PHON improves Mirani and CIC not strong enough

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Great chat with Marcus Paul today. We discussed the Queensland and US elections and the proposed federal crimes commission.

Transcript

Marcus Paul

Yeah, it’s a good thing that Malcolm loves to talk, because I’m losing my voice. Good morning, mate, how are you?

Malcolm Roberts

I’m very well, thanks, Marcus, how are you?

Marcus Paul

Yeah, good. I spoke to Pauline earlier in the week, we were surprised to hear from her, because, you know, given what happened last week, but she was very clear that she believed the recent election in Queensland was an incumbent election. And that’s your first point you want to talk about this morning.

Malcolm Roberts

Well actually the first thing I’d like to talk about is the State of Origin. Do you know the score last night, mate?

Marcus Paul

Oh, was there a game of football on last night? I thought the footy season was over. There was a Grand Final a couple of weeks ago, yes, I know. 18-14, New South– to Queen, whoa, I nearly, a Freudian slip, I nearly said New South Wales, but no, well done.

Malcolm Roberts

Habits break. Yeah. Yes, the, it was a disappointment last Saturday at the Queensland election for us, but we did retain our seat of Mirani, Marcus, and with an increased majority. So where we had a candidate, and not just a candidate, a sitting MP, he’s actually done a fabulous job, Steve Andrew. But Pauline’s correct. It was an incumbent election. But I think more to the point, in times of fear, and that’s what the Queensland Labour machine did, they created a lot of fear about COVID. Especially amongst the elderly. And in times of fear and something major, people tend to go not only with the incumbent, but with the, with the larger parties, the parties they supposedly know. So, I think it was all about fear. So basically, my summary of the election is, fear won and Queensland lost, because there are a lot of things being neglected and, fear of COVID was no match for the long-term vision and sensible local policies we had going. So, that’s just a summary, but we’ve got to learn from that.

Marcus Paul

Well absolutely. I mean, at the end of the day, it was quite an amazing victory, to the incumbent, Annastacia Palaszczuk. I mean, Pauline was very adamant that, you know, again, as always, as she’s always done, she’ll get back up, dust herself off, and continue, you know, with her thoughts and policies on, you know, as to what is in the best interests, of voters not only in Queensland, but around the country.

Malcolm Roberts

Yeah exactly. And she and I are very similar in that. It doesn’t matter what happens. We always do what’s in the national interest, in Australia’s interest, and in Queensland’s interests. So, in Queensland, and New South Wales’s interest, Mark Latham’s doing a fabulous job, holding the government accountable in New South Wales. Same with WA. Our MPs over there in the upper house in WA have a very, very good record of holding the government accountable and stopping some major problems that should have, that would have otherwise gone through, Marcus. So we won’t stop, Pauline and I. We’ll be right onto it. We have got some things to learn, and some things for the future but, you know, as a prominent Brisbane radio announcer, and a former State MP said, never waste a crisis. That’s an established political maxim, and that’s what the Labour machine did. And he also said, fear wins over optimism. And when afraid, people run to the incumbent and to major parties. And that’s just the way it was.

Marcus Paul

All right now, just on this, I noticed that there was some comments made by James Ashby. And I noticed in the notes here, the demise of regional media does make it challenging to get other views out to voters, other than from the major parties. Now, there’ve been some suggestions, obviously it’s been a little difficult with a lack of media diversity in Queensland, in particular in the regions that that’s been a big part of the problem for One Nation, there was criticism of Pauline perhaps not being out and about enough, and I don’t know whether I buy into any of that. And of course, the other issue surrounding all of this is the fact that you just weren’t able to get your message to enough people, Malcolm.

Malcolm Roberts

That’s correct. The demise of media in Queensland is a big factor, because we are very well-known on the ground. Pauline, I want to make it very clear to everyone. News Corp misreported, misrepresented Pauline. She didn’t stop working. She is an amazing person, not just an amazing woman, an amazing person. And she was from, tip of Cape York, Thursday Island, all the way through to the Gold Coast, Coolangatta. Cape York to Coolangatta. She was all over the place, on the ground. And she did a phenomenal job. And everywhere she went, she raised interest. But no one reported it. And News Corp had the temerity to say that they, that she wasn’t around. That was a complete fabrication on News Corp’s part, and because of the local media, regional media being decimated, the messages just didn’t get out. So we’re going to have to think about that, Marcus, very, very seriously. It’s a great point you raised.

Marcus Paul

All right. The other issue of course, in relation to what you’ve just mentioned, and something that I brought up on the programme this morning in relation to the former prime minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd. His petition calling for a federal, well, some sort of inquiry, whether it’s a royal commission or otherwise, into News Corp. And obviously the ownership of so much media in places like Queensland, he got more than a half a million signatories, signatures, before it closed at midnight last night. I see the Greens were tweeting up a storm, saying that they will table it in Parliament if they get the support of Labour. So it’s over to Anthony Albanese, who so far has baulked at the idea. What’s, what’s, I guess, the One Nation stance on this?

Malcolm Roberts

Well I think these days, Marcus, there is so much going on in the media space. The fact is that there’s so many options for people. We have got a huge option, choice of options coming on. We can go to the internet, we can listen to radio, we can watch the, we can take the local newspaper, even if it’s online. But you know what’s happening? In response to News Corp–

Marcus Paul

I can tell you what’s happening, you’re not answering my question, that’s what’s happening.

