Last month, I joined numerous impassioned landowners from Maroochy River Farmers and Landowners Association, listening to their grievances about the Sunshine Coast Council’s actions, which they argue are detrimental to the environment and are forcing farmers off their land for a United Nations carbon capture program (Blue Heart/Blue Carbon).
Through alterations to irrigation channels and the removal of one-way drains, the Sunshine Coast Council is introducing saltwater to fertile farmland and a golf course, jeopardising both ecosystems. They are literally killing the environment to ‘save it’ with carbon capture.
I stand in solidarity with the Maroochy River landowners in their battle against a council that is wilfully and knowingly undermining their livelihoods and damaging the land.
The Kawana Dolphins Senior and Junior Rugby League club recently welcomed me for a meeting. They’ve been caught off guard by news their club will be shut down to make way for a new Olympic indoor sports facility.
Despite the government claiming it consulted the community, the club only became aware of it the night before consultation closed. A council-proposed alternative site is 15 minutes’ drive away, outside of peak hour traffic.
While many parents currently let their children walk or bike to training, that won’t be possible to the alternative site with a route that includes a section of 100km/h road. The club would cease to exist.
Despite better viable alternatives and previous recommendations from the International Olympic Committee favouring the indoor centre at Maroochydore instead of Kawana, the 38-year-old club is still battling to have some common sense applied to safeguard its youth.
With no consultation, consideration, or regard for community impact, the Kawana Dolphins must remain where they are.
I urge the Queensland Government and Sunshine Coast Council to guarantee funding will be available for the centre at another site, reverse this decision, and support junior rugby league by allowing the Kawana Dolphins to remain in their current location.
A Triad of Tyranny
Three Bills are being rammed through the Senate to create legislation that will transform the UN-WEF plans for surveillance and control into a dystopian reality in Australia.
The first is the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023, which is designed to permit the use of biometric data to locate and track citizens and normalise it. The second, the Digital Identity Bill 2023, will ensure Australians have no choice but to succumb to setting up a digital ID. The third is the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023. This is the censorship tool to make sure both the media and social media carries government sanctioned opinions only. The government in power is exempted and free to be the Ministry of Truth, spreading misinformation or disinformation. Remember how well that went during the COVID response?
The Driver’s Licence database is being upgraded to become the repository of your master identification record, which is already being used to establish your identity with a paper check and now with a facial scan.
I implored the Senate to vote against and to reject this Bill. This is the first of three Bills necessary to turn Australia into the world’s first World Economic Forum digital prison.
Transcript
One Nation strongly opposes the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023. Here’s why. The Albanese government’s great mate, Blackrock boss Larry Fink, and predatory billionaires at the World Economic Forum are fond of the phrase ‘you will own nothing and be happy’. What they really mean is that they will own everything and you will comply. Why would people voluntarily enslave themselves, give up their homes, cars and household goods and lose the right to travel freely, I hear you ask. The answer is that people will not be given a choice. They will be coerced—forced into it. That’s the purpose of this government’s triad of tyranny.
First is the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023, which will normalise and allow the use of biometric data to locate and track citizens. Second is the Digital ID Bill 2023, which will force every Australian into having a digital ID. Third is the Misinformation and Disinformation Bill 2023, which will ensure media and social media only carry government sanctioned opinions; the government will be exempted and can be free to spread misinformation and disinformation.
Biometric data is your face turned into a data file based on your physical characteristics. It allows for faster and more accurate identification. They will capture your face. The national drivers licence database is being upgraded to become the repository of your master identification record, which is already used to establish your identity with a paper check. Now it will have a facial scan.
Australians do not need to consent in a meaningful manner. The bill currently uses the word ‘consent’ without definition. Consent can be implied. Here’s an example. If a person sees a video of themselves on a self-service check-out at the supermarket and uses the check-out anyway, it’s considered implied consent. The government has accepted that implied consent is no consent at all and has upgraded the reference to ‘consent’ in their amendment on sheet UD100 to ‘explicit consent’. That isn’t good enough either. Explicit consent can be provided as blanket consent. An example would be MasterCard changing their terms and conditions to allow for facial recognition whenever their card is used. Once the card owner gets the email saying, ‘We have updated our terms and conditions. Click here to approve,’ and people click without reading it, one of those new terms could be permission for facial recognition. Did you give consent? No.
