2022-11-21 2 1 0 House of Reps 0 1

Monday, 21 November 2022

The SPEAKER ( Hon. Milton Dick ) took the chair at 10:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.

 

BUSINESS 1 BUSINESS Federation Chamber 1 10:01 The SPEAKER 53517 I advise the House that the Deputy Speaker has fixed 12.30 pm on Tuesday 22 November 2022 for the next meeting of the Federation Chamber, unless an alternative hour is fixed. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS 1 PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Whistleblowers 1 10:01 Mr WILKIE C2T Clark I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) whistleblowers play an important role in exposing wrongdoing, as evidenced by the heroic efforts of David McBride, Richard Boyle, Witness K, Bernard Collaery and Troy Stolz; and (b) protections for whistleblowers in the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 and Corporations Act 2001 remain grossly inadequate; and (2) calls on the Government to: (a) urgently reform the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 and Corporations Act 2001 to ensure that protections for whistleblowers are strong, comprehensive and fit for purpose; and (b) establish an empowered and well-resourced Whistleblower Protection Commissioner to facilitate the effective implementation and enforcement of whistleblower protections. Whistleblowers are an essential part of our democracy because they reveal important information in the public interest, information otherwise concealed despite the fact that it is often to do with the most egregious incompetence or misconduct. For instance, Alan Kessing exposed lax security at Sydney Airport. Toni Hoffman spoke up about Dr Patel. Witness K and Bernard Collaery blew the whistle on the East Timor scandal. Troy Stolz told us ClubsNSW's dirty secrets. Right now Richard Boyle and David McBride are in the courts over their ATO and war crime revelations. Today I bring to the parliament's attention another brave whistleblower, an executive from the Australian coal industry who has provided me with thousands of documents that prove Australian companies have been lying for years about the quality of our coal. That's important because the fraud is environmental vandalism and makes all the talk of net zero emissions by 2050 fiction. It could also be criminal, trashing corporate reputations as well as our national reputation. In essence, coal companies operating in Australia are using fraudulent quality reports for their exports and paying bribes to representatives of their overseas customers to keep the whole scam secret. This has allowed them to claim for years that Australian coal is cleaner than it is in order to boost profits and to prevent rejection of shipments at their destination. This shocking misconduct includes exports to Japan, South Korea, China and India, and it involves companies including TerraCom, Anglo American, Glencore, Peabody and the Macquarie Bank. The misconduct also includes the ALS company, which has already been forced to admit its fraudulent testing to the ASX when it conceded that 'approximately 45 to 50 per cent of the certificates of analysis were manually amended without justification.' Moreover, the other key coal testing company in Australia, SGS, also commits fraud at a similar rate. For example, in the draft results in this SGS coal test the moisture content is 16.7%. That is pretty damp, and it won't burn well. But here, in the final version of the SGS document, the exact same testing puts the moisture content at 15.9%, which is drier and burns much cleaner. That represents hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra profit from that relatively small shipment to Japan and ensured that it wouldn't be rejected on arrival. The coal executive whistleblower also alleges that global accounting firms such as Ernst & Young are aware of all this and choose to ignore it because the coal companies are lucrative. As a result of all this, I call on the government to establish—at least—a parliamentary inquiry into the matter, one where the witnesses of this misconduct, including the whistleblower I'm in contact with, can safely present their testimonies and evidence, and where the industry can explain itself. To that end, I also reach out to my crossbench colleagues to support such an inquiry and call on the opposition to support the move as well. I know that the easy political response from the government would be to say that these allegations need to be examined by the relevant regulatory and law enforcement agencies, just like what the previous government said about the casino industry as I rolled out the evidence against Crown year after year. But the scandalous fact is that this coal executive whistleblower's allegations have already been put to the Australian Federal Police; the New South Wales Police; the Australian Securities and Investments Commission; the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources; and even the former federal government. And so far no authority, not one, has been willing to act on this alleged criminal behaviour, despite the fact that select evidence has already been presented in Australian courts proving what this whistleblower says is true. So this time, please, lets ditch the game plan and go straight to an inquiry so that the industry can be held accountable for its sins and so Australia can restore its reputation as an honest trading partner. And, most importantly, so we can learn just how dirty the world is and how much more urgent our response to climate change must be. And let's also start genuinely celebrating and supporting whistleblowers, starting with strengthening the Public Interest Disclosure Act and the Corporation Act, and establishing a whistleblower commission. On that final note, I seek leave to table the two coal quality reports I have referred to. Leave granted. The SPEAKER 53517 Is the motion seconded? 10:06 Dr HAINES 282335 Indi I second the motion. As COP27 packs up the conference halls and delegates return home, much is being made of our nation being welcomed back into the global climate action fold. But what the member for Clark has just revealed to us this morning is as serious as it is shocking. We must undertake an inquiry to get to the bottom of this, and I back him in asking this parliament to do so. The member for Clark is a staunch supporter of whistleblowers. For decades he's been a safe harbour, offering advice and support for those speaking out. Or, like today, he's provided a megaphone when the truth needs the light. Of course, the member for Clark has similar experiences. Just days before Australia's entry into the war in Iraq in March 2003, he resigned from the Office of National Assessments and went public with his belief that Iraq did not pose a serious enough threat to justify a war. As the member for Clark has said, reflecting on the event: Like most whistleblowers, I was very reluctant to speak out. But people not so much choose to be whistleblowers, instead more likely they find themselves facing a truth so shocking it can't be kept secret from the public. Whistleblowers should not suffer because they tell the truth, but that's what we see time and time again. We have a system of inadequate protections which leave people exposed, victimised and prosecuted when they should be celebrated for their bravery. Before parliament rises in nine days it's likely this country will have a National Anti-Corruption Commission, yet this achievement will be almost meaningless if we can't promise those who report corrupt conduct the strongest possible protections in exchange. Because it's the public servants, the officials and the employees who know what's really happening, and they are the single most important way in which wrongdoing is brought to light. The NACC will have its own whistleblower scheme, yet relies on the existing Public Interest Disclosure Act protections—described as 'technical, obtuse and intractable' in 2019 by a Federal Court judge. I welcome the Attorney-General's commitment for priority reforms to this act to be in place before the NACC opens its doors in mid-2023. This includes the key recommendations of the 2016 Moss review. Yet, those recommendations are already six years old. The world has moved on. I'll be watching closely to make sure these reforms are not frozen in time. On Wednesday morning, alongside Senator Pocock, I will launch a landmark report 'Protecting Australia's whistleblowers: the federal roadmap' from Griffith University, the Human Rights Law Centre and Transparency International Australia. This report lays out starkly how once Australia led the world in protecting our whistleblowers yet, through the last two decades, we've fallen way behind international best practice. The report will set out 12 key areas of reform. The most important of these is reflected in the motion today: the establishment of an empowered and well-resourced whistleblower protection commissioner to facilitate the effective implementation and enforcement of whistleblower protections. This is an idea whose time has come, and the momentum keeps building. This was a key pillar of my 2020 proposal for an integrity commission. Next came the supportive comments of the joint select committee examining the NACC last month that 'the review of whistleblower laws should specifically consider the establishment of an independent Whistleblower Protection Commission', noting the significant evidence that the committee had heard supporting this step. A dedicated, independent statutory body would ensure that whistleblowing laws work in practice. It would be a one-stop shop for practical advice, assistance and guidance for whistleblowers. It would conduct independent investigations into detrimental actions and enforce legal protections when internal procedures of other agencies fail. And it would assist other agencies to uphold their own internal processes, championing best practice. A whistleblower protection commissioner would bring profile and authority to this important function, just like Kate Jenkins, and Elizabeth Broderick before her, did as sex discrimination commissioners. They put it on the agenda and they shifted the conversation. I would bet that, for every David McBride and Troy Stolz, there are hundreds of people who face sleepless nights because they've seen something wrong at work and don't know what to do about it. We owe it to them, to the taxpayers and to the public good to make the path clear. Let's close the loopholes, fix this system and give brave whistleblowers the protection they are entitled to. I commend the member for Clark for this very important motion. 10:11 Mr DAVID SMITH 276714 Bean I acknowledge the member for Clark for this important motion. I also acknowledge the member for Indi. They have had a joint commitment to greater accountability and transparency in public life, not just in this parliament but before. I also acknowledge the work of many across the Canberra community who have passionately advocated for reform in these areas. I ran on a platform of integrity, transparency and rebuilding our Public Service. In my previous work, with Professionals Australia and the Australian Federal Police Association, I worked closely with whistleblowers and I am well aware of the problems and frustrations with existing frameworks. The Australian public rightfully want better from this government, and better whistleblower protection is part of our broader push to rebuild trust and integrity in government. Whistleblowers play a critical role in exposing wrongdoing. An effective public sector whistleblowing framework is critical to support integrity and the rule of law, including the establishment of a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. This week the House will again be debating the legislation to establish the commission, and it's worth restating that the commission will operate independently of government and will have broad jurisdiction to investigate serious or systemic corruption across the Commonwealth public sector, including corruption that occurred before its establishment. This includes power to investigate ministers, parliamentarians and their staff, statutory office holders and employees and contractors of government agencies. It will also include the power to investigate any person who seeks to corrupt a public official by engaging in conduct that could adversely affect the honest or impartial exercise of a public official's powers, functions or duties. The commission will have discretion to commence inquiries on its own or in response to referrals from anyone, including whistleblowers and members of the public. We acknowledge that reforms to the Public Interest Disclosure Act are also long overdue, and action is essential to ensure whistleblowers are supported to come forward with disclosures of public sector wrongdoing and corruption. The Attorney-General will be undertaking significant and staged reforms to public sector whistleblowing that will commence this year. The staged approach to reform allows the government to deliver immediately on the commitment to whistleblowing reform, while also recognising that significant, longer-term reform to the scheme is required to elevate it to best practice. The Public Interest Disclosure Act 2013 is a critical part of the Commonwealth's integrity and anticorruption ecosystem. We agree that reforms are overdue. The act enables public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by another public official or by an Australian government agency. 'Suspected wrongdoing' is defined broadly and includes fraud, serious misconduct and corrupt conduct, as well as minor wrongdoing. Public officials who make such disclosures have protections and immunities from liability. On Wednesday last week, the Attorney-General announced that the government will comprehensively reform the act, through a staged approach in the next 12 to 18 months, to ensure it effectively protects whistleblowers in reporting wrongdoing and corruption. These staged reforms will include the introduction of a bill to parliament, before the end of this year, to implement key recommendations of the 2016 review and other parliamentary committee reports; will include the progression of broader reforms next year to address the underlying complexity of the scheme; and will provide effective and accessible protections to public service whistleblowers. As part of the second stage, the government will continue to closely examine what reforms may be required to ensure Australia has effective whistleblower frameworks. This approach allows the government to respond to calls from stakeholders about reforming the act alongside the National Anti-Corruption Commission, as well as giving due consideration to more significant reforms, including proposals to establish a whistleblower protection authority or commissioner. Finally, as agreed by the previous parliament, in 2024 there will be a statutory review of the private sector whistleblowers scheme in the Corporations Act 2001. I'm determined to be part of a parliament that continues to do the work together to rebuild trust in government. I also commend this motion to the House. 10:16 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I want to acknowledge all the previous speakers and the member for Clark. Whistleblowers have shown incredible courage and it's right that we put into place legislation that provides effective frameworks to protect them. As others have noted, whistleblowers play an incredibly important role in exposing wrongdoing and in doing so protect the very fabric of our democracy. They protect integrity and the rule of law, which members in this place like to talk about, but without an honest commitment to effective integrity infrastructure in our Commonwealth that rule of law is always under threat. Australia's public interest disclosure law was introduced when we on this side were last in government in 2015. It was designed to protect whistleblowers against reprisals by senior officials and to promote integrity in the public service. The current Attorney-General was the Attorney-General at that time and introduced it. He was conscious that it was going to need to be looked at in the future to assess whether or not it was working in the national interest, and that's why he a wrote statutory review into act at that time. We recognised that a review was necessary to address some of the complexities of that law. But on us losing government in 2013 a statutory review never took place. Under the Abbott government the act fell into neglect. Under the Morrison government, the Philip Moss review took place five years later. Protecting whistleblowers wasn't a big priority for those opposite. The coalition did agree in principle to 30 of that review's 33 recommendations, but 'in principle' being the operative words—many would remember that we saw high-profile raids on journalists, other cases of excessive secrecy and secret ministers under the former federal government, under those opposite. 'It was shameful that the government took some four years to respond to Philip Moss's report.' That's what the current Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, said before the election, and he announced the following commitment in 2021: 'We intend, in government, to act on Philip Moss's recommendations for necessary improvements to the public interest disclosure scheme.' So fast-forward a year and that is exactly what our government is doing. We are committed to ensuring that Australia has more effective protection for whistleblowers. That's why the Attorney-General announced last week that he would introduce a bill into the parliament before the end of this year—so in this sitting block, however long that may be—which will make priority amendments to the Public Interest Disclosure Act. This act is an important element of the Commonwealth's integrity and transparency framework. It enables public officials to disclose suspected wrongdoing by another public official or by an Australian government agency. 'Suspected wrongdoing' is defined broadly and includes fraud, serious misconduct and corrupt conduct as well as minor wrongdoing. Public officials who make such disclosures have protections and immunities from liability. Reforms to the PID Act are long overdue, and action is essential to ensure that whistleblowers are supported to come forward with disclosures of public sector wrongdoing and corruption. The government's staged reforms of the PID Act will include the introduction of a bill to parliament before the end of this year, as I just mentioned, and the progression of broader reforms next year to address the underlying complexity of the scheme and to provide effective and accessible protections to public sector whistleblowers. These amendments deliver on the government's election commitment to implement key recommendations of the 2016 review of the Public Interest Disclosure Act by Philip Moss, and other parliamentary committee reports. Our government has committed to it, and we will get it done. The SPEAKER 53517 The time allocated for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Remembrance Day 4 10:22 Mr JOYCE e5d New England I move: That this House: (1) notes the national importance of observing Remembrance Day this Friday, 11 November 2022; (2) honours and remembers all those who have died and served for Australia as members of our defence force in all wars and armed conflicts; (3) remembers that the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the formal cessation of hostilities in World War I in 1918; (4) recognises the importance of the Marking World War One Graves program as a part of our national commitment to 'Lest We Forget'; (5) further notes the Government cut funding for the program by more than half of the $3.7 million from the former Government's 2022-23 budget to $1.5 million in the October 2022-23 budget; and (6) calls on the Government to immediately reinstate full funding of $3.7 million. I would like to start by saying that I had two grandfathers who fought in the First World War—both on the Western Front. One started at Gallipoli on the first day and left on the last, then he went to the Western Front, and in the Second World War, he went right up against the Japanese to Guadalcanal. I'm very fortunate. Both of them were buried. One's buried at Adelong, and I go to visit his grave from time to time. The other one's buried in Hampden in New Zealand, which obviously I don't get to, and I have only been there once. There are many people who've served our nation. In fact, more than 331,800 people were deployed during the First World War, and well in excess of 400,000 people enlisted. Once they came back, 30,000 of them—60,000 were killed over there—died of injuries that were pertinent to their war service, especially things such as gassing which was a complete infliction. Many of the 240,000 who have been laid to rest privately have unmarked graves. They've served our nation, and they deserve to be respected for that. Prior to the election, we said that the program that we had—and were putting $3.7 million towards—would continue to be funded, but the current government has only put about half that, or $1.5 million, towards it. When we say 'Lest we forget' we can't remember them if they don't have a grave, and we've found well in excess of 1,000 graves. In fact, I was involved with one of them before I had the shadow portfolio. It was actually an Indigenous gentleman who was buried in the wrong grave. We had to identify and give the proper headstone to a person who had served our nation in the First World War. We need to make sure that this funding is restored. It's all very well to have money for the Environmental Defenders Office and environmental warriors, but it's not money for respecting the people who actually did fight for our nation. In the identification of graves, there are so many families, because for each person who's served—my father served, I served—there are more and more of their children, their progeny, who look back and say, 'I want to find my great-grandfather's grave; I want to find my great-grand-uncle's grave.' People have a real sense of pride. I remember back in the early eighties, I thought Anzac Day was going to finish, but now no-one would suggest that. It's because there are so many more great-grandchildren, great-grand-nephews, who say, 'I want to identify with this and I respect the service that was given by my family—that my family is a family of honour. My family is one that has served. My family is one in which people before me, of my bloodline, offered their lives for the protection of this nation.' And the bare minimum we can do for those who fell on hard times, who disappeared to corners of our country, who were afflicted in mind, and basically disappeared off the social register—and for them to lie in pauper's graves, for them to lie basically unmarked is a bad reflection on us as a nation. It shows that we don't actually respect what they did, and we have done the worst thing—forgotten them, because that is the ultimate thing. The reason they say 'Lest we forget' is that, if we do forget, then their service was for nothing; their service wasn't respected. So we should reinstall this funding. We should be making it a part of every member of this House to say, 'Well, let's find out where these people are buried,' and we can do that. We have done that. We found 1,189 graves. That's 1,189 families who can now say, 'I know where my great-grandfather is buried. He served in the First World War.' 'I know where my great-grand-uncle is buried. He served in the First World War. He was a person of honour. We're a family of honour and we have not forgotten him because we've found his grave and we can respect that monument.' The SPEAKER 53517 Is the motion seconded? I call the member for Herbert. Mr Thompson 281826 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 10:27 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter I'd like to thank the member for New England for raising this motion which gives me the opportunity to speak on a topic which is so important to our nation. I could not agree more with the member saying that members of our Defence Force who have died and served our nation in all wars and armed conflicts deserve to be remembered and honoured. This Remembrance Day, we not only commemorated the lives lost in World War I; we honoured the 103,000 Australians who lost their lives in wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations. I want to take the opportunity to honour the contribution that the Hunter made towards the battle that shaped our nation, standing there on the world stage in the First World War. The Hunter had many who served in the war, with more than 2,000 who enlisted from Muswellbrook all the way down to Lake Macquarie. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, people all around the Hunter paused to remember all those who gave the greatest sacrifice for our nation, with a special focus on those who died in our first great conflict. At Cessnock War Memorial, 82 brave men and women, whose names are on the roll of honour for World War I, were remembered. In Muswellbrook, 42 were honoured. Singleton paid tribute to the 110 lives lost, and Lake Macquarie honoured the 167 people who paid the ultimate price. I was honoured to be able to attend the Remembrance Day service in Singleton, which was a fitting service and remembered those who have served with pride. I also want to pay special tribute to the Kearsley Community Dawn Service Committee and all their volunteers who work tirelessly to continue to recognise local people who served in the war. Recognising the service of all who put their lives on the line for our country is of the utmost importance, and I thank the Kearsley Community Dawn Service Committee for all the work that they continue to do to ensure that no-one's service is forgotten and that all receive the recognition they deserve. On the theme of honouring service, I want to share the story of one courageous man from the Hunter who was awarded the highest honour, the Victoria Cross. Clarence Smith Jeffries, who lived in the Hunter electorate at the time he enlisted, first began serving this country at the age of just 17. Clarence Jeffries built a dignified career in the military, raising to the rank of captain on 12 October 1917. He was awarded the highest military honour for his actions at Passchendaele, Belgium, during World War I. Captain Jeffries was recognised for his 'most conspicuous bravery'. When in battle, his company was held up by machine gun fire from enemy bunkers. Captain Jeffries organised a party and rushed one bunker, capturing four machine guns and 35 prisoners before leading his company forward under extremely heavy enemy artillery barrage and machine gun fire to the objective. He went on to organise another successful attack on a machine gun bunker, capturing two machine guns and 30 more prisoners. Captain Jeffries went on to be killed during this attack, but it was said that it was entirely due to his bravery and initiative that the centre of the attack was not held up for a lengthy period. He was described as a gallant officer whose example had the utmost of inspiring influences on many. Captain Jefferies, thank you for your service. Your leadership and your courage are lessons for all of us to follow. I could not be more thankful for those who have served and those who have given their life to ensure that our country enjoys the freedom we all have today. The courage of these men and women underpins who we are as a nation and their actions and stories, such as those of Captain Jeffries, make me feel a great sense of pride in my country and in my electorate, knowing that like all parts of Australia the Hunter played its part. Thank you all for your service. Lest we forget. 10:32 Mr THOMPSON 281826 Herbert I remember. I remember the excitement, the anticipation and the hope that came with being accepted as an infantry soldier in the Australian Army. I remember the feeling of belonging and mateship and the pride in serving our nation. I remember the instant comradeship that came with our first deployment. We were 10 feet tall and bulletproof, driven by the naivete that only comes with youth. I remember the day we lost one of the best men we'd ever had the honour to know, Private Ben Ranaudo, who was killed by an antipersonnel explosive device in Afghanistan on 18 July 2009. He was 22 and had his whole life in front of him. I remember my best mate, Paul Warren, who lost his lower right leg in the same blast. I remember the guilt, the shame that washed over every single one of those who survived war. I remember the weight of reality coming down on us like a tonne of bricks. I remember the deep pain of knowing there was no choice but to wake up and keep going but wishing it was me who had been killed. I remember 19 October 2009 starting off like any other patrol to the Baluchi Valley. I remember the sound of ringing in my ears that was so loud I thought my head was going to explode. I remember the shame of being the one to set off the improvised explosive device that put so many of my mates at risk. I remember the darkness that followed, months that turned into years, struggling to recover from the traumatic brain injury, PTSD, hearing loss and alcohol abuse. I remember that I'm one of the lucky ones who had an incredible life partner, my now wife, Jenna, along with many mates, who helped me turn my life around. I remember that there are so many who have been before me and have come after me who are not so lucky. I remember our brave soldiers we have lost: Jesse Bird, Brad Carr, Paul McKay, Ben Brown, Peter Atkins, Dylan Clark, Tristan Hardie, Daniel Halpin, Steven Fazel, Shaun Jenkins, Geoffrey Price, Lewis Shelley and many more. I remember their faces, their honour, their incredible pride in serving our nation. I remember the heartbreak of their families, their friends and their colleagues, who wonder how they're going to keep on living without them. I remember that we must do more as a nation and as a government to ensure this unacceptable loss of life stops. On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, I remember. I remember all who have come before, and those who have come after. They are us and we are them. This is something I put pen to paper about a year and a bit ago. It's the first time I have been able to read it out loud. It is challenging, every day, that we look around this nation and see our veteran community succumbing to the war within dying by suicide. There are reports in Townsville, Darwin, Western Australia and all around the country. It's a national shame. I have great pride in my service. I loved every day of it. But it kicks me in the guts every day after that we have lost more to their war within the we did on operations. Out of all of my injuries, the thing that hurt me the most was the invisible one, which was my post-traumatic stress disorder—not the blast, not being deaf, not the brain injury, but the invisible one that would creep up in the middle of the night. Many of my friends are still struggling with their demons today. This house, Parliament House, regardless of the chamber, has a duty in respecting and looking after our soldiers, regardless of their call, regardless of their branch, because they have paved the way for the freedoms that we enjoy. If we can help one person, one person who knows that their life means something and that we love them, we need to work together to ensure that happens. Lest We Forget. 10:37 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby I'd like to thank the previous speaker, the member for Herbert, for his service and all others in this place and the other place who have served. Two weeks ago we commemorated Remembrance Day. I was in Canberra on Remembrance Day. At 11 am we paused, as did people across this land, to reflect on the enormous sacrifice paid by those who have served and those who have died to protect Australians, our country and our way of life. The 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month marks the formal cessation of hostilities in World War I in 1918. But on this day we remember, we reflect, and we honour all Australians who have served and all who have fallen in our name. I, along with a number of colleagues, attended a very moving ceremony here in Parliament House and I was represented by staff at a number of ceremonies across Boothby, at Centennial Park, at Colonel Light Gardens RSL, and at the William Kibby Veterans Shed. I would also like to recognise Blackwood RSL and President Jack Mcguire and the Plympton Glenelg RSL and President Bill Hignett. Plympton Glenelg RSL was the driving force behind the Veteran Wellbeing Centre at the repat hospital in Boothby. This centre, run by SA Health, runs a range of services for veterans through Open Arms, Soldier On and the RSL, and they provide confidential assistance across a number of different areas. I would encourage any veterans needing assistance in the area to reach out to them. I would like to specifically reflect on the William Kibby Veterans Shed. This is a local facility run by Barry Heffernan. It serves many veterans in the local community who are really struggling. It accepts anyone, no matter where their life has taken them after they have left service, and it helps them get on their feet. I have enjoyed a number of coffees and chats Barry and I'm really impressed with his acceptance of everyone and his commitment to make lives better. Campaigning in Boothby I heard from many veterans and their families and loved ones about the difficulties they had in accessing help when they needed it. I heard from so many veterans that they put in a claim to the Department of Veterans' Affairs and they were still waiting, sometimes up to 18 months. Their families and loved ones told me that they'd been suffering for years. They had waited until they really couldn't bear it anymore before they put the claim in. To then have to wait in silence, to have no response from the government they had served, just added more distress to their lives. I am really pleased that the Albanese government has funded an additional 500 public servants into the Department of Veterans' Affairs to get these claims moving again, to get them assessed. Just last week in Senate estimates the Secretary of the Department of Veterans' Affairs was asked by Senator Nita Green when the backlog of claims would have been dealt with if they had not received the additional 500 public servants. The secretary answered, 'Never.' In its report, McKinsey said: 'Unless we had an injection of staff, it would never be cleared. The list would just have kept growing. The backlog of claims was never going to be cleared.' Last year, when I wrote to the former Minister for Veterans' Affairs on behalf of veterans in distress in my electorate, I got no response. Now I know why. That's shocking, that's appalling, to say we are honouring those who served but we are not there when they actually need our help as a result of their service. Words fail me—to imagine overseeing this lack of service, leaving people in pain and distress. To those veterans who waited for their claims: I'm sorry. We value your service but we also value you not just on Remembrance Day but every day. Please reach out if you need assistance. We will be there for you. Lest we forget. 10:41 Mrs McINTOSH 281513 Lindsay First, I acknowledge each person who has served our country with honour both in this place and the other. Recently I attended a local remembrance service at Victoria Park in St Marys, hosted by the St Marys RSL subbranch. I love going to these services in our community both to recognise those who have served and to pay respect to those who continue to serve, and also to meet up with people who have become true friends of mine since becoming the member for Lindsay and honouring them in our community. This year, 2022, is significant for St Marys; it marks the centenary of the opening of the War Memorial bandstand in Victoria Park. The historical monument was built in 1922 to commemorate the tragic loss of so many from St Marys on the battlefields of Gallipoli and Europe in World War I. Others from St Marys and right across my community have died in subsequent conflicts, and likewise we remember them at the memorial. Remembrance Day is a sacred day for our country, as we honour the sacrifice of our servicemen and women, and, importantly, their families. It's always wonderful to see our young cadets, whether Army, Navy or Air Force, come together and continue the respect of that service. I encourage all young people to be involved in the cadets. It's a time for us to remember the extraordinary deeds of thousands of Australian men and women who ensured our nation's security and the freedom that each and every one of us enjoys in this great country. We pay our respects and honour their legacy with immense pride and a great sense of gratitude. Remembrance Day, for me, like for so many Australians, is a day full of emotion. It is a day for us to be thankful for what those who have served have done and continue to do by putting our country first during the most difficult times and enduring the best and worst of humanity. We are thankful to those have given their all in the defence of our freedoms and the values we stand for as Australians that we are obliged to protect and preserve for future generations. On 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we commemorate the signing of the Armistice by King George V in 1918 that brought an end to the Great War, the First World War, from which Australian grew and identified itself as a nation. I remember that when I was a schoolchild every person would stop as the clock struck 11 am to remember the sacrifices of so many great and brave Australians. I vividly remember the sadness and the suddenness of that. It made a deep impression on me and, I'm sure, on every Australian as they traditionally did that every single year. I hope that continues in our schools. Australia has a deep admiration, respect and affection for our veterans, and this is evidenced by the ever-growing attendance at remembrance ceremonies. On Anzac Day each year, and after COVID, we see the value of the coming together of people in community—the thousands of people who have been turning out recently to services across my community. It shows how important these services continue to be, to recognise the sacrifice of so many Australians to keep our country free. I also acknowledge all the volunteers who provide service to our veterans. I honour our great service men and women and thank them for what they have given and continue to give our country. In that, it is so important that we recognise those who were lost in World War I. That program that identified and marked the graves of over 1,000 men and women who served in World War I is extremely important when you think about the younger generations coming through and the importance of remembering. I think this is a very just program that should continue at the level of funding that was committed to by the coalition when we were in government and that the Labor Party promised to match should they be in government. So I urge the government to continue that important funding that we committed to. Finally, in closing, I would like to thank our local veterans in my community, including those at St Marys RSL and Penrith RSL, for all the work they do and for all the work they have done in serving our nation. For those we have lost: lest we forget. 10:46 Ms SWANSON 264170 Paterson The 11th of the 11th at 11 o'clock is the day that we remember the cessation of hostilities for World War I, as the armistice was signed in a train carriage on that fateful day. In saying this, we remember those who lost their lives during World War I, the war that, it was hoped, would be the war to end all wars. However, sadly, we know that we subsequently went on as a planet to endure World War II and other conflicts after World War I. Remembrance Day is a day when we not only commemorate those lives lost in World War I but also honour the 103,000 Australians who've lost their lives in all wars, conflicts and, importantly, peacekeeping operations. It is a day when we unite and when Australians come together to mark that day on the Western Front. That day also recognises this year's 50th anniversary of the end of national service. I want to say thank you to those who were part of Australia's nashos, as they were fondly known. I know that in my electorate I have many people who served in national service, and it is so important that we remember that as well. Also, I want to mention those peacekeeping activities. Every year since 1947, Australians have participated in peacekeeping missions all over the world, including the Middle East, Africa, Afghanistan, Cyprus, East Timor, Bougainville and the Solomon Islands. Thank you to those peacekeepers, because, at the end of the day, it is that peace that we strive so hard for and many have lost their lives for. I would also like to acknowledge that on Remembrance Day we remember everyone who has served, suffered or made the ultimate sacrifice. Previously unrecognised veterans of the First World War whose graves are unmarked will now be acknowledged thanks to the grants program funded in October's budget for 2022-23. Following the successful pilot, the First World War Unmarked Graves grants program is being formally established with an initial $1.5 million, which will help recognise veterans interred in private graves who are not eligible for the Australian government's program of official commemoration. Following the First World War, many veterans were separated from their families for a variety of reasons. Some took up the offer of a soldiers settlement farm, while others may have chosen to live an isolated life. When these veterans passed away, some may have been buried without a funeral or permanent headstone. This program recognises those veterans of the First World War who returned home with the memories and scars of their service and passed away, with their final place of rest unmarked. Official commemoration in the form of a grave-side memorial, managed by the Office of Australian War Graves, was provided to more than 30,000 of these service personnel from World War I, whose death was accepted as directly related to their war service. The remaining 240,000 First World War veterans were buried privately, some of whom are at rest in unmarked graves. When we say 'Lest we forget' at the end of the ode, we mean it: we will remember them. These were people who had names and loved ones who did not receive the acknowledgement for their service that they deserve. This grants program will help recognise these veterans by providing funding for individuals, non-commercial organisations or community groups planning to arrange a grave-side memorial. The change has no impact on the contribution the government provides this scheme. However, there have been administrative savings, which is a good thing. The government will contribute $450 for an individual marker of each individual First World War grave for successful applicants, the same value as the pilot program provided. In closing, I'd like to thank everyone who attended the wonderful sub-branch service at Nelson Bay on Friday of last week, the 11th of the 11th. It was a particularly moving service, and it was wonderful to watch the wedge-tailed eagle fly above us while we remember those who have sacrificed so much. Lest we forget. 10:52 Mr CONAGHAN 279991 Cowper I would like to thank the member for New England for introducing this motion and also for the opportunity to speak on the importance of Remembrance Day on behalf of my electorate of Cowper. The Remembrance Day services right across my electorate bring the entire community together, both young and old. In the regions, you would be hard pressed to find a family without a set of war medals from a relative or a loved one. Patriotism and service in our country run particularly deep in rural and regional areas, and the communities that I represent right across the Mid North Coast are no exception. At many of our events, our future leaders are invited to speak, like Samuel Reniers from Hastings Secondary College at the Port Macquarie service this year. The newly elected school heads are given the opportunity to reflect on what Remembrance Day means to them as young people, to them as schoolchildren, and how the sacrifice of so many has enriched their lives today. I'm impressed each year by the calibre of the speeches and the maturity shown by these school students. Most will remember a specific family member who served and will recount the effect of either the loss of life or the repercussions serving members and their families experienced upon returning home. All of them articulate in their own ways how thankful they are to live and to have grown up in modern Australia in comparatively stable and peaceful times as a result of their forefathers' sacrifices. All will express the importance of honouring and remembering those who have served in order to fully appreciate the freedoms in which we live today. Our young leaders have a firm grasp on why it is so important. So it is sad to note that our current leaders do not appear to have that same sense of respect or care around recognising these very same sacrifices. Just two weeks before Remembrance Day on 11 November, this government confirmed the slashing of $2 million from a dedicated program to mark the private graves of First World War veterans. The coalition, by comparison, had dedicated $3.7 million in funding after a pilot program placed 1,189 markers on the graves of men and women who had served in World War I. The World War I war graves program enabled grave markers to be placed on the unmarked private graves of First World War veterans who had not been eligible to be commemorated formally by the Australian government, which usually occurred if they hadn't died in the war or from causes related to their service. That disrespect hasn't been limited to our First World War cohort. It is particularly alarming to note that, when forming cabinet, the current government decided to dump Minister for Veterans' Affairs, relegating the role to outside cabinet. Why should any current or future ADF member put their hand up to protect and defend this country if the very same government asking them to do so cannot show them the same level of respect? In my own electorate, this lack of care and slashing of funds has been felt harder than most. The Mid North Coast veterans had devised a cost-effective and proven wellbeing centre, a hub-and spoke model, to better advocate for and support all veterans on the Mid North Coast, rather than having one centre that veterans need to travel significant distances to attend. They proposed four centres for $5 million to service the 11,000 or so current and former ADF members in the region, the same amount of funding that has been provided to other electorates to create just one centre. They were awarded this funding under the previous budget, by the coalition, and this money has since been taken away from them, meaning the entire Mid North Coast is now without adequate resourcing for veterans. I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm my commitment to the veterans' community in my electorate to continue to fight for the return of these funds. Lives are literally depending on it. I would like to thank all the veterans for your service to this country and the freedoms that we enjoy today, and, when we say 'Lest we forget', we should mean it. 10:57 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I can assure the previous speaker, the member for Cowper, that when we say 'Lest we forget' we do mean it, and I think this government, in pushing for a royal commission into defence and veteran suicide, showed it—that we won't forget those who have died by suicide, by talking to everyone that's involved and by having a royal commission so that that great tragedy does not occur and those who served our nation in times of conflict do not pass away. This Remembrance Day and every Remembrance Day, we not only commemorate the lives that were lost in World War I; we honour the 103,000 Australians who have lost their lives in wars and other conflicts, and peacekeeping operations, and also, like three veterans just last week, those who sometimes lose the battle within, usually connected in some way, shape or form to their service. We remember them all. More than 300,000 Australians served overseas in World War I. More than 60,000 died, including my pop's uncle in France. We remember those who came home with injuries, like my maternal great-grandfather, Thomas Wood, who was gassed on the Somme, emigrated to Australia and suffered from his injuries for the rest of his life. So I remember them. I remember those who fought in the battle for Australia. I remember those who fought in Vietnam, like my father. I remember those who fought in peacekeeping operations. We remember all those who have served our nation. Of course, we remember those that didn't come back and those that are buried in foreign fields. Following the First World War, many veterans were separated from their families and, for a variety of reasons, some took up the offer of a soldier settler's farm, while others may have chosen to live an isolated life, as my great-grandfather did. When these veterans passed away, some may have been buried without a funeral or a permanent headstone, and that's why this program recognises those veterans of the First World War who returned home with the memories and scars of their service and passed away with their final place of rest unmarked. Official commemoration in the form of a graveside memorial managed by the Office of Australian War Graves was provided to more than 30,000 of these service personnel from World War I whose deaths were accepted as directly related to their war service. The remaining 240,000 First World War veterans were buried privately, and some are at rest in unmarked graves. So, yes, when we say, 'Lest we forget,' at the end of the Ode, we mean it: we will remember them. These were people who had names and loved ones and who did not receive the acknowledgement for their service that they deserve, and this grants program will help recognise these veterans by providing funding for individuals or for non-commercial, not-for-profit or community groups planning to arrange a graveside memorial. For successful applicants, the government will contribute $450 for an individual marker for each individual First World War grave—the same value as in the pilot program that has been run. In the time remaining, I want to reflect on the words of the Vietnam Veterans Association. I visited the Veterans Australia NT men and women yesterday morning in the rural area of Darwin. The minister, who's here in the chamber with us, joined us to commemorate Vietnam Veterans Day in August. They have a saying, 'Honour the dead'—which we will do with this program, be assured—'but fight like hell for the living.' And we have throughout our nation. For those who have served and are battling still, we will recognise them, we will provide them with the services that they need and we will save those lives. