Mr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:58): Like many, I was shocked and dismayed yesterday to learn of the powerful 6.8 magnitude earthquake that has hit Morocco in the High Atlas mountains, with its epicentre not far from the popular and economic hub of Marrakesh. Reports say up to 2,100 people have been killed in the disaster, thousands…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (11:16): I move: That this House: (1) notes: (a) the Government’s rush towards 82 per cent renewable energy could expose Australia to unnecessary national security risks due to a dependence on imported solar panel components from China; (b) that an analysis, led by the Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security,…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:35): The Kimba community have been struggling to digest the impact of the government decision not to pursue the establishment of the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility in their community. We are 8½ years down the track and we have Senate estimates to thank for now finding out that the government has…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (10:54): Around an hour ago, the Minister for Resources announced that the government was abandoning the plans to site the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility at Napandee in the Kimba district. I’ve got to say that this shows that the government is cowardly, if not gutless, and that it is incapable of…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:39): I’m sad to report that I’m in no better mood about the government’s decision to cancel the Napandee project in Kimba, to be the host of the National Radioactive Waste Management Facility, than I was in question time. This is an appalling decision that has left the Australian medical nuclear isotope…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:56): I can only describe the decision of the government today to withdraw support for the Kimba facility, the national radioactive waste management facility, as weak, cowardly and, indeed, gutless—absolutely lacking moral fibre. This government has put at risk the future of ANSTO and Australia’s nuclear medical production. Over 700,000 people a…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (19:49): It would seem almost certain that the Western Australian government is to withdraw its Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act sometime this week. This is an outlandish, outrageous piece of legislation that I congratulate Western Australian farmers in particular for standing up to. I believe 650 attended a meeting at Katanning recently, and…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (10:55): I am indebted to the Stock Journal in South Australia for an article that they printed last week on the lack of child care in the regions. In fact, it came on the back of a report by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which found that in the major cities there was…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (09:54): It has often been said that Australia once rode on the sheep’s back. It is no longer the case. There was a time when Australia had 170 million merino sheep. We now have 70 million. I make the point on merino sheep because they are wool producing sheep, of some of…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (18:49): This is a grievance debate, and I can tell you I am deeply aggrieved. I’m aggrieved by the decision on 18 July by Justice Natalie Charlesworth in the Federal Court, sitting in South Australia, to declare that the nomination of the Napandee site in Kimba for the National Radioactive Waste Management…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:48): I rise on a matter that deeply troubles me, the decision by Justice Charlesworth two weeks ago in the Federal Court to disallow the ministerial selection by my good friend Keith Pitt of the Kimba site for the national radioactive waste management facility. After treading this pathway for seven years, I’m…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:49): Earlier today, the Minister for Social Services, the member for Kingston, spent some time in this chamber promoting—I would say being very proud—of the government’s support of child care and, in particular, cheaper child care. It’s a $4.7 billion package, and that could be lauded. For some families it reduces their…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:30): On Friday night I had a great pleasure of attending the Nyrstar long service awards. Like all good companies, Nyrstar recognises that the strength of their success is in the quality of their workers, and there’s nothing like longevity to give a good understanding of the place. The people that have…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:54): I’m pleased to report that, after a 72-year hiatus, the King’s Birthday honours have returned to the electorate of Grey. There are no fewer than five wonderful residents who have given their lifetime to their fields. Congratulations to Anthea Pavy AM. Anthea spent 17 years as the CEO of Uniting Country…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:24): Much has been made in this place, particularly since the budget, by those on the government side of the increased support for child care in Australia: $4.7 billion over the forwards. Generally speaking, I’d have to say, that is welcome. It’s worth noting, though, that the coalition government increased expenditure on…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (19:08): Here in Australia we’re about to have a referendum: not one just recognising Indigenous Australians as the first inhabitants of the continent—a proposition that almost everyone would support, and certainly I would—but a referendum which is proposing a new chapter in our Constitution to ensure one racial grouping has more access…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:33): It gives me no pleasure to tell this House, ‘I told you so,’ but: I told you so. The government has pulled the funding for the security scanners in regional airports right around Australia. I warned this place that it would affect Whyalla the worst, and it is the first one…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:24): It’s quite clear to me that this announcement in the budget is what I would call thought-bubble politics. It’s: ‘Hey, I’ve got a good idea. Let’s try it!’—trying it without consulting and with very little road testing or consideration of the consequences. On the face of it, we have something that…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:33): I commend those comments. It’s only 26 days until Anzac Day, and this will be my last opportunity in the chamber to actually say something before Anzac Day rather than after. It has become perhaps our most important national day, and I’m looking forward to 25 April and being out and…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (17:36): I’m grateful for the member’s comments. I also support the Social Security (Administration) Amendment (Income Management Reform) Bill 2023, which provides an improved card to replace the BasicsCard, it must be said. However, the tragedy is that the SmartCard is, by any measurement, a direct replacement for the cashless debit card;…
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