16 November 2009

Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme Bill 2009

Mr Gibbons (Bendigo) (12:02 PM) —Two things we humans are not very good at dealing with, and they are related, are risk and uncertainty. In our everyday lives we constantly see examples of this lack of understanding. We happily buy billions of dollars worth of tickets in lotteries that statistically we have no hope of winning...

20 October 2009

Student Income Support

Mr GIBBONS (Bendigo) (7:06 PM) —It is always a pleasure to follow the shadow minister. Like all his contributions, this one was fact free and full of distortion and, dare I say, verballing...

17 September 2009

Parallel Import Restrictions on Books

Imagine an Australia without «books» by Patrick White, Tim Winton or Kate Grenville. Imagine an Australia where the only place you can buy books is in supermarkets or discount stores. Imagine an Australia where the only books they stock are written by Americans, about Americans and for Americans...

14 September 2009

Petition: Parallel Import Restrictions On Books

I present this petition of 3,885 signatures of mainly Maryborough residents requesting that the Productivity Commission recommendation to remove the parallel import restrictions on books be rejected. In addition to the 3,885 signatures on the petition, another 1,300 of these coupons have been published in each edition of the Maryborough Advertiser over the past month or so...

10 September 2009

Foreign States Immunities Bill

Mr GIBBONS (Bendigo) (11:12 AM) —The Foreign States Immunities Amendment Bill 2009 will permit the states and territories to conclude a vital new agreement with the United States for the exchange of fire suppression resources including fire fighting personnel. As the next bushfire season approaches, we need no reminder that emergencies and disasters can have a devastating effect on the lives and welfare of Australians...

18 August 2009

Defence Procurement Project Overlander

Mr LINDSAY (Herbert) (12:52 PM) —This is the motion put forward by the member for Paterson. Unfortunately, he is unable to be with us this afternoon so I am here to present his thoughts. This matter is about the development of a new light protected mobility vehicle for the Australian Army...

26 May 2009

Reckless Spending Stimulus

Mr GIBBONS (Bendigo) (4:53 PM) - Today's MPI has to be one of the greatest examples of hypocrisy that I have witnessed in 11 years in this House. The opposition have already acknowledged that had they been in office they would have done almost exactly the same as the government has done...

17 March 2009

Personal Explanation Re Baldwin-Thales

Yesterday at a doorstop interview and then later in the House last night, the member for Paterson cast disparaging remarks on my attitude to a program of a potential light armoured mobility vehicle project at Thales Australia...

26 February 2009

Telecommunications Amendment (Integrated Public Number Database) Bill 2009

I am pleased to participate by speaking on the Telecommunications Amendment (Integrated Public Number Database) Bill 2009, especially as, in part, it relates to potential communications difficulties that are likely to be experienced during national disasters such as the horrific bushfires we experienced in Victoria on 7 February, on Black Saturday, and in particular the impact in my electorate of Bendigo...

25 February 2009

Orchestra Victoria Bendigo Concert

Orchestra Victoria has been awarded a grant of $1 million over three years to present a series of large-scale outdoor events. The inaugural On Air concert will take place in the idyllic surroundings of Bendigo’s Rosalind Park on Saturday 28 February 2009...

25 February 2009

Elmore Primary Health Service – Assistance for the Farming Sector

I am very proud that Elmore's primary health service has received $506,000 from the National Rural and Remote Health Infrastructure Program towards demolition works and the construction of a new allied health unit...

25 February 2009

Improving Australia's education system

Improving Australia's education system was a key policy initiative in Labor's 2007 election campaign. Now every primary school in the Bendigo electorate will benefit from the announcement of an investment of $14 billion in schools’ infrastructure...

25 February 2009

Rudd government has taken decisive action to strengthen the Australian economy

After being in opposition for more than a decade, the first year of the Rudd Labor government was an exciting change. We came into government committed to building a modern Australia for the 21st century and we are delivering on that promise. ..

09 February 2009

CONDOLENCES - Victorian Bushfires - House of Reps Hansard

Last weekend was one of the darkest in Victoria’s history. We knew it was coming. Weather forecasters had been telling us for weeks that the conditions were going to be deadly, the worst since Ash Wednesday 1983. ..

04 February 2009

Economic Stimulus Package

Most of the world's major advanced economies are in recession, and emerging economies like China and India are slowing dramatically. No country will escape the falling economic growth, job losses and budget deficits that will flow from this...