Banks currently record the image of anyone using their ATMs and then use that in the case of a fraudulent transaction. Banks will update their terms and conditions to give themselves the right to run your biometric
verification on each occasion before allowing access to your account. Refusing the new permission gives your bank or card company the right to refuse service. It’s that simple. It’s blackmail. This is why the government suggesting a digital ID or biometric data check will be voluntary is a complete lie. It’s compulsory, because not agreeing means you lose your bank account or payment card or service—just as those voluntary COVID injections were compulsory if you wanted to keep your job and your house and feed your family.
I foreshadow an amendment in the committee stage on sheet 2327 to change the definition of ‘explicit’ to ‘active’, meaning on each occasion your face is to be scanned they must ask permission before they scan it and make sure they get your permission each time. That’s active consent. This should be supported, because the government already says Australians will have to consent to their biometric data being used—unless, of course, that was misinformation.
This bill does not offer a direct link between the authentication action at a check-out, office, airport et cetera and the master file. A government hub receives a request and pulls the master file, meaning only the government has access to the master file. This seems to look acceptable, yet it means there’s a master file with 17 million records containing name, address, telephone, date of birth, drivers licence number, passport number and a biometric identification file all sitting in the same database. That’s all the information necessary to steal someone’s ID and impersonate them online—a hacker’s paradise.
Robodebt proved that our bureaucrats are incapable of even a simple one-to-one database match, and now they’re being trusted to pull this off. It’s impossible without a high level of compulsion and without completely ignoring victims of software or data-matching errors. If the look-up fails, then your purchase, travel, document, signing or whatever other use fails. If the purchase was for petrol, your family could be stranded late at night. We might as well start the royal commission now.
Downstream from the big government database are what I call intermediaries or entities with participating agreements. There are 20 of these so far. Their role is to take a request for authentication from a bank or card
processor, solicitor, real estate agent, airline—anyone needing you to prove you are who you say you are—and submit that to the national drivers licence database hub to run past the master database. In the original bill there were no effective checks and balances on those businesses. The government’s amendment of its own bill has added a few checks and balances to ensure that intermediaries must delete data received as part of the verification process.
Thank you, Minister Gallagher. That, taken together with my amendment to make the level of consent clear, takes some of the potential abuse out of the bill. A clear privacy statement would have helped. The government have promised they will do that later. There are trust issues around that promise.
Questions remain around the New South Wales government’s comment that this bill will allow them to verify that every person detected driving a car past a surveillance camera has a drivers licence.
The only way this can be achieved is if every driver is scanned every time they pass a detection camera and their image is compared to the national database. Does this mean those cameras going up around Australia are just the right height to scan the driver’s face and that the cameras will be used to scan and verify your identity each time you pass one? Yes, it does. Before they work out who you are and whether you have a licence, they have to scan and verify your biometrics. It’s the only explanation for the New South Wales government’s comment.
For those listening to this with incredulity, I remind you that this is exactly the system now in place in London, with Lord Mayor Khan’s ULEZ, Ultra Low Emission Zone, and in Birmingham, Manchester and other cities in Britain. It’s really the World Economic Forum’s 15-minute cities happening right now. Residents are locked into their zone and can only leave a certain number of times a year. This is happening in Britain. That depends on the make and model of the car you drive. If you drive a car they don’t like, you can’t move. Rich people who can afford electric cars can, of course, come and go as they please. Everyday citizens are locked in or, when they leave, the cameras detect them leaving and fine them on the spot. It’s a fine of 180 pounds a week for leaving over seven days.
That’s in Britain now. Already it has raised hundreds of millions of pounds because people will pay for freedom.
Look it up. Don’t just trust me: look it up. There are fines for not registering with the system and fines for breaching the 15-minute limits. It’s a virtual fence. It’s like an electric dog collar. It’s the foundation for a social credit system to completely control people’s lives. So don’t tell me this is a conspiracy theory. It’s real and it’s happening now in our mother country.
Cash is necessary to ensure these measures are ameliorated as much as possible, which is why the globalist wing of the Liberal Party tried to ban cash in the last parliament, which One Nation defeated. It should be obvious that predatory, parasitic billionaires and some of their lackeys in the Labor and Liberal Party are getting their ducks in a row because they want to be ready for the full implementation of their globalist masters’ control agenda, exactly as they promised. It’s not like they’re hiding any of this. When they tell us what they’re going to do, listen.
