I recently heard about a new organisation set up to help protect the health of children. The Children’s Health Defense Australia has been set up to address the staggering rise in chronic disease in our children. They report that nearly half of all children have some kind of allergic-type disease, and autoimmune diseases are on the rise. But even more alarming are the levels of mental health disorders in our young with up to 40% suffering depression, anxiety, or panic disorders.
And with around 1 in 5 children having a learning disorder – we have to ask ourselves: what is happening to our children?
This pattern of ill health in our children has been developing over the decades. However, the recent Covid pandemic struck a significant blow to the health and wellbeing of our children through lockdowns, masking and separation from family members. Never before have our young paid such a price due to government enforced policies. And the evidence is coming out. A recent major study from the UK reported that lockdowns harmed the emotional development of almost half of their children. This information does not bode well for Australia.
With any inquiry, or future pandemic plans the costs to our young, Australia’s next generation, should be paramount.
And that’s justice, as I see it.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here, your member for Monash.
I want to talk about the Aussie dream…work hard, save up and buy your own home.
We’ve heard it all before – the big backyard, white picket fence, and of course plenty of space for the kids to play cricket in the summer.
But the big Aussie dream is in danger.
Robert Gottliebsen’s recent article in The Australian paints a dire picture for our nation’s housing future.
Our current financial environment, as Robert puts it, is making it ‘impossible for ordinary Australians with good jobs to buy dwellings.’
He says that the current policies put in place by APRA are causing severe issues for those looking to purchase their own home.
In response to unlimited bank credits dished out in recent years, APRA has now forced banks to calculate over the interest rate being charged when assessing home loan eligibility.
These regulations, which were implemented at a time when interest rates were low, are now creating a bigger problem than the one they tried to fix.
The average income earner can’t even pass the ‘risk test’ to access finance.
So, the next logical option for them is to rent.
But guess what? There are no houses available!
The Government must focus on increasing housing supply to address this crisis. Otherwise, more and more families will be left homeless.
The great Aussie dream was once a reality for many. But now it’s just that…a dream.
And if we don’t wake up soon, it will become a nightmare for our nation.
That’s justice as I see it.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here - Member for Monash
The government is seeking your views about its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
So let’s think, for a moment, about how Australia responded.
In unprecedented actions we locked down, masked up and mandated mass vaccination of an experimental vaccine!
This was at odds with our government’s own pandemic plans – based on decades of scientific evidence – which recommended against such things.
Australia’s pandemic plan was reviewed in August 2019 then effectively ‘binned’ in early 2020.
Some may say the pathway Australia took saved thousands of lives. But did it?
The World Health Organisation did no better, also recommending against its own established guidelines.
The Australian Government is seeking your opinion in a consultation looking at how Australia prepares and responds to future pandemics. This consultation outlines a proposed International Pandemic Treaty, and over 100 amendments to the International Health Regulations.
Together, these changes are set to give the World Health Organisation unprecedented power to dictate to member nations in terms of lockdowns, masking and even digital vaccination certificates.
That is, unless Australia opts out.
Now is the time to speak up and tell the Government what you think about how we should respond in the event of another pandemic.
And you have until 24 September to do it.
At this critical time in our nation’s history we must all use our voices to tell the government what we think. And in representing you, I will certainly be using mine.
And that’s just as I see it.
You can provide your feedback at the following here.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here – your Member for Monash.
It’s no secret that the Andrews’ government’s decision to scrap Victoria’s Native Timber Industry on the 1st of January 2024 is a kick in the guts for regional communities.
An industry worth over $1.4 billion dollars will simply cease to exist.
And it’s not just the timber towns that will be hit hard – it’s the housing industry, the job sector, and most importantly, the people.
That’s one reason we shouldn’t be going through with this decision.
But let’s look at this from a different lens.
What if by closing the native timber industry, we are robbing ourselves of an opportunity to reach those impossible net zero targets?
In a recent article in the The Australian Financial Review, Joel Fitzgibbon expands on the opportunity that native forest harvesting poses for carbon capture.
He explains that ‘when a tree is harvested, the carbon in the wood is stored forever in the built environment. The harvested tree is replaced by a young tree, which absorbs more carbon as it grows.’
He even quotes former chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb, who states ‘the only pathway known to science that has the immediate capacity to remove greenhouse gases, particularly CO2, from the atmosphere at scale is photosynthesis.’
Sounds logical to me.
I’ve said it before – we need to be having open discussions about where this nation is heading.
We should be exploring any avenue that supports the livelihood of our people and protects our environment.
