I rise to express my concerns about aspects of the long-running political contest between unionists and separatists in the Spanish region of Catalonia. This is, of course, a complex debate around questions of political autonomy, self-determination and independence—questions, undeniably, best left to those directly affected.
Read MoreThe assistant minister opened her contributions by saying that the government is absolutely committed to high-quality education outcomes and value for money. Well, this is a government that has shown in this budget that it has no priority for education...
Read MoreJust over two years ago, Jo Cox was murdered while doing her job, which is our job. This parliament came together then in solidarity with her, her family, her colleagues and all those who loved her. This solidarity should continue—it must—as Jo Cox's work continues as an enduring legacy.
Read MoreThe mark of a good society for me and for all of us in Labor is how it treats its most vulnerable members and, at the moment, we couldn't be well judged in Australia. The drift we have been experiencing towards inequality is no longer a drift...
Read MoreI rise to make a contribution to the debate on this bill, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Personal Income Tax Plan) Bill 2018, allegedly the centrepiece and possibly the only substantive element in the budget. I was here before question time for the contribution of...
Read MoreI rise to speak on the appropriation bills that constitute the budget of the government. At the outset, my concern with this budget is that the whole is actually, and perhaps remarkably, rather less than the sum of its parts, bad as most of those parts are, because at the centre of this budget is a void.
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