It is always a privilege to follow my colleague the member for Dawson, who never ceases to amaze me with his broad depth of knowledge and understanding of the issues that surround his electorate. For a man with a journalistic background to have that sort of grasp of agricultural issues is a real testament to…
I ask the Minister for Health to wait for 30 seconds. Today is one of those rare days when we get to recognise someone from my electorate in the parliament. In the gallery today we have Kelly Foran, who has started a website called Friendly Faces Helping Hands that helps people in a time of medical crisis…
I wish to speak on the report of the Joint Select Committee on the Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. I will say from the outset that I agree with the proposal and the words being proposed for a possible referendum, but I have been disappointed and somewhat frustrated at the way this has been handled.…
Mr COULTON (Parkes–The Nationals Chief Whip) (12:47): I too rise here this afternoon to speak about the natural disasters that happen around Australia, particularly the ones in my electorate of Parkes. To show the diversity of Australia but particularly of my electorate, I was dealing with floods and bushfires at the same time. Indeed, as I…
Mark Coulton I rise today to speak to the dissenting report from the coalition members of the Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government. Basically, the coalition is in favour of recognising local government but the timing of the recommendations in this report, which is a preliminary report, we feel is a little…
Mark Coulton I rise this evening to speak on the establishment of the National Disability Insurance Scheme. It is a significant and necessary reform. This bill, the National Disability Insurance Scheme Bill 2012, has bipartisan support. I have been listening to the contributions of my colleagues on both sides of the House, and much has…
Mark Coulton I rise tonight to briefly voice my opposition to this National Gambling Reform Bill 2012. My views on this are well and truly on the record, but I do want to reinforce my position. I do not play poker machines-and, quite frankly, to me, this bill is not about poker machines. This…
Mark Coulton (Parkes, National Party) I rise tonight to speak on the Water Amendment (Water for the Environment Special Account) Bill 2012, which allocates 450 gigalitres to the Murray-Darling as part of the arrangement that the Prime Minister announced in South Australia a couple of weeks ago. I have considerable concern about a couple of issues with this…
Mr COULTON (Parkes–The Nationals Chief Whip) (19:28): I, too, rise tonight to speak on the Wheat Export Marketing Amendment Bill 2012 and in support of the amendment introduced by my colleague the member for Calare. There has been a lot of attention on this bill, a lot of discussion and quite a bit of intrigue.…
Mr COULTON (Parkes–The Nationals Chief Whip) (18:08): I rise tonight to speak on the Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012. This bill seeks to amend the Water Act to allow for an adjustment mechanism, as agreed by the basin states and the Commonwealth. I come into this place as a member…