Malcolm Roberts

No no, I am, your question is what’s happening. I won’t be supporting the News Corp, petition against News Corp, because there’s so much happening on the ground. There are local newspapers popping up in Queensland, in Queensland and giving us the news. There are local community radio stations. There’s your radio station network, which is, which will grow, Marcus, because people know that just like in America, they can’t trust the mainstream media. They can’t trust the ABC here. And they’re losing trust in News Corp. So they will go either into the community channels, the radios, the TVs. And that’s the real issue where we’ve got, we’ve got a fabulous opportunity there.

Marcus Paul

All right, okay. All right. I’ll delve into that a little bit more, but I suppose it’s more a question for Anthony Albanese and hopefully we’ll get him on to nut out the ideas there. Now, the US election. Boy, oh boy. Donald Trump. You say he’s doing amazingly. I say he’s off the bloody, he’s off the, I dunno.

Malcolm Roberts

No, he’s–

Marcus Paul

What’s going on with him, hey?

Malcolm Roberts

He’s done a remarkable job. You look at, look at Michigan. Michigan is a rust belt state, it was full of manufacturing. Manufacturing was sold out by Obama, by Clinton. And by George Bush junior. And, and Trump came along and said, Ford Motor Company, if you keep making cars in Mexico, then you’ll pay a tariff. And Ford Motor Company then reopened the factory in Michigan. The people in Michigan love him, the people in Pennsylvania love him. And that is a testament to this man. He said some things before the previous election. Then he damn well did it. He put, he followed up on his promises. The man is on track, I believe, to win again. The only thing that’s going to stop him from winning, I think, is corruption in the voting system. Which is what he’s been saying–

Marcus Paul

Hang on, all right–

Malcolm Roberts

Trump’s done an enormous job.

Marcus Paul

All right, well, have a listen to this. And I wanna get your thoughts on it. Here we go.

Malcolm Roberts

This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election.

Marcus Paul

Ah, come on. Surely he went a bit early there.

Malcolm Roberts

No, he actually was slower than Biden, Marcus, because I listened to Biden’s comments, and Biden’s comments were similar. And he was claiming victory for the Democrats, far, far too early.

Marcus Paul

Righto.

Malcolm Roberts

Trump had to come out, and what they’re doing is they’re both posturing to get their lawyers a good position. That’s the way I see it anyway, but I’m no expert. But there are serious questions being asked about the numbers, in some of the states, the crucial battleground states.

Marcus Paul

All right, the RBA this week cut the interest rate down to you know, virtually nothing. 0.1% interest rates. I mean, it’ll help people buy or stay in their homes, but there is a cost of course, self-funded retirees, as we’ve talked about on the programme, who rely on investment income, and seeing their returns fall to basically nothing.

Malcolm Roberts

That’s right. And then so, these people providing for their so-called own retirement is just hot air because, the legs have been cut out from under them now. We’re now at the point where retirees are having to spend their capital, because the return on their nest egg is almost non-existent and heading negative. And what’s disturbing is that, you know, this is going to create a lot of pressure for people at a time when people don’t need it. And by printing another a hundred billion, and giving it to the banks, they’re going to prop up the banks to do more mortgage lending. This government, the state and federal are completely ignoring the need to invest in productive capacity. We need to invest in power stations, dams, roads, ports, bridges. The Iron Boomerang Scheme, the Bradfield Scheme. These and many other prime investments, opportunities in our country are being neglected. And we need to get into building the productive capacity of our country.

Marcus Paul

I spoke to Andrew Leigh from labour, earlier in the week, on this Commonwealth Integrity Commission Bill. He basically says, it’s not a, it’s an anti, well, it’s basically a toothless tiger. That’s the best way that I can describe it. His description of it. Retired Victorian Supreme Court judge, Stephen Charles, said this is not a corruption commission, it’s designed to protect parliamentarians and senior public servants from investigation. After two years of waiting, this is a tremendous disappointment. An annual budget of $42 million when fully operational. And of course it, it will fail. In its current form of how it’s, you know, being sold. It will fail to hold people to account. It won’t be anything like a New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Malcolm Roberts

Yeah. I always make comment after doing my work on this, and I haven’t done my work on this, but some of my staff have, Marcus, and the early indications from what we can see is there will be no public hearings for public sector and members of parliament corruption. None.

Marcus Paul

Well, that’s right. And we won’t have–

Malcolm Roberts

And that’s the, that’s the place where you need it. That’s gotta be out in front and transparent. The prime minister, the attorney general, have dragged their feet on this, for a couple of years now. And they now produce something that falls short of the mark. And, you know, so how can, how can we do public hearings for law enforcement and police, but not for members of parliament? And for public sector employees.

Marcus Paul

Well that’s right.

Malcolm Roberts

This is wrong.

Marcus Paul

Yeah.

Malcolm Roberts

And then we’ve got to have the names out in the open. People are entitled to make sure that the government that they elect are working for the people. And that’s what we need to get, we need to make sure that there is pressure on politicians to be clean at all times.

Marcus Paul

Absolutely. And, you know, under its current proposed format, you won’t see people like, you know. I mean, look what’s happened in New South Wales, in the last couple of months. We’ve had a Premier dragged before the Independent Commission Against Corruption, and grilled to within an inch of her personal life. That won’t happen under this proposed Federal CIC, and that’s an issue for me.

Malcolm Roberts

Yes, and the attorney general has the power to limit information that can be considered by the Commonwealth Integrity Commission. There are also, the bars for referral are way too high. Someone approaches the institution with reasonable suspicions of corruption breaches, but no actual evidence. It can be ignored. And then with, there’s no retrospectivity, which means the sport rorts, the sports rorts and the Murray-Darling basin water buybacks, they won’t be investigated, because they were in the past. This is just way, way too short of where we need to be.

Marcus Paul

All right Malcolm, great to have you on, we’ll chat soon, mate. Thank you again, as always.

