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October 26, 2020

Thank you, anti-nuclear campaigners

The only way to be sure that we avoid nuclear devastation is to see the abolition of nuclear weapons. Every normative and every practical step we take in that direction is hard one, precious and it’s vital.

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October 26, 2020

Reach out for mental health support

Too many of us think I’m not doing that badly, or I don’t want to bother someone, or even I’m not the kind of person that experiences mental ill-health. And of course, that’s a big part of the problem. The truth is, we’re all that person.

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October 22, 2020

Morrison budget: weak, warped, wasteful

I defy anyone to point to one notable reform or lasting achievement of this Coalition government. They were elected as the masters of negativity, they set one task for themselves, which was to reduce debt and they’ve comprehensively failed to do that. They doubled it before the pandemic, it will quadruple by the time we get through the pandemic.

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October 22, 2020

Recycling and Waste Reduction Bills 2020

It’s easy to pretend that waste is not a massive environmental problem and a massive market failure. And to pretend that in any case, we’ll deal with it by a few nifty innovations, by asking business nicely, and perhaps, in some cases, treating business to a few stern words of encouragement. But we also know what’s hard. And what is hard is to plan and deliver serious and meaningful progress through reform on a national scale, because that requires leadership and action at the national level. And it means substantial change to the way we do things now.

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October 20, 2020

Morrison’s cuts eroding our social safety net

If you want to meet what should be the core responsibility of the Australian government and guarantee there’s a high-standard and high-quality social safety net for all Australians, as the foundation of our fair and egalitarian way of life, then you have to focus on what effective care and support actually means, and you need to make sure the people who deliver that care and support are valued. That’s not what is happening at the moment.

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October 19, 2020

Aviation workers deserve our support

There’s no doubt that aviation is facing some of the sharpest impacts of the present crisis, but whatever happens we cannot allow Australian aviation to be jeopardised. It’s essential to our social and economic wellbeing. That means we must have a clear plan for the survival and revival of Australian aviation, a clear plan that protects air services and protects the workers who deliver those services.

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September 3, 2020

Government must assist stranded Aussies

All Australians need to have confidence that there is a system in place that is sensible, transparent, properly resourced and fair, and the government needs to do a lot more to assist stranded and vulnerable citizens.

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August 31, 2020

Hydrogen fuel technology

In Australia, we have some of the best renewable energy conditions on the planet and we should be a top-of-the-tree, state-of-the-art player when it comes to green hydrogen, but, needless to say, that’s difficult when you have a government that underrates and undermines renewable energy at every turn.

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August 31, 2020

In honour of World War II service: Bill Cork

On Saturday 15 August we marked the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II, a conflict that involved enormous suffering and sacrifice.

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August 31, 2020

Committee Report: Delegation to India

It was particularly useful with respect to learning about India’s energy challenges and achievements, which I think would surprise a lot of people in Australia. For example, India already derives a substantially higher proportion of its energy from renewable sources than we do here in Australia.

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