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Moving things along: with Parliament paused by dint of some ancient protocol after the death of Queen Elizabeth, let's step into the breach with our own question time. Allow me to kick off proceedings.
Mr Speaker, my question is to the Prime Minister. Given there is so much work to do and so few sitting days left in the year, why are we beholden to a protocol set down 17,000km away by a foreign power, a protocol that suspends the business of our Parliament? How will Parliament make up the lost time to work on the Voice to Parliament? Aged care reform? The federal integrity commission? The budget? Does this strengthen arguments for a republic? Or is it too soon?
And another: My question is to the Treasurer. Last week the governor of the Reserve Bank warned against the expectation that wages rise to meet higher prices. In the same week, you indicated the government would get wages moving again after a decade of stagnation under the previous government. What assurances can you give us that your fiscal policy won't come into conflict with the monetary measures the Reserve Bank is taking to bring inflation under control? Can you guarantee the left hand knows what the right hand is doing?
Also: My question is to the leader of the House of Representatives. Why do we still have to endure these interminable Dorothy Dixers? You're doing well in the polls, you all have big media teams capable of blowing your own trumpets so why waste precious time in Parliament pumping up your own tyres? Wouldn't it be fairer and more instructive to allocate more questions to the crossbench?
Fiona offers this question to the Education Minister: Every year we hear about the wealthiest private schools being overfunded. Why don't they have to pay the money back?
Now, let's throw convention out the window and ask questions of the Opposition. Mr Speaker, my question is to the Leader of the Opposition. Why do you persist in asking the same questions - about the ministerial code of conduct, about the government's pre-election promise to bring down electricity bills - when the answers continually blow up in your face? Ordinary people only put their hand on a hotplate once. You keep doing it. On power prices, you draw attention to your own inertia on energy and the report warning of spiralling costs which you kept secret until after the election. You raise integrity and - bam! - you get roasted on your record in government. You raise transparency and your ministry-grabbing backbencher, old Whatshisname up in the cheap seats, draws the heat for not being transparent with his colleagues, for not telling them he was shadowing their gigs.
And finally: My question, Mr Speaker, is to the Member for Cook, yes you up the back, why are you still here when you look so singularly disinterested?
HAVE YOUR SAY: Should parliament be suspended for 15 days? What would you ask in question time? And to whom would you direct the question? Is it too soon to be talking about a republic? Email us: echidna@theechidna.com.au
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The introduction of legislation to create a federal anti-corruption watchdog will be delayed after Queen Elizabeth's death prompted the next sitting of parliament to be cancelled. A vote on restoring the rights of the ACT and Northern Territory to make their own voluntary assisted dying laws also won't be held until late October at the earliest - unless extra sittings are scheduled before then to make up for lost time.
- A key monarchist has demanded Greens leader Adam Bandt apologise for an "insensitive" post calling for a republic hours after Queen Elizabeth's death. And Finance Minister Katy Gallagher has insisted the Queen's seven-decade service should be recognised for a period before "no doubt extensive debate over Australia's future". Former Liberal senator Eric Abetz, picked to lead the Australian Monarchist League last week, blasted the timing of the comments.
- Mining and manufacturing businesses have reported significant falls in turnover. The 10.1 per cent fall in mining turnover followed seven consecutive months of rises due to surging commodity prices in the first half of the year. "The mining industry saw the largest percentage fall in business turnover in July, from its recent peak in June, in line with lower coal and iron ore exports in July," Australian Bureau of Statistics head of business indicators Kate Lamb said.
THEY SAID IT: "Something as curious as the monarchy won't survive unless you take account of people's attitudes. After all, if people don't want it, they won't have it." - Prince (now King) Charles
YOU SAID IT: Deer and other feral animals and is enough being done to eradicate them. Also, venison.
Julian shares a memory: "While orienteering I was shocked to run round a thicket almost into a mature stag and its partner in the 1980s, in bushland close to Canberra. They have been around for a long time but, as you say, have recently become brazen and ubiquitous. Their presence is largely due to the efforts of hunters who encouraged their early distribution and have muddied the waters since by periodically offering to 'control' them in national parks. In other words they have knowingly helped to set up a national disaster just to ensure their ongoing sport. Similarly with pigs. Deer are an even greater problem in Victoria and along the NSW coastal bushland. Yes, we urgently need to cull them, but it needs to be complete eradication otherwise they will forever return and cost us all. Same for feral cats and pigs, though total eradication of those will definitely be impossible."
