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Media Statements

  • 29/07/2010 - WA Bottom of Gillard's Pile
    Western Australia is clearly at the bottom of Julia Gillard's list of priorities. We're just about two weeks into a five week campaign and the Prime Minister still hasn't made it to WA. (more...)
    21/07/2010 - Gillard Desperate to Cover Up Trade Training Failure

    No amount of slogans and catchy names can hide Labor’s failure when it comes to technical education and training over the past three years. (more...)
    12/07/2010 - Lift the Gag on Henry, Prime Minister

    If Julia Gillard had nothing to hide about her new tax on mining she would allow Treasury Secretary Ken Henry to answer all the outstanding questions about her tax tomorrow. (more...)
    11/07/2010 - Gillard Using WA as Cash Cow

    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann has accused Julia Gillard of using Western Australia as a cash cow to fund Labor's reckless spending in Canberra. (more...)
    09/07/2010 - Dr Henry to be Recalled on Mining Tax Deal What has the Prime Minister got to Hide?

    The Senate Fuel and Energy Committee will reconvene next Tuesday and has recalled Dr Henry to appear and answer questions about the government's mining tax deal. (more...)
    05/07/2010 - Impact on jobs and investment worse under 'Gillard deal': Treasury

    At a hearing of the Fuel and Energy Committee this morning Treasury confirmed that the impact on jobs and investment in the mining industry would be worse under the deal negotiated by Julia Gillard than under the RSPT. (more...)
    27/05/2010 - Rudd Back-Down Good For Job Seekers

