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Gerard Rennick (born 5 November 1970) is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for Queensland since July 2019. He is a member of the Liberal National Party of Queensland and sits with the Liberal Party in federal parliament.

Early life

Gerard was born and raised on a property outside Chinchilla, on the Darling Downs. In his youth he worked as a farmhand, fruit picker, bartender and pump attendant.

He completed his education in Toowoomba at Downlands College, before moving to Brisbane where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Queensland. He also has a master's degree in Taxation Law from the University of Sydney and a master's degree in applied finance from FINSIA. He is married with three children.

Political career

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that Rennick donated $35,000 to the Liberal National Party of Queensland in the year before winning the third slot on the party's senate ticket—a position that eventually saw him elected to a six-year term. The party had lost this seat at the previous double dissolution election. The LNP rejected as "offensive and ridiculous" any suggestion the donations played a role in his preselection, and highlighted the fact that some of their members self funded their elections. Despite this, at least one source expressed surprise that Rennick had managed to beat two sitting senators in the preselection battle.

On 10 September 2019 Rennick delivered his Maiden Speech, in which he compared Australia's immigration policy to farmers who "overstock paddock", and also claimed that "the greatest threat to our environment is not carbon dioxide but unsustainable immigration". He also called for a reduction in foreign students, an end to the war in Iraq, expressed support for cutting immigration levels and called the sale of Darwin port "a classic case of ideology gone mad". In a wide-ranging speech he also called for taxation reform, an end to regime change wars and the need for Australia to refocus on the Asia-Pacific. He also spoke about having a constitutional convention to clearly define and separate the responsibilities of the Federal and State Governments in the federation - "It is time for COAG to hold a constitutional convention to clearly define and separate these responsibilities with proposed changes put to a referendum." Rennick is a member of the Senate Standing Committee on Publications , the Senate Legislative and General Purpose Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and the Joint Standing Committees on Migration, Trade and Investment Growth and Treaties.

During a speech on the Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct Bill, he referred to Queensland Labor Senator Murray Watt as Labor's "chief yapping poodle." Watt was previously a member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland during the Bligh Government and supported her privatisation agenda - of which Rennick is staunchly critical.

Positions

Tax Reform

Rennick has a background in finance and has been a long time advocate for tax reform. During his Maiden Speech he highlighted:

"Australia is endowed with vast natural wealth, yet until the last quarter it has run current account deficits for the best part of 50 years. In the last financial year, despite a trade surplus of $50 billion, Australia plunged further into debt, with a current account deficit of $12 billion due to capital profits paid to offshore entities. Because of the tax treaties, most of these profits are taxed at around 10 per cent or less, while profits retained in Australia are taxed at 30 per cent. Our own taxation system acts as a reverse tariff on entities domiciled here in Australia, sending profits and business offshore because of the regulatory and taxation burden placed on them. The solution to this is to ensure that the withholding tax rate on profits transferred offshore is the same as the tax rate on profits retained in Australia. Given there is $2.8 trillion in super, tax concessions for foreign investors need to stop. Australia has no shortage of capital. Increasing withholding tax revenue could fund cuts in both payroll tax and income tax. This would give workers more money in their pockets, increase business turnover and boost productivity. It's a win-win."

Climate

Rennick has been called a "right wing climate denialist", and has repeatedly accused the Australian government's Bureau of Meteorology of falsifying climate data. He accused the Bureau of Meteorology of tampering with climate data to "perpetuate global warming hysteria". On 12 November, during the 2019 New South Wales bushfires, Rennick claimed that the Bureau did not follow proper processes when recording statistical data. In that same interview, Rennick admitted he had not yet met with the BoM, claiming he would get to that "eventually". Rennick has subsequently claimed that he has now read the independent peer review panel findings but has not confirmed if he has met with BoM.

There have been instances where Rennick has disagreed with the Bureau on quality assurance matters. He has leveled charges during that questioning that the Bureau has ignored scientific advice and accused them of destroying records and a lack of commitment to scientific accuracy. Many of these questions were taken on notice, while "BOM CEO Andrew Johnson indicated he disagreed with Rennick .

Rennick has challenged BoM on the margin of error in their thermometers, which according to the independent panel's findings, should be reduced from ±0.5°C to ±0.2°C. The BoM ignored Rennick's queries about a lack of implementation of procedures recommended by the 2011 review, confirming its margin of error remains more than double that suggested by the review panel.

Superannuation

On 13 November 2019 Rennick called superannuation a "cancer", stating in his speech; "Millions of dollars gets sucked out of the pockets of the battlers in the bush and sent to the blowhards in Sydney and Melbourne to manage, all for a small cost of around $37 billion a year in management fees." He said union-linked industry super funds were "laughing all the way to the bank" while no money was reinvested in regional areas. In the same speech he accused the Labor party of selling regional Australia "down the toilet" during the Hawke-Keating era through their globalist, privatisation agenda - selling off such government owned corporations as Qantas and the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. "Now regional Australia has to pay more for flying regionally than it costs to fly overseas...The CBA, like every other bank in this country, became obsessed with housing rather than driving business and investment, especially in the regions."