Malcolm Roberts

Thanks Marcus.

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Alan Jones – Youth Crime Spiking in Townsville

Last night I appeared on the Alan Jones show to discuss juvenile crime in Townsville. During a recent visit I learnt about a great program called ‘One Community One Standard’.

It was created by Indigenous Elders and proactive members of the Townsville Community who want to put a line in the sand and want to contribute to the Community Action Plan.

I have much appreciation for Jeff Adams and the team at OCOS who want to help the Townsville youth http://www.onecommunityonestandard.com.au/

One Nation’s Law & Order 10 point plan https://www.qldonenation.org.au/law-and-order

Transcript

[Alan Jones]

Senator Malcolm Roberts is an outstanding, highly intelligent and very well credentialed one nation Senator from Queensland. He wrote to me recently about his visit to Townsville, interestingly, and I think this is a universal problem, he had met with a group of locals and the most significant topic discussed was the heartbreak around juvenile crime.

It’s a massive issue across Australia this. What leads to it? How do you address it? Senator Malcolm Roberts joins us from Queensland. Malcolm thank you for your time. So you met with locals, were they men and women or only men?

[Malcolm Roberts]

Men and women. Most of the committee is men, but they’ve got a woman who’s looking after them in terms of making sure their governance is correct and she’s an integral part of it.

[Alan Jones]

So this is…

[Malcolm Roberts]

But it’s also a black and white.

[Alan Jones]

Yeah, indigenous and non-indigenous. And you say they were passionately committed to finding a way for Townsville to take ownership of, and responsibility for their next generation of up and coming adults. So they understand the urgency of the situation for Townsville youth.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Yes, they certainly do. And you said it exactly correctly, Alan, because these people have seen failures in governance, they’re are tired of the governance.

The government itself up here the labor machine is suppressing people’s voices. I’m talking about public servants, prison officers, police, detention centre officers, and what they’ve suddenly realised that the people, on the ground in Townsville, the citizens of Townsville, that they have to do it themselves.

They cannot rely upon this labor machine ’cause labor and the machine up here wants to look good, not do good. And they’re just fluffing around the edges.

[Alan Jones]

Yeah, a hundred percent curriculum. What are the causes do they think of juvenile crime? I mean, I think of this. I think well have, we undermined the family. Many of these young people, products of parents who are basically unqualified to deal with the wellbeing of children.

There’s no training for parenthood and it’s surely a mistake to believe anyway that government can solve the problem but the government helps create it. So what do they say is the cause of this?

[Malcolm Roberts]

It’s multifaceted, Alan, you’re exactly correct. The Russ Butler, who is a very impressive Aboriginal in Townsville and an elder. He says that one of the key issues is the lack of parental guidance from a very young age.

They’re basically missing. The second thing is there’s a lot of unemployment up there because of, for example, electricity prices in Queensland are ridiculously high, and they’re driving manufacturing jobs, and even agricultural jobs, shutting things down.

[Alan Jones]

There are jobs in agriculture, Senator Malcolm, there are jobs. This is Senator Malcolm Roberts. There are jobs in agriculture do these people genuinely want to work or do they actually live by the culture of today, which is put my hand out and government will give me someone else’s money.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Well, it is patently that Alan, but it’s also the fact that there are safe houses and bail houses here in Townsville. And they’re supposed to be under a curfew, but the curfews are just completely disregarded. And the kids, the young men get on their mobile phones and organise from their bail houses and safe houses where they’re going to raid that night and the next day.

So what we need is discipline, but we also need them. And this is the beauty of this programme. It’s called one community, one standard, Jeff Adams and Russ Butler, and four other men. And as I said, that female in the staff, what the beauty of it is, they can look at this in a comprehensive way. They don’t just want to punish kids. Some will need that, but they want to bring them back…

[Alan Jones]

But you mentioned, you mentioned discipline. I mean, discipline, we’ve taken discipline out of the classroom. Do these people understand that there are community standards and that they’ve got to really live by those standards? That’s the first step. I mean, if education fails them, is employment training adequate?

[Malcolm Roberts]

You’re right on the track Alan. One of the things they’re talking about is one community, one standard. That’s the name of the entity that group they’ve formed.

And what they want to do is to get the elders involved, also the victims of the crimes and make sure there’s responsibility put on the actual perpetrators of the crimes, the criminals themselves, because then there’ll be greater, greater responsibility.

Maria Montessori showed these over many, many years. You know, the famed educator, I’m sure, she showed these basic principles work successfully, regardless of the culture, regardless of the society. They work worldwide with all humans. And these people are wanting to put this into practise.

They know it works because Russ Butler who’s an Aboriginal elder in the group has done it himself, taken people back country, on country. They call it, and they’ve sorted these kids out and they’ve been rehabilitated and they want to get previous people who’ve rehabilitated back to do the work with them, but they can’t get the funding.

They can’t get the proper governance because this Paluszczuk machine, the labour machine up here is just only interested in looking good, not doing good. They won’t address the hard issues, Alan, they’re just tired.

[Alan Jones]

Good on you. I mean, basically it’s called going back to the future. We’ve got to reinstate some of the values of the past that we’ve overturned. I think. Good to talk to you, Malcolm. There he is the one nation Senator. That’s a universal problem. Isn’t it? The one nation Senator from Queensland, Malcolm Roberts.

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Select Committee proposed to investigate QLD Council Corruption

Through the Local Government Association of Queensland (LGAQ) Ltd the deep corruption that had been culturally entrenched in Ipswich and Logan Councils, is ingeniously and systemically infecting many other Queensland councils.

