Its day three of Estimates and I thought I’d run through what we learnt yesterday. First of all we learnt that neither Senator Hanson nor Senator Roberts could be bothered to turn up. They’d prefer to send their barbs from a distance and don’t want to participate in the Committee process

Last night at Senate Estimates the Turnbull Government’s peak digital transformation body acknowledged it hadn’t lifted a finger to fix IT messes hurting Australians. Evidence presented to Estimates revealed a total disconnect between the Digital Transformation Agency and the ongoing digital project failures from the Turnbull Government.

Welcome to day two of estimates, and I want to make few remarks about what we learned yesterday.  For a start, people will remember the Government’s Digital Transformation Organisation, which was rolled over into a Digital Transformation Agency after the last election. 

Senator Jenny McAllister speaks with the press about Senate Estimates, the Digital Transformation Agency, APS, George Brandis and 18c.

RECENTLY

This week I visited Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital with Shadow Health Minister, Catherine King MP. The staff we met are clearly passionate about their work, and the community they serve. However, the hospital faces real challenges in meeting the needs of a growing population in South West Sydney.

We do not accept the decision that’s come down today and we don’t accept the reasoning that underpins it. There are many things that have happened in the last couple of years that might have changed this decision. 

Malcolm Turnbull's health cuts are putting pressure on Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital and hospitals around Australia. Shadow Minister for Health and Medicare Catherine King and Senator for NSW Jenny McAllister visited the Hospital today to hear from patients, doctors, nurses and staff about the impact of the cuts.

LEON BYNER: Yesterday in Adelaide a Senate Inquiry was held to probe why South Australia was brought to its knees last September with a shutdown of power…Jenny McAllister…you were there yesterday, what did we get out of it?  

Australia’s National Electricity Market is suffering because of a lack of federal leadership, a Senate committee was told yesterday in Adelaide. Industry representatives and energy system experts testified before the Senate Select Committee into the Resilience of Electricity Infrastructure in a Warming World that the current policy settings keep Australia stuck in the past. 

Key industry players will give evidence about the recent turmoil in South Australian energy at an Adelaide hearing on Monday for the Select Inquiry into Energy Resilience in a Warming World.