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is therefore adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. First Nations Voice 10 11:02 Dr REID 300126 Robertson by leave—At the request of the member for Jagajaga, I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges the commitment of the Government to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full; (2) recognises the progress made by the Government, particularly the Minister for Indigenous Australians, in preparing for a referendum to enshrine an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament in our Constitution; (3) notes the important role local leaders, organisations and others will play in engaging with their communities on the referendum and how the Voice to Parliament is a nation-building project; and (4) commends the interest and engagement of many Australians in progress on the Voice to Parliament, and truth-telling and treaty negotiations across various jurisdictions. Throughout the election campaign, on election night and during our time in government, the Prime Minister has committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart. What this is—what these beautiful and generous words symbolise—is the largest consensus of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on a proposal for recognition in history. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity: an opportunity to recognise our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters in our Constitution and to ensure the Australian community is truly a place of equity, a place of equality, a place for all. We must all come together as one community to improve and strengthen the quality of life, health and education outcomes for our First Nations communities. If we continue down the same path, we will continue to get more of the same: poor outcomes, unfulfilled potential, widening gaps in health and widening gaps in education. We need practical measures to address these issues, and that is exactly what the Voice will do. It will give local people, local communities, a say in the areas that will directly affect them. We need to address the injustices of the past. We need to create meaningful structural change to deliver a better future, and this is exactly what the Voice will do. It is our best chance to come together as one, to rise as one and to move into the future as one. Comprised of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Voice will be an advisory body. It will have the capacity to make representations to government on the issues and legislation that affect First Nations communities. The idea? It is so that we have policy tailored to meet the needs of our First Nations people. There has been no policy proposal that has been subjected to the amount of inquiry, research, consultation and deliberation as the Voice. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representatives have formed referendum working and engagement groups, guiding government and informing procedure on a path forward, ahead of the referendum. Within the budget handed down by the Treasurer only a few months ago, we have committed $50.2 million for the Australian Electoral Commission to prepare for this enormous task: the task of a referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice to Parliament in the Constitution of Australia. The movement to establish the Voice should and must be above politics. This is because the Voice has, and the Voice will, come from the people. This has been years in the making. In 2016, the First Nations Regional Dialogues commenced, so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their voices were at the centre and at the core of the process for recognition: bottom-up, grassroots, community lead. From the dialogues, the experiences and stories were taken to the First Nations Constitutional Convention at Uluru in 2017. The convention endorsed the work of the dialogues and issued the Uluru Statement from the Heart to the Australian people: voice, treaty and truth. Bottom-up, grassroots and community lead. A better future for all. As a Wurundjeri man residing on the Central Coast in New South Wales, I want to thank the many Australians across our beautiful land—from the sea to the mountain ranges, from the desert to our lush rainforests, from the city to the bush—who have shown interest and support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the establishment of a voice. We have an essential duty to listen to our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, brothers and sisters, to hear them and to understand them, so that our light may shine brighter today than it did yesterday. This is an opportunity, this is a time for unity, and this begins by voting for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, because we are stronger together. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 Is the motion seconded? Mr Keogh 249147 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 11:08 Ms SPENDER 286042 Wentworth I rise in support of this motion on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. In doing so, I would like to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we stand and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander tribes were the first sovereign nations of the Australian continent and its adjacent lands. Theirs is an ancestral relationship with the land, with the soil and with Mother Nature. They have possessed the land for 60 millennia, and their sovereignty has never been ceded. But, despite this deep and enduring relationship, despite this being the culture with the longest continuous civilisation in the world, their treatment in so many instances has been shameful. They are the most incarcerated people on our planet, their children have been alienated from their families at unprecedented rates and their youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. This is the result of structural failure, and it must be addressed by structural change. The Uluru Statement from the Heart sets out what needs to be done. It was delivered not to the government but as an invitation to the Australian people, asking them to walk together with First Nations people towards a better future. It is one of the most beautiful and generous pieces of writing in Australia's history. As the Uluru Statement from the Heart says, by accepting this invitation we have a historic opportunity to enable this ancient sovereignty to 'shine through as a fuller expression of Australia's nationhood'. And that is why I applaud the government's commitment to implementing the Uluru statement in full, and for its commitment to enshrining a First Nations voice in our Constitution. The Voice has been developed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and it is the way forward, supported by the overwhelming majority of them. It proposes the creation of new constitutional institution to assist parliamentarians in improving our record when it comes to legislating on matters relating to the First Nations community. In the ambitious process of designing and conceiving this reform, we must meet the aspirations of First Nations for what this Voice can achieve. Members of the Voice must be selected by First Nations people in accordance with their own cultural practices. It must be established as a stable and powerful institution with sufficient flexibility to adapt to the changing needs of First Nations people in the future. And, in the admirable pursuit of consensus, we must not deviate from the call set forth in the Uluru statement. Australia has an historic opportunity, and I know that we are ready for it. But I also know this referendum cannot succeed on goodwill alone, and the government and our community must therefore take several important steps in preparation. We have seen the impact that lies and misinformation can have in elections and referenda across the world, and, sadly, we are already seeing this, in part, in the early stages of this debate. The Australian people must have access to objective and fair and reputable information on which to base their vote, and we cannot allow misinformation by regressive forces across the country to derail an historic structural reform. I therefore implore the government to urgently legislate truth-in-advertising reforms. My colleague the member for Warringah has put forward a widely supported bill on this topic. If the government are serious about enshrining a voice to parliament in the Constitution they should support it. But stopping lies and misinformation will not be enough. I therefore also encourage the government to think seriously about the role that the public sector, alongside community organisations, can play in ensuring people can make an informed decision. That means carefully considering the content design of the referendum pamphlet, which can have a powerful effect on shaping someone's choice at the ballot box. It also means looking at alternative ways to provide trustworthy information to voters in the run-up to the referendum, for example through the use of citizen town hall meetings. But the government is not alone in its responsibilities. This is also the responsibility of every Australian, of every member of our community, to stand up, to work together, to inform, to debate and, ultimately, to seize this historic opportunity. I am so proud that already in Wentworth, my electorate, we have community members who are passionate about supporting the Voice. They are already organising to support this Voice across the electorate of Wentworth, and no doubt across the country. We have been presented with an historic opportunity for change, and my community are ready to make this ambition a reality. On election night back in May, one of the biggest cheers of the evening came when the Prime Minister announced his commitment to implementing the Uluru statement in full. This is a priority for my community; this is a priority for me. Wentworth is ready to walk alongside the First Nations people of Australia on the path for a better future. Thank you. 11:13 Mr PERRETT HVP Moreton Do you hear that sound, Deputy Speaker Freelander? It's history calling us. For 60,000 years, First Nations people have been speaking, but under our Constitution our First Nations people have no voice. So let's fix this together. Together we can learn from and correct history now, so I'm proud to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Robertson. History isn't just calling me and everyone else in this parliament, including the previous speaker, the member for Wentworth, it is calling on every adult Australian, so we all need to work together with one voice and correct history. We have a once-in-a-generation opportunity to change this country for the better, which I'm sure the young students up in the gallery will embrace. As Prime Minister Albanese said at the Garma Festival earlier this year: The Uluru Statement is a hand outstretched, a moving show of faith in Australian decency an d Australian fairness from people who have been given every reason to forsake their hope in both. I am determined, as a Government, as a country, that we grasp that hand of healing, we repay that faith, we rise to the moment. I share Prime Minister Albanese's optimism. As a nation we can succeed, but to do this we will need out communities and our community leaders to step up and become active. We will need our community leaders to take the lead by starting conversations within their groups and their meetings, on their streets, over their back fences. This means the leaders at our local Lions Club, Zonta, Rotary club, footy club, P&C, church, mosque, meeting hall and P&F, and the heads of our African, Bosnian, Chinese, Dutch, Eritrean, Korean, Pasifika, South American, Taiwanese, Vietnamese and every other group. Wherever you or your ancestors once called home, your nation now needs you to step up. We need you out there informing, educating, engaging, fighting the good fight against ignorance, a fight to correct history. We need everyday Australians to encourage their family, friends, neighbours and community to vote yes for the Voice. History is also calling my parliamentary colleagues in Queensland. History is asking you to get out there and call on your volunteers to campaign as hard as they did for your election in 2022. It won't be enough just to say you support a First Nations voice to parliament; you actually need to act. Caring is doing. You need to act by actively campaigning for a yes vote. My dedicated team in Moreton is ready to go and will work alongside you. As a nation, we need to accept this outstretched hand offered by First Nations people through the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Their generous Uluru statement builds on the strong history of Indigenous advocacy for a better future based on justice and self-determination. In May 2017, on the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, First Nations representatives gathered in Central Australia to forge an historic consensus on structural reform and constitutional change. This consensus followed a groundbreaking process of First Nations voices from across Australia through 12 deliberative dialogues. Joining each dialogue were a representative sample of approximately 100 First Nations people drawn from local traditional custodians, Indigenous community based organisations and Indigenous leaders. These regional dialogues selected their own representatives to attend the First Nations National Constitutional Convention at Uluru. At the convention, and by an overwhelming consensus, more than 250 delegates adopted the Uluru statement. The key to achieving that remarkable consensus on such a complex problem was a process designed and led by First Nations people—such an important precedent in Australian history. I believe the Voice will improve the lives of First Nations people in practical ways by giving local communities a say in areas like education, health and housing. I must also mention the hard work of Minister Linda Burney, the Labor First Nations caucus and all those in parliament who have contributed to this. I see the member for Berowra, who I know has been involved in this, in the chamber. Thank you all for bringing this together. I'll finish with another quote from the Prime Minister from Garma: Hope in your abilities as advocates and campaigners, as champions for this cause. And hope because I believe the tide is running our way. I believe the momentum is with us, as never before. I believe the country is ready for this reform. I know that so many of my First Nations colleagues, and people that I went to school with out in St George, will be looking forward to the opportunity for the nation to speak up. 11:18 Ms STEGGALL 175696 Warringah It's a great honour to be speaking today in this place on the Uluru Statement from the Heart and concurring with the motion moved by the member for Robertson. I wear with pride the pin to say that I support the Uluru statement. Before I begin, I'd like to acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, the traditional custodians of this land on which parliament stands, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. I also acknowledge that the history of Warringah land, which I represent in this place, is complex and that there is a need for healing. I express my heartfelt thanks to our local communities, and I am committed to learning from and nurturing the world's oldest adapting culture and our First Peoples' connection to land, sea and sky. Directly opposite the front steps to Old Parliament House, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy sits centrestage. It reminds us all that sovereignty over these lands was never ceded. Australia's first people have been here for over 60,000 years, and the 200 or so years since British arrival do nothing to extinguish their sacred link to the land. The unbroken and unmistakable strength of Indigenous culture across Australia, despite continued and relentless discrimination, serves as a testament to their cultural fortitude. It is those people who make up the oldest continuous culture on Earth that makes our nation so unique and so special, and there is much for us to learn from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's close and unique relationship with these lands. Yet there is a shocking and continuous history of mistreatment against this land's First People. Currently there are more Indigenous children being removed from their homes than at even the height of the Stolen Generation. In 2020 the Family matters report forecast that this number will double by 2029 if nothing is done. Yet we have seen only the most minimal effort put into making any meaningful change. Additionally, the Uluru Statement makes no mistake when it says that Indigenous Australians are proportionately the most incarcerated people on Earth. And while last year's census revealed that around one in 31 Australian citizens are of Indigenous heritage, the Australian Institute of Criminology reported that almost one in four deaths in custody in the most recent quarter of 2022 were Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people. These are shocking statistics. The system has failed and continues to fail. It's time to act. To meaningfully change this system we must listen to those it fails. The Uluru Statement calls for a commission to supervise a process of agreement-making between governments and First Nations and truth-telling about our history. This commission is called the Makarrata, which means 'coming together after a struggle' in the Yolngu language. This name encapsulates what the commission would do: creating a voice for meaningful and constructive dialogue and agreement between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Australia remains the only Commonwealth country to not have a treaty with its Indigenous people. Yet, through the Makarrata commission, we can begin to change this. The Uluru Statement from the Heart provides great insight: In 1967 we were counted, in 2017 we seek to be heard. Five years after this statement, Australians are finally getting the opportunity to change the course of history for the better, just as we did 55 years ago. Here lies the opportunity to change the Constitution and enshrine an Indigenous Voice. In the words of Pat Anderson, one of the architects of the Uluru Statement: There comes a time when you are at the ballot box and it's just you and your conscience. This is probably one of the biggest things we are ever going to do. After five years were wasted ignoring the Uluru Statement, we are now finally seeing some meaningful progress. I welcome the government's commitment to implement the Uluru Statement in full. The Uluru Statement ends with an invitation to all Australians to walk together for a better future. I accept that invitation and urge everyone to do the same. We know that the referendum is likely to be held during the course of next year, but there is one thing we must do in advance, and that is to legislate to stop misinformation in advertising relating to the referendum. Next week I will present Stop the Lies, a private member's bill to legislate against misleading and deceptive statements in political and referendum advertising. Under no circumstances should we allow the lack of legislation to have the naysayers misinform the Australian public as to what the Uluru Statement seeks to do. We must ensure that we have trust and confidence in the process. This is too big a moment in time to let fake advertising and misleading statements derail it. Thank you. 11:23 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby The electorate of Boothby, which I'm honoured to represent here today, is on Kaurna Yerta, the unceded lands of the Kaurna people. I pay my respects to the Kaurna people, on whose lands I live, and also to the Ngunnawal people, whose lands we meet on today, and to all First Nations people present and watching online. We rightly acknowledge country before all gatherings that take place here in our nation's federal parliament. We do it as a way of acknowledging the incontrovertible fact that sovereignty over the land we now call Australia was never ceded by its First Nations people. To acknowledge this of course raises a series of other profound question for us as Australians—questions we've been reckoning with in myriad ways since Europeans first set foot on this continent. The 1967 referendum, amongst other things, gave the Commonwealth the right to make laws for all peoples, including our First Nations people. But we also know that some of the laws, policies and programs that have been made in respect of First Nations people have not helped them address the issues, concerns and ambitions that they have for themselves. In some instances, they have made their lives more difficult and have entrenched disadvantage. In some instances, they have brought great, great sorrow to individuals, families and communities. Life expectancy for Aboriginal people is still a decade less than for other Australians, and infant mortality is 1.8 times the rate for non-Indigenous babies. Despite efforts to address these and other disadvantages experienced by our First Nations people, these statistics remain. As we sit in our offices in cities and try and think about what might make a difference, we neglected one very basic principle of any form of community development: that, unless the community itself is engaged, these efforts don't work. And so one of the basic principles of the Uluru Statement from the Heart is Voice—that we in this place will ask for input from First Nations people via a representative body as to what they think about any law we make that affects them. The Uluru statement itself is such a beautiful piece of writing, and the section that specifically relates to the member's motion is as follows: We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country. We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. I encourage every member in this place and, indeed, every constituent of Boothby and every Australian to consider deeply this humble request. We can build a better future for all of our children. The Uluru statement shows the way. The Uluru statement makes plain that the problems facing First Nations Australians are indeed deep-seated and structural. This, it says, is the torment of their powerlessness. And so they require structural solutions. We are asked to begin with a structural change to the way policy choices relating to First Nations Australians are made, by ensuring that policy for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians is not made for them but with them and by them—the basic principle of 'nothing about me without me'. As my colleague Wiradjuri man the member for Robertson said earlier, 'grassroots, bottom-up'. A Voice to Parliament enshrined in our Constitution would ensure that this would take place. It will deliver real and practical advice and guidance. In my first speech here, I also said the following: I'm proud to be here as part of the Albanese Labor government, which has committed to the important reconciliation work that is the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Voice. Treaty. Truth. This is unfinished business for us all. Together, we are stronger. The work of bringing us together is overdue. This remains the case six months later, and I commend those in our community already working to plant the seeds that will grow into what I hope will be a widely embraced social movement advocating for First Nations Voice. We can build a better future for all of our children. The Uluru statement shows the way. 11:28 Mr LEESER 109556 Berowra I'm sad to say I think this motion is misplaced. It's a case of premature congratulations when the government needs to do so much more work. I'm a supporter of the Voice. I have been since before I was elected to parliament. There's a lot of talk about the Voice. There's a lot of emotive language. There's a lot of moralising. What there isn't a lot of is detail. In fact, the government doesn't seem to want to provide detail, so opponents of the Voice are filling the vacuum before the debate has begun. The government's starting point should not be a pipedream for activists but what proposal might actually succeed in a referendum. Unfortunately, the government is mishandling the issue. The motion talks about the role of local leaders and organisations in assisting communities to prepare for the Voice. I've had Probus clubs, church groups, schools and businesses contact me to ask what the Voice is and how it will work. What frustrates me is that the lack of details means I can answer very few of their questions. As Megan Davis told RN Breakfast today: I think the detail point is a legitimate one. People want to see more detail about what it looks like But the government continues to spend its energy congratulating itself or dealing with side issues instead of developing a model for the national Voice and providing a process for engagement of the broader Australian community ahead of the referendum. Let's recap the government's work on the Voice to date. Before coming to office. Labor's promise to implement the Voice was part of practically every speech given by the Prime Minister. Since coming to government, it has become an addition to the government members' acknowledgement of country. So it's reasonable to think that the government would have had a detailed plan for what a national body might look like and a strategy to roll out the referendum. Unfortunately, it seems they did not. Labor keeps telling Australians the referendum is a fait accompli, despite most Australians having no idea what it is they will have to vote on. Labor's recklessness risks the entire reconciliation project and the social cohesion of the country. The minister knows these risks, she told the Herald yesterday. Back in July the Prime Minister made a speech at Garma outlining a question and some possible words for constitutional amendment, but with no plan about how we would get there. Then we had the government calling in the American celebrity Shaquille O'Neal, with the most superficial connection to our country, to endorse the Voice. None of this helped build confidence. Labor is more interested in side issues like setting a date or playing with the referendum rules than explaining how the body will work. While Labor pat themselves on the back for having made a speech and establishing a couple of consultative groups and undertaking a photo shoot, Aboriginal leaders across the country asked me what the Voice is about and whether it will make any difference to their people. I'm concerned about Labor's desire to turn this into a legacy moment, instead of answering the public's questions about how the Voice would work. It's now over 100 days since the Prime Minister announced draft sentences to add to the Constitution. The Prime Minister said that those words would be the basis for consultation. But how do people provide feedback on this? What process will the government establish? Is this the only form of words they are willing to entertain? Why did he choose this form of words given that the joint select committee in 2018 received 18 different versions of how this might be done, and more have been put out since? What is the government doing to respond to the issues being raised by commentators about the Prime Minister's proposal? The government has also not been clear about what it will do with the co-design report led by Tom Calma and Marcia Langdon, which recommended the roll-out of local and regional bodies first. Why hasn't it supported the roll-out of these bodies first, which will ground any advice that any national body might be provided on the experience of local communities? I want to be able to have serious discussions with colleagues and constituents about what the Voice might mean for our country, but until the government gives us a plan and a roadmap that isn't possible. I went to Garma with no idea what the Prime Minister was going to announce, and today I stand with no idea what the plan is to move forward. I support the Voice, and I have done so for many years, but I will continue to ask questions that Australians have every right to know the answer to: questions like who will be on the Voice? How will these people be chosen? What powers and functions will it have? How will it represent the diverse communities that make up our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples? How will it address the real issues that impact people's lives every day in communities? Will regional and local bodies exist? How will the government ensure that the body hears from voices who don't already have a platform in Australian public life? These are serious questions. They're questions that the government is failing to answer. But they are questions that are very important to Australians in making a decision as to how they will vote on this and in making a decision as to what role the Voice might play in our Parliament moving forward. So my message to the government today is: no more of these self-congratulatory motions. Instead, let us get out there and do some of the hard work, providing people with an opportunity to provide feedback on the sentences that the government has put forward in relation to amending the Constitution, and providing a process where people can actually engage understanding in full detail how this body will work. People have the right to know the details about what the Voice body will do and how it will work before people go to vote on it. I call on Labor to stop talking about how admirable they are for announcing the referendum and to start responding to the reasonable questions that all Australians have. 11:33 Ms CLAYDON 248181 Newcastle I rise to support the motion on the Notice Paper from the member for Jagajaga and moved in this House of Representatives this morning by my friend and colleague the member for Robertson. In 1967 the referendum that was put before the Australia people resulted in substantial change to our Constitution. It enabled the Commonwealth to make laws in respect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and it included them in the census. But now we have the chance to make good on the unfinished business that remains. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution and to really make our nation better for everyone. On election night, the Prime Minister made sure that our Labor government's commitment to the implementation of the Uluru statement in full was loud and clear. Labor is the only party that has committed to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full—no ifs or buts from anyone on the government benches. We know the job that needs to be done. The Uluru Statement from the Heart represents an overwhelming consensus of First Nations people on a proposal for a Voice to Parliament and the establishment of a makarrata commission to oversee the truth-telling and treaty-making components. Labor has repeatedly called for the Voice to Parliament to be enshrined in our constitution. Now that we're in government, we have set out a road map for its implementation, including a possible question for a referendum and an amendment to the Constitution to establish a voice. Along with treaty and truth, a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament will be a momentous step towards unifying our nation and creating a shared future. No idea or policy proposal has been subject to as much inquiry, research, consultation and deliberation as a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. So I reject the argument that there is no detail on the table. Our Labor government has brought together experts and First Nations representatives from the referendum working and engagement groups, and they are guiding us on our way forward for a referendum. We are on track to have legislation to introduce into the parliament in the first half of 2023. I want to thank the people of Newcastle who have already shown very strong support for the Uluru statement and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. The campaign to establish a Voice to Parliament should be above politics because the voice came from the people. It came from First Nations regional dialogues which commenced way back in 2016—this is not something new on our horizons; let's not fall for that trap—to ensure those regional dialogues took place and to ensure First Nation voices were always at the very heart of constitutional recognition, as they should be. The stories and messages from those dialogues were taken to the First Nations National Constitutional Convention at Uluru in May 2017, where they were endorsed and resulted in the Uluru Statement from the Heart being issued to the Australian people. We've got the three pillars. We've got voice, treaty and truth. That is what Indigenous Australians wanted. This is what we are committed to. It has been a long journey, and there is still much work to be done. But after 55 years of unfinished business, since that original, successful referendum, the time for a First Nations voice is now. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a very generous gift to our nation. It should not be beyond us, as a parliament or a nation, to address the absence of First Nations voices in our constitution, in our original birth certificate which remains silent and commits ongoing injustice as a result. Next year, every Australian will have an opportunity to fix this by voting yes in the upcoming referendum. There are conversations taking place in my electorate of Newcastle—indeed, they occurred this week—and I cannot tell you how excited people are, and Novocastrians in particular, to walk with First Nations people to find a just resolution to a longstanding injustice in this nation. 11:38 Mr RAMSEY HWS Grey I thank the member for bringing this motion forward on the proposal for a Voice to Parliament. I hope that it begins to throw more light on what it is that the government is actually planning to take to the Australian people in the form of a referendum—when that they will be and, far more importantly than either of those points, how it will work. I am supportive of the view that the Constitution should recognise the fact that Australia was occupied, in fact, by peoples with the longest continuing culture in the world before European settlement. However, unless the government moves to get some meat on the bones of what is, at this stage, not much more than some vague objectives, and gives Australians the detail they need to make a rational decision, they will have lost the campaign virtually before it has begun. From the very outset, a case needs to be made as to how the Constitution has failed Indigenous peoples given that the current parliament has delivered an over-representation of Indigenous voices, with 11, or 4.9 per cent, of the members of our national parliament identifying as Indigenous. According to the recent census, 3.2 per cent of Australians claim the same status. This should be a reason for great celebration but strangely seems to be missing from the debate. Australians need to be informed as to why the Constitution needs to be altered given these outstanding results. It was put to me recently by a leading campaigner for the cause that, as the 11 Indigenous members are not specifically representing Indigenous peoples, they are somehow compromised. I struggle with this reasoning. They are, after all, elected representatives. I would hope that none of us are beholden to delivering better outcomes for only one constituency. I would have to report that, at this stage, a referendum on the Voice is not a first-order issue in my electorate, either in the Indigenous or the general community. But those who are fully focused are concerned that, if we insert legal racial discrimination into our Constitution and set up a second independent political body, with an authority which at this stage is undetermined, it is possible that it will have wide-ranging and dramatic effects on the powers of the parliament. If this is not the case—and a number of the proponents, including government ministers, say it is not—it needs to be explained why it is not the case. A number of constitutional experts have already said that, ultimately, any rewording of the Constitution will be interpreted by the High Court, thus overruling the primacy of parliament. I make the note that, just two years ago, the High Court ruled that a noncitizen claiming to be Indigenous could not be deported. As a warning to those concerned about these issues, the Prime Minister has said that it would be a very brave parliament indeed that would seek to defy the will of the Voice. Australia needs to know how such a body would be elected or appointed and who would be eligible to be part of it, as we seem to have arrived in Australia today at a point where self-identification as Indigenous is acceptable. Voters will need it clearly spelt out as to what pieces of legislation the Voice should be consulted on, and, given that most applies to all Australians, including Indigenous Australians, where any boundaries in those jurisdictions lie. There is another question I would add to all of the aforementioned, and that is: what is it all likely to cost given that the Prime Minister has indicated that he's not inclined to wind up a plethora of existing Indigenous corporations, consultation groups and health, employment and social support groups and is instead committing to adding another? The framework put forward thus far, by the Langton and Calma report, which I commend, envisages a local voice informing and empowering the national Voice. Any such structure is likely to involve hundreds of meetings and consultations on an ongoing basis and cost in the tens of millions at least. The question of how much it will cost, how it will be funded and whether it comes from within an existing budget or whether it is a new cost, I think, should also be answered. This speech may sound obstructive. It's not meant to be. I am simply making the point that I have questions that millions of other Australians will also have once they start to fully engage with this issue. I cannot see how we can proceed down this pathway unless they are comprehensively answered. If they are not, Australians will not vote in favour of a general question as to whether or not they support a Voice on the basis that details will be developed later, and I don't believe that Australians will, or indeed should, vote on that basis. If the government want us to support these proposals, they need to take us with them and answer all the questions. 11:44 Ms MASCARENHAS 298800 Swan I thank the member for Jagajaga for her motion on a matter that's incredibly important to my electorate of Swan as well as to our nation. Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in the Constitution is a once-in-a-generation reform. It has been led by the community. The process has been a journey. When you ask Australians, 'Would you like to see a government that has integrity?' the answer is yes. Similarly, there is this other question, which is: 'Do you think that our First Nations people should have constitutional recognition?' Recognition and a greater voice on the issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians has been a journey of resistance and courage. From the Yirrkala bark petitions in 1963 by the Yolngu people of Arnhem Land to 2017, the National Constitution Convention, First Nations people are making a point that 200 years of colonisation does not diminish or extinguish their sovereignty, which has been held for over 60,000 years. To take a word from the Statement from the Heart, it coexists with that sovereignty of the Crown. This government and I will join the journey in recognising the unique and special history that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have here. It's a journey that I look at with great reverence as a scientist, because the astrological, medicinal and climate knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders enabled survival in some of our harshest climates. It's a journey that includes the Yolngu people knowing about the link between the tide and the moon phases thousands of years before Galileo. I will walk this journey with my community and I will do so because for too long we have been failing to address injustices of the past and to create meaningful changes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Earlier we heard the discussion of the question, how much will this cost? The thing that I'll say is that if we get this right it will be phenomenal—the health, emotional and wellbeing outcomes that we will achieve for our First Nations people. We will also see that we will be spending money wisely and doing early intervention et cetera. I'm not going to read you the statistics of what we've heard about the gap, but I can say that we need to strive harder to close the gap, and we can do this only by changing the structures. A Constitution that will create a Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders will be the best chance for meaningful action and closing the gap between Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. Giving people a leading role in fixing structural inequalities that are the fallout of years of structural racism and oppression is a step in the right direction. This is what's at the core of our government's support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and it's self-determination through leadership. First Nations representatives are forming the referendum working and engagement groups. They are guiding government on the way forward ahead of the referendum. In my community, Whadjuk and Ballardong Noongar man Professor Simon Forrest has been utilising platforms at events to talk about the importance of a Voice to parliament. Since the Albanese Labor government has been elected he has spoken to over 40,000 people about its importance. From AFL games to NRL games to graduation ceremonies, he is leading the conversation. My electorate office physically sits on neutral grounds where various clans of Whadjuk people would meet. It's where the Derbal Yaragan crosses to Matagarup, allowing for important seasonal passage from north to south. It's a place of shared understanding and cooperation, and I'm hoping that this place can be a place of shared understanding and cooperation—Australians putting aside our differences, especially those here and on the opposite side of the chamber, and coming together in the spirit of shared cooperation. This will be the key to success. And to my community of Swan, I want my office to continue to be a place of shared understanding and cooperation, and I want to have those tough conversations with those who may oppose the referendum, and I'll be available to listen to those voices who are calling also for its implementation. Great reforms like a Voice to parliament can happen only when we come together as a community. 11:49 Ms CHANEY 300006 Curtin I rise to speak in support of the private member's motion by the member for Jagajaga relating to the Uluru Statement from the Heart. In my community, on Whadjuk Noongar land, there's been strong support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart, to accept the modest request from First Nations people of Australia to let them speak for themselves and jointly tell the truth about our past. There was much enthusiasm in Curtin about the Prime Minister's commitment to the Voice immediately after the election. Since then, some questions have started to emerge. Recently, I've heard two main concerns about the Voice: firstly, that there are more urgent issues that need to be addressed, like the safety of women and children in remote communities; and, secondly, that we don't know exactly how it will work. I want to talk today about why these concerns shouldn't dampen momentum for the Voice and the rest of the Uluru Statement from the Heart: the truth-telling and the agreement-making. Firstly, in relation to the idea that we need to prioritise more urgent issues, I draw on my own personal experience. About 13 years ago, I was manager for Indigenous affairs at Wesfarmers Ltd, which owns Coles, Target, Kmart, Bunnings and other companies. With an advisory group, I was pulling together Wesfarmers's first reconciliation action plan, committing to actions under the headings of 'respect', 'relationships' and 'opportunities'. I took what I thought to be a pragmatic approach. As the largest private sector employer in the country, we needed to focus on opportunities and, specifically, jobs. This was where we could make a difference. I thought the respect and relationships actions were secondary: nice to have, but not overly practical. It took me about a year to realise how wrong I was. If you're followed around a retail store by the security guard, you probably won't apply for a job there. The penny dropped for me, and I realised that, without resetting our relationships based on respect, we would never succeed with the jobs. You need to get the foundation right before you can build anything that will last. The Uluru statement offers that foundation. In order to effectively contribute to addressing intergenerational disadvantage, we need to listen to the people affected. We need to establish a shared understanding of how we got here. We have a long history of government intervention into the lives of First Nations people, but many of our current interventions are failing. We can and we must do two things at once: do our best to make improvements in the short-term on vital issues like the safety of women and children, but we must also commit to longer-term, deeper change through the Uluru statement. If we don't reset our relationships and give First Nations people a voice on laws that affect them, there is no reason to believe that the next 50 years of intervention will be any different to the last 50 years. I want to address the second concern that has been emerging: that we don't know exactly what the Voice is. The first draft of the words proposed by the Prime Minister are: The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. The parliament shall … have power to make laws with respect to the composition, functions, powers, and procedures of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. I initially had some concerns that this was too broad and uncertain, but, after reading about the work already done and learning from some experts, I understood why the detail needs to be left to the parliament. The Voice will not be effective if it's appointed by government. It will need to be owned by First Nations communities, which are diverse. Marcia Langton and Tom Calma recommend that local and regional Voice bodies will need to be flexible, so their communities can determine how the representatives are appointed There is complexity between local, regional and state voices, as well as the parallel processes on agreement-making and truth-telling. We may not get it right at first. We need to have patience and the flexibility to change it as we learn. The Constitution is the governing principles, not this sort of complexity. It may take 10 years to get the Voice right, but, if we're committed to it in the Constitution, our legislative body can work through the details. There is no doubt that there is work to be done before the referendum, but this is the sort of long-term thinking that has been lacking in government. My community lamented the fact that often governments think in political cycles, rather than providing long-term leadership. When government shows a willingness to bravely embark on long-term change, we must be willing to take the first steps and be patient. I support the motion and I look forward to working with First Nations people, the government and my community to build the understanding of the benefits of implementing the Uluru statement over the next year. The DEPUTY SPEAKER E0D There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next day of sitting. BILLS 19 BILLS Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022, Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment (Selection and Appointment) Bill 2022, Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (AFP Powers and Other Matters) Bill 2022, Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022, Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022, National Health Amendment (General Co-payment) Bill 2022, Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022 19

