Mr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (19:50): I take this opportunity to acknowledge the life and the contribution of Barry Hugh Wakelin, OAM, my predecessor and former Liberal Member for Grey from 1993 to 2007, who passed away on 19 December last year following a devastating cancer diagnosis. Barry was born in my hometown of Kimba in South…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:53): I rise to acknowledge an extraordinary Australian, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue, who was born in my electorate of Grey and passed away 4 February at age 91. Dr O’Donoghue was a Yankunytjatjara woman who was born in Indulkana—in what is now the APY Lands—in northern South Australia, and was the youngest of five.…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:18): It gives me no pleasure to be here today raising the issue, once again, of Ceduna. It’s a beautiful town in the far west of my electorate, with a population of about 3,200, 25 per cent of whom are Indigenous. It also services a number of outlying remote Indigenous communities—Oak Valley…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:30): Today is World Diabetes Day, and I am co-chair of the Parliamentary ‘enemies of diabetes’ Group with my friend the member for Moreton, Graham Perrett, who we will be hearing from in a moment. In 2023 the campaign focuses on the importance of knowing the risk of type 2 diabetes, to…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (11:30): Let me say from the outset how surprised, shocked and disappointed I was that the government decided to cancel the Stronger Communities Programme. In my experience, and I’ve been here quite a while, I’ve never seen a program that managed to have such a multiplier effect. These were small grants going…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (12:27): I support the opposition’s premise that this should be debated now. I’m grateful that the Senate dealt with this last week and got what I’d say are the good parts of the government’s bill debated and through. It seems to be a tendency of this government to mix up the good…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (13:42): Last weekend just on 79 per cent of the people of Grey voted ‘no’ in the referendum. In that message they voted for equality in the eyes of the law in Australia, and encompassed in that is that Australians should also have an equal opportunity. We need to address disadvantage where…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (16:01): I will point out a couple of things to the member for Paterson. One is that Senator Nampijinpa Price has been calling for a royal commission since April. It wasn’t just this week. It has been well over six months now since this issue was identified, and it should be acted…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (10:47): On the weekend, 60.59 per cent of Australians voted to keep Australia united. They voted against the referendum proposal. In South Australia, 64.6 per cent voted no. In my electorate of Grey, 78.4 per cent voted no. There have been 44 referendums in Australia’s history prior to this one. Eight have…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (12:35): I rise to speak on the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill. There’s no doubt that water reform is difficult, and it’s very important in this debate that we don’t just succumb to emotion and that we focus on reality. We shouldn’t underestimate what has been done in this field since…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Opposition Whip) (18:54): When I was a young boy and I had nasty medicine to take, my mother had an interesting ploy. She’d put the disgusting pill on a teaspoon of jam and say, ‘Eat it up.’ It was a bitter pill to swallow, but the jam was sweet enough that I would take…
DetailsMr 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…
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