Speeches
Matter of Public Importance - The consequences of the Government’s policy failures that have increased the people smuggling trade.
Tuesday, 20 October 2009
Ms Julie Bishop (Curtin—Deputy Leader of the Opposition) (5.12 pm)—There is an old phrase: lies, damned lies and statistics. Never has a government been more deserving of that rebuke than this Labor government with its misleading use of statistics as it seeks to deny its policy failings. And nowhere is that more apparent than in its excuses for the failings of its border protection policy. Yesterday the Prime Minister was asked to take responsibility for the changes his government implemented to our border protection system which have led to a dramatic rise in boat arrivals. As every Australian knows, since the Labor government softened our border protection laws in August 2008, 42 boats—which I believe is the figure as of today—carrying around 2,000 people have been intercepted by Australian authorities or arrived on our shores.Shadow Ministerial Statement – Zimbabwe
Tuesday, 15 September 2009
Ms JULIE BISHOP (Curtin) (3.51 pm) — Australian governments and the Australian people have taken a keen interest in Zimbabwe for many years.
We have continued to watch developments with hope, trepidation and, at times, deep despair.
It is a tragedy that a nation blessed with an abundance of natural resources and large, fertile agricultural areas has been reduced to the point where millions of its people are starving and its economy has been utterly devastated.
Yet that is what has occurred under the regime headed by Robert Mugabe — a regime which has ruled Zimbabwe from 1980 to 2008; a regime which grew increasingly corrupt and which became increasingly violent as its intolerance to any opposition grew.Shadow Ministerial Statement - Sri Lanka
Monday, 14 September 2009
Ms JULIE BISHOP (Curtin) (4.04 pm) — The Coalition supports the announcement today of additional funding for humanitarian aid to Sri Lanka.
We also join with the government in raising concerns about the conditions facing civilians currently held in relief camps in northern Sri Lanka as a result of the violent confrontation earlier this year between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, or Tamil Tigers.
The Coalition supports the ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and the Tamil Tigers, the laying down of arms and the renunciation of violence by all sides in the conflict.Matters of Public Importance - The Government’s failure to pursue a reform agenda
Wednesday, 09 September 2009
Ms JULIE BISHOP (Curtin) (5.38 pm)—Today I want to give credit where credit is due. While there is no doubt that one of the Labor Party’s great skills is its ability to create myths and rewrite history, exaggerating its achievements and ignoring its failings, I will not be so churlish as to claim that previous Labor governments have failed to undertake any significant reforms. It has been said that the character of a government, in terms of its reformist zeal, is established in its first couple of years. It is during this time that a new government has a bank of goodwill from the voters, and a good government takes that opportunity to make some hard decisions that may be unpopular in the short term but will bring long-term benefits to the nation. For example, the Hawke Labor government made some important economic reforms during its early years, and those reforms were supported by the coalition because they were in the national interest. They were reforms such as floating the dollar, deregulation of the financial sector and tariff reductions. Senior coalition figures have, rightly, given Labor credit for those reforms many times over the years. In contrast, the Howard government faced constant opposition from Labor to its reform agenda. Labor voted against virtually every reform of the Howard government—not just in its early years but throughout its four terms—even when Labor knew that the reforms were in the national interest.
Parliamentary Statement - Jakarta Bombings
Wednesday, 09 September 2009
Ms JULIE BISHOP (Curtin) (4.17 pm)—Mr Speaker, on indulgence: today, 9 September, marks the fifth anniversary of the bombing of the Australian Embassy in Jakarta. As the Minister for Foreign Affairs stated in his remarks, 11 people were killed, including visitors to our embassy and Indonesians who were employed by our embassy—a guard, a gardener—people going about their everyday lives.More Articles...
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