Senator Malcolm Roberts lodged a Senate motion this week calling for a Select Committee on Corruption in Queensland Local Government to be established to address the gross misuse of Commonwealth and State Disaster Funds, under the procurement practices of LGAQ Ltd and Queensland councils.

Senator Roberts said, “Evidence shows that around 50% of the funded disaster money is siphoned into areas that currently avoid detection and is not used for the benefit of the community.”

“Listening to many contractors and staff state-wide has uncovered a depth of dishonesty with public money that law-abiding citizens will find it hard to believe, but it is true.”

The National Disaster Relief and Recovery Arrangements (NDRRA) is the agency through which councils receive disaster recovery funding. From 2011 – 2019 all Queensland councils received a blockbuster $5.339 billion, 75% from the federal government and 25% from the state.

The LGAQ’s unfettered existence benefits from two statutory provisions. Firstly rule 234 of the Local Government Regulations 2012 exempts a Council from calling for quotes or contractors to tender if the contract is entered using the LGAQ as an intermediary. 

This practice, considered unlawful collusion in all states except Queensland, allows LGAQ’s procurement entity Local Buy, to award disaster recovery projects to “anointed contractors” that can be encouraged to inflate prices, use substandard materials and deliver inferior workmanship to maximise profit.

The other problem is s591 of the Industrial Relations Act 1999, that exempts LGAQ Ltd from appointing an independent auditor to inspect financial records.

Senator Roberts stated, “Access to large sums of disaster money, rule 234 and exemption from financial auditing, allows immunity from scrutiny and transparency creating a hot bed of systemic corruption.

A 2019 audit of Queensland Councils by the QLD Audit Office identified $793 million worth of assets – including roads – missing from public registers of 44 councils during 2017-2019.  The report stated that overspending, incomplete asset registers and systemic poor internal controls were widespread across Queensland Councils making fraud easy to do.

Queensland’s state government and the Crime and Corruption Commission are aware of these alleged corrupt practices and have inexplicably declined to investigate.

Senator Roberts added, “A Senate Committee will ensure an independent investigation, void of political interference, into these corrupt practices. “Every Queensland council should welcome the scrutiny to give rate payers reassurance their council’s governance and fiscal management are both moral and legal.” 

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One Nation: The lone voice for coal miners and coal industry

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One Nation is the sole political defender of our coal industry and the lone voice for our state’s largest export income earner.

Labor and the LNP have signalled a strong exit from coal as part of Australia’s energy mix, yet coal earns the Queensland Government $4 billion in royalties annually.

Labor has committed to 50% renewables and a 2050 zero net carbon dioxide, and last week, the Liberal’s new energy roadmap marginalises coal in favour of unknown and unproven renewable technologies and doubling renewables to a crippling 30%.

Senator Roberts stated, “What this means is there will be no more coal-fired power stations built under a Labor or LNP government.

“One Nation however will not abandon coal and I want to assure the coal mining industry, coal communities, and coal miners and their families that we support coal mining jobs.”

“Only One Nation has the courage and integrity to question the claimed science underpinning the destructive climate policies and doing our due diligence shows we need to stay with coal.”

During Senator Roberts’ discussions with CSIRO, their climate science team admitted that CSIRO has never said carbon dioxide from human activity is a danger and admitted that today’s temperatures are not unprecedented.

Despite these revelations Labor and LNP climate policies continue to burden our country’s economy and cripple our recovery with the diversion of billions of dollars into renewables.

“Australia has shut down 12 coal-fired power stations over the last six years, while India and China are building hundreds of coal-fired plants.

“Labor and the LNP are kidding themselves that carbon dioxide is a problem and persist with ridiculous climate policies, while Asia strides ahead economically and industrially pumping out gargantuan amounts of this natural trace gas for decades to come.

“It is both ironic and preposterous that countries like India and China use our high grade coal to sell electricity at 8c/kWh, compared to 25c/kWh in Australia from the same coal, due to costly, unreliable and parasitic renewables,” added Senator Roberts.

Senator Roberts commissioned economist Dr Alan Moran to analyse the economic impact of state and federal climate policies and found that Australian households pay an extra $1,300 per household every year in higher electricity charges; a staggering $13 billion each year.

Senator Roberts is travelling through the Bowen Basin this week and wants to reassure the whole industry that One Nation stands in solidarity with coal mining.

One Nation will work tirelessly to reverse these unjust and ideologically-driven climate policies that erode our economic competitiveness and impose a hefty burden on our cost of living.

“There are too many lame and lazy politicians who lack the mettle and intellectual rigour to question the so-called climate science. “There are many more politicians who know the science is flawed yet spend their days hiding in the shadows of party lines, rather than having the courage to call it out,” stated Senator Roberts.

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One Nation protects workers’ entitlements and safety

The increasing use of casuals and contractors in Bowen Basin mining industry workplace agreements is undermining safety.

Senator Roberts wrote a detailed submission for the Grosvenor Mine Board of Inquiry highlighting the issues of workplace intimidation, job security and the lack of representation for casual coal miners.

Senator Roberts said, “We know that the coal mining industry needs casuals, yet casual workers must retain a voice without fear of retribution when it comes to workplace safety.

“As a former underground coalface miner and manager, I know that nothing trumps safety, and to be informed that Bowen Basin casual coal miners risk losing their jobs if they raise safety concerns is deeply disturbing in today’s industrial relations landscape.”

Casualisation is increasing in the Bowen Basin with some mines operating at up to 90 per cent casuals or contractors.

Many mines have both production and safety targets that can push production ahead of safety and may reward non-reporting of incidents.

Yet previous professional experience in Australia and overseas has demonstrated to Senator Roberts that a genuine focus on safety reduces costs and increases productivity, employee retention and satisfaction.

