Disappointment from ACCC

 Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton has spoken in parliament about the decision by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) to not oppose the takeover of Australian Consolidated Food Holdings Pty Ltd. Mr Coulton said that he believed comments made by the ACCC chairman Rod Sims indicated that the ACCC only had a limited…

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Coulton’s Catch Up 9th February

 Last week the Federal Nationals Party Room convened in the regional centre of Albury-Wodonga for our first meeting of 2015.  With Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss and the rest of the Nationals team, we have established the key areas of policy that will continue to be a priority for us as elected representatives of regional…

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Get involved in the Green Army

 You are invited to attend a community information session on the Australian Government’s major new environmental programme – the Green Army. The Green Army supports practical, grassroots environment and heritage conservation projects across urban, regional and remote Australia. The Green Army provides young Australians aged 17-24 with the tools they need to help them enter…

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Release of Peter Greste

 Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton has welcomed the release of journalist Peter Greste. Mr Coulton said that Australians were pleased that Mr Greste would be able to come home after spending more than 400 days in an Egyptian jail. “Peter Greste’s family were tireless in their efforts to secure his release,” said Mr Coulton.…

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Coulton’s Catch Up 2nd February

 Prior to the Federal Election in 2013 the Coalition made a commitment to hold a review of the Fair Work Laws. The Productivity Commission will undertake this review and has now called for submissions from the public. This independent review will assess the operation of the Fair Work framework and consider options for improvement before…

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Growing stronger regions across the nation

 REGIONAL Development Australia (RDA) will greatly benefit from new appointments to each of its committees. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the three-year appointments will provide leadership to RDA organisations to develop a model where all three tiers of government work together. “The RDA committees can play a…

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Coulton’s Catch Up 26th January

 Businesses in the Parkes Electorate are able to apply for support to boost the skills in their workforce with applications now open for the new $476 million Industry Skills Fund. The fund will provide up to 200,000 training places and skills advice for businesses over the next four years. The Industry Skills Fund is a…

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Training Complaints Hotline

 Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton has said that vocational education and training (VET) students now have a complaints hotline to bring rogue training providers to the attention of regulators. “Our Government is taking firm action to crack down on unscrupulous and misleading behaviour by some training providers and brokers, and this one-stop-shop hotline will…

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Coulton’s Catch Up 19th January

 The benefits stemming from Australia’s Free Trade Agreement with Japan will be felt right across regional Australia with local businesses and consumers set to reap the rewards of the deal. The landmark Japan-Australia Economic Partnership Agreement (JAEPA) entered into force last week. This means more than 97 per cent of Australia’s goods exports to Japan…

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Rogue Operators targeted with new regulations

 Federal Member for Parkes, Mark Coulton, has said that new regulations introduced by the Federal Government and effective from 1 January 2015 are targeted at rogue operators within the training sector. Mr Coulton said that there had been cases within the Electorate where training brokers had employed unscrupulous practices to sign prospective students up. “Most…

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