And we shouldn’t have to choose between the two.
That’s justice as I see it.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here. Member for Monash.
Yesterday I mentioned that Australia’s Human Rights Commissioner, Lorraine Finlay, had warned that ‘Labor’s proposed laws to combat online misinformation could undermine democracy, erode public trust and jeopardise free speech’.
That’s a big call – and she’s spot on!
As the Deputy Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I’m not only pleased to hear her say this, but downright relieved.
It’s unusual for the Human Rights Commissioner to make such strong public statements against a government Bill. So it’s telling that Ms Finlay felt the need to do so on this one.
The silence and complacency from others who should also be shouting and standing up against this Bill is ominous, and their indifference disturbs me greatly.
Ms Finlay cut to the crux of the issue – the Bill’s dangerously broad definitions of ‘misinformation’ and ‘harm’. She also acknowledged that even without this Bill, information has already been ‘opportunistically labelled as ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation to … justify censorship’.
We saw this in recent Freedom of Information documents which showed more than 4000 social media posts had been secretly censored by (our) government during the height of the pandemic, including posts that simply stated “no masks”.
Ms Finlay also made the critical point that “In Australia…we have some really challenging (and) complex issues that we’re negotiating… and we need people to be able to speak frankly and freely about their thoughts or views.”
She also echoed my concern that the government is exempt from its own laws – meaning that government information cannot be considered misinformation or disinformation under the law!
Yes you heard correctly.
Have no doubt…this is a slippery slope which threatens to seriously harm our already fragile freedoms and democracy.
As Ms Finlay said “People not only need to be able to speak freely, but they need to believe that they are able to speak freely.”
To have democracy we need free speech, and this Bill needs to be binned.
That’s justice I see it.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here, Member for Monash. This is a Just As I See It Broadcast.
Services delivered into my regional electorate of Monash are important to my community wherever or whatever the service provider offers.
Recently, I was accused of being a spokesperson for the Pharmacy Guild of Australia.
Wrong. I am a defender of my people in Monash.
Chemists provide many free services – medical advice, home deliveries, visits to aged care facilities, blister packs and much more.
And these small pharmacies are generally family run businesses that enhance communities across the nation.
If you live in the city, there seems to be a pharmacy on every corner…not so here in the country.
The Albanese government’s decision to implement 60-day prescriptions will undermine the business model of every pharmacy in Monash and across regional Australia.
I’m hearing it could force the closure of over 600 pharmacies and lead to 20,000 job losses.
Even Labor back benchers are revolting against the policy, with Senator Helen Polley warning the 60-day dispensing may force regional pharmacies to close, and MP Mike Freelander calling for an increase in compensation for chemists. And so they should.
Liberal and National governments have always put in place policies that support pharmacies in small rural townships and they worked.
Where was the careful analysis of this policy that clearly has unintended consequences for country people? It looks once again like bad policy equals bad politics – especially for us!
How I would love to see a large dose of common-sense wash over this government.
That’s Justice As I See It.
Hello Russell Broadbent here member for Monash. My electorate covers the areas from Longwarry to Latrobe Valley, Mt Baw Baw to Wilson’s Prom and Phillip Island.
Today, I want to talk about Trust.
And once again, I am talking about the proposed ‘misinformation and disinformation’ Bill. Make no mistake this Bill is the greatest government sponsored attack on freedom this country -our country - has ever seen.
This legislation gives bureaucrats the power to decide what is truth and what is not.
Trust.
We’ve been trained to trust people like doctors, politicians and the people that bring us the news.
The ABC positioned themselves as the ‘knower of all things’ through their ongoing propaganda series, speaking to a narrative that’s in lock step with what the government wanted them to say. They have lost trust with a swathe of people across this nation.
For those who speak out against the ‘narrative’ this comes at great cost. When Australian journalist Adam Creighton dared to comment on the impacts of lockdown three years ago, as he said…
‘the column triggered a torrent of hate mail that lasted well over a year, and I began to receive persistent and violent threats. I was forced to change my name on social media accounts and my parents became seriously worried for my safety. Some of the attacks were so awful, I considered taking legal action’.
And yet, the words Adam wrote three years ago have been vindicated.
This issue is already on our doorstep. Recent Freedom of Information documents requested by Senator Antic reveal the Australian Government partnered with social media platforms to censor Australians for ‘misinformation and disinformation’ during the pandemic.
The Government’s overreach with this Bill is chilling. We’ve seen how this plays out in other countries, including our neighbours, when New Zealand’s former Prime Minister said ‘We will continue to be your single source of truth. Unless you hear it from us, it is not the truth’.