Remember this government’s triad of tyranny. Already entered into parliament is the Identity Verification Services Bill 2023 to normalise and allow the use of biometric data to locate and track citizens. Here it is. There’s the Digital ID Bill 2023 to force every Australian into having a digital ID. There’s the misinformation and disinformation bill 2023, which will ensure media and social media only carry government sanctioned opinions, and the government is exempted. I implore the Senate to vote against this bill and to reject this bill. This is the first of three bills necessary to turn Australia into the world’s first World Economic Forum digital prison.
In a win for the environment, the proposed Chalumbin industrial wind project on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland has been rejected. Communities throughout Queensland are facing similar, environment-destroying proposals.
This is a great win for the Community who have fought for years against this environmental vandalism. I’ve visited the area twice in the last 6 months, spoken to residents, and then represented their concerns in the Senate on a number of occasions.
The rejection is a rare win for the environment over virtue-signalling green power schemes that simply do not stack up on an environmental or economic basis.
Wind and solar are unreliable sources of power, poor investments when you remove the subsidies provided by taxpayer’s money, and terrible for the environment despite the sales pitch of ‘green’ energy, which is disinformation. We’re also seeing these so-called ‘renewables’ projects halting for financial reasons, with investors pulling out of large-scale wind and solar projects both in Australia and overseas, owing to their unprofitability.
Local environmentalists made a fierce, years long campaign against plans to turn Chalumbin into a wind installation.
Wind Farm (15/05/22). Top of ridge line that used to be in pristine condition now smashed.
Installing wind turbines is massive environmental vandalism. From grinding the tops off mountains for 250 metre high wind turbines to gouging 70-metre-wide roadways to access them and for the thousands of kilometres of transmission lines that run through national parks and private land. The net-zero plan for wind and solar cannot supply our energy needs and will destroy the natural environment Queenslanders love the most.
Wind turbines create disturbances to the air that prevent soaring birds from flying in the “tail” of these turbines. Kaban wind turbines near Ravenshoe are so large the disturbance interferes with soaring birds like Black Swans, Sarus Cranes and Brolgas for as much as 5 km.
Brolga (a member of the crane family) in flight. This species is found across tropical northern Australia, QLD, and parts of western Victoria, central NSW and south-eastern South Australia
This Labor government, with the blessings of both the Greens and the Liberal party, is accelerating its push to turn pristine Australian bushland into an industrial landscape for the Net Zero agenda. The foreign-owned Chalumbin industrial wind development would have put up monstrous 250-metre-high towers with the third longest blades ever seen in the world. The turbine blades are big bird killers and the noise from these machines is known stop wildlife breeding.
The Hypocrisy of Industrial Wind and Solar
The primary threat to wildlife globally is habitat loss. Koala and other endangered wildlife habitat has been taken. While the Greens talk frequently about saving the koalas, they pick and choose which koalas they care about. This vandalism must stop.
Top of ridge line that used to be in pristine condition now smashed. Chalumbin would have had 146km of new roads like this and Upper Burdekin will have another 150km of new roads
At the end of a mining operation, the mine can be filled in and remediated. In fact, legal contracts require it. This isn’t the case with the destruction created by wind and solar. They are not required to make good afterwards or remove toxic waste. There’s no replacing remnant forests or a mountain top after it’s been blasted off and bulldozed to make way for wind turbines.
The Chalumbin proposal was given a corner-cutting approvals process reserved for ‘renewables’ by the Queensland government. It set its sights on destroying 1000 of the remaining 8000 hectares of the buffer zone between rainforests and open plains to the south. The wet sclerophyll forest is home to the spectacled flying fox and northern great glider.
Chalumbin is not the only wind site needing our protection
As Nick Cater commented in his article in The Australian, 22 April 2024:
“Bulldozers were ripping swathes through hundreds of hectares of remnant native forest at nearby Kaban, blasting 330,000 tonnes of rock and dirt from the sides of hills to build access roads and turbine pads bigger than football fields.
All of this was occurring without a squeak from environmental groups, every one of which appeared to have swallowed the renewable energy Kool-Aid and, in some cases, its cash.”