“Safety is not the enemy of production, rather safety enables profit. Executives and miners who do not understand this merely talk about zero-harm, yet down the pit when push comes to shove, safety can be devalued and sidelined.

“Without security, casuals can be threatened and intimidated into silence and fear of being sacked for raising safety issues. The voice of the casual miner is being quashed and lives are at risk,” added Senator Roberts.

Currently the Queensland Coal Mining Safety and Health Advisory Committee has a majority of members representing mine owners / operators and unions that focus on the interests of the fulltime miner as a priority, not the casual miner.

In his submission to the Grosvenor Inquiry, Senator Roberts called for committee representation of casual miners to ensure they retain the ability to speak up freely.

Senator Roberts is deeply committed to fair and just employment arrangements for our coal miners. His 2019 Senate Estimates investigation into Coal Long Service Leave exposed errors in miners’ accruals.

“After putting lots of pressure on Coal LSL it finally admitted to inadequate governance resulting in labour-hire firms lodging incorrect hours on behalf of casual miners.

“Miners were being short-changed and I encourage all coal miners to audit their hours being reported to Coal LSL for the purposes of accumulating long service leave,” he said.

Senator Roberts’ close examination of coal mining work practices in the Hunter Valley has exposed severe safety hazards, unlawful non-reporting of injuries, non-payment of workers’ compensation and accident pay, underpayment of wages, loss of award entitlements including leave, workplace intimidation and inaccurate accruals of long service leave.

Senator Roberts said, “Listening to Central Queensland miners has shown practices are not as bad as we found in the Hunter, however the increased use of so-called casuals and contractors on long-term fixed rosters has confirmed some of these issues exist in our state and this must end.”

Senator Roberts is currently touring Queensland and will visit Emerald at the end of the week.

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Palaszczuk forces 16 Hour Trip on pregnant woman – 2SM with Marcus Paul

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Transcript

[Marcus Paul]

Maybe we need people like Senator Malcolm Roberts in positions of greater power. Malcolm’s with us on the programme. Hello mate, how are you?

[Malcolm Roberts]

I’m well, thanks Marcus. How are you?

[Marcus Paul]

Pissed off.

[Malcolm Roberts]

I know, you’re cranky and frustrated, I just heard-

[Marcus Paul]

I’m really annoyed-

[Malcolm Roberts]

You should be too-

[Marcus Paul]

I’m really, really annoyed. Anyway, let’s get to some of the issues. I’m sorry, but did you just hear what Premier Annastacia Palaszcuk said today?

[Malcolm Roberts]

Yeah, I did, and what she’s doing is just playing the Queensland card. Queenslanders are very proud to be Queenslanders, but we’re also proud to be Australians. And Palaszcuk is running off the old trick, of just trying to isolate. And that’s what a desperate leader does.

They try and build a circle around themselves, and everyone outside is bad, and that’s what she’s doing. But she’s actually misrepresenting the situation. We’ve got two tertiary care hospitals in Queensland, we’ve got a couple in Brisbane, and we’ve got one centre in Townsville.

Now the Townsville looks after all the way from Townsville, right through to Papua New Guinea. It looks way out into the east, into the islands. It looks way west into the Northern territory, and south to about Central Queensland.

The hospitals around Brisbane, they take care of Central Queensland, north of the hospitals, and south of the hospitals into Northern and New South Wales. That’s our responsibility. We get paid federal money for doing that. And Anastasia Palaszcuk is misrepresenting the truth.

She has actually now, people are starting to wake up Marcus. She has stopped two twins in birth, in the womb, from coming to Brisbane for treatment. That mother would have had a helicopter flight in half an hour to the hospital. Instead she took 16 hours, to get on a royal flying doctor’s services plane-

[Marcus Paul]

Why is it you can say all of this Malcolm, but we’ve got a prime minister, who says stuff all! Does nothing, says nothing to call this woman out, says nothing about what’s going on with the border debacle.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Well, I believe we have a prime minister who’s doing a marketing job, and Scott Morrison is very much in favour of building facades and then selling them. Look, he’s caused a real problem with this cabinet, this so-called cabinet that he’s established.

I believe that one of the motives of that cabinet was to pull people together, that’s good. But the other motive was, if it went pear-shaped with their response, he would have had the cabinet to blame.

And so, what we’ve now got is we’ve got rampant premiers, and Dan Andrews not fulfilling his responsibilities, Anastasia Palaszczuk, not fulfilling her responsibilities to the country and to Queensland, and harming both those states, and who pays mate?

The prime minister pays, the taxpayer pays. So when Victoria has as a sloppy response, and has more cases of COVID, and has to shut down to a stage four, who pays the bill for the extra job keeper, the extra job seeker?

[Marcus Paul]

Well-

[Malcolm Roberts]

The federal government does. So, what we’ve got now is the complete reversal of our constitution which is based on competitive federalism, and we’ve got competitive welfarism. The more the Queensland, and New South, and Victorian Governments fail, the more money they’ll get. It’s ridiculous.

[Marcus Paul]

All right. Look, again, I don’t understand why they’re so quiet on this and look, and I know the way the system works, I get it, but I’m sorry, you’re right.

He’s just hiding behind marketing slogans. He thought he hit a home run yesterday with this announcement, this grandized announcement of vaccines, and then he tripped over the words when he went down the whole mandatory line.

[Malcolm Roberts]

This is just a repeat-

[Marcus Paul]

Then having to backtrack-

[Malcolm Roberts]

This is just a repeat of what happened with the COVID tracking app. You know, he came out, and three times he refused to rule out that it would be compulsory. So I jumped in on a radio station and said, “No, we are not gonna support it, if it’s compulsory.