On Tuesday, Senator Penny Wong said that ‘Freedom of expression and assembly are essential to our democracy, and we support those in Australia who exercise those rights.’ She was referring to democracy sympathisers in Hong Kong!
Governments are such hypocrites. While they quite righty stand for the freedoms of other nations, our own freedoms are at huge risk by their hand. We’re at a turning point where this Bill will bring to horrifying reality, the fiction outlined in George Orwell’s book, 1984.
It should alarm every Australian that the Government and its approved agencies, educational institutions and professional news outlets will be exempt from this new law. So, they get to decide ‘the truth’ and shut down anyone else who might question it.
You have to ask: what is the Labor Government afraid of? It’s own people?
As John F Kennedy said, “a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people.”
I don’t recognise our country anymore. This isn't the Australia I know. What is happening in this country? This doesn't stack up ...it just doesn't make sense.
And that’s Justice As I See It.
Hello, for those of you that are watching this broadcast for the first time, I am Russell Broadbent, Federal Member for Monash - in regional Victoria. West Gippsland to be precise. I have served the parliament for 25 years.
I would like to follow up on the critical issue I raised a few days ago.
Let us be clear, this is the most important Bill facing Australian's and our democracy right now. If we don’t have free speech, we don't have freedom.
In the proposed ‘misinformation and disinformation’ Bill, the Labour Government is intending to be the arbiter of truth and dictate to the Australian people what is truth.
Why is this dangerous? If the past 3 years have taught us anything, it’s taught us that knowledge and opinion must be questioned at every turn. Our democracy depends on it.
Let’s look over some of the things touted as ‘conspiracy theory’ or ‘misinformation’, that later turned out to be true:
We were told the virus definitely didn’t come from a lab. Now, it’s widely acknowledged the virus may well have originated from the Wuhan Institute of Virology.
When people questioned the lockdowns we were told lockdowns would ‘stop transmission and save lives’ – they didn’t. Instead, they crippled businesses, communities and lives.
When people questioned the Covid injections, we were told these injections would stop infection and transmission. They didn’t.
When people raised concerns about side effects including myocarditis, pericarditis, blood clots, menstrual irregularities, and neurological symptoms, we were told the vaccines were very safe and side effects were rare. The TGAs own data tells another story. A story confirmed by hundreds, if not thousands, of Australians who have been significantly and adversely affected by these jabs.
When people questioned the mandates, we were told mandates were necessary to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable and to protect our healthcare system. Instead, the mandates saw thousands of workers unnecessarily sacked, placing further strain on our healthcare system, fuelling resentment and mistrust.
The only way to deal with this Bill is to take your concerns to your local member.
Hello. Russell Broadbent here – Member for Monash.
This is not one of my regular Just As I See It broadcasts. It’s a plea to every Australian to understand the consequences of Labor’s plans to not only impede free speech, but to become the sole decider of what’s true and what’s false.
The Albanese government plans to introduce a chilling new law to combat so-called misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms. This is nothing short of legalising state-sanctioned surveillance and censorship. In my decades of service to the Australian Parliament, I have never known such a dangerous Bill.
This is a terrifying prospect and an affront to our democratic way of life. It should shock and disturb every Australian.
This new law would designate unelected government bureaucrats and politicians to determine if your views are deemed ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’! But wait for it… content from government agencies and educational institutions will be exempt from this legislation! This sounds like North Korea or China – not Australia!
And not just that – the government will also determine the penalty or punishment, which can include massive fines and even imprisonment.
This bill will allow the Australian Communications and Media Authority to compel Australian and foreign tech companies to keep records of matters relating to misinformation and disinformation, and to give this data to our government when requested. In other words, keep records of the people who say the wrong thing – whatever that is, according to the government of the day.
No government should ever have this type of power or control.
Mind you, this law will simply legalise the surveillance and censorship of thousands of Australians over the past three years. Even though it didn’t get much coverage on mainstream TV, we now know the Australian government sought the assistance of foreign big tech giants to spy and report on Australians who didn’t comply with the government’s narrative on covid vaccines.
And I was one of those people.
Last year one of my parliamentary speeches was removed by YouTube because I violated their community guidelines – apparently because I dared to ask what might be causing Australia’s excess deaths.
Doctors and other medical practitioners have had their Twitter and Facebook accounts suspended for sharing concerns about the covid vaccine’s safety and efficacy.