Nearby Kaban excavations have disturbed arsenic found naturally in local rock formations. We simply don’t know what effect this will have on native wildlife in the years ahead.
The Woodleigh Swamp is an important wetland. Thousands of swans and brolgas normally rest here each year. Locals say that since Kaban opened, only a few kilometres away, the swamp has been almost deserted. Kaban and Chalumbin environmental impact statements make no mention of the catastrophic effects these installations have on uplift capacity for migratory and soaring birds, nor abandonment of natural upland habitat, despite a wealth of papers proving the link.
Sarus Cranes are only found in the far north-east of QLD in Australia
Common sense has prevailed for Chalumbin. Finally, it’s being recognised that you can’t save the environment by destroying thousands of hectares of forests as wind and solar projects will. But what about all the others that are in the pipeline?
It seems impossible that the equally sensitive Upper Burdekin project just 4.8km from the boundary of the Wet Tropics World Heritage area.
There are at least 30,000 hectares of remnant forest still earmarked for clearing across 52 wind farms on the Great Dividing Range in Queensland under current proposals.
This is the disgraceful reality behind the climate change agenda. A reality most Australians never get to see.
How do the Greens feel about vulnerable Greater Glider habitat being cleared in Far North Queensland? Will they say it’s for the Greater Good?
Critically endangered native plants making way for concrete, fibreglass, and steel that will be consigned to the scrap heap in 12-15 years is acceptable by-kill for the Green Agenda? Really?
Destructive projects like the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro in prime platypus habitat at Eungella must be ruled out.
This should not be a case of rewarding the squeaky door. Projects like Smokey Creek Solar that were quietly approved against local protests because they didn’t have a talented nature photographer like Steven Nowakowski to tell their story must be revisited and put through the full environmental assessment.
I congratulate the local environmentalists for their campaign to preserve this unique environment. We support Friends of Chalumbin and Steven Nowakowski. I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Steven and thank him for his work capturing these fragile and beautiful ecosystems. The environmental movement is waking up thanks to environmentalists like Steven who’re getting out and filming and recording the truth of the destruction of nature.
The government must stop killing the environment to “save it”.
Media Release: Environment Wins Over Destructive Chalumbin Wind Project
The proposed Chalumbin wind project on the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland has been rejected on environmental grounds. This rejection calls the entire net-zero transition and other projects into question. Common sense has prevailed – you can’t save the environment by destroying thousands of hectares of forests as wind and solar projects will.
After local environmentalists made a fierce, years long campaign, which I wholeheartedly supported, Minister Plibersek looks like she is managing appearances rather than the environment.
30,000 hectares of remnant forest will still be cleared across 52 wind farms on the Great Dividing Range in Queensland under current proposals. Destructive projects like the Pioneer-Burdekin Pumped Hydro in prime platypus habitat at Eungella must be ruled out. Projects like Smokey Creek Solar that were quietly approved against local protests because they didn’t have a talented nature photographer like Steven Nowakowski to tell their story, must be revisited and put through the full environmental assessment.
Congratulations to local environmentalists for their campaign to preserve this unique environment. The net-zero plan for wind and solar cannot supply our energy needs and will destroy the nature Queenslanders love the most.
The government must stop killing the environment while claiming they’re saving it.
I’m grateful for the news that the State Labor government has buckled under pressure and agreed to withdraw its flawed legislative changes to homeschooling.
The overhaul of Queensland’s Education Act was put forward in state parliament last month. Two of the policies within the Bill triggered a staggering 900 public submissions via state parliament. Along with the many horrified parents, the Home Education Association stepped in and criticised many of the key reforms calling for a Home Education Advisory Board in its submission.
Australia is famous for its ‘homeschooling’ successes. By virtue of the vast distances, many rural and regional families have used distance learning for decades with a choice of curricula.
Homeschooling is an important right for Australians – in many cases it’s the only way to solve problems with bullying, to help low achieving students and give high achieving students the stimulus they need. Homeschooling families are a rising demographic, and act as an important barometer to assess how schools are serving students and parents.
Yet again, Queensland’s Labor government failed to consult with or listen to Queenslanders. The proposed Education Bill’s changes to homeschooling were a knee-jerk reaction aimed at cracking down on parents who choose to educate at home. Many of these parents reached out to me in alarm.