Aged Care Amendment (Implementing Care Reform) Bill 2022

Australian Human Rights Commission Legislation Amendment (Selection and Appointment) Bill 2022

Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (AFP Powers and Other Matters) Bill 2022

Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022

Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022

Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022

National Health Amendment (General Co-payment) Bill 2022

Treasury Laws Amendment (More Competition, Better Prices) Bill 2022

Assent 19 Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022, Customs Tariff Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022, Treasury Laws Amendment (Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022, Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022, Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 19

Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Customs Tariff Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Treasury Laws Amendment (Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Second Reading 19 11:55 Mr HOGAN 218019 Page I get up with great pleasure to speak on these five bills, the Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 and related bills. These bills, together, implement Australia's tariff obligations under the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement and the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. Before I start, I want to acknowledge that these bills here before the parliament today represent the great work that we, as the previous government, did while in government. Just a little bit of a history lesson here: over the course of the time we were in government from 2013 to 2022, we implemented a number of free trade agreements. Goods and services covered by free trade agreements when we came into government covered around 20 to 25 per cent of goods and services that we exported. With the implementation of both these agreements, it will get to 80 per cent. That is a wonderful statistic of the previous government in getting extra markets and extra customers for people in Australia who export both goods and services. He is not here—I wish he was, but he will be here soon—but I want to acknowledge the previous trade minister in the previous government, Dan Tehan, the member for Wannon, who did a wonderful job in negotiating both deals. I also acknowledge the trade minister before him, Senator Simon Birmingham, who kicked off negotiations with the India agreement. Both of them, especially Dan, did a great job. We will come to it in more detail, but the deal with the UK is probably the most comprehensive, most liberalised free trade agreement we've ever done, bar maybe the one with New Zealand. So great efforts by those ministers and great efforts by the previous government. Because of that, there are a lot of extra customers for our exporters in Australia. On entry into force, just to go back to the UK deal: tariffs on over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports to the UK will be eliminated. That's valued at around $9.2 billion, to get your head around some of those figures. I will go through some examples here: $43 million in annual customs duty will be removed from Australian wine when the UK agreement enters into force; for beef, a tariff free quota of 35,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 110,000 tonnes in year 10 and tariffs on beefs will be eliminated after 10 years—so a completely liberalised market after 10 years for our beef producers; for sheepmeat, a tariff free quota of 25,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 75,000 tonnes in year 10 and will be completely liberalised after 10 years; and for sugar, a tariff free quota of 80,000 tonnes at entry into force will expand to 220,000 tonnes in year 8 and will then be completely eliminated after that. You get the feel here that, while there's a graduation process for all these markets, it's a completely liberalised market after that period, which is wonderful for all those producers. Young people will also have more time to travel in the UK for working holidays, with the eligibility to participate in working holiday opportunities raised from 30 to 35 years of age, with stays allowed for up to three years in each country. There are a lot of other examples there. It is a great deal. As I said earlier, bar New Zealand, this is the most liberalised trade deal we've ever done—so a great job done by the previous trade minister. In 2020 India was Australia's seventh-largest trading partner, a two-way trade valued at $24.3 billion, and the sixth-largest goods and services exports market, valued at $17 billion. Tariffs will be eliminated on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods and exports to India valued at over $12 billion a year, rising to 91 per cent valued at $13.4 billion over 10 years. Again, I will give some examples. Sheepmeat tariffs are 30 per cent at the moment; they'll be eliminated on entry into force of the agreement. So, basically, straightaway there is a completely liberalised market for sheepmeat into India. You can imagine the size of that market, with the size of that country and the number of people in that country who have a great love for that product. So that's very exciting for our sheepmeat producers. Wool will have tariffs eliminated on entry into force as well. Australian wool producers will suddenly have a completely liberalised market into the whole of India once this comes into force. So that is very exciting. Tariffs on wine will be reduced. Tariffs of 30 per cent on avocados and tariffs on other agricultural products, including almonds, will be eliminated over seven years. On entry into force, the resources sector will benefit from the elimination of tariffs on coal; alumina; metallic ores including manganese, copper and nickel; and critical minerals including titanium and zirconium. There will also be tariff reductions on pharmaceutical medical products. Very importantly, there will be new access for young Indians to participate in working holidays in Australia, with a thousand places per year in Australia's Working Holiday Maker program. We have been very encouraging of the new government to get passage of these bills. One of these deals was done late last year; the other one was done earlier this year. With both of these deals there needs to be an exchange of letters between the governments, and there are domestic processes we need to undertake. We really need that to happen by the end of November, because 30 days post that the deals come into force. So we were a little bit disappointed that the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, who have evaluated these deals, were set to sit quite late. They sat last week and have since reported back, which is why we're dealing with the legislation now. We're still hopeful that both of these deals will come into force before 31 December, which means we'd get these tariff reductions to first hit on that day, and then, on 1 January, we'd get the second hit. We had been working with the government to encourage them to do this a little bit earlier. We're optimistic about the deal with India, but obviously the UK deal may not come into force, which would be disappointing. I do note that the previous trade minister is now here. I will just repeat what I said earlier about what a great job he did on both of these deals. I thank the previous trade minister, the member for Wannon, Dan Tehan. As I said, the UK deal is probably the most liberalised deal, behind that with New Zealand, that we have ever done. There will be great new markets for our exporters of goods and services. The Indian deal holds a lot of promise; there are a lot of good things in that as well. So I thank the previous minister and I repeat the stat that he would know, because it's a stat that he told me: when we came into government 20-odd per cent of goods and services were covered by free trade agreements; by the time we left government, that figure was nearly 80 per cent. So I thank him for his work when he was the trade minister. In conclusion, I'm very proud of the work the coalition did in the whole nine years it was in government, for the great deals and the extra customers we have for our trade exporters in the goods and services area. I am a little bit frustrated with the new government in relation to the processes. I know there's a lot on their agenda, but I'm a little frustrated with the treaties committee process that we had to go through to get these agreements adjusted, but I hope they still come into force. I know the member for Kennedy is shortly going to move some amendments. I want to touch on that for a moment. One of the reasons we were happy with the backpacker deal with the UK, when they came here not having to undertake the regional work program, was that we were working on the ag visa to supplement that. The ag visa involved working with countries in South-East Asia and making specific arrangements with them to increase our workforce, to help the agricultural sector. I'm sure all the crossbenchers speaking to this amendment today are exceptionally frustrated about the fact that the new government has abandoned the ag visa. While the deal we'd done with Vietnam will be honoured, we had plans to extend that through the whole of the South-East Asian network, and the new Labor government have abandoned that, which is exceptionally disappointing. In relation to the crossbench amendment, I make the point that the ag sector needs a skilled workforce. There are unskilled roles in the sector, but a lot of the workforce they need is actually a skilled workforce. There's a side letter as part of this deal—and the previous minister may talk more to this—about getting skilled workers into the agricultural sector, which was a very important part of it. There is also an element of this that we want to speed up, the visa processing ability for people who are skilled to come between the UK and Australia to also work in this sector. So I acknowledge the intention of what the member for Kennedy is saying in his amendment, but it was very specific for us that when this free trade agreement with the UK was done the ag visa was going to overcompensate for that. So again, it's very disappointing that the new government has abandoned the ag visa that we had implemented and started to implement in south-east Asia. Also, don't forget that the ag sector needs a lot of skilled workforce, which that the backpacker provision didn't adhere to. Just to wind up, this is a really good day for parliament with these bills being here. It's a really good acknowledgement of the record of the previous comment and an acknowledgement of the previous trade ministers that we've had over nine years that got goods and services exported from this country up from 20-odd per cent covered by a free trade agreement to 80 per cent, of which these two deals were significant. That's more customers—billions more customers for our exporters. They're great deals from the great record that the previous government had in free trade agreements. 12:06 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle I'm very happy to speak in support of the bills, which implement Australia's commitments under the Australian-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement and under the Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement. The free trade agreements with India and the United Kingdom are in their own ways of very substantial value to Australia. They are built upon the depth and quality of the relationship between Australia and India and between Australia and the United Kingdom. Those relationships include considerable person-to-person links. They include complementary trade and investment interests, an important shared history of international engagement and cooperation, and a shared commitment to dealing with a range of strategic economic and environmental challenges, none of which can be handled without concerted and collaborative efforts. The suite of legislation we debate here today forms a key requirement for the timely ratification of these agreements, which the Albanese Labor government is absolutely focused on delivering. It is a further instalment of Australia's consistent performance as an active and reliable trading partner. I will pick up a couple of things that the member for Page said. In the last couple of months there has been a slightly odd effort by those opposite, some of whom know the process around these things well enough to realise that the effort they have been engaged is faintly ridiculous. The effort has been to somehow suggest that the current government isn't moving quickly enough to see the ratification of these agreements. Of course that's just rubbish. We have in this country and in this parliament a committee process that helps give us the highest quality agreement-making that the Australia community can expect. It does involve the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. That committee, which I chair, expedited the consideration of these agreements and has ensured that the reports have been tailored in order for the legislation to come before the parliament and for the agreements to be ratified. So the idea that this has somehow been anything less then focused, timely action by the Albanese Labor government is just a made-up fairy tale perpetrated, prosecuted by those opposite. Both of these agreements are especially timely at a point where Australia needs to enable trade diversification as much as trade growth. The effective ratification of the agreements before the end of the year will mean that Australian exporting businesses will get two closely successive tariff cuts. The first will apply on entry into force, and the second will occur on 1 January next year. That double tariff cut, needless to say, should be a welcome end-of-year prospect for Australian export businesses. They have faced choppy waters in the wake of the pandemic and, unfortunately, in the aftermath of China's geo-economic coercion. For a range of sectors around this nation the double tariff-cut will provide either an immediate boost or the prospect, in the short order, of opening up new opportunities as we head into 2023 and beyond. In addition to the benefit of tariff reductions and increased tariff-free quotas in some areas, the India and UK agreements serve to diversify and deepen Australia's set of trading relationships. There's no doubt that within our Indo-Pacific region India represents an absolutely critical international partnership for Australia for lots of reasons, with a huge potential to be realised between our two nations in the decade to come. It's worth noting that for India this agreement is the country's first free trade agreement with a major developed country in over 10 years. That goes to show how significant it is for India and how precious this kind of agreement is. It shows you the extent to which it is a long sought after and hard-won achievement. The negotiations on which it is based began back in 2011, more than a decade ago. It has been the commendable work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and ministers on both sides over many years which has led us here today. Putting the silly partisan games aside, I would like to acknowledge the work by the member for Wannon, the former Minister for Trade, who signed this agreement. He signed it in April this year and, indeed, he signed the UK agreement. He signed that agreement virtually in 2021 in the circumstances of the pandemic. I am sure that the member for Page, if he had his time again, and other people, would stand up and note that the negotiations began under the former Labor government back in 2011. They're being delivered, of course, by this Labor government— An opposition member interjecting— Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 I don't remember that being mentioned, but I'm sure from this point on that will be mentioned. This agreement eliminates tariffs on over 90 per cent of Australian goods exports by value to India. It provides new opportunities for Australian services, companies and professionals who seek to access the Indian market. It has already shown the way towards a more ambitious agreement between Australia and India in the form of the comprehensive economic cooperation agreement, which we hope will continue to advance towards completion. This agreement is very, very significant. It is the first that India has settled with a developed nation inside of 10 years. It is something we have worked on for more than 11 years. It is very, very significant. But it is, nevertheless, what's regarded as an early harvest agreement, a stepping stone towards that full agreement, which we look forward to and certainly Australian businesses look forward to. There is no question that India is embarking on a new approach, an approach that does involve greater trade ambition. It has set its sights on free trade agreements with the UK, the EU and Canada, among others. Crucially though this agreement ensures that Australia will not be excluded or left behind from any improved trade and market access that might follow from new agreements that India negotiates themselves in the future. This agreement will open up more opportunities for trade, services and people to people connections for us here. The Labor government has been clear in its first six months of operation—six months today—that building our relationship with India is a top priority. Next year the Prime Minister will visit India twice to build closer economic ties and take part in the G20, which will be hosted by India. Our positive security partnership will also develop when Prime Minister Modi visits Australia for the Quad partnership meeting in 2023. Steps like the AI-ECTA—which is the slightly awkward acronym we're giving to this agreement—will contribute to bridging gaps between our two nations as trading partners but also more broadly as communities within the Indo-Pacific. As a Western Australian, I'm really glad to represent the state that feels a natural connection to the Indian Ocean rim. It's important that we recognise the significance and enormous potential of our cultural, diplomatic, defence and trade relationships with not just India but also Indonesia. On the current trajectory, it's likely that by 2045 India and Indonesia will be the third and fourth ranked global economies respectively. While we, understandably, talk a lot about the economic significance of China as our largest trading partner, I think we sometimes forget the significance, or we undervalue and under-emphasise the significance, of both India and Indonesia. The reality is we've only just begun to explore the trade and investment opportunities between Australia and both of these critical Indo-Pacific partners. Just to take an example, the export of wine. We had a wine export to China that was in the hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars, which, unfortunately, has been affected by the approach that China has chosen to take—a self-limiting and self-harming approach from the point of view of their consumers but obviously harmful from the point of view of Australian wine exporters. At the moment, total wine exports to India total only $20 million, as compared to more than $500 million to China. That's why ensuring that we do even better than the agreement negotiated by the previous government with respect to wine is so important, because, frankly, wine exporters in this country will tell you that it hasn't really opened the door for them in the way that they would like, and that's a market of enormous potential. I'm happy to say that India has been a shaping influence in my life. I lived in Maharashtra with my family for a year when I was eight. It was the first place I travelled under my own steam when I was 20. An aspect of Indian history was a focus of my masters work at the University of Melbourne. I was fortunate to be an Asialink scholar in New Delhi in 1999 and to visit again 20 years later, in 2019, as the deputy chair of the energy and environment committee. Indian migration is one of the strongest threads of new multicultural vibrancy in my electorate; there's no doubt about that. I'm glad that, in the Western Australian parliament, the McGowan government includes four members with Indian heritage, including Kevin Michel, Dr Jags Krishnan and Yaz Mubarakai, a very good friend of mine whose seat falls partly within the federal division of Fremantle. I want to turn briefly to the Australia-UK FTA and its enabling legislation. This agreement is Australia's most ambitious free trade agreement with any country other than New Zealand. It reflects the longstanding importance, quality and depth of the political, cultural and economic relationship between Australia and the UK, while setting a framework for future trade and cooperation. It comes at a significant time, obviously, considering what's happened between the UK and the EU. As the UK made the decision to Brexit—if that's the appropriate verb—it's given us the opportunity to settle this deal. Obviously, we have the trade agreement under negotiation between ourselves and the EU, which will also be very significant. The bills before the House that we're debating here implement customs and tariff commitments made in both the trade agreements and also, critically, the administrative rules; penalties in respect of the export and import of goods; and the agreed tariff rates. When this legislation passes—as I hope it will, first here and then in the other place—and the agreement enters into force, it will mean, as the member for Page observed, that 99 per cent of Australian goods by value will be able to enter the UK duty free. Farmers and agricultural exporters to the UK will benefit in some areas—not in all areas but in some areas—from a progressive reduction in tariffs and barriers, making our exports more competitive. The liberalisation of access in a range of areas will be much stronger and more attractive for Australian exporters. Beyond the welcome reduction of trade and investment barriers, there are a number of other outcomes which I will indicate. This agreement has a world-first chapter dedicated to promoting innovation and an Australian-first chapter that looks to enhance women's access to the full benefits of trade and investment. These are features of what we call WTO-plus agreements. They go well past what was traditionally included in trade and investment agreements. They include commitments on tackling modern slavery and also on labour standards, which are important. Above all, an element of this agreement which I think shines through and is distinctive is that there are provisions in the agreement to advance Indigenous interests and open new opportunities for First Nations exporters, and that was certainly a focus of the conversation in the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. It's notable that the highest proportion of eligible resales of art, particularly First Nations art, in the UK has lacked the protection or the benefit of the kind of resale royalty arrangements that the previous Labor government put in place domestically here, and this agreement puts us on the path to ensuring that those reciprocal arrangements will be in place so that Australian artists benefit when their work is resold. Other provisions include commitments from the UK to recognise the importance of genetic resources, traditional knowledge and cultural expression. These provisions are important for the agreement, but there's more work to be done. I welcome, and I'm sure everyone here will welcome, the fact that the foreign minister has set out the Labor government's intention for there to be a specific First Nations foreign policy, with the recruitment of an ambassador for First Nations people who will lead efforts to embed Indigenous perspectives, experiences and interests right across the full range of our external affairs engagements. In closing, these two agreements have been years in the making through patient determination by Australia and through strong collaboration between Australia and our partners, both India and the UK. They are the result of successful negotiations which have taken place over many years by hardworking officials in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and by ministers past and present; I acknowledge the member for Wannon here in the chamber. Their progress in negotiation through government, parliament and the treaties committee and now the enabling legislation in this place has enabled multipartisan consideration, which is proper, and, hopefully following this debate, support in this House and support in the other place. As I noted earlier, the federal election in May caused a pause in the consideration of the agreements, one of which was only signed in April, but it's been appropriate that the government actually sought for the agreements to be dealt with properly and expeditiously through the JSCOT and through the treaty agreement. There have been some people suggesting that's not been the case. That's absolutely what's happened, and it means that Australia delivers on its commitments, and it signals to our partners that this government is serious and committed to seeking far-reaching, ambitious trade agreements. 12:21 Mr TEHAN 210911 Wannon I thank the member for Fremantle for his contribution to this debate. It's incredibly important that we as a parliament are debating these bills today, the Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 and associated bills, because free trade is under threat right across the globe and we have to be doing everything we can as a parliament to ensure that we continue to defend free trade principles. One of the unique things about these two agreements, the India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement and the Australia-UK FTA, is that they were both negotiated and concluded in an environment where protectionist pressures because of the pandemic were alive and building, and, also, where the global push was to be looking at more protectionist pressures rather than moving on further liberalisation. I want to start by thanking the ministers that negotiated these agreements. With the Indian agreement, my very good friend Piyush Goyal was absolutely determined to negotiate the first major free trade agreement that India had done with a developed country in over a decade, and he was prepared to put in the time and the effort to see that through. At a time when India was dealing with the pandemic and with enormous other challenges, he wanted to strengthen the relationship with Australia. For the time and effort he put in to make sure we reached agreement, all of Australia should thank him. We owe him a great deal of gratitude. He had to negotiate and navigate the Indian bureaucracy to get us to the point where we could sign the agreement. And he had great support from Prime Minister Modi, who is a huge fan of Australia. It was that combination of Prime Minister Modi and trade minister Piyush Goyal that got us, from the Indian side, where we are today. We need to thank them but we also have to understand and make sure that we continue to grow that important relationship, which, strategically, is going to be crucial to us going forward. There are many more things that we're going to be able to do with India over the coming decades to enhance and strengthen the relationship. I'll go into some of the details of what we achieved with India through that agreement in a moment. I also need to thank Liz Truss and Anne-Marie Trevelyan on the UK side. Having come out of the EU, they were absolutely determined, with the support of Prime Minister Johnson, to make sure that they negotiated free trade agreements which set a benchmark for the United Kingdom—and they absolutely did that. Liz Truss, in particular, had a passion and an understanding of the importance of free trade and it was her stewardship, on the UK side, which got us to the point where we can say in this parliament today that that agreement is the best free trade agreement that Australia has done outside of the one that we've done with New Zealand. It fits perfectly with the closeness of the relationship that we have with the United Kingdom. Once again, it was done at a time when strategic headwinds were blowing in very different ways compared to a decade ago. Yet they ensured that we got a free trade agreement that will benefit both economies and both peoples in the years to come. When it comes to the India free trade agreement, one of the things which is incredibly important is how it enabled us to diversify our exports where we were particularly vulnerable to those who might seek to use coercion against us to force us to change our policy approach. It enabled us to strengthen our exports when it came to areas like coal; to seafood, in particular lobster; and to wine where we had seen economic coercion used against Australia. I know that there has been some criticism about what we were able to achieve on wine when it comes to India. But the most important thing is, it has given us a foothold into the Indian market that no other country has. We get preferential access into the Indian market that no other wine producing country has, so it enables us to build Australian wine into the Indian market. Hopefully, over time, we'll be able to do that and then we will be able to argue the case for getting greater preferential treatment. It enables us to get those critical minerals and rare earths into the Indian market and that will enable us to diversify supply chains in those key areas. As we all know, at the moment those supply chains are dominated by China and it is very, very important for the globe that we are able to diversify those key supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths into the future. This agreement with India will enable us to do it and that should never be underestimated. When it comes to LNG, we've got a bound tariff of zero per cent. Tariffs on pharmaceutical products and certain medical devices will be eliminated over five and seven years. On sheepmeat the tariff goes on entry into force. When it comes to avocados, onions, broad and kidney beans, cherries, shelled pistachios, macadamias, cashews in shell, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries all tariffs will be eliminated over a period of seven years. We have to understand that this is giving us preferential access to a market of 1.4 billion people. It is the largest country in the world, by head of population, and it is the fastest growing large economy in the world. The opportunities and potential of this agreement are enormous. It sits in the background of what we've been able to achieve with India through the Quad, and it now backs that up with a strengthening of the economic relationship. I can't wait for the day that this agreement goes through the parliament and enters into force because it will tick the box on something that Australia has been trying to achieve with India for over a decade. As I discussed on the phone recently, with my good friend, Piyush Goyal, we look forward to, when this agreement goes through the parliament and the deal comes into force, having a quiet celebratory virtual drink so that we can acknowledge the hard work that has been done by both sides to get this agreement to where it is. I want to conclude on the Australia-India FTA by thanking the hardworking officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and right across the Australian bureaucracy who put countless hours of work—days and months—into this agreement, but Frances Lisson in particular: the way she led the team at DFAT through the last six months of this negotiation, where we were working long into the night, night after night after night, to ensure that we got this agreement, being prepared to travel to India through the pandemic, making sure that we left no stone unturned in ensuring that we got an agreement that was very much in Australia's national interest. To Frances and her team, I thank you very, very much. When it comes to the UK FTA, this is something that, once again, personally, I was very keen to achieve, because this agreement rights a wrong that occurred in 1973. I remember clearly, as a young boy growing up on a farm in Australia—it's one of my earliest memories—the time when the UK turned their back on Australian agriculture. They headed to the European Union and left Australian agriculture high and dry. The UK had been our major market and was where we'd sent most of our agricultural produce. When the UK headed to the EU they left Australia high and dry. So, to be able to get an agreement now that rights that wrong is incredibly important for Australian agriculture. What were we able to achieve? Tariffs on Australian wine are reduced. They are removed when the agreement enters into force. That is a $43 million benefit to the Australian wine industry. For beef, we have a tariff-free quota of 35,000 tonnes on the agreement's entry into force and, over time, that goes to free trade. For sheepmeat, there is a tariff-free quota of 25,000 tonnes, which over time goes to free trade. For sugar there is a tariff-free quota of 80,000 tonnes, which then goes to free trade. Dairy tariffs are eliminated over five years. Right across the agriculture sector we see benefits: short- and medium-grain rice, olive oil, honey, nuts, wheat, barley and other cereals, fruit and vegetables. All are beneficiaries. Also, the UK benefits from access to the Australian market, which also means that our consumers benefit when it comes to cars, whiskey and machinery parts. We all benefit, because we get cheaper access to those very high-quality products from the UK, which is important. This agreement also helps build the bonds between Australia and the UK by ensuring that young people in both countries are able to travel and work in each other's countries. This is incredibly important, because we've got to make sure that young Australians and young Brits know and understand the importance of the relationship between our two countries. Being able to travel, work and holiday for up to three years, for those under 35—it's been lifted from 30 to 35 and from two to three years—means that young Australians will get to know and understand the importance of these agreements, and that should not be underestimated. This agreement will also help the UK as it looks to trade more with the Indo-Pacific, and it opens up the enormous opportunity for them of joining CPTPP, obviously the gold-standard agreement of the Indo-Pacific. The UK will, through what it's been able to do with us, be able to ensure that it gets access to the CPTPP, which mean it will be able to trade more freely into the Indo-Pacific. I conclude by saying these bills are important because they set our economy up with two major global economies: the Indian economy and the UK economy. They also strengthen the bonds between Australia and India and between Australia and the UK, and they build on incredibly important relationships which have been developed at the personal level, between Prime Minister Morrison and Prime Minister Modi and, before that, Prime Minister Modi and Prime Minister Abbott. I hope that Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Modi will be able to build a similar relationship. Similarly, when it came to the UK-Australia FTA, that close personal relationship between Prime Minister Morrison and Prime Minister Johnson helped us to be able to get this outcome. Once again I hope that Prime Minister Albanese and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will be able to build a similarly close relationship, because in the current geostrategic climate our relationships with India and the UK are incredibly important. I'll finish on this note. One of the things that I would love to see our government build on going forward—and when I say 'our government' I mean the Australian government, because I've always seen trade very much through a bipartisan lens—is for us to look at where we go next. One of the things that I would like to see us begin to sow the seeds of is developing a free trade agreement between Australia, India, the US and Japan. A Quad free trade agreement, I think, is the next big picture in our trade policy going forward. Mr Katter HX4 Madam Deputy Speaker, I wish to move amendments. Do I do that at this stage or later? The DEPUTY SPEAKER 00AMT The member for Kennedy will have an opportunity later. 12:37 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong It's a great pleasure to be able to speak to the Customs Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 on behalf of the electorate of Kooyong. India is the world's largest democracy, and it has the world's fastest-growing major economy. In 2020, India was Australia's seventh-largest trading partner, with two-way trade valued at over $24 billion. Victoria contains more Australians of Indian origin than any other state—almost 277,000 in the 2021 census. Kooyong includes many families in which one or both parents were born in India, and it has a large number of students and single people hoping or planning to make their permanent homes in this country. Many have told me that greater closeness and cooperation between our countries would give them a stronger sense of inclusion and acceptance in our community and, ideally, facilitate their own trade relationships and business dealings with India. They have also, though, described real challenges with paperwork and regulation in trying to establish businesses in India from Australia. This legislation will strengthen our relationship with India, while making Australian exports to India cheaper and creating new opportunities for workers and for businesses. The legislation will eliminate tariffs on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods exported to India. Conversely, 96 per cent of Indian goods imported to Australia will be rendered duty free by this legislation. The bill will reduce tariffs on products such as Australian wine, sheepmeat, fruit and vegetables. This is clearly an advantage for primary producers. Before the pandemic, India was Australia's second-largest source of international students, with Indian students contributing about $6 billion to our export market. The Australian Group of Eight member universities have welcomed this trade agreement, given the exciting opportunity to facilitate educational exchange opportunities with Indian students. The legislation includes provision for a $25 million project to deepen space cooperation with India, which is particularly pertinent to my electorate, and $28 million to launch a centre for Australia-India relations. The research relationship between our two countries is strong. Between 2017 and 2021, there were more than 14,500 Australian-Indian research co-publications. Important areas of research collaboration between India and Australia include medicine, engineering and social science. Swinburne, a university located in my electorate, has multiple student exchanges with India and accepts many Indian students, particularly to its robotics and space programs. Extension of these Australia-India research collaborations should include innovations to expand these research pipelines. Under this legislation, both countries will facilitate local recognition of professional qualifications and their registration. Having heard my Kooyong constituents describe the paperwork and administrative challenges in trying to register their overseas businesses, and having personally experienced at first hand the challenges in trying to register overseas trained doctors in my previous career, I'm able to testify to the frustration and delays inherent in that process. The resources sector will benefit from the elimination of tariffs on critical minerals and metallic ores in this trade agreement. We have reserves in Australia of at least 21 of the 49 critical minerals identified by the Indian government as being necessary for its industries: cobalt, zircon, antimony, lithium and rare earth elements as well as tantalum. In the southern Indian states such as Tamil Nadu, which is well known for automotive manufacturing as well as its renewable energy capacity, these critical Australian minerals could pave the way for the transition towards electric vehicle manufacturing and clean energy production respectively. I have to say, though, that one area of concern is how this legislation will affect our fossil fuel exports. Australia's fossil fuel energy exports in 2021 included $63 billion worth of coal, $10 billion worth of oil and $50 billion worth of gas, with India accounting for $14 billion of our coal exports. This represents 11 per cent of Australia's total fossil energy exports and 22 per cent of Australia's coal exports. Under this new legislation, liquid-gas tariffs will stay at zero per cent upon entry into force. The 25 per cent tariff on coal will also drop to zero. Under this free trade agreement, the prospect of zero tariffs on coal and gas, and no tariffs for five years on oil, will likely increase our exports of coal and gas from Australia to meet increased energy demand in India. In recent years, we've seen that the effects of climate change in India have included extreme events such as heatwaves and floods. These have caused several Indian states to experience power outages in recent years. Depending on the weather and on the availability of alternative energy sources, demand for imported thermal coal may well rise too. We have a responsibility here. Emissions from coal mined in Australia but exported and burnt overseas were almost double our domestic greenhouse gas footprint in 2020. While that might work for the purposes of dodgy accounting, we all end up breathing the same atmosphere. We need to take responsibility for the climate impact of our exports. The only reference to climate in the 111-page explanatory memorandum of this bill said: Both countries committed to continue to collaborate on climate change. There are no references to climate impact in the bill itself. This is grossly inadequate. The details of trade agreements like this one have to be examined with a climate filter—a climate trigger—in the same way that we look at their compatibility with human rights. The Australian-India energy partnership can play a larger role in a low-carbon world. To meet its growing energy requirements, India has set ambitious clean-energy targets, including meeting 50 per cent of its energy requirements through renewable energy and the rapid expansion of electric mobility to 30 per cent of all its vehicles by 2030. Those targets, we can note, are more ambitious than our own. Australia is in a prime position to assist India to achieve its clean energy goals through the supply of critical minerals. Renewable energy investments, particularly in solar, wind and green hydrogen, are expected to grow and gain traction in India in the coming years. Australia should help meet this demand. Our relationship with India needs to be built on trust, common interest and mutual benefit. This legislation is a move in the right direction towards a stronger and more cohesive relationship with one of our most important trade partners. But we need to look actively for ways to accelerate India's development of a clean energy infrastructure to meet its growing energy demands in the short term and to prepare in the long term for a transition that does the right thing by both countries and for our climate. 12:45 Ms SHARKIE 265980 Mayo I won't detain the House long. There are two matters I wish to speak to with respect to the Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022. The first is the unfortunate removal of the 88-day farm work clause for backpackers, and the second is the failure to remedy the longstanding unfair treatment of UK pensioners living in Australia. Australia's unemployment rate remains at historically low levels—3.5 per cent. It is the lowest rate in 48 years and is effectively full-time employment. That's a good thing in many respects, but it has created an increasingly tight labour market with high demand for engaging and retaining workers, particularly in the regions. Consequently it's become increasingly difficult for employers to find and attract staff. Agriculture in the regions is particularly affected. This information is not new; there are many news stories. Just recently I was hearing about a mango farm in the Northern Territory that could not get workers. All this fruit is rotting on the ground. I and others in this place have talked time and time again about the difficulty farmers experience in trying to get people to come and pick their fruit and vegetables. To me, it's beyond comprehension that, despite the overwhelming awareness of the need for workers in the region, we've removed one provision that assists our farmers right now—that is, those who are backpackers are required to spend some time on farm. I also think it's brilliant because otherwise we have people come and visit Australia and they spend all their time in the cities and they never get out to the regions. In my electorate, this is going to affect my strawberry farmers, my apple farmers and my pear farmers. It's going to certainly affect the cherry farmers as well as aquaculture and oyster farmers, particularly on Kangaroo Island. In South Australia, Mayo is very much the food bowl. We grow some of the best brussels sprouts and the best leeks in Australia, but we need people to pick them. This provision will make it even harder for farmers to get hands to pick the work. The other issue I would like to talk about is UK pensions. I'm reminded every month by constituents who receive a UK pension but who live in Australia and have lived in Australia for decades—they have worked in the UK and are entitled to a UK pension—that the moment they receive that pension it is stopped; it does not increase at all as the years go on. I meet with people who receive just $20 of a UK pension because there are no increments. This is really unfair. For more than 70 years pensioners who qualify for the UK age pension but live in Australia have had those pension payments frozen at the level the first pension amount was made. British Pensions in Australia Inc have calculated that the result of the UK freezing the pension entitlement to recipients who live in Australia is estimated to be around $500 million in lost foreign currency transfers into the economy every year, and $180 million in extra payments made by Centrelink because of it. The policy to freeze was introduced in 1964 when a new UK insurance scheme was set up with improved benefits. Pensioners who had already moved overseas would not contribute to the new scheme, so their pensions were frozen. All UK pensioners now in Australia have compulsorily contributed to the new scheme, but the policy remains. However, there are exceptions. If you emigrated to the United States or the EU, Israel, Philippines, Serbia or Turkey, your pension would continue to lift. This is unfair and should have been remedied by the free trade agreement. Those are the two comments I would like to make: it will make it much harder for farmers, and we really missed an opportunity for Australians receiving the UK pension. 12:50 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham I really want to thank the parliament for the genuinely thoughtful contributions, including those that I've heard in the chamber this afternoon from the members for Page, Fremantle, Wannon, Kooyong and Mayo. I'm not known for quoting the member for Page, but this is a really good day and a really important day for the parliament, and it might be the only time I do. We've heard from a real variety of members of parliament this afternoon, and, notwithstanding some issues raised by the member for Mayo and the member for Kooyong, there is support for the agreements that are coming before the parliament, and it's really important that we make a note of that. A lot of coverage of Australian politics would suggest that we spend all of our time, as members of parliament, at war with one another, but, actually, the quiet work of this parliament is crucially important. The member for Wannon made some generous comments about the genuine bipartisanship that the two major parties have generally around trade matters. That's really important, and I think we've seen that in the way that a lot of the negotiation and work that was done under the previous parliament has flowed seamlessly into this parliament, and, even under a new government we've been able to take very quick action and get closure on these agreements. I'm very lucky in my role as home affairs minister because all of the hard work of free trade is done by other people, but the bills sit in my portfolio, so I get to do the nice bit at the end, which is bringing closure to the debate and talking a little bit about why these agreements matter so much for our country. There is no question that Australia's future prosperity depends on our economy staying internationally competitive. One of the most important things that the Australian government can do, for our economy and businesses, is provide brilliant opportunities for them to sell into new markets. The agreements that are before the House are agreements between Australia and the United Kingdom, and Australia and India. Both are enormously important partners of our country as we progress into the future decades. It's really important, too, that the parliament notes that the environment for Australia, from a security and an economic point of view, as we look to the decades ahead, is going to be much more challenging than it has been in previous decades. One of the best things that we can do for our country, one of the best things we can do to make our country stronger, is help our trade diversify into new markets and into new products. The agreements that are before the parliament today are going to assist us to do this. On the UK agreement, there are two customs bills before the House, which implement Australia's obligations under that agreement. This agreement is a gold-standard trade agreement. We already have a very healthy trading relationship with the UK, and this agreement will enhance that strong economic partnership. It will drive increased trade, two-way investment, economic growth and job creation. It will build on the very strong and, of course, very lengthy people-to-people links through measures designed to increase the mobility of skilled workers and young people in both directions. It will contribute to Australia's export diversification and economic recovery from COVID-19. When it enters into force, over 99 per cent of Australian goods exports will enter the UK duty-free, a huge achievement for our country. That includes sheepmeat, beef, dairy, sugar and wine. Australian consumers will also benefit from increasing access to competitively priced goods and exposure to new technologies and innovative practices. It will boost efficiency, reduce cost and cut red tape. It also sets out the framework for cooperation on a much broader range of environmental issues, which is, of course, very important to the Australian people. That includes support for transition to lower carbon and more climate-resilient economies on both sides of the agreement. India is, of course, a very, very important partner for Australia as we look ahead to the future. The India-Australia Economic Co-operation and Trade Agreement will be a very important driver of deepening that relationship. It will secure Australia's foothold in the world's fastest-growing major economy and, again, represents significant new trade diversification opportunities. It will enable Australian businesses to unlock or expand their operations into a market of nearly one 1½ billion consumers, with a GDP of $4.3 trillion. Under the IA-ECTA, 90 per cent of Australian goods exports by value to India will enter without tariffs, and high tariffs will be slashed on additional products, such as wine. This is a very commercially significant agreement for us, worth up to $14.8 billion in merchandise trade destined for the Indian market each year. The agreement also provides certainties to support Australian services suppliers and professionals who are doing business in India, currently our third-largest export services market. I want to just make a quick note, while we're discussing India, that, as the member for Kooyong pointed out, this is an enormously important community for us in Australia, especially in my home town of Melbourne and even in my electorate of Hotham. Our vibrant, thriving, growing Indian community is one of the biggest assets that our country has. What I see in my Indian community locally is a group of incredibly passionate Australians who are pushing us to recognise, see and deliver on the huge economic benefits there are to closer collaboration with India, so I am thrilled to be playing a small part in an agreement which will see some of that come to life. Finally, I want to acknowledge the work of very many people across this parliament and the Australian government who have helped bring the agreements that are before for us to this point. We had the member for Wannon, who was previously the trade minister here in the parliament, and I acknowledge the amount of work and effort that went into preparing these agreements. I want to acknowledge, of course, Senator Don Farrell, in the other place, who is our current trade minister and has done a power of work in the last six months, bringing a number of agreements to closure—and I know there's a lot more work to be done on that front. I also want to acknowledge the member for Fremantle. He spoke as chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. We have a really good way of dealing with free trade agreements in this parliament. Of course, everyone in this chamber would acknowledge that free trade brings winners and losers, and costs and benefits, and the treaties committee is a really important way for us to examine these agreements and make sure that they do deliver for the country. The ones before us, without question, are going to be enormously beneficial, and I'm very proud to present these bills to the House. 12:57 Mr TEHAN 210911 Wannon on indulgence—I forgot to mention Elisabeth Bowes. I mentioned Frances Lisson, who was the chief negotiator on India. I would just like to take this opportunity to mention Elisabeth Bowes as well, and her team on the UK FTA, because she also did an outstanding job. Given the bipartisan nature of this debate, I thought I would just take that opportunity. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Third Reading 28 12:58 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Customs Tariff Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 29