    The Coalition welcomes the government’s back-down from its decision to scrap face-to-face interviews between job seekers and Centrelink. “This latest back-down is most welcome, because regular quality contact between job seekers and Centrelink is important,” Shadow Minister for Employment (more...)
    26/05/2010 - Gillard rhetoric doesn't hide training failure
    Julia Gillard has failed to deliver on technical training and education during her nearly three years as the part-time Minister for Training Shadow Minister for Training Mathias Cormann has said. “After promising 2,650 trades training centres in schools at the last election in 2007, only one of them (more...)
    30/04/2010 - WA Forgotten in Reckless NBN Rollout Plan
    Western Australia is right at the back of the queue and will miss out on the Rudd Labor
    government's reckless broadband scheme for the foreseeable future, WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann said on a visit to Kalgoorlie today. "This is just another example of the Eastern     (more...)
    30/04/2010 - Welfare reform: Mark Arbib all talk, no action
    Ten days after the Coalition attacked the government’s watering down of Australia’s welfare system, junior Labor Minister Mark Arbib has adopted the Kevin Rudd approach to the situation, talk tough, but do nothing. “It’s not good enough to talk tough (more...)
    25/02/2010 - Time for action on international education services
    There will be no improvements to international education services unless the government starts taking some action Shadow Training Minister Mathias Cormann said. "The Rudd government has been provided with yet another review – this time on education services to overseas (more...)
    25/02/2010 - No new money for jobless home insulation workers
    The rescue package for home insulation workers announced with much fanfare by the Prime Minister and Senator Arbib yesterday has no new money in it. Job seekers not involved in home insulation will miss out on training and job services because the government needs to (more...)
    24/02/2010 - When did your golden boy first know, Prime Minister?
    For the second time this week Mark Arbib has refused to answer a direct question in the Senate about when he first became aware of safety concerns for workers involved in the failed home insulation program. "The Prime Minister now says he takes responsibility for the failed (more...)
    22/02/2010 - Arbib joins Garrett as guilty party in insulation debacle
    Mark Arbib, the Minister responsible for coordinating the roll-out of the stimulus package has refused to say when he first became aware of inadequate training and safety issues for workers involved in the ill-fated home insulation program. "When Mark Arbib was promoted by (more...)
    17/02/2010 - Rev up for Kwinana Training Centre
    Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training Mathias Cormann
    visited the Challenger Institute of Technology in Kwinana this week. “High quality trades training for young people is so important, particularly in a growth area like Kwinana,” Senator     (more...)
    11/02/2010 - Trades training centres? Another broken Rudd promise
    Only one single trades training centre out of 2,650 promised by Kevin Rudd before the last election is fully operational according to evidence before Senate Estimates today. Incredibly, government officials were unable to tell how many full-time students were actually (more...)
    10/02/2010 - Arbib should take a stand for jobs!
    Employment Participation Minister Mark Arbib is refusing to put Australian jobs ahead of Labor's reckless spending according to evidence before a Senate Estimates Committee. "If Mark Arbib really cared about jobs he would call on the Prime Minister and the Treasurer and urge (more...)
    08/02/2010 - More education colleges at risk of closure
    Labor's poorly thought out changes to skilled migration have created significant uncertainty for our international education sector and will put more private training colleges under pressure. "To abolish the current 'Migration Occupations in Demand List (MODL)' without replacing it (more...)
    08/02/2010 - Keep up the Hopman Cup ABC TV coverage!
    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann has again called on ABC Managing Director Mark Scott give a long term commitment to ABC TV coverage of the Hopman Cup. Questioned at Senate Estimates by Senator Cormann today, ABC Managing Director Mark Scott refused to (more...)
    05/02/2010 - Award modernisation discourages youth employment!
    The Rudd Labor Government doesn’t think that two hours work for a young person is worth
    bothering about, Shadow Minister for Employment Participation, Apprenticeships and Training
    Mathias Cormann said today. “Reports in the media confirm that young people who     (more...)
    04/02/2010 - Don't put pride ahead of outcomes Minister!
    The Rudd government should immediately pass important legislation to improve the quality of education services for overseas students in Australia through the House of Representatives.
    The Senate this afternoon passed the Education Services for Overseas Students     (more...)
    02/02/2010 - Government procrastination costs overseas students
    The collapse of yet another major private training college comes as the Rudd Labor Government has been dragging its feet on legislation currently before Parliament to deal with these issues. Senator Cormann's statements come after a major English training centre with about (more...)
    28/01/2010 - Rudd Government arrogance to cost jobs!
    The Rudd Labor Government has given a half hearted and arrogant response to an important Senate committee report into the recent job services tender according Shadow Employment Participation Minister Mathias Cormann. The government today tabled its largely (more...)
    14/01/2010 - Overall job figures welcomed – but the devil is in the detail
    While the slight improvement in overall unemployment figures in December 2009 is welcome, the
    Rudd government needs to start focusing on some of the hidden problems in our labour market
    Shadow Employment Participation Minister Mathias Cormann said today. Senator     (more...)
    08/01/2010 - Nurses to pay the price for Labor IR ideology
    Aged care nurses in NSW and Queensland will be worse off as a direct result of Labor's award 'modernisation' scheme Shadow Employment Participation Minister Mathias Cormann said.
    Labor's new scheme will seriously discourage prospective aged care nurses in NSW and     (more...)
    22/12/2009 - Pick up the phone to save jobs, Minister
    A training provider in Rural New South Wales has been left in limbo due to the inaction of the
    Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations, Education and Social Inclusion. “The part-time Minister for Education, Ms Gillard, doesn’t seem to think the closure of an important     (more...)
    17/12/2009 - Rudd Labor failing long term unemployed
    The Rudd Labor government is failing long-term unemployed Australians, Employment Participation Shadow Minister Mathias Cormann said today. Despite billions of dollars wasted in so called stimulus spending the number of long-term unemployed Australians continues to (more...)
    10/12/2009 - Please explain Minister Arbib
    Minister Arbib still has a lot of explaining to do in the wake of allegations that funding from the Rudd Labor government's 'jobs fund' significantly favoured Labor electorates. "I note the Minister's statement through a spokeswomen that he was apparently not involved in the decision (more...)
    09/12/2009 - Arbib has his job priorities wrong!
    Employment Participation Minister Mark Arbib needs to shift his focus away from finding jobs for failed NSW Labor politicians and prioritise the needs of job seekers around Australia. Newly appointed Shadow Minister for Employment Participation Mathias Cormann has called on (more...)