The vast majority of homeschooling parents are deeply invested in their children’s education and wellbeing. It’s their motivating factor. These families strive for a diverse education that reflects the individuality of children. They’ve chosen not to adopt the cookie cutter curriculum available in state education and are aware the proposed changes would undermine the very reasons why they’ve chosen homeschooling as the preferred mode of education for our children.
The Bill proposed to amend the Education (General Provisions Act) 2006 and other legislation to:
Modernise and improve education services by:
- enhancing the regulation of home education and streamlining the home education registration process
- removing the use of gendered language
- acknowledging wellbeing, inclusion and diversity
Below, I want to share some of the feedback I have received from homeschooling parents along with some research my staff has undertaken on this topic. Like you, I’m aware this threat to homeschooling has not gone away. Australians must retain the freedom to educate our children without the indoctrinating influences being pushed on Australians through the efforts of the UN-WEF-WHO conglomerate. That much is clear in the voices of parents who wrote to me.
What did QLD homeschooling families say about the proposed legislation?
“This proposed change to legislation is not in children’s best interests because it removes a parent’s fundamental right to home educate their child. It proposes that parents need to “prove” home education is in their child’s best interests. Who gets to decide this? The same education system that many of these parents see as having has failed their children? The same education system that is seen as ‘grooming’ children to become transgender and introducing them to inappropriate sexualised content and behaviour in response to guidance from the United Nations World Health Organisation – a foreign organisation with no jurisdiction in our country?”
“The essence of homeschooling lies in the freedom it affords children to learn in a manner that aligns with their individual interests, abilities, and learning styles. By imposing a mandated curriculum, these proposed changes would impede my children’s autonomy and hinder their ability to pursue education in a way that best suits their needs. If governments want parents to act more like teachers and follow the Australian curriculum, should they not also receive proper funding and a wage? It’s been reported that home educators save the government, and therefore taxpayers, upwards of $22,000 per homeschooled child.”
“One of the primary motivations for homeschooling is to provide our children with a personalized learning experience that fosters their intellectual curiosity and allows them to learn at their own pace. These new regulations threaten to restrict this flexibility and stifle their natural inclination to explore and discover the world around them.”
“Enforcing a standardized curriculum fails to recognize the diverse interests and talents of homeschooling students. It overlooks the fact that every child is unique and may thrive in different subject areas or learning environments. By imposing rigid educational requirements, we risk depriving our children of the opportunity to pursue their passions and develop their full potential.”
“In essence, these proposed changes would not only undermine the fundamental principles of homeschooling but also limit my children’s ability to learn and grow in a way that honours their individuality and creativity.”
“Ms Di Farmer, the Minister of Education seems out of touch with Homeschooling Education and has not even consulted with the homeschooling parents concerning these amendments. She received over 1300 negative comments within a few days on her Facebook page from upset and angry homeschooling parents that do not want these changes implemented.”
“These staggering amendments to this legislation are an attack on every homeschooling family and taking away the freedom to choose how to educate our own children in the best possible way. The current Australian Curriculum, with its rigid structure and overloaded content, often fails to resonate with many children and can lead to disengagement from the learning process. It is evident that a one-size-fits-all approach does not effectively cater to the unique learning styles, interests, and abilities of every student.”
“The Australian curriculum is not in the best interest of every child and parents should have the right to choose the best way to educate our children. These legislative changes would have a detrimental effect on homeschooling parents and children. This is effectively taking away parental rights and the freedom of choosing the best way to educate children.”
“Rather than imposing stricter regulations, Queensland should celebrate the individuals who are prepared to give their time and energy to their children. The results often speak for themselves, and Australia benefits from this commitment and must honour this freedom of choice.”
“A collaborative dialogue is always a better approach. The committee could view the commitment level of homeschooling parents which constantly ensures that these children have access to a high-quality education that meets their unique needs.”
“It appears that the committee would be better off prioritising understanding and addressing the root causes of homeschooling trends. This entails listening to and considering the feedback from homeschooling parents, who are directly impacted by these legislative changes. Their insights and experiences are invaluable in shaping effective policies that support the diverse needs of families while ensuring the well-being and educational success of children.”
“We need to work towards a more inclusive and responsive educational system that respects the choices and concerns of all families.”
