Bills - Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017 - Second Reading

November 27, 2017

Mr Acting Deputy President Sterle, I, like you, rise to speak in support of marriage equality. My contribution won't be as colourful as yours, but it is certainly one that I am proud to make. I was pleased that the Queensland result in the postal survey was so strong, with a high percentage and an overwhelming majority of electorates voting yes. I would like to pay tribute to our friend Nida Green, the Queensland campaign team and the national...

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Questions Without Notice: Queensland State Election

November 27, 2017

Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland) (15:14): That was an unfortunately sad contribution from the government Senate leader, George Brandis. What he knows and what, more importantly, the people of Queensland know is that the Queensland Labor Party have consistently put Pauline Hanson last. No matter what incarnation, ever since Pauline Hanson has been on the political scene in Queensland, we have put her last. When Pauline Hanson has been a threat in...

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Adjournment- Jones, Mr Lindsay Gordon Bower

November 16, 2017

I want to use this opportunity to pay tribute to an old friend of mine who sadly passed away. Lindsay Gordon Bower Jones passed away on 9 October. Lindsay was a former assistant secretary of the party in Queensland back in the 1980s and 1990s, but when I first met him in August 2000 he was someone who had left the party office but had come back in a temporary capacity to help out on campaigns. I first started at the Queensland branch in August...

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Questions Without Notice: Multiculturalism

November 16, 2017

Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland) (15:28): As a Queensland senator, the only Tasmanians who are going to lecture me about Queensland are my mum and dad. That also clears up my citizenship at the same time; they were both born in Tasmania. This debate is actually all about jobs, health and education. That's what it is all about. We know what happens when those opposite do deals with One Nation—workers are the losers. They lose industrial rights an...

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Questions Without Notice: Domestic and Family Violence

November 15, 2017

Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland) (15:29): I think what's become clear is that the acting lessons that Senator Cash has had are compulsory on the other side, because we've just seen another performance. There is a serious element to this, and Senator Moore explained this. Election campaigns often put a spotlight on policy. That's what's happened in Queensland with the One Nation policy on domestic violence. Basically what this means is that One N...

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Questions Without Notice: Minister for Employment

November 14, 2017

Senator CHISHOLM (Queensland) (15:12): It's no surprise that they'd send Senator Abetz in to talk about this issue, because he has really been the architect of the witch-hunt and pursuit of their political opponents that we've seen from those opposite now for more than four years. The reality of this situation is that it's actually the witch-hunt that they've had and the agenda that they've pursued that have unravelled with the overreach by S...

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