The proposed GrainCorp buyout would put 100 per cent of eastern Australia's grain exports in foreign hands. Is this in the national interest? Worried grain growers in the Riverina do not think so. For the eastern states' grain export facilities to be taken over by American company Archer Daniels Midland would be another nail in the coffin of our agricultural sector and another huge blow to future food security.
Read MoreGordon Neil Bilney, who died on Sunday aged 73, was a straightshooter and someone with whom you knew where you stood. So said Noel Hicks from Griffith this morning when I telephoned him to talk about the Australian Labor Party's late member for Kingston, to whom we appropriately pay tribute again today.
Read MoreHurtling through the rough terrain of the Gobi Desert as a back seat passenger in a mining company's four-wheel drive vehicle, you do not get much opportunity to snap National Geographic style photographs. Such was the case early last month whilst in Mongolia as part of a five-person delegation from the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Australia visiting that fascinating country.
Read MoreThe United Nations Security Council, the UNSC, is the powerful body of the United Nations with the power to authorise the deployment of troops from UN member countries, mandate ceasefires during conflicts and impose economic penalties on countries. The Security Council is comprised of representatives from 15 member countries. However, only five representatives are permanent. The permanent members are the countries of the United States of America, United Kingdom, China, Russia and France.
Read MoreIt is with deep sadness that I join the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition, the Minister for Defence, the shadow minister for defence, science and technology and personnel, the members for Herbert and Higgins, the Minister For Veterans' Affairs and the member for Greenway, whom we just heard, to honour another fallen sapper.
Read MoreOctober marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month and Monday, 22 October was Pink Ribbon Day. Breast Cancer Awareness Month originated in America in the 1980s and has grown to be the internationally recognised month for cancer awareness.
Read MoreThe Riverina, as with the rest of the nation and beyond, mourned deeply on Friday, 12 October 2012, the day which marked the 10th anniversary of the 2002 Bali bombings. Tears were shed for lives cut all too short. Many prayers were said throughout the electorate and certainly throughout the nation and beyond.
Read MoreIt is a tragically sad turn of events that we again stand here to acknowledge the loss of another fine Australian soldier, a soldier who was in training to join his comrades in the fight against terrorism and the pursuit of freedom.
Read MoreThe Water Amendment (Long-term Average Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment) Bill 2012 amends the Water Act 2007 such that a sustainable diversion limit can be adjusted, give-or-take five per cent, without any formal notification to the community or to the parliament. Let us just think about that five per cent. It does not sound a lot but it could amount to the entire water used by the state of South Australia in any given year.
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