MR ENTSCH: (Leichhardt) (10:33): You don’t meet many people in your life who are gifted enough to inspire change in business in a community and who leave a long-lasting impression on all of those that they meet. Robert John Norman, commonly known as ‘Bob’ is one of those men. On 18 January 2018, a great life…
MR ENTSCH: (Leichhardt) (16:33): For five days, at the end of this month, the Daintree River Ferry will be dry-docked to allow for an inspection to take place. While not forgoing the safety importance of any inspection on the vessel, it is the residents, small businesses, farmers, workers and schoolchildren whose only access is the…
Mr ENTSCH (Leichhardt) (10:13): I present the explanatory memorandum to this bill and move: That this bill be now read a second time. Mr Speaker, as I'm sure you are well aware, I've been a long-time advocate for changes in this area and initially I found the journey to be very lonely, but it was…
Mr ENTSCH (Leichhardt) (15:45): On this amendment, I just want to indicate I'll certainly be opposing it. This is an amendment that will radically wind back our discrimination protection-an amendment that directly targets LGBTI people. So let be me clear: the majority of Australians voted yes on same-sex couples being treated fairly and equally across…
Mr ENTSCH (Leichhardt) (09:33): I thank honourable members for their contributions to the second reading debate on the Marriage Amendment (Definition and Religious Freedoms) Bill 2017. I would particularly like toacknowledge at this point the co-signers of the bill who are here. We have Senator Dean Smith, who dealt with this in the other place,…
I’d like to congratulate the Defence Force on its announcement of a $300 million upgrade to the naval base HMAS Cairns and the home basing of four new Offshore Patrol Vessels in Leichhardt. The 2016 Defence White Paper had originally committed $100 million for the OPV wharf and infrastructure upgrade by 2020, so this announcement…
There has been much talk about the performance of the major political parties in the Queensland Election. I am now going to shift the spotlight onto the criminal activity carried out by the Wilderness Society. On the 23rd of November, just two days before Queenslanders went to the polls, the ABC broadcast a story in…
I have been a long-time advocate for changes in this area, and initially found the journey to be very lonely, but it was something I was determined to do. In 2004, when the Parliament changed the definition of marriage to exclude LGBTI Australians, I stood in the Liberal Party Room and said I didn’t understand…
I rise today to boast, if you like, about outstanding achievements in my beautiful city of Cairns. Cairns is set to become Australia's major hub for maintenance and sustainment work on the Australian Navy and industry ships after the government delivered on its $24 million election promise. Just over a week ago, I announced that…
I would like to congratulate members of the Cairns Rifle Club for their outstanding gold medal wins at the world championships in Canada last month. Marty Lobert, Peter Carter and Steven Lazarus were all part of the winning Australian F-class rifle team. This is back-to-back gold for these men, and this has never been done…