Press Clippings & Articles

  • 12/11/2008 - HCM City leader receives young Australian politicians
    On October 29, Vice Chairwoman of the HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thi Thu Ha received a delegation of the Australian Political Exchange Council led by Mr. Mathias Cormann, Liberal Senator for Western Australia and Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Health (more...)
    31/10/2008 - Anh Vơ Văn Thưởng tiếp đoàn thượng nghị sĩ Úc
    “Chúng tôi rất ấn tượng trước những hoạt động của phong trào thanh niên t́nh nguyện tại VN.Việc Đoàn TNCS Hồ Chí Minh có thể thu hút được số lượng đoàn viên lên tới hơn 5 triệu người là điều chúng tôi rất muốn được chia sẻ kinh nghiệm” - thượng nghị sĩ (more...)
    30/10/2008 - Lănh đạo TP HCM tiếp Hội đồng giao lưu chính trị Australia
    Chiều 29-10, Phó Chủ tịch UBND TP HCM Nguyễn Thị Thu Hà đă tiếp xă giao đoàn đại biểu Hội đồng giao lưu chính trị Australia do ông Mathias Cormann, Thượng nghị sĩ đại diện Tây Australia, dẫn đầu nhân dịp đoàn đến thăm TP HCM. (more...)
    30/10/2008 - Đoàn thượng nghị sĩ Úc thăm Báo Thanh Niên
    Đoàn đại biểu gồm các chính khách trẻ tuổi của Úc (thượng nghị sĩ của 2 đảng: Công đảng - đảng cầm quyền và Tự do) hôm qua đă đến thăm và làm việc với Báo Thanh Niên tại TP.HCM (ảnh). Qua tiếp xúc, các thành viên trong đoàn rất ấn tượng trước sự đa dạng về sản (more...)
    04/08/2008 - EU seeks closer ties to WA
    Belgian born WA Liberal senator Mathias Cormann has been asked to help facilitate the friendship group. Senator Cormann said he was keen to discuss the ... (more...)
    08/07/2008 - Defence of F111 maintenance workers falls short
    ...When Senator Mathias Cormann (Liberal, WA) asked, "who made the decision on how to structure the exgratia payment", the response was that it had been "very much a collegiate affair" (more...)
    05/06/2008 - Fed DVA secretary heads off for new job
    Department of Veterans Affairs secretary Mark Sullivan is to take on a new job as chief executive for Canberra water utility company ACTEW. Mr Sullivan, who has headed DVA for the past four years, said he informed the board of ACTEW he would take the job on Friday evening (more...)
    1/05/2008 - Libs pledge support for wheat bills
    QUICK passage of the Government's legislation to deregulate bulk wheat exports should be assured after Liberals on the Senate inquiry yesterday backed it, with amendments. (more...)
    20/02/2008 - Aust troops face more danger in Afghanistan
    Australia’s defence chief has admitted the new training role for Australian troops in Afghanistan will be more dangerous than the work being done by the reconstruction team. Air chief marshal Angus Houston has been facing questions from a Senate Estimates Committee (more...)
  • 15/04/2008 - Government defends its broadband decision
    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann said the decision would deny access to fast broadband internet for hundreds of thousands of Western Australians and Premier Alan Carpenter should demand the program is reinstated. (more...)
    11/04/2008 - Liberals pressure Premier to improve regional broadband
    Senator Mathias Cormann says the Federal Government s decision not to go ahead with the OPEL broadband network to regional Australia is scandalous. Mr Cormann has criticised the Federal Government s plan to roll out its own broadband network as a poor choice for (more...)
  • 11/03/2010 - Transcript of Interview on ABC2TV, News Breakfast
    Now you’re watching ABC News Breakfast. The Government has launched an unprecedented
    attack on the Coalition, calling it the most obstructionist opposition in thirty years. Prominent
    government ministers fronted the media yesterday to demand cooperation saying     (more...)
    11/03/2010 - Transcript of Interview on SkyNews, Playing Politics
    We’re going to be joined shortly by Shadow Employment Participation Minister Mathias Cormann. There is some chance early in this bulletin that we may be interrupted by a news
    conference that Julia Gillard is giving where she will no doubt be talking about     (more...)
    26/02/2010 - Transcript of interview between Senator Mathias Cormann
    and Grant Goldman on ‘Breakfast’ 2SM Radio Sydney
    Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says he’s disappointed in himself for not paying closer attention to the roll out of the Government’s home insulation programme. That will get him a few votes, by the way. By taking that tact, which is the one they should have taken in the first place saying (more...)
    02/01/2009 - Turnbull in turn around on Labor's IR reforms
    The Federal Opposition is preparing to block key aspects of the Government's proposed industrial relations changes, saying they go much further than Labor promised before the election and could lift unemployment. Opposition Leader Malcolm Turnbull, who has said that Labor had a (more...)
    04/03/2008 - Libs seek to tweak Labor IR
    Coalition senators will use this week's hearings of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee
    to press for extending the life of the Labor Government's replacement for Australian Workplace
