One in five Australian households have reported buying more alcohol than usual during the COVID-19 outbreak, according to new data released today.

National polling by YouGov Galaxy, commissioned by the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) found that a majority of these households also reported drinking more than usual and had concerns about their alcohol use and the drinking of others in their household.

I encourage you to read this useful information:

Alcohol_and_COVID19

Ms  FORREST  (Murchison) - Mr President, I will speak on a matter that relates to what we have just spoken about.

I have often stood in this place and raised concerns about taking bills under suspension. I raise my concerns regarding the taxation bill we dealt with recently. I made the point at the time that while I appreciated the individual briefing I was provided the day of the Budget, an hour before the Budget was delivered, I was not able to access a copy of the bill before that time and neither was anybody else. I said during the briefing that other members might comment on that during the debate. The section relating to the foreign investor duty surcharge was a very complex section of the bill - 40 pages long - and I said to them at the time, 'I guess we have to take you on trust this is going to work.' Subsequently, I had some communication from the Law Society. I asked during budget Estimates who was consulted during the process of the development of that bill - no-one was consulted, it was all done in-house.

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ADJOURNMENT - Wednesday 11 July 2018

Ms  FORREST  (Murchison) - Mr President, I will make a brief contribution and suggest members might like to listen to it.

It has been a frustrating period in many respects, the last few weeks, in terms of receiving answers to questions. The Leader committed to providing the table related to workplace injuries and has not done so. I assume we will receive it at a later time. The request was for workplace injuries based on the industry sector and not public or private sector, which was never mentioned during the debate. The reason this became a problem was because we received a distinct lack of answers from one minister. When written answers were received, they did not answer the questions asked. I hope we see a greater improvement in that.

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Murchison MLC Ruth Forrest has repeated recent calls she made in Parliament for the Government to take a long term view to find a workable solution for King Island shipping services in light of more evidence interim solution is inadequate. 

“A reliable shipping service is essential for King Island and the Government have failed to take timely action and provide a solution to shipping services on King Island” Ms Forrest said.

Last week Ms Forrest called on the State Government to work with the Federal Government to find a long-term solution to provide a reliable shipping service for King Island.

“It is clear that the current ‘interim solution’ proposed by the Government will not meet the needs of King Island” Ms Forrest said.

This lack of suitability of the interim replacement vessel has already been demonstrated before the vessel has even arrived in King Island.

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20 May, 2016: Letter to the Minister for Primary Industries and Water
Minister Jeremy Rockliff MP

Dear Minister, I know that you are well aware of the challenges that dairy farmers are currently facing. I also appreciate your recent comments regarding the dairy industry and applaud the coordinated response from industry and government in understanding the implications to respond immediately to ensure that the dairy farmers, their workers and their families have a secure future.

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MP’s salaries – a vexed issue.

As the matter of the Tasmanian Industrial Commission’s (TIC) determination regarding MP’s salaries has been a matter of public interest for some time, I thought it would be beneficial to make some comment through easily accessible means. The TIC determination reflects a catch-up resulting from a history of politically driven wage freezes for MP’s over many years that public servants have not been subject to.

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Friday 20 May, 2016 - 10.30am

I am excited to be launching this amazing event. By way of background - The Colourathon is part of the bigger Project O being piloted by BIGhART. The Colourathon is a fundraising event, in which young women create colourful pictures continually for 24 hours, with each drawing sponsored.

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