Customs Tariff Amendment (India-Australia Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Second Reading 29 Third Reading 29 13:00 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Treasury Laws Amendment (Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 29

Treasury Laws Amendment (Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Second Reading 29 Third Reading 29 13:01 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 29

Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Second Reading 29 13:02 Mr HX4 Kennedy KATTER () (): I move: That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House: (1) notes that currently the Australian agricultural sector is experiencing critical workforce shortages and that impact of the removal of the '88 day farm work clause for backpackers' is significant, and without this requirement there will be little, if any, incentive for backpackers to come, let alone stay, working in regional communities for the length of time needed for their training to be a viable option for farmers; (2) notes that this legislation has failed to explain or adequately address the significant impacts to regional economies as a result of this clause being removed, setting a dangerous precedence for similar trade agreements in the future; and (3) calls on the government to: (a) provide evidence that the United Kingdom has requested this clause be omitted and provide evidence supporting the concerns regarding the backpacker on-farm workforce; (b) ensure a proper and thorough analysis is undertaken into the financial impacts to farmers and regional tourism economies as result of this clause being removed; and (c) deploy a highly specific advertising program in all major metropolitan centres focused on attracting backpackers to work on farms in regional areas". It is unbelievable to me that the last government, when they knew, would have proceeded with this bill knowing it would put the country areas at an enormous disadvantage. The people in this place, quite rightly, put in previous agreements that backpackers coming to Australia had to serve time in country areas. This bill effectively removes that requirement for United Kingdom migrants. Now, the people coming in from Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England speak English, they have a cultural background very similar to our own and, for various other reasons, make very good backpackers. They comprise the bulk of our backpackers and fit in very well with another group of people, the Japanese, who also have very similar cultural backgrounds to Australia. We have a wonderful banana-packing competition, and all the various foreign groups have their place in the stands at the banana-packing competition. It's a really wonderful evening. What you've done here is effectively take out the United Kingdom areas completely. They vanish, because there's no way they're going to go to a place they've never heard of before in their lives when they can go to Sydney and hang around on Bondi Beach. That is what has happened in the past, and it's what's going to happen now as a result of this legislation. I have never, in 50 years as a member of parliament, seen a place that is so completely out of step with the people of Australia. You in the major parties don't seem to understand that over one person in three did not vote for you in the last election. This has never happened before in the nation's history. Has it changed you in any way? Absolutely not. I don't see a single change in direction between the last government and the new government. Yes, you might be a little more kind to the union representatives, undoubtedly, but we're not talking about any substantial change here. I represent about six to seven per cent of Australia's fruit and vegetable production. Thanks to your free trade deals, we are now, and have been for 10 years, a net importer of fruit and vegetables. Do you have any cognisance of that fact? No. I have never heard a single person in this place get up and say that it's a disgrace that that stupid fellow who led the party that I was once associated with was walking around saying, 'We're going to be the food bowl of Asia.' We will be the begging bowl of Asia, and I'll come to that in a moment. I went out to Mr Johnny Gambino, one of the outstanding rural leaders in Australia. He got the welfare payments for farmers, which will enable them to hold the banks off. Something like one farmer in five is now on his farm because of those welfare payments, and they were delivered to this place by the Mareeba Rural Action Council, which is in the same area that gave us the labour movement in Australia. It was the home area of Red Ted Theodore, who was the founder of the labour movement in this country. So what an outstanding area! I visited John. He was 82 or 83, I think, at the time. I said, 'Where is he?' 'He's down picking mangoes.' At 82, he was down picking mangoes. So I went down to the bottom of the paddock, and there was a line of mangoes about 200 or 300 metres long and about up to my waist in height, because we couldn't sell them, because someone shot their mouth off about China, and China cut off mango imports. They cut off $39 billion worth of trade. What was the value of your free trade agreement? It was just a load of rubbish. It was just a joke. When one country wants to ignore it, that country does. America just decided, because aluminium prices were down, that they wouldn't have any aluminium in there. Again, the whole thing is a mockery. It's a nice little piece of paper. It's enabled a lot of public servants to have nice holidays overseas, and people come in here. When Tony Abbott stood up in this place and led the cheering for the free trade deal with China I said, 'His time is numbered; he will not be here in six months time.' I said that to my colleague from Tasmania, and he said, 'You reckon, eh?' I said, 'Yeah,' and in three months he was gone, because the people of Australia don't listen to your rubbish about free trade. They know it's farcical. I will get very detailed. In my parliamentary office are photos of Black Jack McEwen and Red Ted Theodore. McEwen said, 'The most important thing in government is getting it right.' Theodore epitomised getting it right. Theodore arguably took ownership of all the surface lands of Queensland and built the means of production. The government built the means of production. He then belted out the land to the ordinary people of Australia. Men who worked in the mines became owners of cattle stations. Canecutters became canefarmers. Railway workers became dairy farmers. Mineworkers became mine owners. All this was facilitated by government—building the dairy factories, the sugar mills and the meatworks. It was done not by your free-market economic rationalists but by economic nationalists—men who were determined to build their country. Today, the economic nationalism of Theodore and McEwen has been replaced by a creeping corporate colonisation introduced by the economic rationalists. They reimposed upon us 19th-century laissez faire capitalism. It's a pity the schools didn't teach some of our kids the history, because if they knew what free trade leads to—it leads to kids of 12 working in factories. In this new free-market world we have what the ALP-LNP calls economic freedom. In the economic rationalist Alice in Wonderland world, in the economy and the commercial world the rule of law is replaced of course by fang and claw. The big corporate sharks now can eat the little fishes. The problem for Australia is that, except for Woolworths and Coles, Australia doesn't have any big sharks, so we get eaten. The outcome for Australia has been disastrous. The biggest export earner for Australia for every one of the last 200 years was wool. In 1990 it was still Australia's biggest export earner, earning more than coal. The free marketeers, Paul Keating and Peter Costello, deregulated the wool industry; 72 per cent of the industry is gone, 72 per cent of the sheep herd. So, there you go: you wrecked the biggest and best industry that we ever had in this country; you wrecked it. The Australian motor vehicle industry in the seventies and the eighties supplied 72 per cent of our motor vehicles. Proud Australians proudly drove Australian motor vehicles; 72 per cent of the cars in Australia were built in Australia. Your house was built out of cement, galvanised iron and steel; 100 per cent of these items were provided by Australian industry. House construction is now far from 100 per cent Australian, and not a single motor vehicle is built in Australia. Australia, with a dozen oil refineries, supplied all its own petrol and diesel. Now only three per cent of our fuel comes from Australia's refineries. Your stove, your air-conditioner, your TV, your fridge—all were made in Australia, and now they're not. As far as fuel goes, you've decided it's a better idea to send $40 billion overseas every year to buy fuel than to produce it ourselves, which we can do, and the crossbench is going to show you that we can do it, that you don't have to buy a single ounce of fuel from overseas. We can produce it all ourselves. Well, you can't do it. We'll show you how to do it. And whilst the prices of metals and minerals have tripled in the last decade, Australia gets no benefit, even though two-thirds of our exports are mining. This is because, whereas 20 years ago four of Australia's big five mining companies were Australian owned, four of the big five are now foreign owned. So, a 300 per cent increase in mineral prices does not benefit Australia at all. In fact, over the last eight or nine years, mine wages have actually fallen, from nearly $200,000 a year to around $130,000 a year. The much maligned CFMMEU, trying desperately to hold onto them, hasn't received much help from the ALP, I can assure you. The CFMMEU war cry—do we work to live or do we live to work?—has been imposed upon mine workers. So, not only are their wages going down but FIFO mining predominates, destroying family life, sport and recreation. If your son is playing rugby league and your daughter's in the school play, Dad and Mum are not there to see it. Australia's rural industries have been, for 100 or 200 years, wool, cattle, grain and cane, with Australia always being self-sufficient in fruit and vegetables. In times of agricultural crisis, ameliorative measures were provided by old Labor—not the current Labor Party—and successive Country Party governments. Thirty years ago the free-market paradigm was imposed, not competition policy. Ameliorative intervention was abolished. So now, whenever rural industries take a hit—fire, flood, drought, market crash—whereas once the government intervened, to help the farmers restore their numbers and their cultivation land, this does not now happen. Concessional loans and delayed repayments were always paid, creating profits for government, and restored the agricultural economy. Sheep numbers are down 72 per cent. Cattle numbers are down 23 per cent. The dairy herd, following deregulation, is down 17 per cent. Cane production, following deregulation and Australia's failure to move to ethanol, has fallen by one per cent. And, believe it or not, Australia has become a net importer of fruit and vegetables and has been for nearly a decade. Mining, in contrast, has had a boom in production, but the benefits go overseas. Farming is going down, down, down; secondary industry: gone. What a wonderful success story you free marketeers have had! And the storybooks are going to tell the story, and the name of every one of you will be in those storybooks. You did this to your country, and you won't escape. As a published historian, I can tell you that you won't escape. The two major political parties are rife with free marketeers and lily pad lefties. Be assured that the lily pad lefties are alive and well in the Liberal Party as well as Labor. So what do we do about all of this? I wrote, with all humility, a book which many described as the best book they've ever read. Nasty people say, 'This may well have been because the kind of people who read your book have probably never read a book before.' This, of course, is meant to be an insult but is rather powerful praise for them and for the book. The book starts with the Kalkadoon holding up British settlement for 60 years. Many died, but they ensured that many whitefellas died as well. The rivers and creeks—landmarks of my homeland, the greater Cloncurry area—tell the story: Fiery Creek, Massacre Inlet, Spear Creek, Mistake Creek, Rifle Creek, Gunpowder Creek, Battle Mountain and Police Creek—a tragic story, yes, but a story of great patriotism and heroism. The second part of this book is about the labour movement. A young worker in his 20s was sent down a mine for the third time in his life to what would be certain death. He survived and formed a union. Two others died. Within 13 years he'd taken over Queensland. Within two decades he had control of Australia. Theodore's Labor—and, after the split, McEwen's Country Party—went on to create a situation where, from the most barren, godforsaken country on earth, by 1970 Australia had become the third-richest nation in the world. The book tells the story of the Kalkadoon First Australians, from whom my home town was founded; the story of Theodore; and the story of my battalion, the 49th, one of three battalions outnumbered on Kokoda by 15 to one and outgunned by 600 to one in machine guns. Truly these stories warrant the respect of that book, An Incredible Race of People. In the recent elections, one in three Australians voted for the Labor Party and one in three voted for the Liberal Party, but over one in three rejected the Labor-Liberal axis and free-market economics—but maybe not virtual morality, the latest intellectual fashion trend. Currently, the virtual morality is that now we must save the planet. When I was at university, the intellectual fashion statement of the day was communism. Communism would overthrow the ruling class and money would go to the people. This paradigm quickly went out of fashion when we, the university graduates, became the ruling class. We took the money that was supposed to go to the people. It was a little sad that, whilst we were all out touting Mao Zedong's 'Little Red Book', at the same time Mao was busily murdering 48 million people. I submit that we may be making some similar mistakes now. In the recent federal elections, one in three Australians managed to get 15 members of this parliament. The famous 15 marched to an entirely different drum—and entirely different drums between them, but an entirely different drum. (Time expired) The DEPUTY SPEAKER 00AMT Is the amendment seconded? 13:17 Dr HAINES 282335 Indi I second the member for Kennedy's amendment. He is indeed a passionate supporter of rural and regional Australia. He does draw to our attention, though, a very important concern in regard to the removal of the 88-day farm work clause for backpackers visiting Australia. In listening to the member for Kennedy, I guess I would say that what he paints is such an extraordinary picture of rural and regional Australia as a place that would be of enormous benefit for backpackers from the United Kingdom to come and experience. Indeed, the member for Wannon made a similar point about travelling and working in each other's countries as being so important as a cultural exchange. But more important than that is that we're now in an environment with an historically low level of workers out in rural and regional Australia. We've got the highest worker shortages that we've experienced in a very, very long time, and this isn't just an immaterial thing. This is an incredibly important thing when we look at our food production. The member for Mayo described quite powerfully the impact this has on things like our cherry crops, our viticulture and our cattle production. The role that international backpackers play is important. The member for Kennedy hasn't just described a problem; he's actually come forward with some really important propositions, and one is that, before this is enacted—before we do remove this 88-day farm work clause—there needs to be some serious investigation into the impact this will have on farm workforce. I applaud him for that. He also suggests that if this change to our visas proceeds then we need to see some serious and targeted investment from our government into an advertising program that makes it clear to our international backpackers that there's real opportunity, real experience and a real need for them to come out into rural and regional Australia. He highlights that it could be very easy for international backpackers to just arrive in Sydney and spend all their time on Bondi Beach. While Bondi is a great place to be, getting out into northern Queensland, coming into my electorate of Indi or getting around rural and regional Australia are extremely important experiences but, more than that, really valuable to our farming communities. I second this amendment from the member for Kennedy and thank him for raising this concern here in the House. 13:20 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham I'd like to speak briefly to the amendment and to make a brief statement on behalf of the government. I want to thank the member for Kennedy for his contribution. It was thoughtfully expressed, and I know they're very longstanding positions of the member for Kennedy. The member talked about some of his critiques of the discussion about trade in Australia, and actually there's a lot in his comments that I agree with. I think there has been far too much ideology in these discussions and not enough common sense. I do think the agreements before us pass the test. There are huge benefits here for Australia and huge benefits for agriculture and for the regional and rural parts of our country. I think it's important to note the stage we're at with this agreement. The agreement has been concluded with the UK. The amendment is not something the government will be supporting at this very late stage of the discussion—to make a change on the floor of the parliament as this works its way through. I'm very conscious of the big-picture problem that the member for Kennedy raises about labour shortages in rural and regional Australia: they're acute, they're real and they are very certainly affecting the lives of the people we represent in this parliament. The member will be aware that there a very large amount of work has been done on this problem since the new government came to power in May. We have processed literally millions of visas. When we arrived in office there were a million visas sitting in the system, with no plan to process them, and that situation is changing quite quickly. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility scheme will be an important part of the solution here. We've got the Work and Holiday program associated with the Indonesia trade agreement, which continues to grow, and I believe there are over 5,000 positions available under that. I'll conclude by making the final point that the agreement we've made with the UK involves some trade-offs. While there are aspects of the agreement that the member for Kennedy raises issue with, it's important to note there are other parts of the agreement that will actually significantly increase the labour supply coming to Australia from the UK. I understand the points of view that are being raised, and I'm very respectful of them, but the government will not be supporting the amendment. 13:23 Mr KATTER HX4 Kennedy I'll just make the observation that the people coming in from a lot of these countries are not fitting in at all well, and we're having shocking problems with a lot of these groups. I just want the attention of the minister, Madam Deputy Speaker. Minister, if I could just point out that— 13:23 The DEPUTY SPEAKER 00AMT Can the member for Kennedy take his seat? You've already had an opportunity to speak. The original question was that this bill be now read a second time. To this the honourable member for Kennedy has moved as an amendment that all words after 'That' be omitted, with a view to substituting other words. The immediate question is that the amendment be disagreed to. Question agreed to. Original question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Consideration in Detail 33 13:25 Mr KATTER HX4 Kennedy I move: That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House: (1) notes that currently the Australian agricultural sector is experiencing critical workforce shortages and that impact of the removal of the '88 day farm work clause for backpackers' is significant, and without this requirement there will be little, if any, incentive for backpackers to come, let alone stay, working in regional communities for the length of time needed for their training to be a viable option for farmers; (2) notes that this legislation has failed to explain or adequately address the significant impacts to regional economies as a result of this clause being removed, setting a dangerous precedence for similar trade agreements in the future; and (3) calls on the government to: (a) provide evidence that the United Kingdom has requested this clause be omitted and provide evidence supporting the concerns regarding the backpacker on-farm workforce; (b) ensure a proper and thorough analysis is undertaken into the financial impacts to farmers and regional tourism economies as result of this clause being removed; and (c) deploy a highly specific advertising program in all major metropolitan centres focused on attracting backpackers to work on farms in regional areas". I want to answer the statements in moving the second amendment, which is very similar to the first amendment. I want to make the point to the minister that we are bringing these people in from a lot of countries that are very, very different to Australia. We already have a lot of them coming in and we're having enormous difficulties. It's just not as simple as bringing people in. When you bring them in from Japan or the United Kingdom or a lot of European countries they are at home, they are comfortable and the people are comfortable with them, but that's not a universal position. The loss of those, we believe, very good people from the United Kingdom is very serious. I'll quote the person who is probably at the centre of the workers coming in. Mick Nasser owns a very big hotel in North Queensland. He's from a fifth-generation pioneer family from the area. He's very famous as the bloke who took that terrible rugby league player and turned him into the greatest player in Australia. This gentleman is very famous. He has 100 backpackers at his hotel and he's the bloke you ring up when you're short of somebody. He has a very good knowledge of the working situation. He said, 'As a result of this all the workers that we actually want and need and use will now be residing at Bondi Beach in Sydney. They won't even know we exist.' As my colleague, the honourable member from down near the Murray River, has pointed out that is what is going to happen. I want to continue on some general things that appertain to what is going on here. Tony Abbott, when he was Prime Minister, walked into this place and led the clapping for the China free trade deal. I observed to my colleague from Tasmania, 'He just wrote his own death warrant. He won't be here in six months time.' I didn't notice any enthusiasm from the crossbenches for this wonderful happening. And, of course, it was a joke. They took $39 billion away from us, because we made a comment that they didn't like—$39 billion worth of trade vanished. So much for the value of free trade. But going back to Tony Abbott, in three months he was gone. The bloke was completely out of step with the people of Australia. They don't want this rubbish. You just keep foisting this upon them. In Sydney they watched the plastic factories go. They watched the glass factories go. They watched Bonds underwear go—5,000 jobs. They have watched job after job go. Sydney has been infinitely worse than country areas. You're saying it will be good for them, but you've had 30 years for it to be good for them. I don't know of any benefits that've flowed. The country is now no longer a mining country. A mining country sells metals. Our country mines it out of the ground. We don't sell metals. We mine it out of the ground and sell the ground; it's called quarrying. We are not even a mining country anymore. We are a quarry country. That's what you've done to us. I want to conclude on a more general note but it appertains very specifically to this clause. Whatever our shortcomings and differences may be, and they are many, the crossbenches are coming together again to bring forward legislation—the sovereign fuel security, emissions reduction bill—covering transportation fuels in Australia, elimination of CO2 emissions from all transportation. Instead of Australians sending $40 billion a year overseas to buy fuel, $40 billion will now go into the pockets of Australians, generating an extra $30 billion in tax revenue. And, if gas was taxed, as it is in Qatar, or even one-third of the tax in Qatar, then we would have— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 00AMT It being 1.30, the debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 34 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS Rieck, Mr Arnold George 34 13:30 Mr NEUMANN HVO Blair The rural town of Rosewood is in mourning following the death of community champion Arnold George Rieck. He died on Friday 11 November, just after his 90th birthday. Social media and other forms of Ipswich local media have been full of praise for and recollections about Arnold and his life. My sincere condolences to wife, Joyce, his family and his many friends. The service of Thanksgiving was held last Friday at Rosewood Uniting Church, where Arnold worshipped. Mourners spilled out of the church onto the lawns, and I was one of them. It seemed that most of Rosewood was there. Police officers, politicians, community leaders, media personalities—everyone seemed to be there, paying their respects and honouring Arnold. He was a beloved teacher of 38 years and Scout leader, environmentalist and cricket enthusiast. He was a thoroughly decent and honourable individual. A self-proclaimed Brisbane import, he came to Rosewood in 1958. He shaped that country town. He ensured that local native plant species were not lost. He created the Rosewood scrub arboretum, a museum of living trees, 150 species, at Peace Park. He led the special restoration of Masons Gully, where there is now a walkway proudly named Arnold Rieck Walk. A doyen of West Moreton Landcare, he was a mentor to many and an example to all. He organised local schoolchildren and local volunteers to beautify Rosewood. Vale Arnold. Well done, community champion. World Diabetes Day 34 13:32 Mr RAMSEY HWS Grey On 14 November, it was World Diabetes Day, and I stand here as one of the co-chairs of the parliamentary enemies of diabetes. As I normally do when I begin these speeches, I say diabetes is the leading cause of coronary heart disease, the leading causes of blindness and the leading cause of amputation—a good thing to avoid if you possibly can. Sadly, many people could avoid it if they took control of their own destiny—not everyone, but many could. I'm here to report, also very sadly, and disturbingly for me, that my electorate of Grey continues to have the highest incidence of diabetes in the country, and in fact is up from 7.8 per cent of the people in 2017 to 8.6 per cent. That is a diabolical number. That's 15,470 people in Grey living with diabetes. Of these, only 1,050 have type 1; the rest are type 2. I have a significant Indigenous population in my electorate, and of course it is in Central Australia, where cases of type 2 diabetes are the absolute highest. So here we are in the electorate with the highest level of diabetes full stop, with a significant part of remote Australia in that number. All I can say to people is: stay in touch with your body, go to the GP, get checked, do the eye checks, do the foot checks, and make sure you know what your body is telling you. Climate Change 34 13:33 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa As in previous years, it's my pleasure to read a speech submitted by the Raise Our Voice organisation, by Taryn, who is 17 years old and lives in the electorate of Werriwa. These are Taryn's words: Climate change is an ongoing issue whilst the government aims to reduce emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 and net zero by 2050. But why are we reducing the emissions? Turning off coal-fired power stations is perceived as a simple solution, but where is the infrastructure to cater for the current and future demands of electricity? We're not solving the problem, just providing an incentive to both fossil fuel generators to support shortages and blackouts. To help both these issues, we should implement in new housing estates and existing suburbs a community battery system. Solar panels from surrounding houses can feed into the designated battery system. There needs to be multiples of these small systems across the state suburbs. Solar has its limitations, to mitigate the issue of limited sunlight in winter or overcast days, renewable electricity such as hydrogen, wind and hydroelectricity can be used to charge the battery system to meet the demand. These battery systems can be regularly monitored and maintained by the electricity companies. Thanks Taryn and everyone who submitted speeches for consideration. Fisher Community Awards 35 13:35 Mr WALLA 265967 Fisher CE () (): As students right across the country wrap up 12 years of education, I want to take a moment to pay tribute to their tenacity and their resilience. The class of 2022 is the first and only class to have undertaken all three years of their senior education, from 2020 to 2022, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the lockdowns, teacher shortages, sicknesses and stresses that they've confronted, these students have stuck it out. I want to pay tribute to three students in particular who were finalists in my annual Fisher awards, which I will speak about later in the week. Chloe Maxwell is the 2022 Fisher Student of the Year. Chloe, of Currimundi Special School, is an aspiring athlete and an inspiring example to her peers. Arno Mens, of Glasshouse Christian College, is an entrepreneurial young leader and incoming school captain for 2023. Amanda Boyes is an award-winning PhD student at the University of the Sunshine Coast whose research into adolescent development will enable us to better treat issues like anxiety in our young people. These three students are among many thousands who exemplify the citizenship and determination of the class of 2022. Congratulations; your best years are just ahead. Robertson Electorate: State Emergency Service 35 13:36 Dr REID 300126 Robertson I wish to commend the State Emergency Service in Robertson and across the Central Coast for the work they have been involved in over the past several years, responding to a series of natural disasters and crises across the Central Coast region. From floods to bushfires to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SES have been unwavering in their work and support. Our outstanding SES women and men who volunteer their service to helping residents affected by or recovering from natural disasters truly are testament to our community—that is, helping your neighbour during difficult periods and leaving no-one behind. Earlier this year the Central Coast was hit by major flooding, particularly in the Hawkesbury and Tuggerah Lakes areas, with many houses and residents severely affected. It was the excellent first responders and SES volunteers who ensured those affected were assisted with evacuation, temporary housing and life-saving supplies. Without the committed SES volunteers, our community would not be able to manage and respond to natural disasters. My eternal thanks and appreciation go to volunteers based at both Wyong and Gosford SES facilities. You all work so hard serving the Central Coast community, and it is an honour to place on the record in the Australian parliament, on behalf of the whole Robertson community, our sincere admiration and thanks. I look forward to continuing support for the Gosford and Wyong SES centres and volunteers over the coming years. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 35 13:38 Ms LE 295676 Fowler I asked the youth of Fowler to send through their own 90-second speeches about what they hope this new parliament will achieve as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign. There were many brilliant and insightful speeches, but this particular speech from a student at Sacred Heart Catholic primary school is a strong reflection of how the cost of living is impacting our community. This is her message: My name is Olivia Nguyen, I am 12 years old and live in the electorate of Fowler. I strongly believe that something needs to be done about the cost of living. Everyone deserves to have what they need to live, but with the rising cost of living, it is becoming harder for people to earn enough to afford those things. If the problem continues, it will be harder for kids like me, to grow up, and make enough money to live a good quality life. My family came to Australia for more opportunities and many people have too. However, the increasing prices of houses make it hard for people like us to be able to buy, build or rent one. Everyone should have a place to call home and have a roof over their head. I know that things get more expensive when the resources needed are hard to get, and a lot of effort is required to make it. This is why I hope Australia's new parliament will help people, such as farmers and myself and our families, and help decrease the prices of everything. I hope to live in a world where my family, my friends and everyone else around me are living a good life, and Australia's new parliament can make this happen. World Diabetes Day 35 13:39 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur As it has already been noted, 14 November marked World Diabetes Day. The theme for this year is 'Education to protect tomorrow.' This is a very important theme to focus on, as it highlights the need for individuals living with diabetes and healthcare professionals alike to have greater access to diabetes education. I want to make this point which is very, very important to the residents of Macarthur, and I pay tribute to our two paediatric endocrinologists, Lisa Amato and Monique Stone, from our paediatric diabetes clinic at Campbelltown hospital for the wonderful efforts they are putting in to help with diabetes management for kids with type 1 diabetes in Campbelltown and surrounding areas. In particular, I want to pay tribute to Sister Terri Anne O'Sullivan, who's small in stature but a giant in diabetes management in Macarthur. For over 25 years she's spent hours and hours above and beyond the call of duty to educate patients, their families, and us doctors about the newer technologies in diabetes, and I've seen some dramatic changes that have made diabetes management much, much easier and much better for patients, reducing side effects and having better outcomes. So I pay tribute to Terri Anne, to our diabetes specialists in Macarthur and to all those patients who are doing their best to make their health care better for themselves. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 36 13:41 Ms CHANEY 300006 Curtin This is a speech written by a constituent for the Raise Our Voice Australia competition: My name is Jassie Peng and I am 17 years old. I am from the Curtin Electorate. I want to see the government remove offshore detention for refugees and fully replace it with community detention. The Prison-like environment in detention centres causes a lot of physical and mental health issues for refugees. It's much more humane for them to try to fit into the community while their claims are being processed. The removal of offshore detention benefits Australia as well. According to UNSW, it costs $3.4 million to hold someone offshore compared to $4,000 for an asylum seeker to live in a community on a bridging visa while their claim is processed. You might think I am just a naive 17-year-old teenager. Even though I am not a refugee, I know that I would never take risks and travel to Australia illegally unless I am under mountains of fear. I can understand the desire to settle in a safe country, build a new life and watch my own children grow up safely, like any other children in Australia. I am one of the many migrants who came to Australia. As an outsider, I have experienced the generosity, inclusiveness and warmth from my Australian friends, school, and local community. I learnt from my friends and community that being a part of Australian society, it's common sense to always give a hand to those in need, and refugees need us. We should stop portraying refugees as terrorists and end offshore detention. We should stop making up political excuses and put promises into action! Youth Voice in Parliament Week 36 13:42 Dr ANANDA-RAJAH 290544 Higgins It gives me great pleasure to read a speech today that was written by 10-year-old Harry Brennan, who is in the gallery, from Murrumbeena Primary School for the youth Raise Our Voice competition. Hi, Harry! At Murrumbeena PS our school crest includes the words ''excellence through endeavour". Through the IB program, we are encouraged to be enquirers and risk takers. In thinking what the new parliament can accomplish, all I want is for our government to be resilient and to be brave. I want our new government to spend money that is collected for good reasons—such as education, health, the environment (including climate issues) and looking after the rights of Indigenous people. People with disabilities should be able to access education and the workforce in the same way that people without a disability can. People with medical needs must be able to get treatment without worrying about the cost. We need to take action in relation to the environment. The bushfires, droughts and floods will only get worse. The Indigenous people of our country have been treated unfairly by previous governments and they need to be listened to. Most importantly, we need to stop just thinking about the past or the present. We need to think about the future. I want the new government to think about what will happen if we don't show everyone respect, invest in renewable energy and take care of the planet. We need to be resilient. We need to be brave. Hear, hear, Harry! We agree. Bonnet Bay: National Broadband Network 36 13:44 Ms WARE 300123 Hughes I rise today to speak on behalf of and advocate for the community of Bonnet Bay within my electorate of Hughes. In August this year the residents of Bonnet Bay experienced a suburb-wide NBN outage—yes, no internet at all throughout the entire suburb. There are 2,238 men, women and children who call Bonnet Bay home. The NBN outage saw businesses lose thousands of dollars, HSC students miss out on study time and people otherwise unable to access the services which have become such a necessity in this modern age. My office was inundated by frustrated residents from the Bonnet Bay community. Following that, I have met with many from Bonnet Bay, including at public meetings. I have also advocated to both the communications minister and NBN. Although the immediate outage was resolved within a few weeks, the long-term network concerns raised by the Bonnet Bay community have not yet been properly addressed either by the minister or by NBN Co. In addition the current mobile reception coverage is unacceptable for a community that is a mere 30 kilometres from the Sydney CBD. The reception is on par with, if not worse than, that in many parts of remote Australia. With intermittent mobile and internet coverage, what concerns me most is that Bonnet Bay has a history of being severely affected by bushfires and floods. This has obviously been creating a real emergency situation down there in the event that they need to evacuate and need to be advised by first responders. I call upon the minister to fix this problem down in Bonnet Bay. Silicosis 37 13:45 Ms FERNANDO 299964 Holt During the last sitting week I had the honour of hosting a delegation of workers affected by silicosis. They were joined by Mark Brooke, the CEO of Lung Foundation Australia. Shane, Kyle, Tony and Josh generously shared their stories with me about the suffering they are experiencing due to exposure to silica dust. They were part of a large delegation which included, among others, the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The workers are exposed to silica dust through activities such as mining, tunnelling and road construction and through the cutting and drilling of silica infused benchtops, known as Caesarstone. The inhalation of silica dust often leads to diseases such as lung cancer and respiratory failure and can cause immune disorders and kidney disease. I am pleased that Minister Tony Burke is working with the states and territories, unions and employer groups through Safe Work Australia to implement the Occupational Lung Diseases work plan and has recently approved a new silica work health and safety code of practice. However, it is clear, after talking to the delegation, much more needs to be done. I look forward to furthering this cause as a unionist and a proud member of the Albanese Labor government. Menhenett, Ms Joan 37 13:47 Dr WEBSTE 281688 Mallee R () (): In my role as a member of parliament, I'm fortunate to meet many people from all walks of life. Last Friday I had the absolute pleasure of meeting Joan Menhenett at Oasis Aged Care in Irymple. Joan turned 100 years old that day—a wonderful milestone that many of us do not make it to. I had a wonderful chat with the young-at-heart Joan. I have to say that meeting people like her certainly brightens my day. Joan told me how she came to live in Mildura and Mallee. After years of living in Melbourne, Joan sought a tree change, some respite from the rat race of urban living. She wished for a quieter place to settle down, as Melbourne life had become too busy and hectic. So up the Calder Highway she came, much like I'd done myself 40-plus years ago. She spoke of her love of the country air, of open countryside and a more relaxed lifestyle with rural and friendly people—all things people in Mallee value and why I believe Mallee is one of the greatest places in Australia to live. So, to Joan, I once again say happy 100th birthday. I wish you ongoing health and happiness. Youth Voice In Parliament Week 37 13:48 Ms SCRYMGOUR F2S Lingiari I rise to share a speech written for me by Taylah Mills, a young woman in Lingiari who sent this speech through the Raise Our Voice Campaign. Taylah writes: Australia—the beautiful oceans, the friendly people and the large unique set of animals that make you stop and stare. She's beautiful, isn't she? So why if she's so perfect are we letting the ugly of climate change destroy her? Australia is among the top 20 emitters and one of the world's biggest per capita emitters of the greenhouse gases responsible for the climate crises. The third largest exporter of fossil fuels globally. The next generation is coming into a place where bushfires are killing our people financially, mentally and in some cases literally. It's not fair. I would like for the new government to help us by trying to be minimalist with fossil fuel companies and switch to solar. I understand the difficulty of switching so fast but it's hard to understand completely when fossil fuels are supported by our government. Taylah—and all the young people out there—I hear you, and this government hears you. Thanks to Taylah and to Raise Our Voice. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 37 13:50 Mr WILLCOX 286535 Dawson It's Youth Voice in Parliament Week: an opportunity for our next generation of leaders to have their voice heard in our Parliament. Dawson's winning speech was written by a student from Cannonvale State School. I present you the winning submission: My name is Georgia and I am 11 years old. My electorate is Dawson and I am passionate about road safety. I think Australia's new parliament should definitely consider adding new lanes to make a double highway in rural and regional areas such as the Whitsundays to accommodate for the safety of others while overtaking slower vehicles like caravans. If you are thinking this is a major change to road rules, you are wrong. Because it's just like an overtaking lane the whole way up the highway. I think this issue is important and needs to be addressed urgently, and it also will reduce travelling time for users. I think Parliament can help achieve this goal by organising this with council or state government builders. So, in summary, I absolutely believe that this issue should be resolved to better rural and regional communities. Thank you, Georgia, for your outstanding contribution. I would also like to thank all the youth who made fantastic submissions. I am truly inspired and encouraged by our next generation of leaders. G'day to all the great kids from Cannonvale State School. Study hard. All the best. Maritime Union of Australia 38 13:51 Mr BURNELL 300129 Spence I rise today in support of the Maritime Union of Australia members, particularly those who work for Svitzer, many of whom were about to suffer the indignity of being locked out of 17 ports throughout Australia during the holiday period, all for the offence of wanting to end a pre-pandemic wage freeze in a time when real wages are going down and were expecting management to bargain in good faith. Unfortunately, Svitzer were not willing to do the latter and made every effort to drag their heels to prevent the former. Good faith is not how one would describe Svitzer, who even started to docking workers' pay before the now doomed lockout was yet to begin. These workers operates tugboats that help to keep this country moving, helping to bring ashore many a Christmas present through the months ahead. Svitzer is a company that has reaped in pandemic profits, while the pay of its workers remains at pre-pandemic levels. Thankfully, the federal government intervened in the matter, and late last week the Fair Work Commission blocked the lockout from occurring, sending a clear message that the economic vandalism needs to stop. As a former seafarer myself, I can attest that working at sea is not an easy job, especially with the conditions you often face. In a year marking the MUA's 150th anniversary, I'm glad they now have a government in the corner, one that sees their interests aligning with the national interest. O'Connor Electorate: Laverton 38 13:53 Mr RICK WILSON 198084 O'Connor Last Friday I travelled to Laverton, one of the most remote towns in O'Connor, to celebrate the reopening of their visitors centre. The Great Beyond Visitor Centre was established in 2006 to help inform tourists visiting the iconic goldmining town of Laverton and beyond. Thanks to a proactive shire and the hard work of facility manager Laurinda Hill and her terrific team, the newly refurbished Great Beyond Visitor Centre now boasts a cafe and community event space, a gift shop featuring local Indigenous crafts, and the Explorers Hall of Fame, where technology transports visitors to a time of exploration and endeavour viewed through the eyes of those who persevered in the face of the most challenging and remote conditions. Gold was discovered in the former British Flag area in 1896, with Laverton named after the local Doctor Charles Laver, who travelled to London many times raising capital for mining ventures. Today, Laverton's mining revenue exceeds $5.2 billion annually. Laverton also marks the start of the iconic Outback Way, a 2,700 kilometre transnational route linking WA to western Queensland via the red centre. Our last Coalition budget dedicated $678 million for the completion of the Outback Way. I take the opportunity to commend the Shire of Laverton, the Outback Way Development Council and the Great Beyond Visitor Centre for keeping Laverton well and truly on the map. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 38 13:54 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons I'm thrilled to be participating, once again, in the Raise Our Voice campaign, which champions the voices of young Australians by giving them a voice in this parliament. MPs commit to reading a speech written by a young person from their electorate in this House, or in the other place. The speech I'm reading today was submitted by a young man called Hugo from my electorate. At just six years of age, Hugo cares deeply about the environment, which is clear from his speech, which reads: Hello. I would like you to stop people from cutting down heaps of trees, because we need trees for oxygen, and some might have bees hives in them, and bees are very important to us. Another thing, can you please stop all the rubbish and the people who throw rubbish out of cars because it can hurt our wildlife. We have an Echidna called Jorge who visits our block of land, and we love him and don't want him to get hurt by the rubbish. Thanks, if you can, Hugo. I commend Hugo for his passion for the environment, and I'd remind him to join the Tasmanian Junior Beekeepers, a fantastic organisation in my electorate where young children are taught the pleasures of beekeeping. It's a very important role. They had a big opening on the weekend. So, to Hugo, and to all the kids who participated in Raise Our Voice, thank you, and we'll see you next year. Victoria State Election 38 13:56 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies The way we practise democracy matters. The power of our example is a strategic asset. This week millions of Victorians will vote in our state election. I rise to comment on the way we get there. Last Saturday in Melbourne, two rallies took place. One saw a candidate stand on the steps of Flinders Street Station and make a clear reference to political violence. It was made worse by associating the offensive term with army veterans. This rhetoric is totally unacceptable, has no place in our democracy and is not who we are. The second was a gathering of thousands of Iranian Australians in Carlton, who keep turning up for women, life and freedom. There were no threats of violence. Instead, we saw peaceful and passionate condemnation of real violence in their home country, where young women not only stand up to bullies but stand up to bullets. We can learn from them and do better. This includes toning down hyperbole. This includes resisting the urge to portray our political opponents as cartoon villains, or worse. This includes putting our case with passion and respect and knowing that, in a free and fair election, Victorians will make the right decision. The way we practise democracy matters, and we can all do better. Victoria: In-home Aged Care 39 13:57 Ms 249710 Bendigo CHESTERS () (): Last Friday I had the privilege of co-chairing, with Senator Linda White, a local government aged-care roundtable for Victorian local government councils. In Victoria, local government are the dominant provider of community in-home care support—support for our older Australians. Victorian councils are best practice. They have strong governance, good leadership, good wages and low turnover of staff and demonstrate the very best of what the royal commission is asking us to look at. This government has returned to the recommendations that the royal commission made, particularly in relation to in-home aged care. This government has committed to return to the recommendation that the area be reviewed, extending the current funding arrangements for local governments for at least 12 months. These people are respected. During the time of the pandemic, these in-home aged-care workers were the friendly face that older residents came to rely upon. Still today, in many cases, they might be the only person one of our older Australians in our communities speak to each day. They service the more complex clients. They service the people who live further out of town, ensuring that everyone, regardless of their postcode, is able to receive support. I want to thank the councils for their honesty and their commitment to work with us on finding a better solution for in-home aged care. (Time expired) McPherson Electorate: Schools 39 13:59 Mrs ANDREWS 230886 McPherson Last week schools across the southern Gold Coast farewelled the senior class of 2022. Our year 12 students reached their long-awaited graduation, and they have now entered the next phases of their lives. It was my great pleasure to attend many of the senior schools in my electorate over the past weeks, including Hillcrest Christian College, Palm Beach Currumbin State High, St Andrews Lutheran College and the Australian Industry Trade College in Robina. It's truly heartening to see the next generation of our future leaders. Their selfishness, their intelligence and their commitment give me great hope for our future. Across our schools, I have the honour of sponsoring the Service to Others award. This award recognises students who seek to serve their peers and the wider community with conviction and honour. I would again like to congratulate all the young men and women who have been acknowledged through this award, and I commend their commitment to their service. CONDOLENCES 39 CONDOLENCES Reith, Hon. Peter Keaston, AM 39 Reference to Federation Chamber 41 14:11 Mr BURKE DYW Watson by leave—I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to. MINISTRY 41 MINISTRY Temporary Arrangements 41 14:11 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I inform the House that the member for McMahon is absent today, and questions relating to the Climate Change and Energy portfolio will be answered by the member for Sydney. I inform the House that the member for Lilley is absent this week, and questions relating to the Aged Care and Sport portfolios will be answered by the member for Hindmarsh. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 41 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program 41 14:12 The SPEA 53517 KER (): I'd like to inform the House that present in the gallery are participants in the Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program. On behalf of the House, I extend a very warm welcome to you, and I hope you enjoy your week here learning about the nation's parliament. Honourable members: Hear, hear! QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 41 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Cost of Living 41 14:12 Mr DUTTON 00AKI Dickson My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, at a time when Labor's policies are driving up cost-of-living pressures for families, the government has just signed up to funding a $2 trillion loss-and-damage climate fund, which will send money overseas and beyond our region. Prime Minister, doesn't charity begin at home? When will you start helping Australian families instead of giving away their money? 14:12 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the Leader of the Opposition for really repeating a question that I answered last week, and I'll begin the same way. I'll tell you what we won't do, which is to stand at a press conference, with a microphone, making jokes about Pacific islands drowning. That is what we won't do. And the misleading statement from the Leader of the Opposition, aimed clearly— Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Members on my right! The minister for skills will cease interjecting. I give the call to the Manager of Opposition Business. Mr Fletcher L6B The Prime Minister's opening remarks breach several standing orders: offensive words, reflection on a member. He should turn to the detail of the question. