Parliament resumed this week and there is no shortage of issues to debate. Chief amongst them are the looming energy crisis, penalty rates and the behaviour of our major banks.
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The Government's so-called "omnibus bill" will also feature. An omnibus bill is a vehicle used to lump a number of largely unrelated matters into one bill (a bill is a proposal that becomes legislation if passed). The idea is to force Members and Senators to pass all the bill or none of it.
In other words, it's a form of "legislative blackmail". It imposes a dilemma on people; vote for the matter the Government desperately wants passed, or risk losing something else in the bill the Member or Senator strongly supports.
In addition to the obvious, an omnibus bill allows the Government to blame everyone else for the Government's failure to pass popular measures which just about all Senators and Members support.
The omnibus bill currently before the Parliament is a little bit different. It increases some payments to certain people including pensioners and some families while taking more money off people (including the same people) in other ways. That will allow the Government to accuse Labor and the minor parties of opposing pension and family payment "increases" while desperately avoiding talking about the harsh cuts the bill imposes.
It's both mean and tricky and while the Government was able to use its numbers to ram the bill through the House, the Senate is likely to produce a different result.
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In recent years we've had a few local syndicates meet with success on the racing track. But none has been more exciting than She Will Reign's Golden Slipper win last Saturday.
Of course it's not her first significant win and I hope it won't be the last. Congratulations to all involved.
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The Shadow Minister for Resources, Trade and Investment visited our electorate last week. Jason Clare and I toured a coal mine and a thoroughbred breeding stud to emphasise the important roll both sectors play in our local economy.
We also caught up with the Gonski Bus to help highlight the importance of that campaign. As each month passes, the Gonski issue becomes more critical because we are fast approaching the date the Abbott Government's funding cuts take effect.
If we are serious about youth unemployment including intergenerational unemployment, we must give our teachers the resources they need to both identify students who need some extra attention and provide the support they need. This in turn also allows appropriate levels of resourcing to be directed to higher functioning students in order to maximise their potential.
This "needs-based" approach is the best way of making sure our schools are the very best they can be and tomorrow's workforce is internationally competitive.