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Senate President Announces Decision On Covered Visitors To Parliament House

Oct 02, 2014

The President of the Senate, Senator Stephen Parry, has announced that visitors who do not wish to be identified when visiting Parliament will be required to sit in the public galleries enclosed in glass that are normally reserved for school groups.

Parry announced the decision in response to a question from the Opposition’s Senate leader, Penny Wong. He said the decision was an interim measure, pending further advice from specialist agencies.

Visitors who cannot be clearly identified will be asked to be identified and to produce identification. They will then be free to move around the building but will be required to sit in the glassed enclosures in order to view parliamentary proceedings. [Read more…]

Filed Under: General Information, Parliamentary Procedures, Senate, Terrorism, Video, Women Tagged With: , , , , ,

George Christensen’s Climate Change Speech To The Heartland Institute

Jul 01, 2014

George Christensen, the Liberal National Party member for the Queensland electorate of Dawson, has given a speech on climate change to the Heartland Institute in the United States.

ChristensenChristensen, 36, was elected in 2010 and re-elected last year.

Dawson is a rural electorate that covers Mackay, Proserpine, Airlie Beach, Bowen, Home Gill and Ayr, as well as the Whitsunday and Lindeman islands.

The Heartland Institute is a Chicago-based conservative and libertarian lobby group. Founded in 1984, it is best known for its promotion of climate change scepticism and earlier campaigns to discredit evidence of cancer risks from passive smoking.

Transcript of speech by George Christensen MP to the Heartland Institute. References to accompanying slides are shown in capitals.

TITLE SLIDE

Thank you and acknowledgements.

BIO SLIDE

I am not a scientist.

So I won’t attempt to prove nor disprove the impact man is having on the temperature of the planet. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Climate Change, Liberal National Party Tagged With: ,

Giving Substance To The Words

Nov 04, 2010

There are thirty-two new members of the 43rd Parliament, elected on August 21st. Three of them are returning after a voluntary or enforced absence. As a group, they constitute one-fifth of the House of Representatives, a significant turnover and renewal of the lower house. Many of them will be there for years to come.

Maiden SpeechesOver the past month, I have made a point of watching the maiden, or first, speeches of these members. On the whole, it is difficult not to be impressed by these fledgling parliamentarians.

There has been much comment on the moving speech from the Western Australian Liberal, Ken Wyatt, the first indigenous member of the House, but others also delivered considered and thoughtful speeches.

Take Andrew Leigh, the member for Fraser in the ACT. His reputation as an economist and thinker preceded his election. In his speech, he spoke of the importance of education for the nation’s future, of “optimistic experimentation” and of rebuilding “a sense of trust between citizens and politicians”. Leigh’s book, “Disconnected”, has just been published. [Read more…]

Filed Under: 2010 Federal Election, A.L.P., Backbenchers, Democracy, Greens, Liberal Party, Maiden Speeches, Opinion, Political Words, The Nationals Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

George Christensen (LNP-Dawson) – Maiden Speech

Oct 27, 2010

This is George Christensen’s maiden speech to the House of Representatives as the LNP member for Dawson.

The Queensland electorate of Dawson is based around Mackay. It includes the Whitsunday and Lindeman group of islands, and the towns of Proserpine, Airlie Beach, Bowen, Home Hill and Ayr.

Christensen won the seat from the ALP’s James Bidgood, who had held it since 2007. He secured a 5.02% swing and won 52.43% of the two-party-preferred vote. He will sit with the Nationals in Canberra.

Christensen, 32, has worked as a journalist, newspaper editor, press secretary, and as a councillor for the City of Mackay and the Mackay Regional Council. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Audio, Liberal National Party, Maiden Speeches, The Nationals Tagged With: , , ,