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Cooper will cease interjecting. The Prime Minister is 40 seconds into the answer. It was a very broad question, political in its nature. I'm listening carefully to the Prime Minister. Mr ALBANESE R36 I'll tell you what was offensive. It was the tactics committee meeting that came up with the question this morning. That's what was offensive. The idea that any foreign aid is giving Australians' money to foreigners ahead of Australian interests—the Leader of the Opposition knows better. He knows exactly what he is doing with that question. The only people who are pleased about that question are the people sitting in the corner up there, because they represent seats that have rejected that sort of dog-whistling tactic from the Liberal Party. The Leader of the Opposition, who pretends he wants to be kinder and gentler, comes into this House and asks a question like that. I'll tell you what the entry fee is to enter into discussions around the table with our international partners, whether it's the United Kingdom, whether it's the United States, whether it's Japan or whether it's India: it is taking climate change seriously. That is the entry ticket you need in international affairs in 2022. What you don't need is that sort of nonsense. For a political party to say that Australia reducing our emissions isn't good enough because we need a global reduction in emissions, but to then press that button, shows the contradiction which is there. I say to the Leader of the Opposition: you're better than that. Mr ALBANESE R36 Or maybe you're not! Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! There is far too much noise in the chamber. Questions will be heard in silence. International Relations 42 14:16 Dr GARLAND 295588 Chisholm My question is to the Prime Minister. What work was undertaken at recent international summits to advance Australia's national interest? 14:17 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for her question. Over an eight-day period I attended four summits representing Australia, and it was a great honour to do so. I represented Australia at: the ASEAN Australia summit; the East Asia Summit, held in Cambodia; the G20, hosted by Indonesia; and APEC, hosted by Thailand. Australia is back as a partner. Australia is engaged in the world, bringing a calm, mature and collaborative approach to international relations. We have major global challenges, and global challenges require global solutions. We've seen the impact the Russian invasion of Ukraine is having not just on the people of Ukraine but on the global economy as well, with rising inflation having an impact on everything from fuel right through to energy, right through to supermarket prices. We're also seeing the global impact of climate change; we actually see it, and it's experienced. I spoke to Andrew Gee, the member for Calare, before question time; we know that communities in New South Wales continue to be impacted by flooding. This gave me an opportunity as well to meet with our AUKUS partners, to meet with President Biden and to have a good meeting with Rishi Sunak, the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. We discussed the importance of the AUKUS relationship, and we were able to sit down with our traditional allies and have those discussions—including action on climate change, which both those governments prioritise. I was able to present a keynote speech to the B20 meeting, attended by business leaders from the 20 largest economies around the world. I thank President Widodo for that invitation. I held 14 bilateral meetings—an important one, of course, being the first meeting with China for six years. It was a very constructive meeting with President Xi, and I want us to move forward together with a stabilisation of the relationship. It's very clear that we have differences, but dialogue promotes understanding. My attitude towards China is that we must cooperate where we can, disagree where we must but engage in our national interest. I also had an important meeting with Prime Minister Modi, and I will lead a business delegation to India in the first quarter of next year. In addition to that, we were able to further develop the constructive relationship that we now have with President Macron of France and other European leaders to promote the EU-Australia Free Trade Agreement that I'm hoping to advance next year. Economy 43 14:20 Mr TAYLOR 231027 Hume My question is to the Prime Minister. The chief economist of Goldman Sachs has warned that the cash rate will continue to rise to 4.1 per cent over the next year, meaning that Australian mortgage holders will be paying more for longer under this government. Will the Prime Minister confirm that the promise of cheaper mortgages is now just another broken promise? 14:20 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Given that the shadow Treasurer seems temperamentally incapable of asking me a question, I've got to take my chances when I can! Since 25 October there have been two eclipses, one solar and one lunar, and there have been two questions from the shadow Treasurer to the Treasurer about the budget. Questions from the shadow Treasurer to the Treasurer after the budget are as rare as a very rare celestial event, so I've got to take my chances when I can and jump when I can. Let me get this straight: one of the worst ministers since Federation, the member for Hume, in one of the worst governments since Federation—one of the least responsible when it comes to the budget, who racked up $1 trillion in debt and had almost nothing to show for it and who sprayed billions of dollars around to their mates in the interests of their political purposes and their political objectives—now wants to get up and talk about spending in the budget. I mean, give me a break. What was different about this budget in October compared to the budget handed down by those opposite in March? What we did is that when we got a temporary boost to revenue from high commodity prices we returned, for two years, 99 per cent of that upward revision. That means that over the forward estimates there's less debt in my budget over the forwards than there was in the budget handed down by Treasurer Frydenberg from this dispatch box. That has meant that our budget was geared towards the inflation challenge, because we know that high inflation is pushing up interest rates. Treasury modelling released and reported on today shows that if we had spent that $114 billion of tax upgrades like those opposite would have wanted to do and would have done in our position then interest rates would be another 1.4 percentage points higher than they are. That has meant that the rising interest rates that we inherited from those opposite—interest rates started going up before the election, which might be news to the shadow Treasurer as well—would be higher than otherwise, had we not handed down such a responsible budget, and inflation would be higher than otherwise. That's why we put so much effort, at the same time as we kept faith with our election commitments on cheaper early childhood education and fee-free TAFE and all the other priorities in the budget, towards making sure that we showed spending restraint, which is completely foreign to those opposite. They used to spend 60 per cent of revenue upgrades. The Howard government used to spend 70 per cent of revenue upgrades. We spent one per cent over the next two years. That's how you hand down a budget that doesn't make the inflation problem worse. Turnell, Professor Sean 43 14:23 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle My question is to the Prime Minister. What actions did the government take to secure the release of Professor Sean Turnell? 14:24 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for Fremantle for his question. Indeed, it was a great day last week when Professor Sean Turnell was released after 650 days in detention by the Myanmar regime—650 days in a Myanmar prison. It was one of the great honours of my life to have the phone call with him when he landed in Bangkok at around about the same time that I did the other evening. It was fantastic that he was able to reunite with his wife, Dr Ha Vu, an economics lecturer, in Melbourne on the weekend after 22 months apart and they were able to be flown home to Sydney. Mr Turnell is a great Australian. He's very proud to be an Australian, and we should all be proud of him. What was extraordinary about the conversation I had with him was that he was just busy thanking people—thanking the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; thanking the foreign minister, Penny Wong; thanking the embassy staff in Yangon and in Bangkok; and thanking the Australian people, who had campaigned so strongly for his release from that hellhole in prison. When I spoke to him, he spoke about getting food in a bucket but said that the Australian embassy would deliver food for him, food hampers with an Australian bag with the crest of the emu and the kangaroo. The emu and the kangaroo, of course, don't go backwards. They only go forwards. He would put the bag facing outside of the cell so that those people who had incarcerated him would see his pride in Australia. He is a great Australian. He, of course, is a highly respected academic. He developed a speciality in the Myanmar economy and he worked as a long-term adviser to Aung San Suu Kyi, who he met in the 1990s. He continued to live in Sydney, but he travelled regularly to Myanmar to provide advice to that country on how they might develop. He was detained on 6 February 2021, five days after the military coup. I do want to thank our friends in ASEAN, who made strong representation; our friends throughout, including the Cambodian Prime Minister, Hun Sen; and others as well from Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia, who were solid in their support and in supporting Australia's representation. It was a great day when he was released. I pay tribute to him for his courage, his determination and his resilience, and I wish him and his family all the best. 14:27 Mr DUTTON 00AKI Dickson on indulgence—I want to join with the Prime Minister and congratulate the government on this outcome. Sean Turnell is somebody who went to Myanmar to try and provide assistance and a better way of life and future for the people of Myanmar. He worked very closely there with a number of Australian colleagues who were involved in that cause. Of course, we were all shocked when he was taken into custody, and the operation to release him commenced on that very day. I want to acknowledge the work of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Department of Defence and many other departments that have been involved in this operation to lead to the point of his release. I want to say thank you very much for the perseverance, which the Prime Minister spoke of, of many of our near neighbours and friends within ASEAN with whom we'd had close conversations over a long period of time. Every angle of opportunity to bring pressure to bear to see him released has been underway for that 650-odd days. I want to say thank you, personally, to the Prime Minister as well. It's right that he's been released. It was wrong that he was held for so long. I hope that it sends a message to the rest of the world that Australia will never tolerate our people being incarcerated in circumstances like that and we'll fight every day until they're released. Floods 44 14:28 Dr HAINES 282335 Indi My question is to the Minister for Government Services. In my electorate the same record rainfall that's caused widespread flooding has also caused a massive landslide, which has cut off access to Falls Creek for at least five months, decimating the summer season economy. But those affected look at the Services Australia website and only see financial assistance for people directly affected by floods. Can the minister confirm that these people are eligible for the disaster recovery allowance, and are there plans for further support? 14:29 Mr SHORTEN 00ATG Maribyrnong I thank the member for her question. As all members here know, many local government areas right across Australia have been affected by incredibly damaging natural disaster events. Falls Creek, in the Alpine shire, in the north-east of Victoria, is one of 153 communities that are currently eligible for disaster assistance. There has been a landslide on the way to Falls Creek, and it's affected the businesses. Whilst Falls Creek is a year-round tourist facility, most of its business is in the winter, but there are businesses that seek to operate all year round. Residents of Falls Creek, I can inform the member, are eligible to apply for disaster recovery allowance and also Victorian and Commonwealth funded disaster recovery funding arrangements. Services Australia has investigated for me today, in the course of the day, Falls Creek and whether or not there are payments which people are eligible for that haven't been made. As I understand it, there have been 46 claims made for disaster relief allowance. They've all been paid. There is one claim where the status is indeterminate, but 46 out of 47 have been made. In terms of the year-round businesses affected, that doesn't fall within the immediate preserve of Services Australia, and I'll certainly raise it with the Victorian government. But, as far as my ministerial obligations go, everyone who has put in a claim has actually had it processed. If there are other people who the member is aware of who haven't, we will of course attend to it straightaway. I just want to thank Services Australia staff. They've been working all around Australia, right from central New South Wales through to Rochester in Victoria, and they're doing a great job. I send them our best wishes, from the parliament, for helping the people affected. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 44 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Molhoek, Mr Robert 44 14:31 The SPEAKER 53517 I inform the House that present in the gallery today is Mr Rob Molhoek, the state member for Southport in the Queensland parliament. A very warm welcome to you. Honourable members: Hear, hear! QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 44 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Floods 44 14:31 Ms CHESTERS 249710 Bendigo My question is to the Treasurer. How are the ongoing flood events impacting communities and the economy, and how is the government responding? 14:31 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Thank you to the outstanding member for Bendigo for her question. We were talking this morning about how, at its peak, every highway into Bendigo was cut. There were 250 people being housed temporarily at the showgrounds. The ADF helped with the clean-up at Heathcote. They were able to save the poultry farm there but not, unfortunately, the wheat, canola and hay crops. She was telling me as well how Bendigo Senior Secondary School is hosting Rochester primary and secondary schools. I think that is an indication of the way that Australians look out for each other and look after each other in the toughest of times, and they've got a wonderful local member in the member for Bendigo. As the Prime Minister knows, the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister Watt, Senator Sheldon and a whole range of colleagues on this side and on that side of the House, since this House last met, have been visiting flood affected areas, and thousands of Australians and communities up and down the east coast have been hit by damaging and devastating flooding, especially in New South Wales and Victoria, but Tassie, Queensland and South Australia have had some heavy weather in recent days as well. We're now all too familiar with what this means: homes wrecked, businesses shut, infrastructure damaged and, most tragically, lives taken—something like 10 in New South Wales and Victoria alone, including one body recovered on the weekend. I know the thoughts of all of us in this place are with these communities right now. We are seeing people tested and pushed to the brink, but we are seeing the best of the Australian character in times like these. In every affected community, people are showing up for each other in this time of need and being there for each other, and their government is there for them as well. Our immediate support to individuals includes the one-off disaster recovery payment—$1,000 for adults and $400 for children. These are currently available to 46 local government areas. The disaster recovery allowance, which provides up to 13 weeks income support, has been activated for 150 local government areas. So far, more than $55 million in direct financial assistance has been provided for more than 47,000 claims across New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania, and, as the House knows, we also provisioned something like $3 billion in the budget in October to help communities with the recovery. This is first and foremost a human tragedy, but it does have economic consequences as well, with pressure on our supply chains and pressure on the price of groceries, and it will have an impact on economic growth in the near term as well. These economic and budget considerations are substantial, but they are secondary to helping people through these difficult times. And so I say to people in flood affected communities: your government will be there for you; you are not on your own. Communities will need to rebuild, the bill will be substantial, and the federal government will play its part and pay its share. Workplace Relations 45 14:34 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer My question is to the Minister for Small Business. As a result of the Prime Minister's push to ram through new laws to pay back trade unions for millions in donations, the National Retail Association has warned that retailers— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the House, on a point of order? Mr Burke DYW It's quite specific in standing orders about implying motives such as what the Deputy Leader of the Opposition has just done there. The 53517 I'm going to give the call to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and ask her to rephrase that part of the question. Ms LEY 00AMN My question is to the Minister for Small Business. As a result of the Prime Minister's push to ram through extreme industrial relations laws, the National Retail Association has warned that retailers will be forced to pass on increased costs to Australians when they go shopping this Christmas, making a bad cost-of-living situation worse. Can the Minister for Small Business name one small business who has told her they support these radical new laws? 14:36 Ms COLLINS HWM Franklin I thank the member for her question. As I said in this place just a week or so ago, we are meeting with small businesses all the time and discuss a range of matters right across the board. We continue to have discussions as we work through this important piece of legislation, which is actually about getting wages moving. As she would be aware, there are many low-income workers, particularly in feminised industry, who deserve a pay rise and need a pay rise. National Anti-Corruption Commission 45 14:37 Mr PERRETT HVP Moreton My question is to the Attorney-General. Why is it important the National Anti-Corruption Commission be established as soon as possible? 14:37 Mr DREYFUS HWG Isaacs I thank the member for Morton for his question. At the last election the Australian people delivered a clear message. They want a national anticorruption commission to be established without delay. Australians were fed up with delays and broken promises made by those on the other side, and they wanted action. This fortnight we plan to deliver on our pledge to legislate a National Anti-Corruption Commission this year. The former government said they would establish an anticorruption commission in December 2018. But they never did. Tomorrow this House will continue to debate on the two bills which, if passed through both houses, will establish a powerful, transparent and independent National Anti-Corruption Commission. The commission will have the powers of a standing royal commission and will be tasked with both investigating and preventing corruption at the federal level. It will have sufficient safeguards to protect against undue reputational damage and will operate according to the principles of procedural fairness. The bills that will be debated in this House this week are the outcome of months of work and extensive consultation. The bills have been examined by three committee inquiries, including a joint select committee inquiry that delivered a unanimous report. This is an opportunity for this House to come together. Respect the mandate given by the Australian people and support these bills. We are not afraid of constructive criticism and dialogue. In fact, we have encouraged it throughout the process that led us to this point. There will be significant debate as these bills pass through the House and the Senate, as there should be. But through that debate we should not lose sight of the task that has been given to us by the Australian people, to deliver a National Anti-Corruption Commission with teeth and without delay. This government stands ready to deliver and I call on all sides of the Parliament to join us in that task. Workplace Relations 46 14:39 Mr FLETCHER L6B Bradfield My question is to the Minister for Small Business, and, again, concerns the government's radical industrial relations bill. I again ask: can the Minister for Small Business identify a single small business that has told her that it supports these radical new laws? 14:40 Ms COLLINS HWM Franklin I thank the member for his question. If he met with small businesses and spoke to them on a regular basis, he would know that there are range of issues that small businesses are raising, including, of course, staff shortages. He would also know that there are many small businesses paying above award wages to maintain their staff, given the staff shortages. He would also know that when low-paid workers get a pay rise, many of these workers spend their money in local small businesses. Wages 46 14:40 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor My question is to the minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. What is the Albanese government doing to get wages moving for all Australian workers, including those on middle incomes? 14:41 Mr BURKE DYW Watson I thank the member for Lalor for the question, and for the determination of members on this side, and some on the crossbench, to get wages moving. It is interesting that, with the different questions we have from the other side, there is not one about wages moving—not one. In fact, when you look at the name of the bill—secure jobs, better pay—that's why we support it, and that's why they oppose it. There has been some talk about the concept that only the low-paid stream—only the areas of lowest paid businesses—are where we should get wages moving, as though somehow people on middle incomes are rich. It's as though somehow those opposite believe people on middle incomes have no need for a pay rise at all. The single interest stream is there to deal with a number of challenges for people on middle incomes, who are not the lowest paid but who still have a right to a system where they can get wages moving. It removes red tape, it improves industry standards and it allows workers to graduate from that lower paid bargaining stream through to the single interest. I want to go to each of those three. In terms of removing red tape, there are a whole lot of businesses that already try to engage in multi-employer bargaining. But, at the moment, the system is incredibly complex with extraordinary red tape going all the way through to personal ministerial permission before they're allowed to engage. This goes to Catholic and independent schools; it goes to Victorian hospitals that have been engaging this way. But it's about improving industry standards. The heating, ventilation and air-conditioning manufacturing and installation association represent the businesses that put together the air-conditioning systems in construction. The industry standard is well above the award. The industry standard is in the mid $40s an hour. The award is in the mid $20s. What you have is businesses there striking enterprise agreements knowing that at any moment they can be undercut. It was described by Mimmo Scavera, the head of that association, as a market that is freefalling. It is a race to the bottom if you can't have a situation where these businesses are able to negotiate together. Mr BURKE DYW To the member opposite, the deputy leader who just interjected: have a look at the Victorian childcare centres. Have a look at the individual Victorian childcare centres. And, yes, they are small businesses. Mr BURKE DYW She thinks there is only one Victorian childcare centre! No wonder they were so hopeless on their policy on it. No wonder! Only one! Because those workers are now 60 per cent above the award, they shouldn't have a wage freeze until they are low-paid again. The single interest stream allows middle-income earners to keep their wages moving. (Time expired) The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Wannon needs to work on his timing. Housing 47 14:44 Mr COLEMAN 241067 Banks My question is to the Minister for Housing, and it concerns her government's decision to abolish the Australian Building and Construction Commission. Master Builders Australia have told a Senate inquiry that the government's decision to abolish the ABCC will exacerbate supply-side pressures in the residential construction industry. How can the minister possibly deliver her promised one million new affordable homes when the government has declared war on the building industry? The SPEAKER 53517 I'm going to hear from the Leader of the House. Mr Burke DYW I was going to answer the question. It's directed to me. It's an IR question. Opposition members interjecting— Mr Burke DYW Everything there turns on the abolition of the ABCC. Everything in the question turns on the abolition of the ABCC, and I've been trying to get a question from them. If you think Jim's having a hard time— Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Leader of the House will resume his seat. Order! The Manager of Opposition Business. Mr Fletcher L6B Mr Speaker, it was a question on housing to the Minister for Housing, and if the government doesn't believe that the Minister for Housing is up to answering the question then that raises some very serious questions. The SPEAKER 53517 There is no point of order. The question was in two parts, about the ABCC. I give the call to the Leader of the House. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the House will resume his seat. I'll hear from the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Dutton 00AKI Mr Speaker, I'm sorry to be at odds with you, but, just in relation to your ruling, this question goes to, yes, the ABCC—that's a fair point. But the substance— Mr Dutton 00AKI I'm being reasonable. But, Mr Speaker, the substance of the question goes— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The minister for infrastructure will cease interjecting. I want to hear from the Leader of the Opposition in silence. Mr Dutton 00AKI The substance of the question goes to: how can the minister—in direct reference to the Minister for Housing—possibly deliver her promised one million new affordable homes when this government has declared war on the building industry? It is not within the remit of the minister for industrial relations to have any capacity to answer that question, which has been directed deliberately to the Minister for Housing, and I don't believe that there could be a ruling to that effect. I'd ask you to reflect on what it is you've described. You might ask the Minister for Housing to provide an answer, and then perhaps the minister for industrial relations could mop it up—whatever it is. But it can't stand that she's not responsible for housing. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Leader of the Opposition has made his point. The question is in two parts. I'll allow the minister to answer the first part and the leader if he wishes to address the second part. 14:47 Ms COLLINS HWM Franklin Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thank the member opposite for the question in relation to the Housing Accord. The Housing Accord is a really important piece of policy. This is the first time we've had three tiers of government agree to actually head in the same direction when it comes to housing in Australia. This is about getting all three tiers of government on the same page. It's about the industry and the sector. The Master Builders association were, of course, a part of the accord and agreed to the accord, as did other parts of the industry and the sector, including superannuation funds. This is about bringing people together. This is about seriously dealing with housing affordability and the low supply. We need more stock of housing in this country, and the accord is a ground-breaking once-in-a-generation piece of agreement— The SPEAKER 53517 The Treasurer will cease interjecting. Ms COLLINS HWM to actually implement this and to build a million homes from 2024 to 2029. The Master Builders association agreed with this, and they've signed up to it, and they're part of the accord. The 53517 I give the call to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. 14:48 Mr BURKE DYW Watson Thanks so much, Mr Speaker. I'll tell you what residential housing didn't need. I am yet to see a residential house that wasn't built because there was a union sticker in the corner of a safety sign. I am yet to see a home that couldn't be built because of the flag that was flying at a site. I am yet to see any relevance of the obsessions of the ABCC to whether or not someone's home gets built. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Members on my left will cease interjecting. Mr BURKE DYW Have a look. Have a listen to what Federal Court judges had to say about the ABCC. They were blasted for prosecuting union officials for 'having a cup of tea with a mate'. Apparently those opposite think that's the enemy of residential housing—described as a miniscule, insignificant affair; described as a battleship in full steam that treated proceedings as a blood sport. That's what the ABCC delivered. It was a rotten regulator. It was a regular not there to deal with the issues that the Fair Work Ombudsman would deal with. The way you can tell is that whatever they ask a question about the ABCC, never once do they refer to any of the things that only the ABCC could deal with. So they want to talk about criminal matters, which the ABCC couldn't deal with, or they want to talk about bullying matters or right of entry matters, which were the province of the Fair Work Ombudsman anyway. All the examples that they give don't stack up to a regulator that was meant to be politicised from the beginning; that was there about a fight that those opposite were engaging because they had one objective: put people in their corners. It was their method of governing, not only in industrial relations. That's what the ABCC did, and I'll be pleased to see it gone. Broadband 48 14:50 Dr CHARLTON I8M Parramatta My question as to the Minister for Communications. How will the Albanese Labor government fix the state of the NBN in order to deliver faster and more reliable broadband speeds for Australian families and businesses? 14:51 Ms ROWLAND 159771 Greenway I thank the member for his question and I note the great expertise he brings to this Parliament in the broadband policy space. As he well knows, reliable, quality, accessible, high-speed internet is essential 21st century infrastructure. Since it was initiated by Labor, the NBN has been a key investment in our nation's future. It's helped Australians stay connected during the pandemic. It supported telehealth and remote education and it has boosted economic productivity by expanding access to customers of small business. Labor took a policy the last election to expand the NBN fibre network, because we believe that all Australians should be able to access the connectivity and reliability benefits that full fibre broadband will deliver. What this will do is further boost the productivity of regional businesses, support the increased number of Australians continuing to work, study and transact remotely. Central to this commitment is to ensure that families, businesses and communities in our outer suburbs and regions aren't left behind. That is why the Albanese government is investing $2.4 billion to build a better NBN, giving an additional 1.5 million premises full fibre access, including 660,000 in our regions. The fulfilment of this investment was reflected in our budget. What it means is that 90 per cent of homes and businesses in the NBN fixed line footprint will have access to gigabit speeds by late 2025. I am asked about how our NBN upgrade will deliver better broadband. I've outlined that in respect of speed, quality, accessibility—all improvements about how we conduct our lives and the small business benefits, all of them positive. But I respectfully note that there is a different opinion out there in the context of this question, an opinion that describes this policy as wasteful spending. You may ask who would describe this as wasteful spending. The answer is those opposite. Those opposite think that investing in full-fibre broadband for the regions is wasteful spending. What an insult to regional Australia. The waste was 10 years of a failed multitechnology mix, investing in a copper network that was completely unsuitable. The SPEAKER 53517 The Manger of Opposition Business? Mr Fletcher L6B On completeness and accuracy, only 51,000 premises completed after— The SPEAKER 53517 Resume your seat. I give the call to the Leader of the House. Mr Burke DYW I'm surprised he wants to stand up at the moment at all, but I reckon that was an abuse of standing orders. The SPEAKER 53517 I think everyone in this parliament knows that was abuse of the standing orders. I just remind all members you will get the call out of respect for the office you hold. I ask you to respect the standing orders as well. I give the call— The SPEAKER 53517 The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is warned! I give the call to the Minister for Communications. Ms ROWLAND 159771 As I was saying, the masterclass in economic and technological incompetence was by those opposite, who promised to build an NBN for $29 billion. It became $41 billion, then $49 billion, and—wait for it—it ended up costing $58 billion: double the cost. That's the waste. Energy 49 14:55 Mr BATES 300246 Brisbane My question is to the Prime Minister. The climate summit in Egypt reinforced the urgency of phasing out fossil fuels to prevent catastrophic climate breakdown, and Vanuatu's climate minister says their support for Australia hosting a future summit relies on no new coal and gas handouts. Why then does the government's first budget continue to subsidise fossil fuels, including $1.9 billion to open a new LNG terminal and petrochemical hub in Darwin Harbour, and support for a new gas project in Victoria? 14:56 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for his question. He should visit Darwin and actually have a look at what it is. He should actually go and have a look at what it is and look at the facts rather than just the rhetoric. The fact is that this parliament has adopted a position of a 43 per cent reduction in emissions by 2030. We have now legislated for net zero by 2050. When I met with leaders at the APEC meeting, the G20 and the East Asia Summit, I did speak to them about Australia hosting a conference of the parties, and, let me tell you, there's enormous support for it. There's enormous support for it because Australia's back in the game of dealing with the challenge of climate change, including in our region with our Pacific neighbours. Our Pacific neighbours have met with the Minister for Climate Change and Energy at the COP in Sharm el-Sheikh, and there was enormous support there from them, as there was from our colleagues in the European Union who I discussed it with, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, the President of the United States and other leaders in our region in ASEAN as well. The fact is that we are dealing with a situation where for nine years we had no energy policy in this country—no climate policy in this country. Indeed, you don't have to rely upon just us. Peter Tomsett had some interesting comments last week—the chairman of Newcrest. This is what he said: If you don't have a policy for long enough—which has been our situation—you wind up with a situation where intervention is required. This need not have happened had the right energy policy been put in place. What we're seeing is a symptom. We have every form of energy known to humankind in spades. And we haven't been able to harness that into a coherent policy that encourages the right investments to also meet our greenhouse gas commitments as a country. What we are doing is putting in place policies that encourage investment in new energy, and the cheapest form of new energy is, of course, renewables. But we saw under the previous government four gigawatts leave the system and only one gigawatt enter the system. No wonder there is a problem. As Richard Court, the former WA Liberal Premier, described it, the past decade of energy policy has been a 'slow-moving train wreck'. Meanwhile, this government is getting on with the policy that's required. I believe very clearly we have an opportunity to be a renewable energy superpower for the world, to create jobs, to create economic growth and to make an enormous difference to drive down emissions while growing our economy. Early Childhood Education 49 14:59 Ms 298800 Swan MASCARENHAS () (): My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering on its commitment to Australian families to make high-quality early childhood education and care more affordable? 15:00 Dr ALY 13050 Cowan I thank the outstanding member for Swan for her question. Indeed, it was wonderful to visit Carlisle Goodstart last week with the member for Swan and the Deputy Prime Minister. The member for Swan, as a mother of young children, knows full well just how important it is to have access to good-quality early childhood education and care. I'd like to acknowledge the director, Carmen, and her staff at Goodstart Carlisle and congratulate them on winning a 2022 Goodies Award for the services they provide, through Goodstart Carlisle, to families. From our first day in government, exactly six months ago today, this Albanese Labor government has not wasted a single day in delivering on its commitments to working families—to 1.2 million Australian families, right across the nation. We committed to making early childhood education and care more affordable, and we are delivering just that. We are easing the cost-of-living pressures on families, who have borne an incredible 41 per cent increase in the cost of early childhood education and care under those opposite. That cost has been a major barrier to primary caregivers—who are predominantly mothers—returning to work, taking on more work, progressing their careers or taking on further study. As such, the bill that was passed in this House recently is an important economic reform as well as a reform to give access to more children in those foundational years of early childhood education and care. It's an important economic reform because it will help to boost productivity as well as increase household incomes. But that's not all we're doing in this space at all. We have also got a review by the Productivity Commission and we've tasked the ACCC to investigate the drivers of costs in the sector. We know, on this side of the House, that making early learning accessible for Australian families is about more than just making it affordable. It's also about ensuring that we have the workforce to deliver on our promises. We recognise how critical it is for a sustainable workforce in the sector, and I've been meeting with service providers and engaging with them and unions and educators to discuss solutions for this. We're moving on that. We know that early childhood educators make an important contribution to the lives of children and families. We recognise that they're educators and they're not childminders. But we also recognise that this needs a comprehensive approach—a comprehensive plan and a comprehensive approach to ensure that every Australian child has the absolute best start in life. Rural And Regional Health Services 50 15:03 Mr LITTLEPROUD 265585 Maranoa My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. How many rural towns have now lost a local GP following the government's changes to distribution priority areas? 15:03 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh I'm very pleased to have another opportunity to talk about what this government is doing to address the crisis in general practice. This morning, a number of members from across the parliament met with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners—some of whom join us here in the chamber today—to address what I think is the worst crisis in general practice in the almost 40-year history of Medicare. It's not just a crisis in rural and regional Australia, although the crisis there is certainly more extreme than in the cities. It is a crisis in the cities as well. For members of the former government, albeit not with the Leader of the Opposition here, given what he did to the Medicare system in his short time as the health minister, to get up here and, in a holier-than-thou way, seek to lecture others— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the Nationals has asked his question. Mr BUTLER HWK about what is happening in general practice stretches irony to its limit. I tell you what happened in the area of— The SPEAKER 53517 I give the call to the Leader of the Nationals on a point of order. Mr Littleproud 265585 Yes, on relevance, Mr Speaker. It was a very tight question about the number of rural towns that have lost a GP because of the change in policy around the distribution priorities—very specific. The SPEAKER 53517 I'm listening carefully to the minister. He is answering the question. He is one minute into his answer. He has three minutes to answer the question. Mr BUTLER HWK I'll tell you what the college of general practice and other groups in the health sector tell all of us, including over on that side of parliament, and that is that six years of a freeze to the Medicare rebate, ripping away the ability to recruit overseas-trained doctors from 140 different general practice regions in 2018—which is what this question is about— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the Nationals will cease interjecting. Mr BUTLER HWK has created a crisis in access to general practice, not just in rural towns but also in metropolitan communities across Australia. He knows that. The Leader of the National Party knows quite clearly that the crisis in general practice that they created— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the Nationals will cease interjecting. Mr BUTLER HWK has made it harder for Australian patients across the country to see a doctor than it ever has been, and not only harder but also more expensive than it ever has been. And I tell you what, it sits very, very badly in the mouths of those opposite, to get up here and seek to lecture us about a crisis that was of their creation. There is no higher priority for this government than to rebuild general practice after the vandalism of the last 10 years. We put strengthening Medicare right at the centre of our election platform— The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the Nationals is warned. Mr BUTLER HWK We are sitting down with them every month—the college of rural medicine among them, the rural health commissioner among them—to talk about ways in which we can improve access to general practice across the community: in the cities, in rural towns, in remote communities. Also in the October budget we put in place a rural general practice package to make sure that innovative models of care are being trialled across rural general practice and that there are more training placements under the John Flynn program. We have a priority of rebuilding general practice. All the others have is cheap politics. Employment 51 15:07 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby My question is to the Minister for Skills and Training. How is the Albanese Labor government working with states and territories, particularly South Australia, to ensure that we're addressing the skills shortage the government inherited? 15:07 Mr O'CONNOR 00AN3 Gorton I'd like to thank the member for Boothby for her question. In fact, I'd like to thank her for accompanying me and the skills and education minister of South Australia to announce an agreement last Friday to dedicate VET places to the South Australian economy. These are places that are needed to fill the skills gaps across the country. We've just listened to the health minister explain what we inherited under those opposite. We didn't just inherit a $1 trillion debt; we inherited a massive skills deficit. That's why we need to make sure we strike agreements with all governments in order to deliver those fee-free TAFE and VET places to ensure that we have skills for our economy. Those 12,500 additional VET places for South Australia for 2023 will provide a supply of labour and skills into that economy, and it's fair to say that the extra $65 million was welcomed by the South Australian government. It will ensure 4,000 additional fee-free places in the aged-care and care sector, 3,000 places in hospitality and tourism and 2½ thousand places for the construction sector. We have places going into technology, digital and agriculture. We have 500 additional places for sovereign capability as well as other places, like education, foundation skills and the creative industries. We are ensuring that we supply those workers who have the skills that are in demand in this labour market. We understand that whilst the nation has skills shortages, each state and territory has particular demands. Some have shortages in some areas and not so much in others. That's why a partnership between state and territory governments is so important. That's why we're striking agreements in each state and territory to deliver on those skills that are required. And these 12,500 places are of course part of the announcement we made at the Jobs and Skills Summit to have 180,000 VET and TAFE fee-free places for 2023. It's that investment that will provide the skills that our economy needs, that employers are crying out for, and that workers need make sure they are in demand and that they can have secure work. That's why it's so important. I was really happy with the fact that it happened at Tonsley TAFE too. If you think of the history of that precinct, it was a place that only 15 years ago lost many workers when a car maker left our shores and disappeared. What we're seeing now is revival and renovation and complete investment in areas of demand. I pay tribute to the South Australian government for its efforts and its partnership, and I look forward to engaging with more governments before the end of this year to ensure that we deliver these places that are in need. Asylum Seekers 51 15:10 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong Mr Speaker, my question is for the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. Minister, 31,000 people sought asylum in this country by sea between August 2012 and January 2014. Prior to the recent election, the ALP promised to provide permanent protection for those people who've been stranded on temporary visas for up to 10 years. It's six months today since the Albanese government was elected. When will we see an end to these punitive TPVs and SHEVs? 15:11 Mr GILES 243609 Scullin Thank you, Member for Kooyong, for this question. I acknowledge your deep interest in this issue; indeed, it's one of the reasons why you are the member for Kooyong in this place. I was asked a similar question by the member for Clark in the last sitting week—I think it was the last sitting week, but it was fairly recently. The issues that she raises are very important to this government in and of themselves. They are important in and of themselves, but they are also important because they go to this government's character. We are a government that keeps our promises—in every respect. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 The minister will resume his seat. There is far too much noise in the House. Members will be heard in silence when they're asking questions. Ministers will also be heard in silence. I give the call to the minister. Mr GILES 243609 Thank you, Mr Speaker. Members opposite seem to find this is something that is worthy of shouting over. I think they should listen carefully. They should recognise— An honourable member interjecting— Mr GILES 243609 Yes, keeping promises! We saw nine years of broken promises, cuts, cruelty and neglect in this space. Nine long years. This government are determined to keep their promises, and this is an important promise. It's to a group of people who arrived here before Operation Sovereign Borders; a group of people who've been in the community for a decade, paying taxes, making a contribution. We recognise this and we're working through this issue, which has many complexities. I've been meeting lawyers. I've met with the member for Kooyong; I believe we're meeting again on Wednesday with other members of the crossbench to work through all of these issues. We want to make sure we meet this commitment in a way that is consistent across the cohort, is effective and is enduring, which recognises everything that they have been through as people have been trapped in limbo and denied so many opportunities through that time. We are doing so also in a manner that recognises the wider circumstances, recognises the Prime Minister has said so often, correctly, that what Australians want—and, indeed, what Australians need—in this place are policies that secure our border but do not abandon our humanity. That is a watchword with which this government approaches this issue in a consistent, considered and consultative matter. In that regard, I was very pleased to announce that only a few days ago the government made changes to the travel arrangements affecting people on TPVs and SHEVs. These changes also reflect that these people have been separated from families in third countries for more than a decade. We will be compassionate without abandoning our resolve to maintain the security of our borders. We've also flagged important changes that have been made to family reunion—again, an issue affecting people who've been here for a long time, which goes directly to those two principles of securing our borders, including by securing safer passage for people who need our protection. That is the way we are approaching these issues, not treating vulnerable human beings as political footballs as those opposite did for too long. Diabetes 52 15:14 Ms TEMPLEMAN 181810 Macquarie My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. How is the Albanese Labor government making life-changing treatments more affordable for Australians living with type 1 diabetes? 15:14 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh I thank the member for Macquarie for her question, because I know how hard she campaigned at the last election on Labor's platform of strengthening Medicare and cheaper medicines. We are delivering on the promises that she made to her communities across the Blue Mountains and through the Hawkesbury. In July the maximum yearly medicine bills for millions of pensioners and concession card holders was slashed by 25 per cent. In September we slashed the price of more than 2,000 brands of medicines, delivering about $130 million back into the pockets of hard-working Australians. On 1 January we will deliver the biggest cuts to the price of medicines in the 75-year history of the PBS. We are also delivering cheaper prices for the 130,000 Australians living with type 1 diabetes. In July we delivered on our promise to slash the price of constant glucose monitoring devices to just $32 per month for adults. Until we acted, young Australians with type 1 diabetes were effectively handed a bill on their 21st birthday of thousands and thousands of dollars to continue using these life-changing devices in adulthood. Last weekend the members for Spence, Adelaide, Boothby and I joined the type 1 diabetes community in Adelaide to announce that the Albanese government will from next week slash the price of the next generation of insulin pumps, the Omnipod. This cordless technology allows kids in particular to play sport, go swimming, muck around in the playground with freedom and security, but the price tag of more than $400 per month for this technology has put it out of reach for most families. From next week the device will be available free of charge under insurance for the first time, and pods will cost less than $30 per box. Four-year-old Georgie from the member for Spence's electorate joined us last week. Her parents told us 'the Omnipod has made a world of difference to her, with the comfort of her insulin device not moving around and no cannula cords to contend with.' One mother at the event said her daughter's trial period on the Omnipod was life-changing but they couldn't afford it after the trial ended. Another mum said that the huge cost of the pods meant they had to put them aside for special occasions like sports days and swimming carnivals. Support for this life-changing next-generation technology at an affordable price has been in the too-hard basket for far too long. Next week that will change. Mr Albanese R36 I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper. QUESTIONS TO THE SPEAKER 53 QUESTIONS TO THE SPEAKER Questions Without Notice 53 15:17 Mr FLETCHER L6B Bradfield A question to you earlier in question time was directed to the Minister for Housing concerning her portfolio responsibilities. The Leader of the House jumped up to answer it instead. Practice is pretty comprehensive on page 541 about how these matters should be dealt with. So I would ask if you could explain to the House the basis on which your ruling was made. The SPEAKER 53517 I call the Leader of the House on a point of order. Mr Burke DYW Practice is also fairly specific for questions be on matters of House administration. While I respect that there may be a particular way of dealing with this now, it's certainly not traditionally in order to be relitigating rulings made at an earlier time through questions to the Speaker. It's meant to be matters of House administration only. 15:18 The SPEAKER 53517 I thank the Leader of the House. That is the normal practice. If there is an issue at the time for the point of order to be made, but for the abundance of clarity, practice does state on page 549: Where a question may involve the responsibility of more than one Minister, it should be directed to the Minister most responsible. That is not necessarily the first part of a question or the second part; it's where the majority of the question will be done. My advice would be if you're asking a complicated question, make sure the majority is to that minister. In that case, in my opinion it was right down the middle. DOCUMENTS 53 DOCUMENTS Presentation 53 15:19 Mr BURKE DYW Watson Documents are tabled in accordance with the list circulated to honourable members earlier today. Full details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. BILLS 53 BILLS Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 53

Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Report from Federation Chamber 53 Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 53

Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023

Report from Federation Chamber 53 Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 53

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Report from Federation Chamber 53 Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 53

Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Reference to Federation Chamber 53 15:20 Mr BURKE DYW Watson I declare that, unless otherwise ordered, at the adjournment of the House for this sitting the following bills will stand referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration: Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023. COMMITTEES 54 COMMITTEES Treaties Joint Committee 54 Report 54 15:20 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties, I present the following reports: report 201, Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and report 202, Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, incorporating a dissenting report. Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e). Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 by leave—I'm glad to make a statement on the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties reports into two trade agreements, the Free Trade Agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement. The agreement with the UK is a modern and comprehensive trade agreement that reflects the longstanding quality and depth of the political, cultural and economic relationship between Australia and the United Kingdom. The agreement's 32 chapters cover the full scope of trade and regulatory matters. It ventures into new areas but preserves, at the same time, policy and regulatory space for the parties in future, particularly in rapidly evolving sectors such as digital trade and financial services. It is the case that there remain some barriers to trade in goods, particularly quotas on red meat, but the fact is that, upon entering into force, 99 per cent of Australian goods exports by value would enter the UK without tariffs. The liberalisation of the rules for services and investment also has the potential to open new markets for Australian service suppliers. As with other trade agreements considered by the committee in recent years, there was significant interest by stakeholders in the question of temporary foreign labour access arrangements, particularly provisions in the agreement relating to contractual service suppliers and the recognition of professional qualifications in sensitive areas like education. The committee believes there is value in tracking and assessing the outcomes with respect to temporary foreign labour access that have occurred under trade agreements settled in recent years. The committee will seek an opportunity to consider those data in 2023. In comparison to the free trade agreement with the UK, the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement is less comprehensive in scope, reflecting the fact that it's an early-harvest agreement made in advance of negotiations for a comprehensive economic cooperation agreement. It nevertheless establishes a framework for future liberalisation, market access and investment opportunities— Mr Hill 86256 Hear, hear! Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 As the member for Bruce is both aware of and welcomes—and it's the first such agreement that India has settled with a developed nation in 10 years. That's quite a remarkable achievement. Upon entry into force, the agreement with India would mean that approximately 90 per cent of Australia's current exports to India would be either tariff free or have access to tariff rate quotas. This means there are some beneficial outcomes for tariff reductions on some key Australian exports, while high tariffs on agricultural goods like vegetables and wheat, sadly, remain mostly unchanged. And the Australian wine industry has some justifiable disappointment with respect to the outcomes for its sector. That is disappointing. Hopefully that can be corrected in the future agreement. In general, outcomes in services liberalisation, according to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, are equivalent to the best commitments India has offered other trade partners, and the terms of the agreement protect what Australia has achieved, in the sense that the terms of any further agreements India enters into will need to be offered to Australia, where they are better than what we have currently secured. As an interim agreement, the AI-ECTA, as it is being called, is absent provisions dealing with a number of substantive trade policy areas like intellectual property, digital trade, government procurement, competition policy and the facilitated involvement of small and medium-sized enterprises, and it doesn't deal with other barriers to trade such as the individual tax and regulatory regimes at the state and union territory level in India, which anyone who is engaged in exporting to that nation would know add a level of complexity for Australian exporters. Needless to say, the value of trade investment agreements do not stand entirely on market access and investment rules. Such agreements do operate as broader instruments of engagement, and on the committee we recognise that India is a like-minded partner of great significance and even greater potential in our region—in the Indo-Pacific region. It's committed, as Australia is, to the rule of law, to open markets and to stability, and on that basis this agreement, for which negotiations began in 2011, is a hard-won and long-sought achievement. While the committee determined on a strong multi-partisan basis that both agreements should be ratified, it also made recommendations in relation to longer held concerns around the independent economic assessment of the impact of such agreements and in relation to a system that enables higher quality engagement for stakeholders in the negotiating process, which we do not currently have. Trade agreements are the products of negotiations and trade-offs; some sectors benefit, others don't. There are in some cases unwanted—or, at the very least, extraneous—economic and social impacts. In addition to assisting with the proper understanding and assessment of a negotiated trade agreement, independent modelling and analysis would allow us to have proper regard to the quality of public policy decisions and make sure that agreements represent the optimal achievement and the optimal protection of Australia's interests. The substance and quality of consultation processes around trade agreements has been a consistent theme of the committee's interest in recent years, mainly because stakeholders—whether from business, industry or civil society—have noted and argued in favour of the benefits of a consultation which is timely, meaningful and responsive. Presently, unfortunately, what occurs by way of engagement is often best described as information briefings rather than genuine consultation. It's the committee's view that the Australian government should consider how it can put in place improved consultation processes with all stakeholders as negotiations are undertaken. That is, indeed, a platform commitment of the Australian Labor Party. Finally, in both reports, the committee recommended that the Australian government implement the recommendations of JSCOT report 193, Strengthening the trade agreement and treaty-making process in Australia, in relation to greater consultation transparency and on the question of independent modelling and analysis of trade agreements. But, having said that, on behalf of the committee I commend the reports to the House. 15:28 Mr THOMPSON 281826 Herbert by leave—Thank you for the opportunity to make a short statement regarding two committee reports. The free-trade agreement between Australia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a result of many years of hard work and negotiation by the former coalition government. This is an incredibly important initiative, which will have a positive impact on local jobs in Australia by opening up more opportunities for exporters and more and cheaper options for Australian consumers purchasing goods from the UK. As the former trade minister said in the last parliament, it's the most liberalising agreement signed by Australia with a major trading partner outside our agreement with New Zealand. It will liberalise trade between our two countries, creating jobs and opportunities for both our citizens. As the committee's report highlights, the Australia-UK trade relationship is dominated by investment. Last year, the UK was Australia's second largest source of foreign investment, with 17.4 per cent, after the United States. The UK was also the second largest recipient of Australian foreign investment, with 16.2 per cent, after the US. The report also highlights that the free trade agreement will contribute to diversifying Australia's trade and will guard against the risk of discriminatory trade blocs; put pressure on the multilateral system to further liberalise and broaden the range of issues that the multilateral system engages with; and remove barriers on pending trade in goods. The outcomes of the agreement are wide-ranging for both Australia and the UK. The key outcome is the reduction in tariffs. Currently, 89 per cent of Australian goods are exported to the UK duty free. On the agreement's entry into force, this will rise to over 99 per cent, making this free trade agreement worthy of its name. Australian households and businesses will save around $200 million per year. Beef and sheep tariffs will be eliminated after 10 years. Tariffs on sugar will be completely eliminated over eight years. This is a really good free trade agreement. I want to thank the committee for their hard work and the recommendations that we've been working on together, and I thank the secretariat, who have put the report together. They have done a fantastic job. I'd also like to make note of the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement, signed on behalf of Australians by the former coalition government, which will strengthen our relationship while making Australian exports to India cheaper and creating new opportunities for workers and businesses. Tariffs will be eliminated on more than 85 per cent of Australian goods exports to India, rising to almost 91 per cent, valued at $13.4 billion over 10 years. Australian households and businesses will benefit from 96 per cent of Indian goods exports entering Australia duty free. India is the world's fastest growing major economy, with 1.4 billion consumers, and this agreement opens up more opportunities for local businesses in the Indian market. Overall, this is a good deal for Australia, and that's why the committee has recommended, with the support of opposition members, that we take binding treaty action. There are many winners from this agreement, including agriculture, high-value-wine producers, horticulture, resources and pharmaceuticals. Of course, as with any agreement, there are some sectors that are still subject to higher tariffs than others. The committee noted in the report that, while there are beneficial outcomes for some key Australian exports, such as coal and liquefied natural gas, the high tariffs on vegetables and wheat remain mostly unchanged. It was made clear to the committee that the Australian wine industry was somewhat disappointed by the tariff outcomes for that sector. Australian Grape & Wine told the committee that several central and state taxes 'make the market unattractive and unprofitable for most'. They said that, while the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement provides some gains for high-value producers in the Australian wine industry, 'these taxes and charges discriminate against foreign produced alcoholic beverages in an effort to support local producers'. It is pleasing to note that the Australia-India Economic Cooperation and Trade Agreement was described to the committee as 'an "early harvest" agreement' in advance of the comprehensive economic cooperation agreement. As such, the opposition put forward an additional recommendation: The Committee recommends that the Australian Government strongly pursues greater market access for the Australian wine industry in future Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement negotiations. I thank the committee members for agreeing to this additional proposal, and I encourage the government to move quickly to ensure the agreements can enter into force by the end of 2022. 15:32 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle I move: That the House take note of each report. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 In accordance with standing order 39, the debates are adjourned. The resumption of each debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Reference to Federation Chamber 56 15:33 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle I move: That the orders of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to. BILLS 56 BILLS Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 56

Customs Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Consideration in Detail 56 15:34 The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The question is that the amendment moved by the member for Kennedy be disagreed to. You have a few seconds to go, Member for Kennedy 15:34 Mr KATTER HX4 Kennedy The famous 15 members of the crossbench march to an entirely different drum. We have already moved successfully to get an integrity commissioner. The cronyism democracy that has developed in Australia is now put in jeopardy. Crossbenchers, whatever our shortcomings and differences, have moved a sovereign fuel security bill so that, instead of $40 billion being sent overseas to buy fuel every year, $40 billion will now go into the pockets of Australians, enabling us, with a gas tax and a five per cent primage, to give every single kid in this country $7,000 a year. (Time expired) The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The question is that the amendment be disagreed to. Question agreed to. Bill agreed to. Third Reading 56 15:35 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022 56

Customs Tariff Amendment (Australia-United Kingdom Free Trade Agreement Implementation) Bill 2022

Second Reading 56 Third Reading 56 15:37 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023, Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 57

Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2022-2023

Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023

Second Reading 57 15:38 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher I held a Fisher budget forum six weeks ago. It was obviously the second one that I'd held this year, and we in my electorate discussed the good, the bad and the ugly in Labor's 2022-23 budget. I think it's important to recognise where we've come from, and that is a position of strength. The coalition set up and handed to the Labor government an economy that was the envy of the world, although the Labor government seem to be doing their best to trash that as we speak. Less than six months on, things are very different to where they were in May this year. The Treasurer promised a bread-and-butter budget, but now we know that it was more like a charter-boat budget; any Queenslanders listening to this will know what I mean by that. The Treasurer is now wandering around saying: 'Budget? What budget?' I've never seen a Treasurer or a government walk away from a much-heralded budget like those opposite have done recently. But it's not all bad. I want to talk about some of the good things. As the Leader of the Opposition said, we in opposition are not going to oppose for opposition's sake. We will identify and recognise where there are good things in the budget, and we will call out where there are bad things, bad policy that the government undertakes. I was pleased to see the childcare subsidy extended to even more Australians. I was with the shadow minister for early childhood education for an industry round table, and it was great to see and learn the perspectives of many industry players from the early childhood sector. Whilst I recognise and acknowledge it's a good thing that the childcare subsidy is being extended, it was made very clear to me in that meeting, and since, that there are many early childhood centres operating around the country but, in fact, there are many places in the country that simply don't have access to those early childhood centres. The government can throw all the money it likes at this issue, but I know that particularly in rural, remote and some parts of regional Australia there are young people who just simply cannot get those services. Families can't get those services. That means at least one parent has to stay at home and look after those children, and that has a significant impact on the productivity of this nation. I was also glad to see the government recommit to reducing the cost of medicines through the PBS co-payment—something which both parties took to the last election. I was especially pleased to see support for veterans' housing, with the $46.7 million investment into the Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme. Veterans' wellbeing has been one of my personal priorities over the last six years. There is so much more work to be done from this place on the care of our veterans. Last but not least, I want to once again put on record the thanks of the people of the Sunshine Coast for the Labor government's intention to keep the $1.6 billion investment in the Sunshine Coast rail project that the coalition promised in the March budget. Whilst I am very pleased to see the recognition from the minister that the money is in the budget, it took a couple of days to get that announcement because there was nothing physically in the budget papers—which caused me some degree of consternation, as you'd probably imagine, Deputy Speaker Claydon—but the infrastructure minister, on about day 3 or 4 after the budget, came out and said that the Labor Party would be honouring the coalition's commitment of $1.6 billion. That's a great thing for the Sunshine Coast. We now have bipartisan support for the Sunshine Coast rail at a federal level. What we don't have on an estimated $3.2 billion project is the state's $1.6 billion. This is another example of an infrastructure project which we led from the front when we were in government. We led by investing, or at least offering to invest, in a state project. When you see a train in Queensland that's operating on the north-south railway line, you'll see it emblazoned with QR. You don't see CR, you don't see CTHR, and you don't see federal rail; it says QR, Queensland Rail. The Queensland state government is responsible for its own rail line. The Federal member for Fairfax and I worked assiduously for six years with our own party, our own government, to get a commitment of $1.6 billion, and we secured that in the March budget. As I said, I'm very pleased to see that the Federal Labor Party have come on board. It's a great project. It's a nation-building project. It's good for the economy. It's good for the local economy. It's good for the environment. We need to get more cars off the road and more people into rail. But, as I said, what we don't have is Queensland state Labor stumping up with their $1.6 billion. It reminds me of a situation when, once again, we led the path. We trailblazed, the member for Fairfax and I, our funding commitment for the duplication of the North Coast railway line. That was not on the cards with the state government. Once again, it was a QR project, Queensland Rail, but we offered to pay 50 per cent of that project. We didn't have to put a cent towards it, just like we didn't need to put a cent towards the Sunshine Coast rail. The only way that we seem to be able to get the Queensland Labor state government off their backsides to fund infrastructure in Queensland, particularly in areas like the Sunshine Coast, is if the federal government takes a leading role. The member for Monash is looking at me, and I know exactly what he's thinking. He's thinking, 'This is rewarding bad behaviour, member for Fisher,' because that's exactly what we're doing. We are rewarding bad behaviour from a recalcitrant state government. The more money that we put into Queensland for Queensland state government projects, the less money that they put in. It's like rewarding a naughty child. What do they do? They keep doing it, and they keep getting a reward. But, if we didn't do that, the Queensland government would continue to not fund vital infrastructure projects. It is a good thing that this Labor government stumped up and matched our funding. I am very appreciative of it, as is just about every person on the Sunshine Coast. Not only will it provide a link between the Sunshine Coast coastal strip and Brisbane; it will provide a vital link between the hinterland and the Sunshine Coast. It will provide 9,550 jobs over the next eight or so years. It will be the largest infrastructure project that the Sunshine Coast has ever seen. But what we don't have is the state government matching the federal government's commitment of their own $1.6 billion, to their eternal shame. We cannot host the Olympics in 2032, partly in the Sunshine Coast, if we do not have this rail done. If the Queensland government wants to look a gift horse in the mouth, whether it's a coalition gift horse or a Labor government gift horse, this rail line will go the way of the Redcliffe rail line and probably take another 100 years to be built. If we're going to build this rail line, it needs to be done before 2032. My best advice, coming from the Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland, is that it's going to take about eight years to build it, so we have no time to spare. Get on with it, Mark Bailey, transport minister for Queensland. Stump up, come out publicly and say you're going to fund this $1.6 billion, and let's get on with it. The Caloundra Labor state member should also be voicing his support for this project, as should the Nicklin Labor state member. These two Labor state members have said nothing on this project whatsoever, and it's about time they came out and publicly declared whether they are supportive of this project. If you're supportive, come out and support your communities. That's what your communities expect of an elected representative. Don't hide and wait until your government comes out and says what it's going to do. Be a leader. Push for change. Push the envelope, because that is what you are elected to do, whether it's in this place or whether it's in a state legislature or a council legislature: push the envelope and stick up for your people. In relation to cost of living, which we heard so much about in the lead-up to this budget, I did my 'tour de Fisher', where I ride around my electorate. I did 23 listening posts on my pushbike—not my motorbike; I know you're thinking, 'Did he do it on his motorbike or did he do it on his pushbike?' I spoke to over 150 constituents in a week and I was asked by a radio station whilst I was doing tour de Fisher what the No. 1 burning issue was for locals in Fisher. I'll tell you what the No. 1 burning issue was: cost of living, cost of living, cost of living. It's all anybody wanted to talk about. We saw in the budget discussion about reducing power prices. When they went to the election, the Labor Party promised a $275 reduction in power prices. But when you dig into the budget papers, you see an acknowledgement from this Labor government that power prices are due to go up by 56 per cent over the next two years and gas prices are due to go up by 44 per cent over the next two years. Nowhere since the election has the Prime Minister repeated his commitment for a reduction in electricity prices. He talked about this on 97 occasions prior to the election and not once since. And his own budget papers, the government's own budget papers, demonstrate that the prices of power and gas are going to go up by, in the case of power, more than 50 per cent—a 60 per cent increase in the gas price—and gas prices by 44 per cent. We estimate that people in my electorate will be paying more than $2,000 more by the end of Christmas for their cost of living than they would have been paying at the beginning of this year. This government needs to work with industry to reduce power prices. It's not just a matter of pushing more renewables into the market. It's a matter of sensibly balancing renewables and other forms of energy. By all means look at nuclear energy, as the coalition government is doing. We're looking at nuclear energy. We're not demonising any form of energy, because we need to be able to keep the lights on. People are going to judge this government by how they manage their energy policy, and at the moment, as all our respective bills are showing, they are left wanting. So, there are some good things and there are certainly some bad things in this budget, and I'll continue to talk about them in this place. (Time expired) 15:53 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor I rise to speak in this appropriation bill cognate debate today, and it is my absolute pleasure to speak about the appropriation bills that deliver the Albanese Labor government's first budget. The budget delivered by the Treasurer in October sets out the priorities for this government, and those priorities match what we took to the election. The budget delivers responsible cost-of-living relief that doesn't put pressure on inflation. It makes targeted investments to build a stronger and more resilient economy and begins the hard yards of budget repair so that we can pay for what's important. The most important thing, I think, for members of my community, when I talk to them, is Labor's commitment to action on global warming and climate change, and passing the legislation that legislated that target, and the commitments that were made in the budget to make Australia a renewable powerhouse—the Powering Australia plan. The budget established the $1.9 billion Powering the Regions Fund to support innovation in existing industries and the creation of new industries in regional areas. This is really important because as we transition it's often the regions where attention to job security is lacking. We need to ensure that, when moving into this renewable space, workers in the regions are looked after, and ensure that we create jobs in those regions. There is an $8.1 million fund over three years in this budget to progress research and support the commercialisation of seaweed as an emissions reducing livestock feed supplement; again, this is important for the regions. There is $95.6 million in funding over nine years to support 10,000 people to complete a New Energy Apprenticeship and the $9.6 million New Energy Skills Program. This budget steps out how we will respond over time. It sets us up to make that transition to cleaner, cheaper energy, which in the longer term will impact on power prices. It has a $15 billion commitment to establish the National Reconstruction Fund, including up to $3 billion for the Powering Australia plan. This budget will introduce a $345 million electric car discount which exempts eligible electric cars from fringe benefits tax and the five per cent import tariff. So the budget is thoughtful. It's thoughtful about how we're going to make this transition. It's thoughtful about incentivising the move to renewables so that we can have a speedy impact on that target for renewable energy and therefore a speedy impact on the target for global warming emissions reduction. There's a $14 million commitment over four years to conduct on-road emissions and fuel consumption testing of light vehicles sold in Australia, and the introduction of the Commonwealth fleet target to ensure its fleet purchases and leases will be 75 per cent electric by 2025. So it's a thoughtful budget in this space. It makes sure that we're moving in the right direction. In terms of electricity, it's established Rewiring the Nation with a $20 billion budget in low-cost finance to expand and modernise Australia's electricity grids at the lowest cost. It's also announced the first Rewiring the Nation electricity transmission investments to provide concessional financing for the Marinus Link between Tasmania and Victoria, offshore wind projects and renewable energy zones in Victoria and the Victoria-New South Wales interconnector, the KerangLink. The budget is structured. It responds to the lack of action from those opposite over 10 years to ensure that Australia meets its commitments. It also ensures that in doing so we set ourselves up for that renewable future, that we become part of the solution and, in doing so, move forward. The budget also strengthens Medicare, another election commitment. The Australian government's budget begins the task of strengthening Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect—and I know this on the ground through my community. The changes those opposite made to the distribution priority areas saw 30 per cent of GPs leave my community. Across the city of Wyndham—that's 300,000 people—30 per cent of our GPs left, putting extraordinary pressure on the health system, extraordinary pressure on families and extraordinary pressure on individuals to try and get to see a doctor. Well, this budget has some of those answers. This budget establishes 50 Medicare urgent-care clinics, one of which will be in my community, taking pressure off our already overwhelmed emergency department at the Mercy Hospital for Women. Happily, we also have a state Labor commitment to an extra $100 million for that emergency department to double its size. This is really going to start work on the ground in my community. We also have measures in this budget to make medicines cheaper. For the first time in the PBS's 75-year history, the maximum cost of general scripts under the PBS will fall. The maximum co-payment of $42.50 will drop to $30 from 1 January. This will be pleasing in a community like mine, where families may have more than one script that they're paying for each month, and it'll stop the pressure on them to have to make a decision about which script to fill and which script not to fill. That's important, obviously, in health. The budget delivers in education. It delivers 480,000 fee-free TAFE places and 20,000 university places that will be targeted to communities like mine, to first-in-family students and to young people from low SES communities to pursue a higher education. These are important things in this budget to get this country back on track and to make sure that your postcode doesn't determine your life's outcomes or, in fact, your income. It also includes our plan for cheaper child care, which in my community—which has the highest number of zero- to five-year-olds in early education in the country—will have a positive impact for over 10,000 families. Ten thousand families in my community will have savings here. It will also free up, it has been calculated, 37,000 effective full-time workers by allowing women to access a fourth or fifth day of work without having a financial penalty attached. It's an extraordinary piece that will help 1.26 million Australian families. It will have positive impacts in terms of gender equity. It will see women engage in the workforce more readily, and that will see, in communities like mine, families increasing their potential income. It also works in terms of infrastructure. This budget makes a commitment of $2.57 billion to Victoria, a state that has been starved of infrastructure funds for nearly a decade by those opposite. This includes, most importantly in my local community, a $57 million contribution to build the Ison Road bridge, which will be matched by the state government. This will allow thousands of cars that currently go into Werribee to leave Werribee and go out to the M1. This means that, in areas like Jubilee, Wyndham Vale and Manor Lakes, people will be able to go straight over the Ison Road bridge and drop down onto the M1. So it will make commutes shorter, save people time and bust congestion through the centre of the city of Wyndham. This budget also commits $2.2 billion over five years to the Victorian government for the construction of the Suburban Rail Loop East project, and I know other members from Victoria will be very happy to see the impacts of that. It's a budget that works for my local community. As well as that, Wyndham has been put back into the list of Distribution Priority Areas. We heard a question today in question time, the implication of which was that somehow the metropolitan area is robbing regions to do this. The fact of matter is that this government has also put in place steps to ensure that we can attract and retain doctors from overseas, not just into regional Australia but into areas like the area I represent, where we have high growth and high numbers of young families who suffer high impacts when they can't see a GP. So I thank Minister Butler for his commitment to a community like ours to ensure that those things are happening. In terms of local commitments to my community, I also welcome a small but significant contribution to our Wyndham Interfaith Network: a $20,000 commitment to support our interfaith network to put back into place, post COVID, their annual dinner, where representatives from across our faith communities come together to share, to build understanding and to build cohesion. Then they take that back into those individual communities. They work together on projects to ensure that all our communities of faith are respected and engaged in ongoing conversations in communities like mine. It's a really important initiative and I absolutely welcome that that is listed in this budget. We also have in this budget for my community a commitment to a toy library. There are 300,000 children between zero and five in Wyndham—the highest number of zero to five-year-olds in the country. There is a little pocket that I represent called Wyndham Vale that has incredibly intense numbers of zero to five-year-olds in our early learning centres and preschools. There's a $20,000 commitment here to assist the Wyndham City Council in establishing a second toy library, one specifically for Wyndham Vale, where those children will have access to quality toys and their parents, in joining the library, will also have access to a conversation, sharing and potentially opportunities to join other clubs and connect into our community. It's a small commitment, but it means an enormous amount in communities like mine where we are building communities every day, where people move into our new suburbs and new housing developments. Their first point of connection might be that early learning centre; it might be the library; it might be the toy library where those families started to connect. Another local commitment is a commitment of $500,000 to the Werribee Central Sports Club to assist in their redevelopment of Galvin Park. For the club and the 800 families that engage in the Werribee Central Sports Club through football or netball or cricket and come together all weekend, summer or winter, that will make a huge difference. It's just one indicator of the way this government cares about the grassroots as much as it does the highlight figures. There is also money in this budget for a commitment to assist in our local waterways. In new housing estates we are often now using the stormwater in creation of wetlands or putting water back into wetlands or natural creeks. This happens all over my electorate in every new housing development. The commitment is made by this government in this budget to support that waterway development, to ensure that we keep litter out of those waterways and to ensure that we are creating family-friendly spaces in all of our housing estates. So I'm really pleased about that commitment as well. It's an important budget. It's a budget that puts down the indicators, if you like, and sets out the priorities of the Albanese Labor government. It's about bringing people together. It is about people coming together to look forward. It's a budget with a vision for the future. It's a budget that serves communities like mine as much as it serves communities across this country. It's a budget with attention to the regions as well as to the metropolitan areas. It's a budget that understands the way Australians live their lives. It's a budget that understands aspiration and doesn't punish it. It's a budget that understands that workers need a pay rise. It's a budget that delivers for all Australians. 16:09 Mr BOYCE 299498 Flynn I rise to make a contribution on the appropriation bills for 2022-23. When the Treasurer presented his speech at the end of October it did very little to address the serious issues in my electorate of Flynn. One of the main things I hear when travelling around the electorate is how much families are suffering from the cost-of-living crisis. Unfortunately this budget does nothing to address it. The average family is set to be worse off by at least $2,000 by Christmas. Grocery prices are eight per cent higher, not just because of natural disasters but also because of Labor-made disasters—scrapping, for example, ag visas. Supply has been slashed because farmers and processors are only working at around 60 per cent of workforce capacity, which has led to upward pressure at the checkout for families. Retail electricity prices are predicted to increase by 50 per cent, while the $275 reduction in electricity bills promised by the Labor government has now been scrapped. It's gone. Interest rates have already gone up and are predicted to go up further, which is ripping hundreds of dollars out of household budgets each month. Labor's own budget forecasts that gas prices will skyrocket by 40 per cent in the next two years, yet they have provided no serious policy or investment to alleviate this price surge. The surest way to secure affordable and reliable gas is through increasing supply. Funding for gas exploration has been cut. Labor has gutted $31 million out of the exploration in the Cooper-Adavale basin plan, and it has removed $23 million from the Beetaloo by discounting the Beetaloo Cooperative Drilling Program. At the same time, in a blatant attempt to buy Green votes, Labor has showered the Environmental Defenders Office with an extra $9.6 million, opening the door for more vexatious court actions and lawfare to delay and stop new resource projects. The only new change to the tax system announced in this budget is a new tax on investments. Labor's sneaky new tax will slug people who invest in their own savings and superannuation. Despite ruling out these changes before the election, Labor will hit retirees and investors with a new $555 million tax, depriving investors of franking credits which they had previously relied on. Labor's budget has turned its back on families desperate to find childcare places in regional and rural areas. $4.7 billion in child care measures has been announced, but it doesn't help regional and rural families because it doesn't deliver any additional childcare places. In my electorate of Flynn, many families cannot find a childcare place for their child. This is preventing parents from returning to work sooner. Our communities need availability and accessibility, not just affordability. There has been confirmation of cuts to or scrapping of programs: energy security and regional development plans, the Regional Accelerator Program, the Community Development Grants Program and the Building Better Regions Fund, the BBRF. Eight hundred and fifteen projects around Australia that were part of the BBRF have been scrapped. In October I visited the construction site of the Ivy Anderson aged-care project in Springsure, which received $4.1 million from the Building Better Regions Fund. This site is ready for foundation laying and construction. Depending on weather, the project will be completed in the first quarter of 2023. These nine one-bedroom residential units have been a long-time vision for the hardworking Ivy Anderson committee. Labor needs to tell our hardworking regional and rural communities why it's supporting their city mates before regional and rural Australia and turning its back on future projects just like the Ivy Anderson aged-care project. We need rural and regional infrastructure to get produce from the paddock to port to pay the bills for this nation and improve our communities. I have previously used my time as the federal member for Flynn to speak out about serious logistical issues that are preventing the use of the port of Gladstone. The former member for Flynn Mr Ken O'Dowd secured $100 million for the port of Gladstone access project back on 3 April 2019 to provide an alternative route for heavy transport vehicles accessing the port of Gladstone. This $100 million is once again in this year's budget. However, the port of Gladstone project has not progressed, having been in the planning stages since 2020. There are four bridges in the Gladstone area that have oversize, overweight and load restrictions put upon them. These bridges need to be repaired or replaced. They present huge logistical problems for the Queensland Labor government's proposed multibillion-dollar alternative renewable energy projects in Central Queensland. A few weeks ago, we saw a 250-tonne energy generator on its way to the Callide Power Station stranded at the port of Gladstone due to the bridges in the region having these size and weight restrictions upon them. This generator has now had to be loaded onto a barge and taken further up the port to Fishermans Landing. This is an absolute waste of time and resources. Even more disappointing, it could have been prevented. Labor is taking the fun out of regional Queensland and Australia as well. The budget will not proceed with round 2 of the Agricultural Show Development Grants Program. This is a great disappointment, considering 30 regional shows are in the Flynn electorate. These shows are the very fabric of many of our regional communities. The October budget is scrapping $14 million over two years from 2022-23 for the partial reversal of the 2022-23 March budget measures titled Regional Accelerator Program establishment. The budget also mentions $2.8 million in savings for the partial reversal of agricultural shows and field days. The budgets says the funding will be redirected to fund other government priorities. The government does not prioritise regional and rural shows. It is stripping money out of regional Australia wherever it can. Labor's budget has committed to increasing the heavy vehicle road user charge rate from 26.4c a litre to 27.2c a litre. This means truck drivers will be slugged an extra 0.8 per cent in tax for every litre of diesel fuel that they buy. Labor's agenda to treat regional Australia like a cash cow is a disgrace. However, the budget does include $80.7 million to support voluntary action by farmers to lower methane emissions. This includes $50 million for a National Soil Carbon Innovation Challenge to lower emissions through better soil management; $5.7 million for a national soil carbon data program to support partnerships, to improve data and low-cost alternatives for measuring soil carbon; and $20 million in a methane emissions reduction in livestock program for research into abatement and the productivity benefits of livestock feed technologies and the development of technologies to deliver low-emissions feed supplements to grazing animals. This plan does not stack up. This plan will force farmers to buy more expensive feed for their cattle, making farming more expensive. The result will be an increase in meat prices. Everyone's food bill will only grow under Labor. This is the start of another attack on farmers. The coalition didn't sign up to a methane pledge, which called for a 30 per cent global reduction in methane emissions on 2020 levels by 2030. Signing the pledge goes against the agriculture sector's desire to grow to $100 billion by 2030. At a time when families are struggling with the cost of energy and mortgage repayments, this tax on the grazing industry will only push up food prices further. What activists want is an end to the beef industry and the grazing industry as a whole. The budget also scraps $4.6 billion out of water projects by not proceeding with the Hells Gates Dam project in Queensland; deferring funding of $899.5 million over four years from Dungowan Dam and pipeline, Emu Swamp Dam and pipeline, Hughenden Irrigation scheme and the Wyangala Dam Wall Raising Project. This budget also did not match the coalition's commitment of $25 million towards the water supply for the critical development of a new industrial precinct 20 kilometres from Emerald at the Yamala Enterprise Area. The funding was to support the proposed Yamala Enterprise Area, an intermodal and industrial precinct to turbocharge Central Queensland's economy, creating more jobs and industries. Cuts to water programs are devastating and will impact on regional areas. The development of water assets is crucial to the future of the agriculture industry in Australia but this budget does not address this. The Rockhampton Ring Road is a key piece of infrastructure. It is a project that will support the region's economy by improving freight efficiency, flood resilience and the capacity of the Bruce Highway, as well as improving road safety. Labor's budget confirmed that they will delay the $1.1 billion Rockhampton Ring Road project where tendering was almost complete and the work was due to begin in January 2023. Central Queensland is the economic engine room of Australia and it needs to be supported with essential infrastructure to support the growth and development of this region. In the region there's the over $1 billion Shoalwater Bay Training Area and the Clarke Creek wind, solar and battery farm, and Rookwood Weir. With major projects like this, it is not acceptable for military tanks, over 100 wind turbines and oversized equipment to be travelling through the Rockhampton CBD. For the Clarke Creek windfarm each tower is 11 truckloads. This includes three blades, seven tower components and one Goldwind generator that weighs 108 tonnes. The biggest component is the synchronised condenser unit, which is a 220-tonne piece of equipment. There are 16 traffic lights through the central Rockhampton CBD which must have risers put under them, as load clearances have to be 6.2 metres. 100 wind turbines at 11 loads is 1,100 truck movements of oversized, overweight and overlength equipment. Three police will be assigned to each movement. It appears the federal Labor government are happy to strip critical funding from regional projects and pump the money into metropolitan areas. This is simply unacceptable. Enough delays—the federal government needs to cough up the funding for the Rockhampton Ring Road and get on with building it as soon as possible. After the coalition delivered an $811.8 million connecting regional Australia initiative in March 2022, Labor's so-called Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia both axes and redirects funding from a number of important coalition programs. This Labor budget cut to regional communications at least $101 million over four years. The budget papers show that a $106 million program to boost the resilience of telecommunications infrastructure for natural disasters in vulnerable locations has been axed, with a much smaller allocation of $30.4 million made to the Department of Home Affairs for resilience initiatives including for telecommunications infrastructure. $30 million for various internet affordability measures for regional and rural communities has been cut to just $4.7 million. $5 million for emerging technology trials has been axed. $418 million for open access or multicarrier mobile expansion has been cut to $400 million. The Mobile Black Spot Program has been cut by $37.5 million, the lowest level of investment in that MBSP since 2015. Whilst adopting the coalition's plan to extend the Peri-Urban Mobile Program to regional cities, as the opposition called for, Labor is providing only half of the $78.5 million committed by the coalition. It has been reported that the Boyne Tannum Sharks in my electorate of Flynn will receive only half of what Labor promised the club at the last election cycle. Even though Labor did ordinarily match the coalition's fully budgeted amount of $2.5 million to build the new clubhouse and facilities, they have decided not to honour this funding and reduced it to $1.3 million. Once again, Labor says one thing before the election and another thing after. In conclusion, it is clear the Labor budget is one to appease metropolitan Australia and is not one for regional and rural Australia and particularly my electorate of Flynn. 16:22 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby I rise today to speak to the government's appropriation bill cognate debate. Budgets are about decisions. Unsurprisingly, this government is making different decisions to the last one. I'm delighted to speak on these bills because it has been nine long years that Australians—and I know the people of Boothby feel this—have had to sit through the missed opportunities and shortsighted politicking of the previous government's lacklustre budgets. This budget continues the mission and guiding principle of this government: to deliver on the commitments we made to the Australian people. I and the government readily accept that there is a lot of work to do to build stronger communities. People are really doing it tough. During our campaign for Boothby, and indeed in my first speech to the House, I spoke of coming across residents living in makeshift accommodation. This was even before some of the cost-of-living challenges we know people are facing really took off, driven by our inflation challenge. So as the Treasurer said on budget night when delivering his budget statement, we face a significant challenge in finding ways to ease the very real cost-of-living pressures facing Australians while not making the challenge of inflation worse. This is not something that those opposite had to deal with in nine years, and it just shows how wasteful so much of their spending was. This budget delivers on productivity-boosting reforms, economic reform with a productivity dividend, as the Treasurer is fond of saying. So, beyond bringing a sense of integrity, propriety and sense of the budget process, allow me to talk a little bit about what this budget delivers for Boothby. When I was running for the seat of Boothby it soon became clear to me that a top priority for many voters was access to good-quality, affordable and timely health care. We saw the importance of the issue in March this year at the South Australian election, where my friend South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas and his team ousted a one-term government—the first opposition to form government since the pandemic, which demonstrated just how stretched so many aspects of our health system are. So I'm absolutely thrilled that included in this budget is funding towards a commitment that we announced during the campaign: the $400 million upgrade and expansion of the Flinders Medical Centre. Flinders, as it's known in Adelaide, is the major health precinct servicing Adelaide's southern suburbs and the Adelaide hills, and our joint commitment with the South Australian state government will see 160 extra beds, including 136 at Flinders Medical Centre and 24 at the nearby repatriation hospital. While ambulance ramping gets the front pages, we know it's a symptom of bed block, not the issue in and of itself. Most of the beds will be a single room, because we learned very clearly during the pandemic that single rooms help with infection control. We will also be rebuilding the Margaret Tobin mental health facility, increasing the capacity of the intensive care unit, building additional operating theatres to increase capacity for emergency and elective surgery, and providing a new eye surgery clinic. We'll be upgrading and expanding medical imaging services and establishing the new 24 bed older persons unit as a hub for older persons health and wellbeing at repatriation. In addition to this we will be establishing an urgent-care clinic, one of 50 across the country. This one will be near the Flinders Medical Centre emergency department to take pressure off the ED. We want people who need after-hours care and who can't get into their GP to have somewhere to go, to get the help that they or their family or loved one needs. But we also want to make sure emergency departments can focus on emergencies. Flinders Medical Centre is the major tertiary medical institution for Boothby, Kingston and Mayo. And with the growth in the Adelaide southern suburbs, this commitment is very welcome. We've also partnered with the South Australian government on a couple of major infrastructure projects that will change the daily experiences for some of our local residents. Whenever I speak to residents along the coast I hear complaints about the traffic on Brighton Road. Brighton Road is an important local road for seaside suburbs, but increasingly it has become a commuter route for people in the growing southern suburbs, represented by my friend the member for Kingston, making their way into the city. The announcement of an on-off ramp at Majors Road in the electorate of Kingston, which will enable commuter traffic to get off Brighton Road and onto the Southern Expressway, is a real win-win. Commuters will have a faster, more direct route into the city and back home again, and Brighton Road will be returned to local traffic. Credit to the South Australian and Labor government: the designs are out for consultation already, right now, and these designs are sensitive to a number of local concerns, minimising the impact on the nearby Glenthorne National Park, adjacent bike and walking trails, and other sporting facilities by having the rampworks almost entirely within road reserve. I know there's been some mischievous misinformation about the designs leafletted in the local suburb, so I would encourage Boothby and Kingston residents to have a look at the designs currently on the department of infrastructure website and let us know what you think. Our other announcement is the often promised and never delivered Marion Road crossing tram grade separation, first announced by the former government in 2016 and then again in 2019. We are now working with the South Australian government to deliver it in this term. In rush-hour traffic, with high demand on trams, the boom gates are down about one-third of the time. This means the traffic flow on this major arterial road is blocked for 20 minutes out of every hour. This means that, between traffic lights and boom gates, sometimes only three to five cars can get through at a time—really frustrating. The South Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport is currently undertaking site and ground investigations, and a design will be released for consultation. Environmental issues were raised with me by a large number of groups and individuals during the campaign and continue to be very high priorities that I hear about in my electorate. As we're situated between the hills and the sea, Boothby has a number of creeks running through it, and many of these creeks, waterways and wetlands have been degraded over the decades and are clogged with woody weeds and other pests. A total of around $2 million, across a number of sites, primarily along Sturt River and Brown Hill and Keswick Creeks, will enable important habitats to be restored and re-established, including the oxbow bend at the Warriparinga Wetlands, an important Kaurna cultural site featuring scar trees and ancient earth-oven remnants. And it is great to see the Friends of Warriparinga, the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre and the City of Marion working together on restoring this site. Last week I had the honour of showing the minister for emergency services around Blackwood and Belair to inspect the storm damage. Most of Adelaide and, indeed, a fair section of South Australia and as far up as Alice Springs in the Northern Territory were hit by cyclonic winds and thunderstorms. Many roads across Adelaide, but particularly those in these hills suburbs, were impassable. Cars were crushed, houses had trees through them and, of course, power lines and power poles were down. Some of these properties ended up being without power for between thee to six days. The clean-up will take much longer. Of course, front and centre in the storm recovery were the local country Fire service and the State Emergency Service volunteers, working alongside Mitcham council, SA Police and of course SA Power Networks. These volunteers are such an important part of life in the hills suburbs. They respond to storm damage, to bushfires, to car crashes and to all sorts of emergencies. They train weekly to make sure that they are able to serve the community, and they drop everything and come running when the call goes out, day or night. In small communities, you often know the person whose house is on fire or whose car crash you are responding to, and that is an additional emotional strain. And, while they are out responding to such a call, as they did last week for the storm, their own properties or families may also be at risk. But they are ever-professional and committed. So I am particularly pleased about the commitment for two additional quick response vehicles for the Sturt group of the Country Fire Service, as well as additional funding for fuel-load reduction to prepare for the coming fire season and additional fire risk signage. I thank them for their service. One of the hidden gems of Tonsley is the Tonsley Innovation Precinct. This former Mitsubishi car manufacturing site is now reinvented as a high-tech advanced manufacturing hub, home to Flinders University and Tonsley TAFE, as well as a myriad of other exciting high-tech businesses, such as Micro-X, Tesla, SAGE Automation and REDARC. I was on-site at Tonsley with the Minister for Skills and Training last week to announce 12,500 new TAFE places across South Australia, a fantastic step forward in addressing the skill shortage I hear about from every business I talk to, no matter what the sector, large or small. These new places start next year and will be in a range of industries that we are experiencing shortages in. Similar announcements across Australia show that the Albanese labour government knows that we need a skilled workforce if we are going to meet the challenges of the future, take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves and give Australians the best careers, the best industries and the best lives they can have. Of course, part of building back for the future we want—a future of advanced manufacturing and of industries born out of renewable energy and renewable industries—is looking to our universities. The Albanese Labor government has committed $10 million to the Factory of the Future, part of the Flinders University campus at Tonsley and a partnership with BAE Systems. This initiative will unlock 4,000 jobs over five years, supporting South Australian small and medium businesses to ready themselves for the defence supply chain through the use of automation, robotics and the expansion and modernisation of these supply chains. This exciting initiative will bring together education, industry and government, bridging the gap between research and development and commercialisation to boost the national economy. Boothby is home to Adelaide's number one tourist attraction, Glenelg. Glenelg is a beachfront suburb, easily accessible from the city, with fantastic restaurants, a picturesque jetty and a Ferris wheel, and it is the site of many local cultural events, including the Remembrance Day and Anzac Day services, New Year's Eve fireworks, beach volleyball tournament and the like. I should also give a shout out to the Glenelg Surf Life Saving Club. They seem to have forgotten me for their annual Cold Plunge fundraiser in the middle of winter. I confess I am somewhat grateful not to have experienced it again this year, but I'll be up for it next year! Anyone who grew up in Adelaide probably has memories of the Glenelg beachfront and the Jetty Road shops and restaurants. But Jetty Road is looking very tired. It hasn't been upgraded in many a year, and the pedestrian crossing at the bottom of Jetty Road is the busiest in Adelaide. So a $10 million upgrade to Jetty Road, specifically the area around the crossing, is very welcome. This will not only serve the people of Boothby; it will also serve the people of wider Adelaide and our tourist trade. I look forward to working with Holdfast Bay council and seeing their fantastic designs. There are a number of other projects that I'm particularly excited to see come to fruition. There are those that meet specific needs for our local communities in Boothby, including sporting clubs and community groups. There are also national initiatives, which will benefit all Australians, including the cheaper child care initiative. Not only will it directly benefit families with young children; it will benefit us as a society through addressing women's economic inequality and a skilled workforce shortage. Of course, most importantly, there are our plans to address climate change: Rewiring the Nation, the Marinus Link, offshore wind projects. In Boothby we will be the site of one of the community batteries in Edwardstown. Being able to give access to cheaper renewable power to those who otherwise would not be able to access it—renters, those in multistorey units without rooftop access and those who simply can't afford the upfront financial commitment—is an exciting step forward. I would also like to comment on the Souths basketball stadium. Souths is a growing club that serves a large swathe of the Adelaide southern suburbs. They have played for several decades in what is colloquially called the shed. And it is a shed; it lets the wind in and it's really not fit for purpose for a growing club. They are having to turn away young children at the moment because they don't have capacity; they don't have enough stadium space for them to both train and play. We did open two new basketball courts in Mitchell Park in the last year, but they still have a shortage. Finally, they are getting the money they need to redevelop the shed and expand it. This is a really significant project for the City of Marion. It is in part of their sports precinct. We have a big oval next door, we have lacrosse and tennis, and an ice-skating rink will be going in there as well. So this is bringing everything together to help those in central Boothby have a full range of access to sporting and recreational facilities. I'm really pleased to be able to deliver for the Souths basketball club, and I look forward to a ribbon cutting in future years. 16:37 Ms WARE 300123 Hughes I rise to speak on the appropriation bills of 2022-23. These bills reflect all of the missed opportunities of the government's recent budget, missed opportunities for Australian families, missed opportunities for Australian businesses and missed opportunities for many of those who live within my electorate of Hughes. What does this budget mean for real Australians? Just before the election the Prime Minister told Australians that they 'will be better off under a Labor government'. Today, on the six-month anniversary of the recent federal election, this statement by the Prime Minister is proving to be just plain wrong. Fundamentally, this bill does not address the integral issue which is facing our nation—the rapidly accelerating cost of living. This is now out of control. It does not even attempt to address Labor's own assumptions in its budget around rising inflation, rising interest rates and higher energy prices. I have been inundated by concerned Australians within my electorate of Hughes around these issues and other cost-of-living pressures. The opposition has taken a responsible approach to this budget. We have not simply opposed every budget measure for the sake of it. There were some good measures in the budget, for which the government can be commended. They include the extension of the childcare subsidy to more Australian families; the commitment to reduce the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme co-payment to lower the cost of medicines for many Australians; the support for housing of our veterans; the initiatives to combat family violence; and the funding to help Australians recovering from devastating floods. However, the budget and these bills fail to address the underlying economic issues which are plaguing our country at the moment. If we return briefly to the coalition's economic record, we see that, in May of this year, the Labor government inherited an economy that was the envy of most nations throughout the world. We emerged from the pandemic with debt lower than any other major advanced economy. This was as a result of the economic management over the previous seven years prior to the pandemic of 2020. Policies were implemented by the coalition government that kept our nation afloat. JobKeeper assisted one million businesses and kept four million Australians in jobs. The cash flow boost helped 620,000 businesses. On almost every economic and health measure, Australia was either world-leading or performed better than most other countries. Former prime minister Morrison and former treasurer Josh Frydenberg adopted a suite of measures that saved Australian businesses, saved Australian jobs and, in many cases, probably saved Australian lives. There are now 596,000 more Australians in jobs than prior to the pandemic. Other economies fared much worse than ours. This Labor government talks down our economy but could not name a single country whose position they would rather be in. I take the opportunity to share some of the issues that have come out of a recent tour that I have done of a suburb within my electorate, the suburb of Engadine. There were recurring themes that came out of talking to these small businesses. Not only are small businesses facing issues with the cost of living; they are facing other issues, such as staff shortages, supply chain problems and other rising business costs—again, measures that simply were not addressed in the budget. The successive interest rate rises that Australia has had since May of this year are impacting when, where and how Australians will spend their money. The reality of these increases is that they often take several months to flow through. They have now started to really flow through within the business community of Engadine. For example, Matt from Coota Valley Meats noted that interest rates have meant fewer people are coming in to buy premium meat. Australians are now buying more sausages rather than beef or lamb. Both Michael from Go Vita and Geoff from Engadine Newsagency said that business is much quieter than it was a year ago and that streets are quieter, probably due to the rising interest rates. Leo from Michele's Patisserie and Andy from Sydney Electric Bikes commented on how the interest rate rises have immediately lowered the number of customers that are coming through their doors. For many of these small businesses in Engadine, staffing and staff shortages are also a problem. Specialised staff are only one category that these small businesses are struggling with. For example, Caffe Pancetta and Mie Thai—two local businesses in Engadine—are both struggling to find qualified chefs to hire. Brush Hair Co manager, Julia, stated to me that there is a hairdresser shortage, so they are also turning away customers. There are no measures in this legislation to address the issues that were raised with me by Engadine's small businesses. Regarding interest rates, the current cash rate is now 2.85 per cent, the highest official interest rate since 2014, with the rate of increase the highest since 1994. For the 3.5 million Australians with a mortgage, successive interest rate rises and uncontrolled inflation are crushing their quality of life. In my electorate of Hughes, the median house price sits at around $1.5 million. In 2021 the average monthly mortgage repayment in the Hughes electorate was $2,600 per month. However, this was when the RBA cash rate was very low, at only 0.1 per cent. As it stands today, mortgage holders in my electorate—families with a mortgage of $700,000, of which there are many—must now find an additional $1,000 per month for their repayments compared to earlier this year. As stated, when Australians need to spend more on their mortgages they spend less at their local shops, their local businesses, contributing to the economic woes of our nation. As just indicated, I've given many examples of where I have seen this directly within my electorate. Another missed opportunity was with energy costs and security. The government needed to address energy costs within this budget but has done so by simply saying that renewables are the answer. There is no evidence that renewable energy is the answer to all of our energy problems and the crisis that we currently face. During the election campaign Australians were promised—promised by this government—cheaper energy under an Albanese government. Every household would be $275 better off, we were told. Instead, Labor's own budget numbers confirm that electricity prices are about to increase by more than 50 per cent and gas prices by more than 40 per cent. Another missed opportunity of the appropriation bill was for tax reform. The coalition believes in a core principle that hardworking Australians should be rewarded by keeping more of what they earn. They can then choose how they spend the extra money. The coalition's stage 3 tax reforms would lower tax for more than 10 million Australians. The 37 per cent tax rate was to be abolished and the 32½ per cent tax rate reduced to only 30 per cent. Under Labor, under this bill and under its recent budget, Australians will instead pay $142 billion more in taxes over the next four years. The coalition's legislated tax plan futureproofed the incomes of Australians. Labor took the coalition's tax plan to the election with an unequivocal promise to not reverse it. Now the groundwork is well and truly being laid, within this bill, to break that promise. The 10 million Australians expecting tax relief next year to address the cost of living deserve far better than this. The only new change to the tax system announced in this budget is a new tax on investments. Despite ruling out these changes before the election, Labor will hit retirees and investors with a new $555 million tax, depriving investors of franking credits which they had previously relied upon. This will particularly hurt our self-funded retirees, who, in responsibly saving for their own retirement, deserve better from the federal government. Housing and housing affordability: another missed opportunity, in this bill and within the budget, was with respect to a major crisis, which is the affordability of housing within this country. Australia has long been a place where land and country have been deeply personal and an underpinning tenet of our identity. On the housing continuum, private home ownership is vital. When more Australians own their own homes, government is better able to assist with crisis and emergency accommodation, with housing our youth homeless, with assisting victims of family violence. Today it has become harder than ever for Australians to purchase their own home. Of particular concern to me is Australian women who separate later in life, usually with little superannuation. They are left with fewer housing options and are now increasingly being left homeless. In the late sixties, 72 per cent of Australians owned their own homes. In 2019 that was down to just below 62 per cent. Housing is important. It's crucial to meeting our basic needs. It should provide safety, privacy, security, a place to sleep, a place to eat, a place to raise a family and a place sometimes to simply hide from the world. In terms of the cost, in real terms now, in 1984 the average Australian could buy a home at 3.3 times the annual income. Now, it is 10 times what the average Australian earns in a year. The two main issues that affect housing affordability in this country are the difficulties of saving for a deposit and the lack of supply. It used to take months to save for a deposit; it now takes an average of 11½ years. To address this, the coalition took to the last election a policy where Australians could access their superannuation—their own money—to assist them to buy their first home. This budget and these bills show that the Labor government proposes that homeowners have shared equity in their home with the government. Instead of Australians being able to use their own superannuation, their own savings, to invest in their own home, superannuation funds will now be used to invest in someone else's home. With super funds far less transparent than they used to be, we will never know exactly how it is that the super companies are investing in other people's homes. Instead of tinkering around with superannuation, the Labor government could and should have adopted some measures to incentivise state and local governments to jointly address the real issues with housing through planning and density controls, taxation changes and stamp duty. This Labor government, in this legislation and in the budget, has promised one million additional homes in five years. I've worked in and around and advised the housing and construction industry as well as local government for most of my career. This promise is simply not realistic. It cannot be delivered. It won't be delivered. Where are these houses going to be located, and, with the current skills shortage in the construction industry, how are 200,000 additional homes going to be built each year? These one million homes will never be delivered. This was yet another missed opportunity to address a national crisis. Lastly, I wish to highlight two important projects for my electorate that are missing from this budget. I'm proud to have campaigned at the recent election for upgrades to Heathcote Road in my electorate. Heathcote Road serves as a major arterial road, connecting Heathcote in the east to Wattle Grove and Moorebank in the west. It can be a deathtrap, with single lanes for most of its 18 kilometres. I helped during the campaign to deliver a Commonwealth contribution of $94 million to the duplication of Heathcote Road. However, money that was pledged for additional future infrastructure funding is missing from this budget. Additionally, I campaigned for $1.5 million to improve the female amenities within the Harrie Denning football centre, within the Sutherland Shire. That was $1.5 million for women's sport. This money is also missing from the federal budget. To conclude, the Labor government has missed a vital opportunity in this legislation and this budget to address serious economic issues. 