Malcolm Roberts (Queensland, Pauline Hanson's One Nation Party) Share this | Hansard source

As a senator who serves the people of Queensland in Australia, I want to raise some questions. I will take this opportunity to do that. We have not had time to have a good look at the Australian Research Council programs, but we did notice this: the Australian Research Council has a Gender equality action plan. I thought that science is supposed to be objective. Regardless of gender or race or religion, science is assessed objectively, based on evidence and based on proposals for grants. I wonder, is this an admission that science under the control or the guidance of the Australian Research Council is not objective? Is it not at times policy-based science rather than what has been put forward in this chamber as science-based policy? I have mentioned in the past that universities in our country are now teaching people what to think, not how to think.

By my own personal experience with the Australian Research Council and holding it to account I have found very low levels of accountability. In this bill, taxpayer funds to the tune of $750 million—three quarters of a billion—are being given, in addition, to the Australian Research Council.

Contrary to Senator Carr's claims, One Nation believes in research. That is why we have based our position on climate and on the protection of our energy generation, availability and networks on hard, objective data—physical observations, measured data and hard facts. That is perhaps why we are alone in stating that that is what we do, because the others have never, ever—no other person and no other party in this chamber has ever—specified any specific objective evidence when it comes to their claims about the climate being affected by humanity's use of hydrocarbon fuels.

Senator Carr raises the uncertainty of university funding. Well, I raise issues of the need to seriously question the objectivity of the use for which the funds are provided. As I said, research is vital, and that is why we need to rethink and objectively assess what is happening with the billions of dollars that are spent by this parliament and by this government on research, because, in addition to research being vital, so are taxpayers. It is my belief that the taxpayers are being abused from many, many angles. I raise questions about the extra $750 million, the three-quarters of a billion dollars, set aside in this bill. Perhaps Ludwig von Mises's book entitled Bureaucracy would be instructive reading for people here in this chamber? It is only 100 pages long. He pointed out the importance of assessing things objectively and doing that in a free market. Instead, we are governed by a bureaucracy that is heading us more and more towards socialism in this country, and destroying accountability.

The final point I wish to raise is that there is legislation passing through this house at a very fast rate. Not all of us are expected to assess every piece of legislation—that would be unreasonable—but that makes it possible for central government in this country to waste enormous amounts of money, especially when there is very low accountability. We see the evidence for that in the ever-rising debt, the ever-growing deficit, the ever-growing waste of taxes, the ever-growing burden on individuals who are working hard. Our supporters have a strong moral compass and a strong work ethic, and they are very, very tired of the governance of this country—or should I say the lack of governance?

And then we see things like the climate change material—supposedly researched, but never ever specifying any empirical evidence or measured data—used to justify the destruction of South Australia, the imminent destruction of Victoria, and the slower but surer destruction of all states now pushing a renewable energy target. That was in fact introduced by former Prime Minister John Howard, who subsequently admitted to being agnostic on climate change. His then chief of staff is the current Senator Sinodinos, who is now Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science. Never have we seen so much money wasted so profligately in this country, and so destructively. I raise serious questions, but we will be supporting this bill.