I’ve also heard from hundreds of vaccine-injured people who’ve had their heartbreaking posts deemed ‘misinformation’ and deleted by Facebook.
As stated by Nick Cater in his commentary for the Australian on Monday 3 July: “John Stuart Mill once said: ‘All silencing of discussion is an assumption of infallibility.’ Yet we know from bitter experience that the cabal of health experts and self-interested premiers who sought to control the Covid narrative were all too capable of making grave mistakes.”
The government is now seeking feedback on their proposed "misinformation" and "disinformation" censorship legislation, and I urge you to respond to the petition via the link below.
I’m also interested to hear if you’ve experienced censorship on your social media account too – especially if you’ve had content censored or deemed ‘misinformation’ or ‘disinformation’.
Over the past three and a half years, Australia has made international headlines for all the wrong reasons…including mandates to take an experimental vaccine, censorship of doctors, closure of borders and now blatant surveillance and censorship of the public.
I’m calling it out now. As I see it, we’re on a very slippery slope and I will oppose this Bill with all my might.
The government is seeking feedback on their proposed "misinformation" and "disinformation" censorship legislation. I urge you to let them know your thoughts in the link below. https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/have-your-say/new-acma-powers-combat-misinformation-and-disinformation
Russell Broadbent here, Member for Monash.
This is a just as I see it broadcast.
Today marks the beginning of National Volunteer Week.
As a nation, we’re quick to lend a helping hand to those in need.
Lots of us are doing it tough at the moment.
And we all know that one act of kindness sparks another.
That’s why we have nearly six million volunteers across Australia.
These are local people donating their time with a vision to improve local lives.
Whether it’s emergency services, soup vans, or op shops – if there’s a need, our volunteers are there.
So let’s give a big shout out to our volunteers across Monash – we see you and we thank you.
That’s just as I see it.
Russell Broadbent here, your federal member for Monash. This is a just as I see it broadcast.
I have been involved in issues surrounding the Murray Darling Basin for a long time.
These issues are often very complicated, and special committees have been formed over the years to consider the interests of farmers and the wider Australian community.
An article titled ‘A Shameless Grab’ in The Weekly Times last Wednesday said that the federal government are soon to release water buyouts across the southern area of the Murray Darling Basin.
This follows the government’s refusal to extend the deadline imposed on NSW and Victoria to reach the 605 gigalitre environmental efficiency gains target by the end of June next year.
But given the recent history of floods and the pandemic, coupled with a delay in federal funding – why not extend the deadline to allow delayed projects to be completed?
Water buybacks by the federal government would take water directly from our irrigators, which risks cutting jobs and food production.
And if this happens, Australians will be hit with higher food prices.
As I said earlier, this is a complicated issue.
But at the end of the day, the people of the basin come first.
All I ask is that the impact on regional farmers, businesses, and communities is at the front of the government’s mind when addressing this issue.
That’s just as I see it.
Russell Broadbent here. Your Member for Monash.
This is a just as I see it broadcast.
Today we learned the Labor government has ordered a review of hundreds of Australia’s nation-building infrastructure projects – the essential infrastructure that regions like ours depend on.
If money is an issue, why isn’t Labor reconsidering the stage three tax cuts?
There’s $243 billion sitting right there.
Three years into the covid pandemic, families across our nation are now grappling with the most dire cost of living pressures in decades.
We have a looming recession, skyrocketing grocery and heating bills, huge interest rate hikes, and now the threat of regional projects being culled.
It makes no sense that Labor has not at least reconsidered these tax cuts and whether they could be better utilised to help alleviate our country’s financial woes.
$243 billion is a lot of money. I’ve included a link to a clever ABC article and graphic that will give you a feel for what this money could fund.
Not that I’m suggesting all the tax cuts should be shelved – just the ones proposed for people like me who don’t need them.
These tax cuts will see the richest 1% of Australians get as much benefit as the poorest 65% combined. How does that fit with Labor’s promise to deliver ‘more money in people’s pockets’? It doesn’t.
If the $243 billion over 10 years will see $161 billion flow to men and only $83 billion to women. How does that fit with Labor’s pledge ‘to eliminate the gender pay gap’? It doesn’t.
And if the tax cuts mainly benefit Australians in inner city areas, how does that fit with Labor’s desire for ‘rural and regional Australians to receive a fair share of the prosperity they create’?
These tax cuts were dreamt up in rosier times more than five years ago. No-one could have predicted the way the world has been turned upside down since then.
The Labor party say they have inherited the legislation as if they have no choice about proceeding with these tax cuts but of course they do!
That’s just as I see it.
