Thanks for sticking around tonight to hear the blazing insights I will have at a quarter past 10 on a Monday evening. I also want to thank the hard-working girls in the Whip's office, Charlotte and Bec. I know they are just as keen to hear those blazing insights. Read more

Following on from Senator Whish-Wilson, I too have met with businesses to discuss this issue. Only a month ago, I was in Stanthorpe, which is south-west of Brisbane. I went to dinner there and I was expecting to talk about 457 visas for growers, wine equalisation tax issues and tourist issues, but there was a small business man there who has a financial advice business in Stanthorpe, with offices in Warwick. Read more

I did not have the honour of directly being involved in the G20 proceedings on the weekend, but I did go to an event on Sunday night in Brisbane. It was on the sidelines of the G20, and it was organised on those sidelines. It was a conference put together by the Australian Digital Currency Commerce Association. They put on a conference in Brisbane today with some of the delegates and some countries sticking around for it. I thank them for inviting me to that and asking me to say a few words. Read more

It is a great honour to rise tonight on a day where some history has been made in this place with the historic signing of the trade agreement between Australia and China. Tonight I too want to talk about history, the history of the National Party, or the Country Party as it was called.  Read more

I was just speaking to Senator Day, from South Australia, about a fellow state person of his, Bert Kelly, who used to be the member for Wakefield for a long time. He would be familiar to many people in this House. Along with his many other achievements, statements and successes over time, Bert Kelly also had an aphorism that, when you heard a politician or a government announcing a new dam, you could smell an election just around the corner. Read more

I want to follow on from the comments that Senator Birmingham made. I think he was onto something when he was comparing the inaction on the submarines while Labor were last in government to what they were doing on the NBN. They did spend billions of dollars on the NBN and we all saw the results of that—not much service to people and nothing rolled out, but lots of money spent.  Read more

Before I start my remarks tonight, I would like to briefly mention that a number of Queensland state politicians have announced their retirement in the last few weeks. All up, these four people who have announced their retirement in the last month have collectively served about 83 years in the Queensland parliament. They will be a huge loss of collective experience, wisdom and knowledge to the Queensland parliament.  Read more

It is a privilege to follow my colleague Senator McGrath and his contribution concerning an Australian Defence Force covenant. It is a concept which he has told me about before, and I do hope, as he does, that it can be taken up by all political parties. Read more

Before we seek to establish new bureaucracies and before we seek to make substantial changes to our law enforcement structure we should have a problem that we need to act upon. We should have evidence that there is an issue before we go about spending lots of money, before we go about replicating processes that are already in place and, most importantly, before we go about reducing the normal law enforcement practices that exist in this country and the restrictions that are placed around them. Read more

The American radio businessman David Sarnoff once said: Competition brings out the best in products and the worst in people. Read more