
DetailsRudd Government assurances that water ripped out of the Murray-Darling Basin and piped to Melbourne would be matched by increased environmental flows appear to have been exposed as baseless, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The proposed extraction of up to 75 billion litres of water a year towards Melbourne’s urban water supply has…
DetailsA key election commitment of the Rudd Government appears to be in disarray and no closer to reality nearly two years after first being promised, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Ongoing delays have already beset the Government’s Green Loans program, details of which were announced on Budget night last May. Questioning in…
DetailsThousands of households could be forced to pay a second time just for access to free-to-air television in a ‘best case’ scenario, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The revelation has come in questioning of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and departmental officials as part of Senate Additional Estimates. “Having already paid to install…
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