“We’re just not, you can’t do that.” He was very quickly backtracking as soon as that happened. Now Pauline did the same with this declaration of compulsory vaccines. And she belted him and he quickly retreated. He doesn’t stand for anything, and that means he’ll fall for anything.

And that’s Scott Morrison summarised in a nutshell. But that’s typical of the Liberal and Labor parties these days. They don’t stand for anything and they fall for anything.

[Marcus Paul]

All right, what about compulsory superannuation? This 50-year experiment continues, we’re now 30 years into the super experiment, and without getting bogged down in any of the financial detail, is it working, and can we afford the increase the government has promised Malcolm?

[Malcolm Roberts]

Well, you know, the reserve bank governor has come out and said the rising super would reduce wage growth, and spending.

And he’s right, because what people fail to realise is this super has to be paid from somewhere. The extra super contribution has to come from somewhere, and it comes out of an employer’s revenue.

And so, the employer then has less opportunity, less affordability, to give wage increases in the future. So the money doesn’t come out of nowhere. It goes either into super, or it goes into increased wages.

Take your pick Marcus. And so the reserve bank governor is sensible in saying that. So I’m saying that we need to really consider this, and have a good look at it, because the contribution from super, the tax concessions on super fund earnings is now costing us 38 billion a year.

The cost in saved pensions is only $8 billion a year. That means there’s $30 billion being transferred somewhere else. And we know that it goes to the banks and the super funds and fees.

[Marcus Paul]

Of course it does.

[Malcolm Roberts]

So this means that what’s happening, is that the rate we’re going, the return to members would be below the projected return if it were not for taxation concessions.

So we really have to think about what we’re doing with super and we have to stop making it increasingly complex. Have to really look at it in a solid way, and then come back to having a solid strategy on super and stop changing it all the time.

[Marcus Paul]

Yeah, I mean if business is forced to increase super in order to survive, then unfortunately they may just take that out of wages.

We know that real wage growth has basically flat-lined over the years, and they can’t probably afford, given the fact that we’ll be in hopefully recovery phase by then with COVID-19, with all borders open and all economies chugging away.

So while business survives, perhaps individuals if you like, may be worse off. I mean it’s, I don’t know whether the economy can sustain a rise in compulsory superannuation.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Well, you’re absolutely correct. And it points to not only the confusion and the concern that people have with continual meddling with the super, but also it points to what we discussed last week and the week before Marcus.

And that is that our economy has been debilitated from about 1923 onwards, and then especially from 1944 onwards, with signing the Lima Agreement, the Paris Agreement, the Kyoto Protocol and all these things that have destroyed our economic sovereignty, our economic sustainability, so we’ve had a reduced economy now, and even before COVID, it was floundering.

So, as a result of COVID, it’s collapsed. What we need to do, when Morrison and Albanese are talking about lifting the economy back to where it was, we don’t need to think about February this year Marcus, we need to think about getting back to being number one in the world, which is where we were in the early part of last century, right through to 1920.

We had the number one income per capita in the world. And that’s what we need to get back to. And what’s happened is that the Liberal Labor policies of pushing UN policies has failed. And we need to get back to really aiming for being top of the world again.

We’ve got the people, we’ve got the resources, we’ve got the climate, we’ve got the opportunities and the potential, we’ve just got wombats running the show in Canberra. That’s what we need to change.

[Marcus Paul]

All right, good to have you on the programme as always Malcolm. Calling a shovel a bloody spade. Appreciate it, we’ll talk to you next week. Thank you.

[Malcolm Roberts]

Thanks Marcus.

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One Nation Condamine Candidate – Greg Priebe

A few weeks ago I met up with One Nation’s Condamine candidate for the upcoming Queensland election Greg Priebe. It’s time for a new start and to get rid of the Liberal/National/Labor monopoly in Queensland politics.

Greg will put the residents of Condamine and Queensland first.Greg’s family history in Condamine can be traced back to his great-great-grandfather and family arriving in 1864. Since those beginnings, each generation has worked and committed to this great country and electorate.

A proud family history of serving in the Australian Defence Force, local business, and grain and cattle production on prime agricultural land in the Moola district, the Priebe history is rich and relevant to the drive behind Greg’s commitment to Condamine and this election.

Just like his forebears, Greg shows the same hard work ethic, tenacity and resilience that have made him successful today. Happily married with 3 children, Greg and his wife Tracy have the family home in the outskirts of Oakey and are proud to be part of the community.

Greg has the high-level education and multi-industry experience that allows him to connect with a wide range of people in the region. From his rural background, agribusiness and education expertise, Greg is keen to listen and work hard for people to make this region a showpiece for Queensland.

Greg is all too aware of the growing hardships facing everyday Australians – insecurity in business and employment, profits and assets going overseas, soaring costs of living and much more – all making life harder for you. Meanwhile the major political parties continue to put you last.

Runs the learning and development consultancy business ‘Effective Strategies’———————-Greg’s aims if elected.Strong advocate for the approval of New Acland Mine stage 3.

Building Australian Manufacturing and Business! Greater support for local business to do what they do best.

Better Roads and Transport! Providing the infrastructure that allow people to travel safely and business to shift product.

Better Education! Improving education quality and building better outcomes and pathways for youth.Better

Social Services! Greater police numbers and resourcing, building better health and wellbeing facilities.

Cracking Down on Crime! Tougher sentencing and tackling the factors that cause youth re-offending.

Support for Seniors! Making Condamine a supportive, safe and attractive place for retirees.

Work and More Play! Encouraging greater state funding towards tourist activities, well-facilitated park land/adventure playgrounds, recreation opportunities and community events in our region.