Homeschooling across Australia
Data from Queensland’s Department of Education shows a 20% increase during 2023, with 10,048 registered home schoolers up from 8,461. Over the last five years, there has been a 152% growth in primary students and 262% growth in high school students who are home schooled in the state.
In New South Wales, 12,359 students were registered for homeschooling in January 2023, a 37% jump on the 2022 figures. In Victoria, the most recent figures show there were 11,912 homeschooled students as of December 2022, an increase of 36% since 2021.
Across the country, there are more than 43,000 legally registered homeschooled students.
Lion’s Education (a homeschooling site) says, the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a light on the way we educate children. The disruption to our lives forced people to throw convention out of the window and rapidly adapt to how we work, study and interact, shifting the dial on the ‘norm’. Homeschooling during this time is just one way that opened the door to new alternatives to help children learn and grow up to become productive members of society.
As a result of the pandemic, many Australian parent’s hands were forced to adopt a hybrid education style as children could not attend regular school, causing various disruptions to their learning.
Why are numbers growing?
A 2023 Queensland government report shared data from a survey of more 500 parents in the state who homeschooled their children. It found 45% of families surveyed never intended to homeschool. It also found 61% had a child with a disability or health issue, including ADHD, autism, behavioural issues and mental ill health. Many also had concerns about bullying.
Families also reported their child was not learning at school, and not wanting to go, so homeschooling became the only choice available. This reflects academic research, which finds most families who choose to homeschool have negative school experiences, withdraw because of bullying or are neurodiverse.
While homeschooling was growing before the pandemic, the school-at-home arrangements during COVID led to a large growth in numbers. For some families, the experience showed them that learning at home was possible and enjoyable and they decided not to go back.
Homeschooling is a valid choice
International research suggests homeschooling outcomes are as good as at mainstream schools in terms of academic success. Homeschooling can work because it suits some children better and parents are motivated to help their children learn.
- The home-educated typically score 15 to 25 percentile points above public-school students on standardized academic achievement tests (Ray, 2010, 2015, 2017, 2024). (The public school average is roughly the 50th percentile; scores range from 1 to 99.)
- 78% of peer-reviewed studies on academic achievement show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in institutional schools (Ray, 2017).
- Homeschool students score above average on achievement tests regardless of their parents’ level of formal education or their family’s household income.
- Whether homeschool parents were ever certified teachers is not notably related to their children’s academic achievement.
- Degree of state control and regulation of homeschooling is not related to academic achievement.
- Home-educated students typically score above average on tests that colleges consider for admissions.
- Homeschool students are increasingly being actively recruited by colleges.
- Research on homeschooling shows that the home-educated are doing well, typically above average, on measures of social, emotional, and psychological development. Research measures include peer interaction, self-concept, leadership skills, family cohesion, participation in community service, and self-esteem.
- 87% of peer-reviewed studies on social, emotional, and psychological development show homeschool students perform statistically significantly better than those in conventional schools (Ray, 2017).
- Homeschool students are regularly engaged in social and educational activities outside their homes and with people other than their nuclear-family members. They are commonly involved in activities such as field trips, scouting, 4-H, political drives, church ministry, sports teams, and community volunteer work.
- The balance of research to date suggests that homeschool students may suffer less harm (e.g., abuse, neglect, fatalities) than conventional school students.
- Adults who were home educated are more politically tolerant than the public schooled in the limited research done so far.
- 69% of peer-reviewed studies on success into adulthood (including college) show adults who were home educated succeed and perform statistically significantly better than those who attended institutional schools (Ray, 2017).
- Adults who were homeschooled participate in local community service more frequently than the general population (e.g., Seiver & Pope, 2022).
Source: Research Facts on Homeschooling – National Home Education Research Institute (nheri.org)
Summary
If the state government wants more of a say in homeschooling it should consider doing more work with families. Listen to them, consult with them, and include parents in policy making about home education. Parents will see compliance with the legislation they helped create as a way to support their child’s education, not as a “punishment” for not sending them to a mainstream school.
In Victoria and Tasmania, homeschooling families have been included on boards providing advice to government about regulation. This is what Queensland needs and hopefully what will happen now that the Bill has been squashed.
No amount of documentation will help parents do a better job of homeschooling their children. The vast majority of homeschooling parents are capable and attentive to their children’s needs. The fact that these families are dissatisfied with the curriculum and the quality of education in the school system for their children’s needs says it all. It’s in the best interests of the state and federal governments to look to their own backyard and work out what they’re doing to ensure the best interests of the children put into their care are being met.