Childcare

He called Labor's policy of providing free childcare to all 3 year olds in Australia part of a plan "to strengthen the role the state has in raising a child at the expense of parents." The ABC also quoted Rennick as saying, "Subject to financial considerations, if we can leave children at home with at least one parent, that's something worth striving for."

Foreign relations

Rennick has advocated for closer ties with Russia because "they're part of the West; they drink, they're Christians, they play soccer, they're Caucasian". In an interview with The Australian newspaper, Rennick stressed the importance of deescalating tensions with Russia; "They are a genuine superpower and it’s not in the world’s interest to have antagonistic relations with superpowers...it was important to start building bridges. There’s a bigger picture here and it is world peace. Let’s just keep a level head and be a little bit non-emotional."

The aspiring politician was reported as saying he took "with a grain of salt" the view of Britain, shared by Western allies, that Russia was behind the Skripal chemical weapons attack in the United Kingdom.

Rennick is a non-interventionist and has spoken out against regime change wars. He outlined his position clearly during his maiden speech.

Other positions

Rennick has been a long term advocate for reforming the federation; government building and retaining profit making infrastructure such as dams, ports and electricity power plants; sustainable immigration to ensure quality of life for all Australians; higher taxes on profits sent offshore; and he has called on universities to underwrite the costs of education.

Rennick opposes the closing of maternity wards by the state government in regional Queensland.

Rennick is also opposed to the adoption of poker machines in the state of Queensland. He has accused the state government of being "utterly incompetent and morally corrupt".

On an interview on Sky News, Rennick compared government bureaucratic overreach in the "classroom and the bedroom" to a Communist takeover of the bureaucracy. When asked to clarify, Rennick said "there are similar groups within Australia, they are not Chinese groups, they are Australian groups, that seek to undermine our individual liberties and I think that is a greater threat to our sovereignty ."

References

1. "SA, WA and Qld Senate teams are finalised". NewsComAu. 18 June 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
2. "Gerard Rennick". Liberal Party of Australia. 6 March 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
3. ^ corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Senator Gerard Rennick". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 11 September 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
4. "ParlInfo - FIRST SPEECH". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
5. ^ Conifer, political reporter Dan (24 April 2019). "Controversial candidate won spot on Senate ticket after 12-month cash splash". ABC News. Retrieved 18 June 2019.
6. "Senate candidate Gerard Rennick donated $30k to LNP ahead of preselection".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
7. Remeikis, Amy (10 September 2019). "LNP senator compares immigration to 'over stocking' paddocks – as it happened". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
8. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/lnp-senator-says-australia-s-immigration-policies-like-over-stocking-paddocks
9. "LNP senator says Australia's immigration policies like 'over stocking' paddocks". SBS News. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
10. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Treasury Laws Amendment (Prohibiting Energy Market Misconduct) Bill 2019". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 29 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
11. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Hansard Display". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 29 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
12. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Hansard Display". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 29 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
13. "ParlInfo - FIRST SPEECH". parlinfo.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
14. ^ "LNP Senate candidate accuses weather bureau of fudging data to suit 'global warming agenda' - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
15. "'There is no link': the climate doubters within Scott Morrison's government". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 January 2020.
16. "Liberal senator doubles down on accusing BoM of changing records to fit climate agenda". SBS News. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
17. "OUTSIDERS: BoM & Data". Senator Gerard Rennick. 31 May 2020. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
18. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "2019-2020 Additional estimates". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 18 May 2020.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
19. Remeikis, Amy; Murphy, Katharine; Knaus, Christopher (2 March 2020). "Labor presses officials over sports grants scandal – as it happened". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
20. "The Australian Climate Observations Reference Network – Surface Air Temperature (ACORN-SAT) Data-set" (PDF).
21. "2019-2020 Additional estimates".
22. corporateName=Commonwealth Parliament; address=Parliament House, Canberra. "Hansard Display". www.aph.gov.au. Retrieved 29 November 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
23. Coughlan, Matt (13 November 2019). "Lib senator says superannuation a 'cancer'". Guardian News. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
24. "Senator Gerard Rennick". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
25. "Coalition candidate Gerard Rennick floats 12 per cent company tax rate, suggests early education a conspiracy - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
26. "Stop vilifying Russia: candidate". www.theaustralian.com.au. 26 September 2018. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
27. "Coalition candidate Gerard Rennick floats 12 per cent company tax rate, suggests early education a conspiracy - ABC News". www.abc.net.au. 21 April 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
28. "Senator Rennick - First Speech".{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
29. "Senator Gerard Rennick". 2GB. 13 September 2019. Retrieved 14 September 2019.
30. "Courier-Mail: QLD maternity ward closure putting newborn babies at risk".{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
31. https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Hansard/Hansard_Display?bid=chamber/hansards/644bd0ba-8cda-49ec-8c32-397474f759c5/&sid=0030
32. ^ https://www.gerardrennick.com.au/parliament/maiden-speech/
33. https://www.skynews.com.au/details/_6162561965001

• Liberal National Party of Queensland politicians
• Living people
• 1970 births
• People from the Darling Downs
• Members of the Australian Senate for Queensland
• University of Queensland alumni
• University of Sydney alumni