Rowan writes: "We have a deer problem in Raymond Terrace in NSW. They regularly wander up our street in the early hours of the morning and as soon as the roses and agapanthus start to bloom, they crop off every flower bud. The council of Port Stephens was going to carry out a cull last year but the animal lovers protested so instead of a cull they put up a deer sign on the road. We are fortunate that our deer are able to read the signs and stay off the road. I've had venison and if cooked correctly is very tasty in a red wine sauce."
Trish is a fan of venison: "I have a memory of a group of us gathered to try venison, in a friend's house in the country. The power went out, the meat was still cooking in the wood oven - also the only source of light. As far as I can recall, the venison was lovely. I suspect there could be quite a lucrative business in selling it. It seems to be regarded as a gourmet item."
With the exception of feral cats and foxes, says, Murray, "all feral animals in Australia can and should be harvested for consumption, rather than just destroyed uselessly, as a matter of priority for all governments with appropriate incentives. They have become an increasingly big problem in much of our country to which no government has attached enough priority."
Noni sees a big problem and a possible solution. "Anywhere in rural Australia, including where I live, feral animals are a big problem. Feral pigs are a big problem pretty much anywhere in Australia outside cities and towns. (Pig hunters are also a problem.) The feral pigs breed up in national parks, state forests and other crown lands and come onto farmland to feed and water. They camp in crops and eat them while also causing lots of damage through trampling. National parks - which are a breeding ground for feral pests - lay baits and have culls from time to time in some parks from helicopters with sharpshooters at great expense. But they are not gaining on pig numbers. My friend had a great idea - why not get the army on the job? It would be a great training exercise. They're going to use those bullets anyway training on the firing range at the base, so kill two birds with the one stone and do the practice in a live war game against feral pigs."
Brian shares his expertise: "I have worked for almost 60 years on problems caused by introduced species. When it comes to encouraging people to get rid of pests, a major problem is the 'Bambi' or 'Peter Rabbit' syndrome. People can't think beyond the image of the animal in question and find it hard, or consider it cruel, to get rid of a deer, some rabbits or a feral cat. What they don't think about is the native species that suffer when eaten by a fox or worse, slowly starve because rabbits eat out all the food over summer. Even biologists involved in handling pest problems are short-sighted. You note that cats take most of the blame for the loss of native animals, but if both native animals and plants are considered, rabbits are implicated in the continuing demise of twice as many native species. Rabbits are listed as being a risk to no less than 322 different threatened plant and animal species listed under Australia's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act. If we lose the plants that native insects, lizards, birds and mammals rely on, we have no hope of turning things around. We need to be hard-nosed about this and be prepared to 'get some blood on our hands'. We don't need to be cruel, however, and pest control should always be done as humanely as possible at the time."
Ross says of deer: "We had one appear on the roadside opposite Vincentia High School, near Jervis Bay, one day. The road was busy at the time with traffic but it seemed to have little concern for it. There is plenty of bush around the area for it to live in but where it would have originally come from I have no idea."
Jennifer wants pet cats to be contained: "Your deer story this morning confirmed to me that you are painfully aware of the damage done to our environment by feral animals. We're a group of residents of Chapman in the ACT who live next to the nature reserve, the ridge. We've been in persistent, but civil communication with the ACT government for over six years about the number of pet cats roaming in this vicinity. They've been very responsive, but now that the legislation has been passed regarding cat containment they've tended to lean back and are not prepared to do much more. Our concern is the grandfathering clause which leaves older cats roaming the area, night and day, for years until their demise. I'd like to see a gentle campaign in the community to change hearts and minds. People think their cats should roam free, but especially at this time of year they can interfere with the breeding activities of our native birds and animals. Unlike cats and birds, many native animals only produce one or two offspring and only once in a year."
Ross wants more action: "Feral animals are a problem in Tasmania and efforts by the government to control them have been slow, half-hearted, inadequate and largely ineffective. For example, the state government's plan to manage deer does not use the word 'feral' at all, and is predicated on deer being a 'hunting resource'. Deer have spread across much of the state and have started entering World Heritage Areas. Still, the government hesitates to take effective action with total eradication absolutely not part of the plan."
Margaret says: "Meanwhile the menace of the despicable feral Indian myna spreads to the rural areas of western NSW unabated. It remains the responsibility of volunteers such as my group, Dubbo Environment Group provides, to search for funds and deliver traps. Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong have no programs to control them and continue to foster breeding grounds for them. Our farmlands, these birds consider, are a paradise ready to take over - all the grain, water and shelter they could ever need."