Governments should also look more closely at why families leave schools. We know families are not homeschooling as an “easy option.” Often they are doing it because it’s a last resort and the school has let them down. Children who are being bullied or refusing school are better off at home.
If you, as parents are prepared to make the effort to educate their children, the least the state can do is support you.
The now new Queensland Premier, Stephen Miles, posted to social media that he was busy and dedicated to preparing for cyclone Jasper.
What was he actually doing during that time? Shady backroom deals and powerbroking make sure he became Premier.
Thank you to the residents west of Cressbrook Dam who took the time to tell me their concerns about a proposed pumped hydro at the site along with huge clearing proposed for associated transmission lines.
Pumped Hydro is another scam only necessary under the net-zero pipe dream.
All of the environmental destruction this project would cause is unneeded if the government simply allowed Coal and Nuclear to power the country.
I’m standing in the middle of an 80 metre wide, kilometres long clearing made for power lines, and these are small ones.
The net-zero lunatics are planning on bulldozing straight lines through national parks, koala habitat and forestry for tens of thousands of kilometres to connect up the many dispersed wind and solar projects to the grid.
Thousands and thousands of square kilometres will have to be cleared, and that’s before anyone clears land for the solar and wind stations.
The net-zero pipe dream is truly killing the environment, “to save it”.
Mortgages are skyrocketing, rents keep increasing, two thirds of young Australians believe they will never own a home and it’s hard to blame them.
The housing unaffordability crisis is the greatest issue facing Australia. Australians want to have their hard work and savings rewarded. They want a place to call their own and a place they can stay to raise a family.
The median house price in Brisbane is 10 times the median income.[1] In Brisbane it would take the average income 13 years just to save a deposit.
Rents are also rising on the back of a record low national vacancy rate of 1%.[2] Experts consider a 3% vacancy rate to be tight, a national average of 1% is an absolute crisis.
Right now, many Australians simply cannot afford a roof over their head.
Like any market there are two things and two things only that affect housing prices: supply and demand. Decades of successive governments have mismanaged both sides of the equation.
This is how One Nation would properly manage our economy and deliver cheaper houses and cheaper rent:
Cut overseas arrivals, ban foreign ownership, increase supply and stop pumping up profits for the Big Banks.
Cut the flood of overseas arrivals
In the short term, we need to stop pouring fuel on the fire. A huge amount of overseas arrivals are driving unsustainable demand.
Excluding tourists and short stay visitors, there are currently 2.3 million visa holders in the country likely to need housing.[3]
These working visa holders, students and others are putting enormous strain on the rental market, fighting Australians for a roof over their head and driving up rent prices.
The arrivals that can afford it are also buying houses, pushing up prices even higher.
The Albanese Labor government issued a record 670,000 student visas in one year when we only have 100,000 dedicated student accommodation beds.
In addition to these 2.3 million visa holders likely to need housing, there are roughly 400,000 tourist and other visa holders in the country.
While tourism is good for Australia, in the middle of our rental shortage this high demand is motivating owners to take their properties out of the rental pool and convert them to lucrative, full-time AirBnBs.
That means less rental supply for people needing a place to live and higher rents.
2.7 million visa holders, more than 10% of Australia’s population, are in the country right now fighting Australians for a roof over their head.
The country cannot sustain this level of overseas arrivals. It must be cut to take immediate pressure off housing availability and affordability.
Why haven’t we cut arrivals already?
Powerful lobby groups who rely on high immigration have been able to falsely label anyone who talks about this problem as “racist”.
Talking about reasonable levels of immigration is about securing a prosperous future for all Australians, including those who come to the country. Ruining our economy is a bad outcome for immigrants as well.
As the problem gets even worse, even mainstream media is now being forced to acknowledge the huge negative effects Australia is seeing from an unsustainable amount of arrivals.
Homelessness is a scourge affecting all our cities, but it's particularly severe in Queensland. Post-COVID migration to the Sunshine State has exacerbated a housing shortage, with some cities recording extraordinary rent inflation. #abc730 pic.twitter.com/yZUxW76iB0
— ABC News (@abcnews) December 6, 2023
The biggest winners from high house prices and big immigration are the big banks and multinational corporations relying on cheap labour.