Transcript

Okay, I’m here in Oakey with Greg Priebe, who’s our Condamine state electorate candidate for One Nation. Tell us, mate, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Well, I’m local, I’m from this Condamine region, I grew up on a property north of here and I’ve spent all my life with agriculture, with a property. I decided to sort of stick my hand up for One Nation

Good!

Because I think there’s lots of different issues here that simply aren’t being touched.

What are some of the issues locally that affect people?

I think the big issues here are the lack of support for agriculture is one, and that’s a real big one.

That’s both LNP and labor.

Yeah, definitely.

Both learning agriculture.

Yeah, dropped the ball there. Around water in Queensland.

Yep.

Also there’s been, you know, a lot of problems here around the Acland mine, with support with that, dropping conditions in healthcare, lack of resourcing for policing. There’s huge issues within education. And basically I think people have just absolutely had enough and are looking for a good conservative alternative.

You were in the LNP, you’re actually a member of the LNP.

Yeah, I was.

And you left in disgust. Why One Nation?

Well because they seem to be the true conservative voice for Australia. We listened every week to what is happening in Canberra, you know, and in Brisbane. And we see the LNP every time dropping the ball. Right now is the time to step up.

Okay, thank you.

We’re at the juncture, we we’ve got to do something about this, we’ve got to stop this, this lack of power or this lack of voice that we have out here.

The way I put it, Greg, is that it’s very simple. The tired old parties, the labour party and the liberal party, believe that people work for government.

Yeah.

You listen to people, you watch people’s actions more than what they say, and that’s what they’re saying. That’s what they’re actually meaning, people work for the government. We think it’s government works for the people. Governments serve the people.

Yeah.

So what we’d expect, if you’re elected, is for you to listen a lot. That’s what Pauline and I do a hell of a lot of.

Yeah.

Listen to understand the issues. You obviously are aware of the issues locally, but keep listening and then also stand up and speak out on behalf of the people. Cause that’s what you’re there for. You’re their representative, you’re there to do their will. So Greg Priebe from Condamine. Let’s give him number one preference, and number one vote in the coming state election.

Right, thank you.

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Rosemary Moulden, Candidate for Southern Downs

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Transcript

[Sen. Roberts]

Hi, I’m Senator Malcolm Roberts, representing the state of Queensland in Federal Parliament, and I’m with Rosemary Moulden, our candidate for the state election in October, for the Southern Downs electorate in Queensland, Rosemary, tell us a bit about yourself please.

[Rosemary]

My name is Rosemary Moulden, I am the state endorsed candidate for One Nation for the electorate of the Southern Downs, I was a registered nurse and a registered homoeopath, I’ve run small business, and I’m running a beef production farm with my husband at the moment.

[Sen. Roberts]

Tell us why you’re running as a candidate representing people of Southern Downs in the State Parliament.

[Rosemary]

Well, my idea for running for a candidate for this Southern Downs regional electorate, is that I feel that farmers need a lot of support, small businesses need a lot of support, they need less government interference, they need a much more manageable cost of living, costs power is going up which prevents people from running the businesses that they want to run, and are able to run, and the water supply is the big issue, we’ve been through bushfires, droughts, and now the Coronavirus, and this is impacting on everybody’s life.

[Sen. Roberts]

So it’s basically water, Its electricity costs, cost of living and over regulation, you wanna get government out of people’s lives and get back to government serving the people instead of having the people serve the government.

[Rosemary]

Oh, that’s totally correct, you’ve said it well, the regulations that are imposed constantly on the people who are actually producing goods and food and in this district is very, very difficult for all these people to implement, and that’s the thing everyone needs to be able to fulfil their own destiny, and do their own thing with minimal government interference.

[Sen. Roberts]

So why one nation? Why are you standing in One Nation?

[Rosemary]

Well, One Nation as a party has had a very constant leadership, very sensible policies, there’s almost none of them that you could really argue against, they’re common sense, fundamental, and they encourage the independence of Australians and most Australians want to work, and most Australians are happy to pay tax when they’re earning a decent income.

[Sen. Roberts]

We hate getting ripped off though, and One Nation is the only party that speaks up, and has the guts to say what people are thinking.

[Rosemary]

Oh, exactly and people will tell me what they’re thinking, and they’re happy for me to believe them and understand them, and most people now seem to be very receptive to the policies, the common sense policies that One Nation promotes.

[Sen. Roberts]

Right, and being a representative in Parliament means, being a representative of the people, speaking for the people, and pushing their issues for the people, not for the global agenda, like the LNP and the Labor Party has been doing, so, why now?

[Rosemary]

For me, it’s a perfect time, I’ve had a lot of experience with the government regulation farming and even with nursing and all those things that you have to implement in those areas, I just feel like people can listen to me, I can approach people and chat to them and get information from them and actually listen to what they’re saying.

[Sen. Roberts]

And because we’re very free to say and do what we think we need to do, when we listen, we really listen because we take that message into parliament, unlike the other parties, the failed old parties, are told to do what the backroom people do, so when Rosemary says she listens, she listens.

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Why I support the Acland Mine Extension

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Transcript

[SEN. ROBERTS] Let’s clear up some recent confusion about One Nation’s position on Acland mine continuing to operate and to reinstate three hundred vital local jobs and 2300 indirect regional jobs. We’ve criticised how a third party representative of Acland approached One Nation in the past.

Pauline reminded everyone of this recently and now that Acland has been willing to give us facts and data and the courts have fixed an injustice I’m pleased to support the mine. Affordable energy and export income is good for our country and Acland will be good for the local area.

