Mr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (12:16): This bill-the bill, not the amendment-should be greeted with nothing but acclaim in this parliament; it ticks all the boxes. Sadly, Labor members come in here bleating about non-existent cuts to non-existent funding. The funding that the Labor Party promised under Julia Gillard was virtual funding; it was the funding…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (13:37): I want to express to the House my appreciation of Adani for their commitment to purchase $74 million work of steel rail from Whyalla Steelworks. I am very concerned at the moment about the vacillation of the Queensland government, who do not seem to know whether they are coming or…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (19:45): I must report to the House how pleased I am and how pleased my businesses are with the recent tax cuts that the government has legislated through and that will be flowing through to small and medium businesses from 1 July. We are, of course, immediately cutting the company tax…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (16:47): I am very pleased to be speaking on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2017-18 and related bills and supporting the government’s budget. Just as she leaves the chamber, I refer to some of the things that the member for Jagajaga raised, particularly her indignant response to the view that the…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (13:53): That was a very sombre speech to follow, and I thank the member for Solomon for those words. I can assure you that all in this House feel the same way. Unfortunately I am not speaking about a subject so harmonious today. I am speaking about electricity in South Australia-what…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (17:18): I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Corrupting Benefits) Bill 2017 and the amendment to the bill. Australia is recognised as being generally honest. It is an honest place to grow up in. It was certainly an honest world that I grew up in. I do not think…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (15:46): I might just point out to the previous speaker, the member for Scullin, who speaks of this policy having no friends, that I can tell him how much negative contact I have had into my office since this policy was announced-none. Zero. I always have a fair idea when government…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (13:34): This weekend will see the 37th staging of the Laura Folk Fair. Tucked away in the shade of majestic red gums on the banks of the Rocky River, the country town of Laura in the Southern Flinders Ranges is the boyhood home of celebrated Aussie poet CJ Dennis. This beautiful…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (16:25): Port Augusta is the crossroads of Australia. All east-west and north-south traffic passes through Port Augusta over the single-lane Joy Baluch Bridge. The Baluch Bridge was opened in 1972, replacing the Great Western Bridge, which has since served as a safe and attractive walkway linking the two halves of Port…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (10:58): This bill put forward by the Leader of the Opposition-the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Take Home Pay) Bill 2017-is entirely disingenuous. He seems to not remember that he was responsible for setting up the Fair Work Commission, for staffing the Fair Work Commission and for triggering this inquiry. It really…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (12:53): Thank you very much, Mr Deputy Speaker. I want to speak this afternoon about electricity. The focus has been on South Australia and what has become the rolling disaster of electricity supply in South Australia, it must be said. The cause of this can be linked back to the premature…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (10:11): Just a short report to the parliament on the success of the diabetes testing day conducted by Pathology Australia in conjunction with the Parliamentary Friends of Diabetes yesterday, right here in parliament. One hundred tests were carried out yesterday in the old FCM travel offices adjacent to Aussies, and a…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (13:53): I rise today to give support to the work of the Regional Ministerial Taskforce, announced by the Prime Minister to promote jobs and growth in our rural, regional and remote areas. Rural, regional and remote Australia is different to where most Australians live, the city, and we need a different…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (16:45): I rise today to speak on the importance of diabetes awareness in Australia. Currently 1.7 million Australians are living with diabetes, a figure which is set to increase to 3½ million in two decades. While we are proud in Australia that we have the highest standards of pathology testing worldwide,…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (17:20): I rise to speak on the Health Insurance Amendment (National Rural Health Commissioner) Bill 2017. I must say I am very pleased with this legislation, because with an electorate like Grey, which is an area a bit bigger than New South Wales, health delivery is certainly one of the core…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (16:30): There has been much debate regarding the Racial Discrimination Act in Australia, particularly section 18C, and we have all become increasingly familiar with 18C, which creates an offence of saying anything which is reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or a group of people because of…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (10:49): It is a pleasure to rise on this motion from the member for Sydney on higher education. It is interesting to listen to the member for Richmond speaking about Labor’s vision for higher education and education generally. Labor’s record in office is an absolutely classic example of the Labor Party…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (19:45): On the weekend I had the pleasure of attending the Nonning Outback Ball, staged by the Gawler Ranges Progress Association. The Gawler Ranges are a stunning range featuring spectacular granite outcrops, permanent waterholes, sometimes with waterfalls, and beautiful arid grazing plains stretching from Iron Knob to Wirrulla-a distance of about…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (12:43): Madam Deputy Speaker Vamvakinou, I commend my good friend the member for Forrest on this motion and I am sure we will have your indulgence in speaking more about South Australia than perhaps Western Australia. The National Stronger Regions Fund was launched in 2014, and over a billion dollars over…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey–Government Whip) (13:43): A new statue of Matthew Flinders has been unveiled in Port Lincoln. Flinders took three journeys to the Southern Ocean between 1791 and 1810 from his native England. He was only 28 when he completed the circumnavigation of Australia and was the first to have used the word ‘Australia’ to…
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