    Agreements.     (more...)
    08/02/2008 - Coalition agrees to scrap AWAs, with conditions
    The Federal Opposition has proposed a compromise with the Government over Australian Workplace Agreements, vowing to accept the abolition of the controversial agreements if
    Labor lets workers stay permanently on transitional individual contracts that it has     (more...)
    23/11/2007 - Temporary plan for ATC
    THE Federal Government has moved towards establishing an Australian Technical College in Brand ahead of this weekend's Federal election. Labor is opposed to ATCs and signalled it would merge them into the State's TAFE system if it won office. (more...)
    9/11/2007 - Connecting with youth
    A NEW scheme designed to re-engage young people who have been disconnected from mainstream schooling began in Rockingham last week.  (more...)
    14/11/2007 - College shows marked progress
    STUDENTS at Kings College in Wellard are reaping the benefits of two Australian Government grants. (more...)
    17/10/2007 - Grants so welcomed
    STUDENTS and staff at Kings College (formerly El Shaddai College) in Wellard are set to benefit from three Australian Government grants totalling $129,400 under the Federal Government's Investing in Our School Program (more...)
    17/10/2007 - Workplace Relations
    Senator Cormann responds to a letter to the editor regarding Australian Workplace Relations. (more...)
  • 11/08//2009 - Uni's Open Day Milestone
    University of WA Albany opened its doors to the local community last Thursday, marking its first decade in the Great Southern. More than 300 visitors, including school groups, teachers, carers, advisers, families and members of the public came to the event to find out more about the (more...)
    15/01//2009 - Aged-care providers back high-care bonds
    WA's main aged-care providers are backing the Catholic Church's call for means-tested accommodation bonds for high-care residents to ensure the ailing sector survives. Catholic Health Australia has reversed its 1997 stand against accommodation bonds paid (more...)
    27/11//2008 - Buswell's meeting snub `was personal'
    Senior Rudd Government minister Chris Evans has suggested that Troy Buswell might have been excluded from a meeting of fellow State treasurers because of their revulsion at his "personal characteristics" - a veiled reference to the chair-sniffing and bra-snapping antics which (more...)
    28/08/2008 - Senate to call Premier, Logan to front gas probe
    Alan Carpenter and Energy Minister Fran Logan will be asked to front a special Senate inquiry to be grilled over the Varanus Island gas explosion in a move by the Federal Liberal Party to embarrass the State Government ahead of next week's election. (more...)
    28/08/2008 - Senate committee to investigate gas explosion
    A Senate Committee has agreed to hold a federal parliamentary inquiry into Western Australia's gas crisis, but it is unlikely it will start before the election. The explosion caused (more...)
    13/06/2008 - New era for sport
    THE multimillion-dollar Lark Hill Sportplex was officially opened last Saturday. After a Welcome to Country by Noongar elder Neville Collard, Brand MHR Gary Gray addressed the crowd. (more...)
    9/11/2007 - Water's a winner
    ROCKINGHAM'S reputation as an aquatic playground will be watertight following a Federal Government grant of $250,000 to divert stormwater drainage pipes along the beachfront to dissipation tanks. (more...)
    26/10/2007 - PCYC's pre-poll windfall
    In another windfall of pre-election goodies for Rockingham, the Federal Government has committed $880,000 towards a replacement PCYC facility in the city. In a project estimated to be worth $7.4 million, the 35-year-old hall in Smythe Street will be replaced with a (more...)
    04/10/2007 - Funds set aside for sports and community 
    A SPORTING and community facility in Meadow Springs is a step closer to reality with a $1.1 million contribution from the Federal Government. The funding announcement for the Meadow Springs open space project was made last week by new Western Australian Senator Mathias Cormann. (more...)
    03/10/2007 - Meadow Springs into sports
    An open space project at Meadow Springs has received $1.1 million in Federal Government funding to provide purpose-built sporting and community facilities with an education and tourism component. (more...)
    28/09/2007 - Refund for water fees: Kobelke
    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann said the fees were irrational, inequitable and unfair. He notified Mr Turnbull who asked the commission if the fees complied with the National Water Initiative. But there may be little the commission could do, fees were a decision of the (more...)
    19/09/2007 - Move to block water fees in Upper House
    A rare coalition between Liberal, National and Green State Upper House members is set to block the Government's controversial new water license fee legislation... In his letter to the Minister, Senator Cormann said farmers who had used generational strong water management... (more...)