Mortgages are so profitable for banks that they have become over-reliant on housing prices.
The ratio of borrowing for mortgages versus borrowing for business has skyrocketed to more than 200%, up from less than 40% in 1990.[3A]
That means the Big Banks are less diversified and will lose more money if housing becomes affordable.
As the Reserve Bank raises interest rates, the big banks pass that on at up to 7%, yet the banks borrowed long term funds from the RBA at just 0.1%.
They’re pocketing the huge difference leading to record-breaking profits.
There is billions of dollars at stake for the banks and other big businesses if housing became more affordable. The questions have to be asked whether government is putting the profits of greedy banks and multinational corporations ahead of Australians having affordable housing.
One Nation would never repeat the mistakes of the COVID period, where the Reserve Bank was allowed to create $500 billion out of thin air.[4]
That led to the inflation the Reserve Bank is now trying to fight and the tool it uses to do that is sending mortgage holders broke.
This only pumps up the big banks profits.
Ban Foreign Ownership
Finally, on the demand side solutions, we need to ban foreign ownership of Australian assets.
The government has no idea exactly how bad foreign purchases are.[5] A single real estate agent in Sydney sold $135 million in property to Chinese buyers in just six months.[6]
Australians can’t own a house in China, so why should we let foreign citizens buy property here?
Australian property is also a hotbed for suspected money laundering, with much of this happening in foreign connected purchases.[7]
We need to ban foreign ownership of Australian homes to decrease demand and give Australians a shot at owning their own home.
Let tradies build homes
On the supply side, government needs to get out of the way with their restrictive building codes, green land restrictions and a spider web of employment law.
Our tradies know how to build homes. Government just needs to get out of the way and let them build.
While increasing supply is an important part, it is important to note that supply can only be increased so much in the face of overwhelming demand, fuelled by overseas arrivals and foreign purchasers.
Australia has typically built homes at nearly the fastest rate in the world, fourth out of all OECD countries.[8]
Supply chain issues, high interest rates and rising construction insolvencies mean its very unlikely we will be able to easily build even more supply than the high amount we already do.[9]
Looking at how Australia punches above its weight in building houses and increasing supply already, it’s clear the biggest issue we have to fix is the demand side currently driven by overseas arrivals.[10]
One Nation would make home ownership a reality for Australians
A home is a castle.
The family unit and our society flourish when we have stable places to build our lives and raise families.
Decades of indifferent governments from both sides of politics have ruined this dream for many.
Only One Nation has the guts to make the decisions that will make the dream of home ownership a reality for all Australians.
Affordable houses, lower affordable rents and a flourishing economy is all possible under One Nation.
[1] Housing unaffordability hits grim new peak (afr.com)
[2] The Latest Rental Vacancy Rates around Australia (archive.is)
[3] Tarric Brooker aka Avid Commentator 🇦🇺 on X: “A new all time high for the number of temporary visa holders in Australia likely to require some form of housing.https://t.co/6NQ8HXu3i4” / X (archive.is)
[4] RBA creates inflation by printing money out of thin air – Malcolm Roberts (malcolmrobertsqld.com.au)
[5] Housing ‘scandal’: Foreigners buy twice as many homes as recorded (archive.is)
[6] Chinese millionaires snap up Australian properties in Toorak, Armadale, Malvern, Hawkthorne and Kooyong | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site (archive.is)
[7] No questions asked: money laundering thrives in Australia because of professionals willing to facilitate it | Crime – Australia | The Guardian (archive.is)
[9] ASIC data shows insolvencies in the building and construction industry have hit pre-Covid levels | news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site
[10] Why more supply will never fix the housing market – MacroBusiness
Malcolm’s Fight
Casual Coal Wage TheftFebruary 21, 2024 - 2:09 pmOver $30,000 a year being stolen, and it’s been signed off by the union and the government. Find out about the largest wage theft from casuals in Australia.
My Other IssuesFebruary 16, 2021 - 12:08 pm
Murray Darling BasinMarch 23, 2020 - 3:05 am
Foreign OwnershipOctober 16, 2019 - 4:58 am
Property rightsOctober 16, 2019 - 4:39 am
United Nations #AUSEXITOctober 16, 2019 - 2:31 am