Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (19:08): This evening I’m going to speak on the very topical issue of the CFMEU. I had hoped to add my contribution to the debate this evening, but, sadly, the government saw fit to gag that particular debate. I’m not saying I have some particularly great view, but I think there’s something…
Groom Electorate: Bunker’s Hill State School
Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (13:45): Happy birthday to Bunker’s Hill State School, 125 years old—an absolutely fantastic achievement. This is a school just outside of Toowoomba, past Westbrook, in a part of the world where agriculture has been king for such a long time, and schools like this play such an important part. You find all…
Speech: Small Business
Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (17:24): I thank the member for Casey for raising this very important issue about the record number of insolvencies we’re experiencing under the Albanese government, and I commend him on the compassion he showed in his speech. I remember ‘the recession we had to have’. The member for Kennedy might have been…
Speech: Brisbane Olympic and Paralympic Games
Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (18:56): How can I possibly follow a speech on the Olympics from an Olympian? It’s an impossible task. It can’t be done. But I’ll give it a go. The member for Hunter does a great job talking up sport in Australia. I agree with his enthusiasm, and I think it’s important that…
Speech: Future Made in Australia Bill 2024
Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 Second Reading Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (12:47): I will keep very briefly with the Eagles theme. My friend the good member for Bean, having served his sentence of having to speak for such an unfortunate bill, may well understand the…
Safer Communities Fund
Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (11:50): When I came into this role, one of the first groups that came to see me in my office was from Toowoomba’s Garden City Mosque. This is a facility that has suffered arson twice. It has been burnt down twice, and they came to ask whether there any way that the…
CFMEU = HIGHER HOUSING COSTS
Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (13:41): Aggressive, intimidatory and criminal behaviour is nothing new for the CFMEU. Anyone who’s worked on union dominated worksites, as I have, has seen it or its impacts firsthand. For years, this side of the House has been willing to stand up against these behaviours, none…
Desecration of the Drayton and Toowoomba Cemetery
I’ve spoken many times in this place about the youth crime crisis that’s been running through Queensland, and sadly Toowoomba has borne the brunt of that crisis far too often. We’ve seen car thefts. Burnt-out cars on the side of the road, particularly going out to Oakey, is a common sight. We’ve had break-ins across…
Speech: Cost of Living
It may well be that Australians find themselves, in the coming months or a little longer, facing another election. And there is no doubt, as this motion and the speakers from both sides have pointed out, that cost of living will be the issue. I would put to the Australian people that there is a…
Vale Clive Armitage
Mr HAMILTON (Groom) (13:51): Clive Armitage was a true gentleman, a great man and a good friend. Toowoomba came together to mourn his passing last week and to wrap the city’s love around his wife, Conchita, their children, Heidi and Howard, and their families. Clive came to Australia in 1965 as a Ten Pound Pom,…