    19/09/2007 - Farmers expected to air water licensing concerns
    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann has been coordinating the meeting so the groups can voice their concerns over the State Government s new licensing system. Mr Cormann has already called on the state to reconsider its fee structure for the licences, saying it is debilitating to farmers. (more...)
    17/09/2007 - WA unfazed by water licensing fee attack
    WA Liberal Senator Mathias Cormann says the fees are over the top. The Minister for Water Resources, John Kobelke, has dismissed the comments and says Senator Cormann wants to pass the burden from one group to another. (more...)
    05/09/2007 - Libs plan to fight water fee
    THE State Liberal Party will attempt to reverse legislation surrounding new water licensing fees following a meeting with farmers and dam owners in Manjimup on Friday (more...)
    15/08/2007 - New senator nervous about centralised government 
    In his first Senate speech, Mathias Cormann said federalism is crucial to his state. Mr Cormann is originally from Belgium and thanked his family there who were watching on the internet. (more...)
    09/08/2007 - Pharmacy saves two-hour round trip for Darkan residents
    REGIONAL Partnerships program funding of $18,472 has helped the West Arthur Shire to incorporate a pharmacy within the West Arthur Health and Resource Centre. Western Australia Senator Mathias Cormann officially opened the pharmacy on Friday. (more...)
    23/06/2007 - Newest senator promises passion
    Liberal Party powerbroker Mathias Cormann was sworn into Federal Parliament this week as WA's newest senator, filling the vacancy created by former minister Ian Campbell. It was a smoother than expected entry into Federal Parliament for Senator Cormann (more...)
  • 05/06/2009 - Opposition senators have a win
    Perhaps buoyed by the tiny shift in the polls, or perhaps just finally accepting that they did not win the 2007 election, some opposition senators did good solid work over this past fortnight scrutinising government departments. Even after receiving what for them must have been (more...)
    27/05/2009 - Access to advice: Senator Cormann responds
    The following note from Senator Cormann regarding his exchanges with Minister Faulkner on Monday in Senate Estimates is worth a bit more space than the Comments section allows.
    Dear Peter, Thank you for your interest in the recent exchange between Senator Faulkner     (more...)
    27/05/2009 - Access to advice a lively issue in Estimates
    Special Minister of State and Cabinet Secretary John Faulkner has been through the Senate Estimates Committee processes interminably over the years, and probably knows more about the subject than anyone other than soon to retire Clerk Harry Evans. In the Finance and (more...)
    13/11/2008 - Senator presses for lower interest rates for farmers
    A Western Australian Liberal Senator is calling on the Federal Government to pressure banks to pass on interest rate cuts to farmers and small businesses. Senator Mathias Cormann says since September, the Reserve Bank of Australia has cut rates by two per cent, but major (more...)
    7/06/2008 - Senate show a reality act in role reversal
    Some of the more notable questioners have been Queensland Liberals George Brandis, Ian Macdonald and Brett Mason, Victorian Liberal Michael Ronaldson, former minister Eric Abetz, South Australian Liberals Nick Minchin and Simon Birmigham, ACT Liberal Gary Humphries and relative newcomer, WA Liberal Mathias Cormann. (more...)
    1/05/2008 - Support for wheat bill divides coalition
    Liberal senators will push for the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to have a strong role in monitoring third-party access to port terminals when wheat exports are deregulated from July. (more...)
    14/02/2008 - WA Libs boycott apology ceremony
    A third of WA Liberal MHRs snubbed yesterday's apology to the Stolen Generation, refusing to attend the official parliamentary ceremony - despite the "sorry" motion being supported unconditionally by their party. (more...)
    08/02/2008 - Divided Liberals remain reluctant over backing for Rudd's apology
    WA Senator Mathias Cormann spoke against the apology at Wednesday's joint party room meeting. He said he would not abstain but would speak out if given a chance to address
    the Parliament.     (more...)
    7/02/2008 - Coalition falls into line over apology
    FEDERAL parliament will unite to apologise to the Stolen Generations and acknowledge past mistreatment of Aboriginal Australians after Brendan Nelson yesterday asserted his leadership and demanded his party back the historic statement. (more...)
    04/10/2007 - WACOSS: Major changes needed to address housing shortage
    The Liberal Senator, Mathias Cormann, says the answer lies in reducing land tax and opening public funding for housing to private competition. WACOSS says massive increases in public housing are needed to address the shortage. (more...)

Authorised by Senator Mathias Cormann, Exchange Plaza, 2 The Esplanade, Perth WA 6000