I support the decision of the Court of Appeal and the four judges. I support Acland’s Stage 3. Let’s have a look at the timeline of the extension of the operating mine. The Bligh govt gazetted the Stage 3 extension in 2007, thirteen years ago. There was some local opposition.

The project then went to the Land Court where the adjudicator, whose official title is Member, rejected the mine’s application in 2016. One Nation accepted that decision. It then went on appeal to the Supreme Court, where Acland was successful. After that it went to on to the Court of Appeal which included the highly respected Justice Sofronoff and two other judges. Acland won that.

The Court of Appeal, our highest court in Queensland, ruled that the decision by the Land Court Member was affected by “apprehended bias” and was unsound. That means one Land Court Member showing apprehended bias ruled against the mine and hundreds of jobs AND four Supreme court Judges overruled him.

The courts have corrected an injustice within their own system.

[INTERVIEWER] What about the current appeal?

[SEN. ROBERTS] This decision is now on appeal to the High Court thanks to the Labor government continuing to give taxpayer money to The Environmental Defenders Office to interrupt development and jobs.

The Independent Expert Scientific Committee on Coal Seam Gas and Large Coal Mining Development issued three advices in relation to Acland’s impact on groundwater over 2014, 2015 and 2016. The 2014 and 2015 reports criticised Acland. It’s 2016 report was positive and said that all matters raised had been addressed.

This report won Acland Federal environmental approval.We want to encourage businesses who are told they have a problem and fix it. This is what Acland did and got sign off from an independent, statutory scientific body that the courts said had access to the same information as any objector.

[INTERVIEWER] What about the evidence given in the Land Court?

[SEN. ROBERTS] Several witnesses on both sides gave evidence that had the appearance of being first-hand but was later shown to be based on hearsay. The Land Court Member in the first decision made no criticism of the objectors who gave such evidence yet was highly critical of one of Acland’s witnesses who did exactly the same [1].

The Land Court Member said that Acland had deliberately distorted the facts and eroded the confidence of the court. The Court of Appeal found that there was no basis to impute this [2]. The Court of Appeal found that at a certain point the Land Court Member was, quote: “animated by an extreme and irrational animus against Acland” [3].

Essentially, he the Member, had taken a negative attitude towards Acland. The court of appeal said at times the Member was combative, argumentative and sarcastic to Acland [4]. In the Supreme Court, it was found that there was no evidence to support the claim that Acland had engaged in pressure tactics [5].

The Court of Appeal found there was no basis for the Land Court Member’s conclusion that Acland had sought to portray objectors as bigoted individuals who were only interested in spreading misinformation [6]. The Land Court Member himself concluded that some of the objectors were ready to make assertions without evidence, make submissions that were scandalous and unsupported by any evidence and as to one witness, having an anti-Acland fixation that overflowed into her evidence [6].

The Court of Appeal found that the Land Court Member’s imputation that Acland had tried to hide relevant information in relation to groundwater impacts was “irrational” [7]. While the original Land Court Member’s decision rejected Acland, it’s obvious that was not sound.

[INTERVIEWER] There was a comment that Acland tried to influence a One Nation candidate?

[SEN. ROBERTS] There was an accusation, since retracted, that our local, grassroots candidate had been wined and dined by the mine. None of these are true. I want to acknowledge Alan Jones’ strength of character in correcting and apologising for the assertion about that candidate. I thank him for that.

[INTERVIEWER] What has led to your support for Acland?

[SEN. ROBERTS] I visited Acland 3 weeks ago and worked through my extensive checklist of things I think needed to be considered.

These include: Safety & health; Water underground; water overland; water usage & supply; land use rights; constitution; aboriginal land (none at Acland); rural land quality & use; farm produce type; environment – air quality, vibrations, reclamation, noise, past performance; town services & rates; jobs and local/regional economy; infrastructure impacts; social impact; bank support; owner’s flexibility and consideration of others’ needs; government fiscal responsibility/debt;

Acland meets all of them. In fact, Acland has extensively changed its mining plan at high cost to itself to meet locals’ needs. I listened to a small group of opponents to Acland.I listened to the local community, business owners and farmers who strongly support this project.

Coal is good for this country and Acland will be good for the local area. I support the decision of the Court of Appeal and the four judges. I support Acland.Let’s get government green tape, red tape and blue tape out of the way, and get shovels in the ground and dump trucks on the road.

In a state with $100 billion of debt thanks to the Liberal-Labor duopoly we need export income and affordable domestic energy for our economic recovery and to secure our state’s future.

References

  1. Oakey Coal Action Alliance Inc v New Acland Coal Pty Ltd & Ors [2019] QCA 184, [82].
  2. Ibid [70].
  3. Ibid [73].
  4. Ibid [74].
  5. Ibid [81].
  6. Ibid [85].
  7. Ibid [90].

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Throw the book at Black Lives Matter lawbreakers

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It is vital that our premier takes a tough stand on any unnecessary and risky marches/protests in our State. We can not risk going down the path of Victoria.

Transcript

It’s so pleasing to see the New South Wales Police Commissioner in response to the Black Lives Matter protests, coming out tomorrow, saying to his policemen that they must fine as many people as they can for taking part in that protest.

That’s a welcome change from Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who said when the last Black Lives Matter protest occurred in Brisbane, that “Please don’t attend. “But if you do then maintain social distance.”

And as a result, 30,000 people followed her invitation to maintain social distance. Premier Dan Andrew pretty much did the same and just waved them on through and encouraged the protesters

And now look at Victoria and now look at New South Wales. So what we need to see is Premier Palaszczuk in this state, take the lead from New South Wales and be hard on criminals.

The Labor Government in Queensland has a history of being soft on criminals and very hard on everyday Australians.

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