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NEW ENGLAND NEWSLETTER FOR SEPTEMBER 2017
FEDERAL CONFERENCE
There was plenty of spirited debate at the Federal Conference held in Canberra. With the national debate over the availability and cost of electricity, several motions targeted this area. They included urging the government to freeze renewable energy subsidies at their current level for 12 months and remove them over five years; support for the coal industry and oppose the closure of Liddell power station without alternatives; and rejection of the Finkel clean energy target of 42% of renewables by 2030. You may have read or heard that my motion to restrict the speed and weight of mobility scooters was passed, as was the call for increased funding for Parkinson’s Disease research and the development of a specialist nursing network. A full list of the motions is available on request from my office.
MEDIA REFORM PACKAGE
The media reform package has become law and there are some very good components apart from abolishing the 2 out of 3 rule which will allow operators to hold more than 2 media licences in a market. $30 million will be allocated over four years to subscription television for coverage of women’s sport and niche sports such as surfing and surf lifesaving. Regional radio and television operators are also winners with the licence fees being discarded and replaced with a much-lower spectrum fee. There will also be a substantial reduction in gambling advertising during live sports broadcasts.
WE ALL ENJOY A CELEBRATION
Applications are being received from organisations which are seeking funding for individual arts projects that are part of a festival or community event. It could be a town centenary celebration or the opening of a new community resource and is limited to regional and remote communities. Guidelines are available at www.arts.gov.au/festivals and applications close on the 20th of October.
NO JAB NO PAY
Legislation has been introduced to encourage parents to have their children immunised. From July next year parents’ fortnightly Family Tax Benefit Part A payments will be reduced by about $28 per fortnight for each child who does not meet the immunisation requirements. This will replace the current system under which end-of-year supplements are withheld. The government is hoping that by reducing their payments each fortnight parents will be given an incentive to have their children immunised against preventable diseases like whooping cough.
UNCLAIMED SUPERANNUATION
At June 30 this year there were 6.3 million lost and ATO-held super accounts with a total value of almost $18 billion. Super funds are holding $14.12 million of lost super, with a further $3.75 billion of unclaimed super held by the ATO. Over $50 million of this is or has been in the name of New England people, and a breakdown of each town is –
Inverell 1654 lost or ATO-held accounts totalling $6.19 million; Glen Innes 1,005 accounts worth $2.99 million; Tamworth 6,162 accounts totally $23.9 million; Scone 1,031 accounts worth $4.73 million; Tenterfield 581 worth $1.77 million; Armidale 2,563 worth $13.08 million; Guyra 366 worth $1.44 million and Walcha 317 worth $1.26 million. You can check for missing accounts at www.ato.gov.au/checkyoursuper
Written and authorised by Senator John Williams,144 Byron Street, Inverell 2360
NEW BRIDGES
Member for New England Barnaby Joyce has given four northern councils the good news they will get funding to upgrade or replace bridges under Round Three of the Bridges Renewal Program. Armidale Regional Council will upgrade Boundary Creek Bridge, Abington Bridge on the Boorolong Road, Hiscox Bridge, Maiden Creek Bridge, Pipeclay Gully Bridge, Station Creek Bridge and Wollomombi River Bridge; Tamworth Regional Council will replace Middlebrook Creek Bridge 1 in conjunction with Benama Bridge and also Middlebrook Creek Bridge 2; Glen Innes Severn Council will replace Polhill Bridge; and Walcha Council will replace Wollun Road Bridge. Councils receive 50% of the total cost of the project.
RED MEAT REPORT
More than two years after it commenced, the Senate inquiry into the red meat sector has concluded with recommendations aimed at delivering greater transparency. The inquiry was commenced in response to a buyer boycott at a Victorian saleyards in February 2015, and allegations of collusion. The report found the red meat industry is fragmented, there is a general lack of trust and the structures which underpin the industry are out-dated. It recommended that a new body to be known as Cattle Australia be established as the Peak Industry Council and replace Cattle Council of Australia. The committee also questioned whether Meat and Livestock Australia, Australian Meat Processor Corporation, Australian Meat Industry Council and Cattle Council of Australia are working towards the good of the industry. The report can be read at
http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Senate/Rural_and_Regional_Affairs_and_Transport/Completed_inquiries
CAR DEALERS UNDER PRESSURE
I was pleased to hear the ACCC Chairman Rod Sims call on car manufacturers to meet their consumer guarantee obligations and stop putting the squeeze on their dealers. Mr. Sims said some car manufacturers are shifting their consumer law obligations onto dealers and making it difficult for them to properly look after consumers because of the stringent conditions imposed on them by the manufacturer. He pointed out that dealers become worried that if they don’t comply they could lose their franchise. One car dealer has told me his mechanics can spend hours trying to diagnose a fault under a warranty claim, but if no fault is found, the dealer wears the cost of his mechanics time, not the manufacturer. It is something I will take up with the ACCC at Senate estimates.
THE FIGHT AGAINST DRUGS
One of the big hurdles we face as a nation is the increasing use of illicit drugs. The popularity of crystal methamphetamine, or ice, is a huge worry. To show how widespread it has become, a Parliamentary committee in its latest report revealed that NSW Emergency Departments treated 470 people affected by methamphetamines in 2009-10, but this climbed to 4,771 in 2015-16. The committee said it did not believe that law enforcement strategies alone will solve the crystal methamphetamine problem in Australia, and identified rural and regional Australia to be at risk. It is a huge worry.
Regards,
John.
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