Mr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (11:07): I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) 2021 marks 100 years since the discovery of insulin by Canadian surgeon Frederick Banting; (b) Frederick Banting along with his colleagues Professor John McLeod, medical student Charles Best and researcher Dr James Collip, solved the problem of how extracted insulin could be…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (16:10): I was very pleased that in the budget the Treasurer awarded another $84.8 million towards the Regional Connectivity Program. The program has already distributed $4½ million in the Grey electorate for some excellent projects, including 4G upgrades and better broadband in certain places. It comes with a long history of the…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (19:35): This week there’s been some very good news for South Australia, with the agreement by TransGrid in New South Wales to build their end of the new Project EnergyConnect transmission line between South Australia and New South Wales. Of course, ElectraNet in South Australia have been keen proponents of this deal.…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (16:24): I am not supportive of the amendments, but I am supportive of the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2021-2022. The last 12 months, it must be said, have been among the most testing periods, outside of war, since the Great Depression. By comparison, the GFC, the global financial crisis, shrank the world…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (11:41): I’m amazed by the last speaker’s comments, which, on the one hand are decrying the lack of government policy and the lack of investment in electricity and then on the other hand shouting from the rooftops how magnificent it is that all these people are investing in renewable electricity. Sometimes we…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (13:47): The end of March was a very important point in Australia. It was the end of JobKeeper. When I saw the figures for unemployment come in for April, that unemployment had actually dropped by another 0.2 per cent, it put pay to a few predictions that were made in…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (10:03): I warmly welcome the budget and the input and effect that it has on an electorate like Grey, which covers 92 per cent of South Australia, over 900,000 square kilometres. The investment in roads, at the moment, is simply unbelievable. Virtually everywhere I travel across the electorate I need to add…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (17:11): Firstly, I’d like to thank the member for Indi for bringing this motion forward. It gives us an opportunity to talk about many good things in regional Australia. I was a bit surprised by her speech, though, when she talked about the lack of action. I vehemently disagree. In fact, I…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (18:03): The Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Student Assistance and Other Measures) Bill 2021, in its primary form, is really a tidying up of some loose ends around the support for isolated children and people who receive support under Abstudy. It goes to the heart of the requirement to provide tax…
DetailsFew people understand what has contributed to Nicolle Flint’s decision to leave parliament. Safety in the workplace should transcend politics. Here is a speech I made earlier today.
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (16:01): Honestly, I can’t believe this motion. I am really struggling. Energy and emission policies by this government are a spectacular success, and saying it ain’t so does not make it fact. We are completely on target. We beat our Kyoto targets. We’ll beat Kyoto 2. And, despite what the member for…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (19:55): Let me say from the outset, before the member leaves the chamber: I’m sure I’m speaking on behalf of all of us in this place when we wish her all the very best with the rest of her pregnancy and the upcoming birth. All the best with that. What I wanted…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (12:34): Firstly, let me thank the member for Bowman for bringing this motion forward. I think it’s very important and quite proper that we discuss this issue in this place. I thank the member for Dunkley for her comments as well, but I must take issue with her view that the proposals…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (13:43): One of the privileges of the position I hold is that I am the co-chair, along with the member for Solomon, of the Parliamentary Friends of the Philippines. Last week I had the great pleasure of hosting the ambassador, Hellen De La Vega, for a quiet meeting in the house. We…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (17:34): I raised an issue in the party room a couple of weeks ago about a doctor distribution problem that we have in Australia. We don’t have a shortage of doctors, we have a doctor distribution problem. This was raised by a good article in The Weekend Australian Magazine here, I think about three weeks…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (18:21): As I begin, I should take the opportunity to inform the member for Gilmore that it was no less than Greg Combet, the minister, that introduced the Clean Energy Finance Corporation in 2012. In his second reading speech he said ‘conventional gas … may technically be eligible for funding as a…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (16:35): In November last year the final report into the Inquiry into the Working Holiday Maker Program was delivered. I’m drawn to recommendation three: The Committee recommends that Working Holiday (subclass 417) and Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa holders should be able to work in tourism and hospitality in all hard-to-staff…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (13:31): During the last week, I was very pleased to host the Minister for Regional Health, Regional Communications and Local Government, Mark Coulton, in my electorate. We met with a number of delegations of doctors, discussing the rural doctor crisis. We met with, I think, 12 different mayors in a couple of…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (11:29): I welcome this motion put forward by the Leader of the Opposition. It does give us a chance to talk about a very important issue. Eight per cent or thereabouts of my electorate of Grey is Indigenous, and I have made it a core part of my workload, since I came…
DetailsMr RAMSEY (Grey—Government Whip) (09:54): After listening to the shadow minister, I must say that was a very glass-half-empty summation of the National Broadband Network. We have actually come a very long way here in Australia. I don’t want to spend the whole of my allotted time going back through a potted history of this, but…
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