Customs Amendment (Anti- Dumping Measures) Bill
...There are few more contentious issues to be had around the topic of international trade than the issue of dumping and the measures governments right around the world have exercised for a century or more to…
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Adjournment speech – Lottoland
...there's a new entrant that has come in the online gambling space of the lottery: Lottoland. And it concerns me. I started hearing about this player earlier in the year. A petition has since been…
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Fairfax schools to receive educational kits in preparation for Remembrance Day
Ted O'Brien MP said schools in Fairfax would receive an educational kit in preparation for Remembrance Day on 11 November. Mr O'Brien said the educational kit, developed by the Department of Veterans’ Affairs (DVA), would help…
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SMALL BUSINESS SHINING BRIGHT ON THE SUNSHINE COAST
THE outlook for small businesses in the Sunshine Coast community looks bright as Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien took the Minister for Small Business Michael McCormack to the heart of his electorate today. “As…
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Pensioner Concession Card reinstated for part-pensioners in Fairfax
Former part-pensioners in Fairfax will have their Pensioner Concession Card (PCC) reinstated from this week. These former part-pensioners lost the card in January as a consequence of reforms to the pension assets test, which were designed…
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Higher Education Support Legislation Amendment (A More Sustainable, Responsive and Transparent Higher Education System) Bill
...The Labor Party seem to not understand that when money goes up, when you get more of something, that's actually not called a 'cut'. Nevertheless, does the government need to ensure that universities are more efficient? Absolutely,…
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Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation Amendment Bill
...To the vast majority of us, nuclear science can seem incomprehensible. Say the word 'nuclear' in Australia and thoughts of nuclear weapons will be immediately invoked in many people's minds. It will immediately trigger debate…
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Member Statement – over-reaction to the Prime Minister holding and beer and a baby
...I did want to stand up today and make comments regarding the reaction that a photo posted by the Prime Minister when he was at a footy match triggered last Saturday. He was watching the…
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Private Members’ Business – Defence Industry
...As we all know, the world today is in a situation of increased volatility. The uncertainty that is gripping us both politically and economically is throwing up a set of challenges that have led to…
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Australian Border Force Amendment (Protected Information) Bill
...Today, the task of maintaining our national security is even more complex and more demanding of vigilance and specialist skills than ever before. There are more people on the move right now, globally, across national…
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Matters of Public Importance – Energy
...How about the Queensland state Labor government? It is another Labor government that has a 50 per cent renewable target. This is the Palaszczuk Labor government, which continues to price gouge consumers so that it…
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Member Statement – Bloomhill Cancer Care
...Bloomhill Cancer Care has been operating in Buderim on the Sunshine Coast now for 20 years. For 20 years they have been helping to care for and support people who are suffering from cancer...the federal…
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Welfare Reform Bill
...The Australian welfare system has for decades, ramping up over time, achieved an enormous redistribution of wealth to provide a level of support for the welfare of individuals and families courtesy of the Australian taxpayers…
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10,000 YOUNG AUSTRALIANS OFF WELFARE AND INTO WORK UNDER PaTH PROGRAM
The Turnbull Government has assisted 10,000 long-term unemployed young Australians get off welfare and into work through the Youth Bonus Wage subsidy component of the Youth Jobs PaTH program. Member for Fairfax, Ted O’Brien said…
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Ted’s Spring Road Trip
SUNSHINE COAST – THE SMALL BUSINESS CITY The Sunshine Coast is outpacing Australia’s growth in start-up businesses, and member for Fairfax Ted O'Brien wants to enable that trend. Mr O'Brien will launch his Spring Road Trip…
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Takata Airbags – Compulsory recall
The Federal Government issued a Proposed Recall Notice for a compulsory recall of all vehicles with defective Takata airbags installed, following an Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) safety investigation. Small Business Minister Michael McCormack…
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Safer Communities Fund Now Open for Applications
Minister for Justice Michael Keenan and Federal Member for Fairfax Ted O’Brien MP today announced that grant applications for round two of the Coalition Government’s Safer Communities Fund programme open on Friday 29 September. The…
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Electoral & Other Legislation Amendment Bill
It is essential that the authorisation of any and all electoral campaigning material is clearly labelled as such. Lobbyist agencies, including unions, should not be able to trick the Australian people into thinking they are…
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What does the 2016/17 National Visitor Survey reveal for the Sunshine Coast?
Tourism Research Australia’s Annual National Visitor Survey was released on 20 September and shows a steady increase of national and international tourists to the Sunshine Coast in 2016/17. The Sunshine Coast welcomed 3.72 million national…
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Member’s Statement – Buderim Foundation
The Buderim Foundation is a community philanthropic, not-for-profit up in my seat of Fairfax on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. Its operating model is simply this: it receives donations and bequests; it invests those funds, generating income; it then…
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Member’s Statement – Father’s Day 2017
Today I am wearing a tie that my five-year-old daughter gave me for Father's Day. While I was flying to Canberra yesterday, Father's Day, it had me thinking. Here we are in Parliament, all of us…
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Supporting funding for Bloomhill Cancer Care
The Federal Minister for Health, the Hon Greg Hunt MP, recently visited Bloomhill Cancer Care in Buderim. The Minister subsequently announced that the Commonwealth would decline an offer from the Queensland State Government help fund…
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Generation Innovation! The 2017 GI Challenge
A challenge for 15 to 25 year olds to start their own businesses. The first of its kind anywhere in the world, the GI Challenge connects budding young entrepreneurs with the marketplace in a way…
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Federal Government funding for Sunshine Coast road upgrades
The Federal Government has committed nearly $2.5 million to upgrade Sunshine Coast roads under the latest Roads to Recovery funding round. The program means funding is provided directly to Councils to assist them with maintaining…
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Fairfax Annual Report 2016/17
I am regularly asked what the Federal Government is doing for Fairfax, and I am always proud to list some of our great achievements from my first 12 months as your Federal Member. My inaugural…
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Fairfax Annual Report 2016/17 – video and full report
I am pleased to present you with my 2016/17 Annual Report for Fairfax. My first year as the Federal Member for Fairfax has been both challenging and rewarding. While I am proud of the achievements…
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LOCAL KIDS BECOME LOCAL DOCTORS
LOCAL students will soon be studying medicine on the Sunshine Coast following an historic Federal Government commitment. The Federal Government has confirmed it will fully fund 50 medical student placements at the Sunshine Coast University…
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Private Members’ Business – Energy
...The problems in South Australia and Victoria are well known, but the issue for resource-rich Queensland has to be: how has it come to this? How has the NEM state with by far the richest…
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Private Members’ Business – Queensland Employment
...Queensland ought to be the powerhouse of job creation. We should be, but if you look at the latest data, only South Australia had a higher unemployment rate, of 7.1 per cent to Queensland's 6.3…
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Member Statement – Fairfax Electorate Rural and Regional Services
...While almost seven million Australians live outside large metropolitan areas, of the 20 federal electorates with the lowest household incomes in Australia, 18 are located outside our capital cities. We need real solutions to rural…
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