16:52 Ms PAYNE 144732 Canberra I'm very proud today to rise to speak on the appropriation bills of 2022-23 and on the Labor government's budget and the many things that it invests in for our nation and for the Australian people. In the early 2000s, American singer-songwriter Steve Earle said that he wouldn't write another love song as long as George W Bush was in the White House. I must admit I often thought about that during the last term in opposition when I came in here to give speeches, and they were usually pretty negative. I would be coming in here giving speeches crying out for action on climate change, on the aged-care crisis and on the economy, and calling on the then government to deliver on its promise of a national anticorruption commission and many other issues. It did often feel that I would never get to give a positive speech until there was a change of government. It is very good that in the last six months—and this week marks six months since our government was elected—we've been able to come in and talk about the promises on which we are delivering for the Australian people. I think it's fair to say that the previous government had ceased to deliver for Australians that were not at the heart of their decision-making. They were not taking responsibility for the issues that the Australian people were facing: the fact that they hadn't had a wage rise in over 10 years; the cost-of-living crisis that they were facing; the climate crisis that our world is facing, and Australia's failure to be a part of that solution; and the neglect that people in aged care were facing that a royal commission had laid bare and that a government, over a decade, had failed to address. So I'm very proud of the work that we have done in the last six months and in the budget that we handed down recently to deliver on those things. We're not wasting a minute in government. Our ministers and our Prime Minister have been working day and night, with the support of the Public Service, to get things underway to address some of these issues. One of our first actions in government was to legislate our climate targets to reduce Australia's carbon emissions by 43 per cent by 2030, and our plans to do that are underway. We very quickly signed the international agreements around those, and we've obviously been doing a lot of work to reset important international relationships, including our Prime Minister being part of several successful summits in the past week. The first bill that passed the parliament was urgent reforms to aged care: delivering more care minutes for people in aged care, delivering the requirement that we have 24-hour registered nurses in aged care, and other reforms. We were also very pleased that, following a submission from our government, the Fair Work Commission has delivered an increase of 15 per cent to aged-care workers, who have been underpaid for so long. Another thing we did very early on was introduce 10 days of paid domestic violence leave for all Australian workers. People in unions and workers had fought for this for many, many years. It was a long overdue reform because no-one should have to choose between being safe and getting paid so as to pay their rent or put food on the table. Our government has also been progressing the conversation about the Uluru Statement from the Heart. I am incredibly proud that our government is serious about seeing that delivered, including a Voice to Parliament enshrined in the Constitution, and that we are doing that work. But to be a part of a progressive government, to be part of a Labor government, means there is always more to do, because we really are the party of reform and the party that, when in government, have delivered the reforms that have brought our nation into the future and delivered the things that give Australians the best shot at their own futures, giving them opportunities and making sure that no-one is left behind. The work that we lay down in this budget is a very important part of that. It is a budget that builds a stronger and more resilient modern economy, and it invests in the capabilities of Australians. It invests in 180,000 new fee-free TAFE and vocational education places. It invests in 20,000 new university places over the next two years. It includes a comprehensive strategy to address the gender pay gap, which includes important industrial relations reforms that we are working on in this final sitting fortnight to get through this parliament, because they are about getting wages moving again. Australians have been waiting too long for a wage increase, particularly women. And our gender pay gap of around 14 per cent is too high. We have slipped in international rankings on gender equality in this country, and that is shameful. I'm very proud that our government is getting on with addressing that and has a plan to get there. This is a budget that invests in unprecedented levels in renewable energy: Rewiring the Nation, the Marinus Link—there are many things, which I will not list here, where our government is putting in place what we need to make that shift to become a renewable energy superpower, to use that term. This will also bring electricity prices down. This is what needs to happen, and the ACT, where my electorate is, is a great example of this. The ACT government have transitioned our energy market to 100 per cent renewable energy, and we actually enjoy lower electricity prices than neighbouring New South Wales because of that. This is the long-term work that our energy market needs to have stability and to bring those prices down, and that is a very high priority of our government. This is a budget that invests in a future made in Australia, including $15 billion for the National Reconstruction Fund, an investment pipeline of $120 billion in transport infrastructure, expanding access to the NBN and improving mobile coverage. It's a budget that supports small business, and it allows older Australians to keep more of their pension when they work. It has provided more funding and more staff to slash the visa backlog. It is another shameful area of neglect under the previous government that this backlog was allowed to balloon to the level where it is. People have been waiting completely unacceptable amounts of time to get visas approved, and this is something that my constituents raise with me very frequently, so I was very pleased to hear that we are investing that extra money to get extra staff onto that important work. It's a budget that improves our disaster resilience and preparedness. This is very important at the moment as yet again, with floods, we see many Australians battling natural disasters, which is just terrible. And there are investments, of course, to protect our precious environment. Our budget delivers meaningful cost-of-living relief through a five-point cost-of-living plan. A major part of that is cheaper child care, and this was a huge part of our election platform and something that I know families all around Australia, including in my community of Canberra, have been desperately waiting for, because the costs of child care have been rising and rising. Here in Canberra we have some of the highest average childcare fees in the country. So this policy, which will be debated in the Senate in this final fortnight, will deliver more affordable child care to 1.26 million Australian families. It will benefit, I think, around 97 per cent of Australian families, and no-one will be worse off. It's a really important investment and, again, is good for gender equality, because it is usually the woman who decides that she can't increase how much she works, because she simply can't afford it, which in the long term means that she will earn less, potentially leading to a lower income in her retirement. So this is an important part of that as well. Our budget expands paid parental leave to six months, another thing that I know many parents will welcome—to have some extra time with their new baby at that very important time for families. This is another great Labor reform. Labor proudly introduced our first Paid Parental Leave scheme when Jenny Macklin, who I had the honour of working for previously, was the minister for social services. She led that reform, which for many women was the first time that they had access to any paid leave when they had a child. Anyone who is a parent knows just how important that time is for the health of the baby and the mother. It is really important bonding time. This leave can be shared by both parents, which is very important. The Women's Economic Equality Taskforce are continuing to look at how we can ensure that parents are really encouraged to share that, and I think this is an incredibly important thing. We'll look at how this policy can encourage more dads to take more time out when they welcome a new baby into their family. I think that ultimately we really need taking time out of the workforce to be supported and seen as normal for both parents if we are ever going to genuinely achieve gender equality in the workplace. Another incredibly important thing that we are using this final fortnight to do is the industrial relations reforms I mentioned earlier. This is about getting wages moving for Australians who have been waiting too long for a much-needed pay rise. I mentioned earlier that we've managed to secure an increase for aged-care workers, but we need it go beyond sector-by-sector increases; we need to bring our workplace relations system into a more modern era, and we need to ensure people have secure work. We saw through the pandemic just how damaging it can be when people don't have security in their jobs. Increasingly, Australians do not have the secure jobs they had in the past. This is about ensuring people have a job—one that they know will be there to support their families and themselves. Housing is an incredibly important part of our budget as well. It included $10 billion to build 40,000 homes through the Housing Australia Future Fund. We've also committed to doing a long-term plan around a housing and homelessness national strategy, which is so important because these are issues facing our whole nation. Particularly in Canberra we see more and more people facing issues of homelessness and housing insecurity, and we see rising costs of both renting and buying. It is something that really needs the work to go into it to get it right, and I'm really proud our government is doing that. I'm proud to say too that this is an excellent budget for Canberra. Many of the things I've mentioned are the things Canberrans know are important for our nation—investment in renewable energy, cheaper child care not only so more young Australians can access great early childhood education but also so more parents can be involved in the workforce if they want to be—but there are a lot of local commitments we are delivering for Canberra as well. The budget includes $15 million to upgrade the Australian Institute of Sport arena, which I know Canberrans will be thrilled to see operating again, with the sorts of sporting and entertainment events we have missed while that has been closed. It delivers $85.9 million in funding for stage 2A of our Canberra light rail; $5 million to upgrade the Gorman House Arts Centre—again, a much-loved precinct in the ACT that provides an opportunity for community and arts events, and it is really important to get that up to scratch; and $5 million for the Garden City cycle route, which will enable more Canberrans to cycle safely to work. We're also investing to restore Canberra's urban waterways. I was really pleased to work on the proposal for that with our local Landcare groups—volunteers who are out there every weekend looking after our natural spaces—and to support the incredible work they do. We're investing $10 million to build a youth foyer at the Woden CIT campus which will support young Canberrans to combine study and— (Time expired) 17:07 Mr BROADBENT MT4 Monash I rise to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 and the associated bills. I cannot stand today without identifying very closely with those who are suffering down the east coast of Australia, through the enormous floods they are facing in their communities and the damage being done not only to their homes and businesses but to their farms, properties, roads and infrastructure. I am speaking to them now: I want you to know that your local members are drawing to the attention of this parliament your plight and your needs. I see the worry in their faces and I know they're working on your behalf today. I identify with you. I know you've got some struggles ahead of you in the clean-up that you will face once this flood threat has ended, and I know it will be quite a way into the future before you'll be out of trouble, but the sun will shine again, the sun will rise again and you will prosper again into the future. Having said that, I also want to say this place can be a cruel, harsh place. I've said many times it's hard to get into, it's hard to stay here and it's easy to be thrown out. I want to mention the members who were defeated—the former members for Kooyong, Mackellar, Goldstein, Higgins, Hasluck, Curtin, Wentworth and Tangney, all of them good people and good friends of mine. The to-ing and fro-ing, the ups and downs of politics in Australia, throws up some unexpected events. That's what's happened in this case. So I wish every one of those members well and I thank them for their service. It can be difficult. I hope they do what I've done in the past and come back again. I've listed the elections I've been in: 1984, 1987, 1990, 1993, 1996, 1998, 2004, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2022. The last one was probably equally one of the hardest election campaigns I've ever been through. But I do sincerely thank the people who have helped me get through all of those years from 1984 to here, representative of my staff and my family, but particularly in this last election Karlee, Alyce, Stephanie, Alex, Ash, Vanessa and Tanya. My grateful thanks to all of you for carrying me through the last election campaign, when the Russ bus was on the road again. I didn't want to put the Russ bus on the road again, but that was the expectation of the electorate—that the Russ bus would be on the road—and it was. And we were successful, so thank you. You've only known success. Others that have gone before you have known defeat on many occasions—too many occasions. Adding to that of course was Gary Blackwood, Matt, Kaye and Millie McLean. To all of you, thank you for your support during that election campaign. And my family, of course—Bron, Emily, Paul and Evan, who have been there through the 1984 election campaign and every election campaign since. I think the last one exhausted them greatly. Through those times we've had not only the floods that we are experiencing now; we've had fires, drought and COVID. They've all had huge impacts on my electorate. Times of drought have probably been some of the hardest times we've had. We haven't had one drought; we've had a number of droughts. Fires, of course, have torn my electorate to pieces over those years. We've had a number of serious fires in that time. We've had our own floods at different times in our area. The last one, being COVID, was an absolute destroyer and destructor of businesses because of the way it was handled by our state government. I think we had the longest lockdowns of any state in the world. That destroyed and damaged a lot of businesses—people and their operations. And, of course, all those who refused to be vaccinated lost their jobs. That was a tragedy for a lot of people—such discrimination. In that process, political parties play a very important role, and that is my team that carries me through, again. I say 'carries me through' because I mean it! These are the people that do the work in the background for you—the Mary Aldreds, the Wayne Farnharms and the Andrew Ronalds, who chaired my electorate committee through all those times. These are the people that raise the money while we're doing our political jobs. They're the people that pull the volunteers together, the people that man the booths, the people that get out and talk on your behalf. Without them, I wouldn't be here. So I thank them all. I'm sure I've missed people that I should have mentioned in that process, but I thank every one of them. I particularly thank Gary Blackwood, MLA, member for Narracan. I should mention at this point that there has been a tragedy in the electorate of Narracan, where one of the candidates has sadly died. So I just want to tell the people of Narracan that my understanding is that you will still be going to vote on Saturday, but it will be for the upper house only, not the lower house, and a new writ will be issued for an election to be held at a date to be announced. These are the twists and turns of politics. Gary Blackwood, the MLA for Narracan, has just resigned after his tenure as the member for Narracan. Gary has been a very strong and consistent advocate for the industry that he grew up in, the logging industry. He's a fourth-generation logger that went into the parliament to support native logging in our area. It was such an important engine room of economic activity and so important to Victoria. I go all the way back to our regional forest agreements. We came to those agreements, but there are those these days who want to ignore those agreements that took an enormous amount of courage by the Howard government at the time, working with the unions, to come to a place where we could all accept reasonable logging of our native forests, which are a great resource for us. We get some criticism for that today, but I think I will stand the criticism, knowing how important it is that we have our own forest product resources and we're not relying on those resources coming from countries that do not have the oversight and environmental conditions that we have in this country. Over that time, I've seen lots of members come and go in this House—some long-serving members, some very short serving members. I was a 'oncer' twice in this place; that's very hard to do. The other thing I've found very hard in my time in this place is that I've been offside with every leader that I've had, except this last one. We're going quite well at the moment; we haven't spoken yet! I expect to be very supportive of Mr Dutton in his role and of the other members of the opposition. The opposition have a very important role to play. It's to call governments to account. I hope that we will be a diligent opposition in calling the government to account on every occasion, like with these new IR laws. I'm sorry, but they're going to damage small businesses. I live small business. I'm at a small business, a microbusiness. I think at my peak I had 23 to 27 employees. It could have been a few more—part-timers. But we didn't have a big HR department. We just had to work through it ourselves and work with our employees—with our employees—because employees in your business are the gold of your business. You can have the right product, you can have the right display—you can have the best window display you've ever done; you can be an artiste—but unless you've got the staff that can carry you, and I say 'carry you' again, because I couldn't be in every shop that I owned, so I had to rely on good people to communicate with their customers to increase the volume of our sales. That's how we did it—with really good people, working their flexible hours. They were nearly all women, except for a few over the years. But we were entirely flexible. We always paid over the award. And, if someone wanted to start work after the children went to school and leave the workplace before they got home, we accommodated that because they were employees that were worth having. When you have employees that are worth having, you cherish those employees. I think that's what's missing in this whole debate—how important the employees are. To pay good wages, you've got to have a good business. You've got to have a good turnover. You've got to make things happen. You've got to grow all the time. And, to increase your number of employees, you've got to grow your business. That's the only way it works. In this country, small and medium-sized businesses are the driver of the economy. Everybody else can talk about what they do, but, in this country, small businesses are crucial to our health and wellbeing as a nation. Having said that, today is an important time in the parliament because these are the last two weeks of the year that the parliament is sitting. There are a number of issues across the nation that people are considering. I've always said to my own party, and I'll say it again: no matter what political pressure is placed on you, if it's bad legislation you don't vote for it. Even if you're going to suffer political consequences from the two-second grab they're going to attack you with, if you think about the long-term consequences of legislation in this place and you see that it's bad legislation, you should walk away from that bad legislation or at least voice your opinion so the public knows where you stand on any given legislation—even integrity legislation. What? You can't criticise it, you can't touch it, because it's about integrity? Well, this place and the things we do in everyday life are far more complicated, like getting gender pay quality in the workplace. It's not just about saying, 'We'll just make it happen,' because you can't just make it happen, because every family, every woman and every operation is different. People make choices. Women make choices. One of our members mentioned in the other chamber today that she decided to give up her legal practice to look after her twin boys and raise them, and that's what she did. That was her choice. But it does have an effect, a rather large effect, on women as they go through the years. In Australia, one of the largest cohorts of disadvantage is women over 55 becoming homeless, and it's growing. In a nation as wealthy as we are, we have a responsibility as parliamentarians to change that around and have the graph going the other way. So we've got to find a way to make sure that that cohort, because of what's happened in their lives, because of their access to superannuation, because there may have been changes in their lives, because they don't have the access to work—there is age discrimination in this country. You try and get a job when you're over 55 or when you're 60 or 65. You don't even get on the list. And people say, 'Oh, no, we don't discriminate on age.' Of course they do. I've been there. It's hard to get a job when you're in that age bracket and you're not up to pension age. So we have to find new, innovative ways to make sure that that cohort that is dear to us, women over 55—they're part of the generation that has grown this country. They've had the children. They've made things happen. They've volunteered. They've taken their kids to sport. They've done all of those things, and their children are up and running, but then they find themselves, quite often through no fault of their own, in difficult circumstances. So we've got to find new and innovative ways to address that issue. That's one of my passions, and it has been all the way through. I'd love to talk about disability and the NDIS, but I'm not going to have time today. This nation, through its parliamentary representatives, has to grapple with the issues that are important to everyday Australians who are out there in families today, because they're important to us. There's nothing wrong with talking about a nuclear family. There's nothing wrong with talking about mum and dad and the kids. And, if I'm out of order, I'll take the stand: I'm out of order, because I don't care how you describe your family. Whether you're a single mum bringing up a child or you're in a large family with 14 children, we need to focus on those family groups, because they are the basis of our economy. They hold it together. These are some of the cohesive parts of the nation that I've seen since 1984, which I mentioned before, and they have not had the prominence, I believe, since the early Howard years, that they should have had. Thank you. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 230531 I thank the honourable member for his contribution and particularly the part of the contribution where he spoke of his years of contribution to this place. The place is a better place when you're in it, the honourable member for Monash. I give the call to another wonderful member, the honourable member for Fenner. 17:23 Dr LEIGH BU8 Fenner I am pleased to rise to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023, a bill which reflects on the contributions of the Albanese government in taking action on climate change; beginning to make some of the much-needed investments into housing; and recognising the importance of fixing up parts of our education system that are not working as well as they can. This is a budget which deals with some of the rorts and mismanagement that have been locked in under nine lost years of coalition government. It is a budget which makes an investment in Australians' future. I want to talk about much of that, but I want to anchor it in the aspirations, interests and commitments of some young Canberrans. I want to do so through an interesting initiative, the Raise Our Voice Australia initiative. Raise Our Voice is a volunteer-run organisation that seeks to amplify diverse young, female, trans and non-binary voices to actively lead conversations in politics and in domestic and foreign policy. They've asked me to amplify the voices of young people from Fenner by reading their words in this parliament. So I'm going to begin my speech today with speeches from four young Australians, beginning with Amelie Toogood, nine years old. Amelie says as follows: I am Amelie Toogood, age nine, from the electorate of Fenner in the ACT. I would like the new parliament of Australia to pay more notice to leptospirosis, a deadly disease that makes many dogs sick every year. Dogs catch leptospirosis by playing in and drinking infected water. It is currently prevalent in the ACT as well as in New South Wales and Queensland. As of the thirtieth of June this year thirty eight dogs are known to have contracted leptospirosis in Canberra, with twenty seven of them, seventy one percent, having died or had to be euthanised. Amelie goes on: I moved to Canberra in January this year, and last month my dog moved from Cairns to Canberra to live with me. Since my dog, Jasmine, moved to Canberra I have been very worried about her. I am worried because of all the rain increasing the chance of her catching leptospirosis. Leptospirosis is found throughout Australia but it was only recently prevalent in Canberra. As leptospirosis is only new in Canberra many people don't know about it, don't know the symptoms and don't know how to help keep their dogs safe. I call upon the new parliament of Australia to provide greater information to the people of this great nation about and to fund more research into leptospirosis. This information and research will help protect the approximately 5.5 million pet dogs that are loved by families across this country. The second speech comes from Elsie Toogood, aged 11. She begins: I am Elsie Toogood, age 11, and I live in the electorate of Fenner in the A.C.T. I want the new parliament to have courage, courage not unlike activists. Women's rights activists such as Malala Yousafzai, who fought for girls' rights to go to school in Pakistan, and Annie Roiphe, the first-generation feminist and author of Up the Sandbox. Education activists, such as Julia Gillard, Australia's first female Prime Minister, who has devoted herself to educational equality. She is now the Chair on the Board of Global Partnership for Education. Racial equality activists are also an important factor in the world of activists. One of the first Black activists was Philip Randolph who was a labor leader and civil rights activist who founded the BSCP, the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, the U.S. nations first major labor union. Elsie goes on: These people were brave and stood up for what they thought was right. Though they all fought for different things, they all had one thing in common, courage. They would bounce back from challenges and defend their thoughts and beliefs. They all inspire me very much, though all in different ways and I would love to meet any one of them. In summary, I think activists are some of the most brave and courageous people I can think of, and I want to be just like them one day. I want to have the courage to do what is right in this world, and I hope that the new parliament has the courage to use their power for gender-equality, racial-equality and equal educational outcomes for all children in Australia. The third speech comes from Isabella Gooding, age 15. She says: A successful future for Australia is one that improves on the advocacy for human rights. My name is Isabella Gooding, I am 15 years old and I live in Canberra. When I became an Australian citizen in 2020, I was taught about the values of, mateship and egalitarianism. When applied, these principles build a fair and cohesive society. We must face the fact that these principles are not sufficiently afforded to marginalised groups in our nation. There is significant underrepresentation of refugees, first nations people and other minorities. Integration of diversity should be a natural part of Australian culture. Isabella goes on: To bridge the indisputable gap, I propose that an opportunity is presented for marginalised groups to have their voices heard through the Australian Parliament. The raise our voice program provides an opportunity to bring representation of young, diverse perspectives. I believe that parliament should consider engaging in similar processes to hear from other sectors of society that lack substantial representation in the seat of power. The purpose of democracy is to give everyone an equal voice. This can only be achieved through greater acknowledgement of minorities. In hearing diverse voices, we open a pathway to empathy. At the end of the day, parliamentarian or socially disadvantaged person, we are all human. I aspire to see an Australia where mateship and egalitarianism are extended to all. The fourth speech comes from Isabelle Calder, aged 17. Isabelle says: The Government has pledged to create more respectful workplaces, although when watching Parliamentary meetings, there is great disrespect amongst some politicians. My name is Isabelle Calder and I am 17 years old, living in the Fenner electorate. I believe that in order to successfully achieve respectful workplaces in Australia, we need to focus on the role models everyone watches. MPs and Senators are leaders. Leaders for children, leaders for adults and workplaces, and leaders who drive the country we want to become. Isabelle continues: At my workplace we are expected to abide by a formal code of conduct, something Parliament is yet to implement. Respect everyone, do not talk over others, do not yell at others, be tolerant and inclusive, listen to other people's opinions and if you feel the need, respectfully disagree and politely bring up your own point. These are common and quite frankly, bare minimum expectations in the workplace. However time after time I have watched politicians yell at each other, talk over each other and disrespect each other. The leaders' behaviour in our country ultimately sets a precedent, not only for how Australians can treat each other, but also how other countries can treat us. It is time for leaders to have consequences for their poor behaviour as no one is above respect, especially those whose voices are already amplified. I want to thank Amelie, Elsie, Isabella and Isabelle for these extraordinary words, which confirm my optimistic view of the future of the country, especially the role of young women in shaping a better Australia. We do need to shape a better tone for politics in this country. I pay tribute to the work that the member for Newcastle and her committee are doing in order to shape a code of conduct for this place, to change the tone of politics and to ensure a more diverse parliament. It is one of the strengths of this government that, for the first time, a major party has a majority of women in our party room. In the Labor Party room, there are 103 members, of whom 54 are women. That makes a substantial difference to the role that women play in the debates in the Labor Party room. I also want to encourage one other extraordinary woman in our community. Thirty-eight-year-old Susan Marshall, who works at the My Rainbow Dreams cafe in Dickson, recently became the first woman to cross the line in New York in the Sri Chinmoy 3,100-Mile Self-Transcendence Race. That's 3,100 miles, which is a little short of 5,000 kilometres. Susan finished in 50 days and 16 hours, which means that, over that period, she ran just a shade under 100 kilometres a day. The Sri Chinmoy 3,100-mile race has been held for 26 years, and, in that time, only nine women have finished. Indeed, considerably fewer women, and considerably fewer men, have ever finished the world's longest foot race than have summitted Mount Everest, which is why it is known as the Everest of ultrarunning. Susan is from New Zealand, but, as we do with Russell Crowe, we'll happily claim her! I want to acknowledge her and her support crew, particularly Prachar Stegemann, for the work that they did in getting Susan across the line and for inspiring the rest of us runners. I once ran a 100-kilometre race in Canberra with Susan, but now I realise that was literally just a day's work for her. Susan said, 'When people accomplish anything, we also have a recognition that we also have the potential.' She hopes that it inspires others to see that their potential is greater than they might have envisaged. The Appropriations Bill (No. 1) 2022-2023 deals with investments in Australia, including investments in the national capital. After the previous budget, which saw the ACT get just one-fifth of our fair share of infrastructure spending, this budget ensured that the ACT received our decent share of infrastructure spending. The flagship infrastructure project was an investment of $86 million to fund Canberra Light Rail Stage 2A, in partnership with the ACT government. But we also invested $10 million for the Youth Foyer at the Woden CIT campus; $5 million towards the Garden City Cycle Route; $5 million for the Gorman Arts Centre upgrade; and $50 million to reopen and improve the AIS Arena. There will be a new National Security Office Precinct in Barton, which will accommodate some 5,000 staff, new retail and hospitality amenities and new structured car parking around the Parliamentary Triangle, creating thousands of construction jobs during the period 2023 to 2028. You can think of this as business infill in the Parliamentary Triangle, and it will be important in creating more opportunities for people who work in the Parliamentary Triangle to shop and eat close to their place of work. The Albanese government has an entirely different approach to the Public Service to the one the former government had. The former government literally decimated the Australian Public Service, with more than one in 10 public servants losing their job. Our approach is quite different. It's to invest in the Public Service, to scale back on the unnecessary consultants and contractors that have proliferated under the former government. Yes, there will be a place for consultants and contractors, but we need to develop core APS capacity. The work being done by Minister Gallagher, as Public Service minister, is critical in investing in a strong and effective Public Service. We see this in a whole host of agencies, with the removal of the arbitrary staffing cap and the recognition of the necessity of building up professional streams across the Public Service. In the area of visa processing, we are putting more staff into frontline visa processing. We came to office with a visa backlog of one million. We've processed three million visas and now got that visa backlog down below 800,000. But it is a big issue for business. It's one of the top issues that arises in the many business forums that I speak at. We've provided additional funding of $42 million to accelerate visa processing, reduce the visa backlog and raise awareness of opportunities for high-skilled migrants in Australia's permanent migration program. Migration is something that can boost employment opportunities for Australian residents where key workers are coming in. It can boost the economic capacity of businesses. It is absolutely critical to Australia, because all of us except Indigenous Australians are migrants or the descendants of migrants, and the migrant legacy is an important part of Australia's national identity. The budget announced a National Housing Accord which will go a long way to addressing the supply and affordability of housing in the ACT. It delivers $350 million of additional federal funding to deliver 10,000 affordable homes over five years from 2024, on top of our election commitments. A key issue for my constituents in Fenner is climate change. After nine years of inaction, we've enshrined an emissions reduction target of 43 per cent by 2030 and net zero by 2050. The 'restoring the Climate Change Authority' budget measure provides that authority with an additional $42.6 million over four years from 2022 to 2023. We are announcing an annual climate change statement to parliament and increasing transparency around climate related spending in the budget. We are investing $105 million to support First Nations people responding to climate change in their communities; $1.8 billion in strong action to manage the natural environment, including over $1 billion for the Great Barrier Reef. The Driving the Nation Fund will invest in electric vehicle charging stations. We're investing in hydrogen highways for key freight routes. Minister Bowen and Prime Minister Albanese, in international forums, have been sending a clear message to the world: when it comes to taking serious action on climate change Australia is back in the game. 17:38 Mr COLEMAN 241067 Banks We're talking about the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) which, of course, is about the budget, so let's start at the budget. If we look at this year's budget from the Labor Party, what does it say? It says $182 billion of deficits over the next four years. The government's argument is basically, 'A lot of this is beyond our control. There are things happening internationally. Basically it's not our fault.' But the problem with that is that the budget specifically spells out the impact of decisions made by this government to increase those deficits. So it's quite inconvenient for the government, because they basically say, 'It's not our fault. There's nothing we could do about it,' except the budget actually says, 'This is specifically what they did.' It is only measures that are very clearly identified as new government initiatives, so it's quite narrow but it's still $28 billion. It's on page 176 of Budget Paper No. 1. The government's own initiatives are adding an additional $28 billion on to budget deficits. This is a very concerning thing but it's not surprising, because you will recall that during COVID, when absolutely unusual and exceptional measures had to be put in place to save the Australian economy—none more so than JobKeeper—the position of the then opposition on effectively every spending measure was: spend more. That was what the opposition said, and it was about $80 billion worth of additional spending that the opposition wanted the previous government to pursue. You'll recall, Deputy Speaker Georganas, that that included things like, most famously, paying people to get the vaccine. It was billions of dollars in just that one thought bubble. Then of course it also included keeping JobKeeper going and going and going, beyond the point where the situation with COVID required that to occur. So, $80 billion in opposition, and already, in really just a few weeks of preparation of this budget, another $28 billion of additional spending. That's really symptomatic of what this government is about. It wants to spend and it wants to tax, and there is no question in my mind that when we come back here in May the punchline in the national conversation that the Treasurer is so keen to pursue will be, 'Here are your new taxes.' That's where the national conversation is going. But it's quite instructive to have a look back at 2018-19, which was the last budget before COVID hit. What actually happened with the budget outcome for 2018-19 was that it was in balance. There was effectively no deficit, and the accrual accounting for that year actually shows a surplus of about $9 billion. That was the actual outcome in 2018-19. So, that's where the previous government got the budget to, prior to the extraordinary and unprecedented situation with COVID-19. So we got the budget to surplus—actually, a bit better than surplus on an accrual basis—so what's happened since then? What's happened is that this government has very substantially increased spending. If you go back to the 2018-19 budget outcome and compare that with what this government is forecasting for 2025-26, they have an increase in income tax of $99 billion across those seven years. The last I heard, $99 billion is quite a big increase. So, on the notion that tax isn't enough and we need more tax and all that sort of stuff—$99 billion in income tax alone—there's a problem, and that problem is that there is one line item in the entire budget, just one, where the increase exceeds $99 billion, and that is social security and welfare. If you compare 2018-19 with 2025-26, the increase in social security and welfare spending is $101 billion—more than the entire increase in income tax of $99 billion across that period. So, facts matter, and numbers matter. The Treasurer is very big on the vibe and the national conversation, but the numbers matter, and the numbers show that this government is increasing social security and welfare spending by more than $100 billion over that period, which is more than the entire increase in income tax of $99 billion. So we're seeing, in quite a short period of time, from the budget back in April to this budget in October, an increase in spending in that 2025-26 year, three years from now, of $44 billion. So, just in a few months the expenditure plan for that year, which is only three years away now, is $44 billion under this government. We know where this is headed. There's this sort of interesting thing that happens in politics, Mr Deputy Speaker—and you've been involved in it for a little while now—whereby the Treasurer clearly enjoys this notion of a big conversation, and no doubt there'll be lots of round tables and there'll be lots of stakeholders and there'll be lots of grave summits—and working groups, maybe. I think we'll see a number of those over the next six months, and we'll see some very serious and grave press conferences about the grave international circumstances and how difficult it all is for Australia. But it's all a ruse, because it's just about more tax. The government fundamentally believes that it is better placed than the people of Australia to decide how to spend their money. That's the guts of this. So you can have as many national conversations as you want, as many appearances on ABC's 7.30 or wherever they might go, but that's what this is about. That's what we know is happening. It has already happened quite a bit. Already $555 million in this budget for self-funded retirees, who were told before the election, 'No tax increase after the election,' and then $555 million. So you can't say we haven't been warned, and self-funded retirees, many of whom live in my electorate, are very much aware that that's already happened. The numbers of the federal government are so huge that $555 million—one can say it quite quickly. It doesn't sound like it's a lot of money, but it actually is to those people who have saved incredibly hard to provide for their retirement. We know that new taxes are coming, but they're coming in an environment where people are really struggling. That's why the stage 3 tax cuts are so important, because they will mean the vast majority of Australians, more than 90 per cent of taxpayers, only pay 30c in the dollar as their top marginal rate—and that's great! That's a really good thing; it should be celebrated. Why should the average Australian taxpayer be paying more than 30 per cent of their taxes to this building? They shouldn't. That's why the stage 3 tax cuts are so important—and everyone supported them. Again, I recall before the election the then opposition fully supporting those tax cuts, but now it's a little bit wobbly. Quite a lot wobbly, actually. Mr Hogan 218019 It's more than wobbly! Mr COLEMAN 241067 Very wobbly, yes. Sadly, after four or five months of softening up before the budget, it will be goodbye stage 3 tax cuts. There are other things we're also likely to see. I wouldn't be at all surprised to see a proposed increase in the Medicare levy at the next budget, and the argument will be to cover all of this additional spending that the government is pursuing, particularly in the area of social security and welfare. It's really hard for people when interest rates are up. We know electricity and gas prices are going up dramatically—this is the budget appropriations bill; it's in the budget—56 per cent for electricity, 44 per cent for gas. This was new information in the budget because pre-election it was the $275 thing. That was a big thing, and members will recall the now Prime Minister used to talk about it a lot. At the National Press Club, three days before the election, a strong reference was made to $275. It was mentioned 97 times. But after the election it didn't get mentioned at all—it's really weird. In July, the Prime Minister gave a 2,400-word speech to the Australian Financial Review energy forum where he didn't mention the $275 figure one time. It's really strange, isn't it? There's a legal expression that my friend the member for Menzies would be familiar with: 'a consciousness of guilt'. I think that's what we're seeing in the $275 disappearance. You don't talk about something if you don't want to focus on it and if you know you're in the wrong, and that is why that has dropped off the agenda completely. And the now Treasurer talked about the $275 too. Another thing in the budget that concerns me: there are 24 pages that basically say nothing, and this is a new section called the 'wellbeing budget'. It really doesn't say a lot. In reading it, it kind of sounds to me a bit like Treasury itself is reluctant to actually do this. It's very hedged, the way it's written. It's basically some sort of concept of, 'We're going to measure some other stuff, apart from the actual budget, and somehow that will be good.' To which I would say: 'Well, we don't need a wellbeing budget. We need a budget, an actual budget, a budget with substance, a budget that's robust, a budget with granular detail that the Australian people can be confident in.' This wellbeing budget goes through the 24 pages and it sort of culminates in this sentence. It's a difficult sentence to read, but I'm going to do it. It says: The 2023 Measuring What Matters Statement— this is foreshadowed— will be an important next step in facilitating a more informed and inclusive policy dialogue on how to improve the quality of life of all Australians. But we've got to wait until 2023 to get that, and that's not what budgets are about. The other thing in the budget that was a bit of a story for a day or two was about the million homes. It has a grand title. I think it's the Housing Accord, so trying to conjure up images of the accord of the 1980s and 1990s. But basically all the so-called Housing Accord says is, 'We've got some specific initiatives to help build 40,000 homes'—and that effectively involves more government spending—'and we have an aspiration of a million homes over the next five years'. There's no detail at all on how those million homes will be produced. There is some detail, in fairness, for the 40,000, and they come at a very significant cost. But then, when you actually look at approximately how many homes are built in Australia per year—and this is over five years—it turns out there have been a number of years when more than 200,000 homes have been built in Australia anyway. So, the million homes are, broadly, a reflection of what happens in the housing market anyway. I think the game here is that it'll probably be somewhere in the high hundreds of thousands, because it always is, over a five-year period. Then it will be, 'Look we've built our 920,000 homes.' But it's just the intellectual bankruptcy of it. It's very disappointing. The actual measures themselves are very modest. It's just misleading. Then we get the industrial relations piece, which is referred to in the budget. It wasn't referred to before the election and the bottom line here is, why should a business in Bundaberg get roped into something that's happening in Bruny? They're separate businesses. They have their own issues, their own markets, their own problems, their own employees. Why should they be roped into that and potentially be affected by industrial action? They shouldn't. Today they're not, tomorrow they will be, and that's bad. But that's what this legislation does. It takes us back to the 1970s, and not in a good way. It is a very disappointing piece of legislation. Mr Hogan 218019 [inaudible] the bosses! Mr COLEMAN 241067 Well, indeed. The shadow minister says it's the bosses. This is about the union movement. The problem the union movement has is that the private sector has moved away in dramatic numbers from the union movement. It's not so bad for the unions in the public sector, but in the private sector union membership is down to less than 10 per cent. There are more left-handers in the private sector today than there are union members. I can say that; I'm a left-hander, with lived experience as a left-hander. There are more of us left-handers than there are union members. If you're in the union movement, that's a big problem. That's an existential threat. You need to address that by roping more and more businesses in the private sector into the union movement. It's not about wages. It is about bolstering the position of the union movement. Now, I have just 50 seconds to go, but I want to talk quickly about one local issue. Oatley FC and Renown United play at a park called Renown Park. It is the absolute bedrock of our community. More than 1,000 kids play there every Saturday. There's $550,000 in the budget to fix the park, because its condition is appalling. This government still has not provided clarity to those 1,000 players at Renown and Oatley FC. It is shameful. It needs to be resolved. They are great people at Oatley and Renown United. This government must release that funding to allow that project to happen. That's just one example of the many, many problematic aspects of this budget. It's not a good budget for Australia. It means greater debt, it'll lead to more taxes, and it's the wrong budget for this country. 17:53 Ms BYRNES 299145 Cunningham The Albanese government's budget is sensible, and it is right for the times. Our budget has three main tasks: providing responsible cost-of-living relief to Australians, helping people without adding to inflation; investing in a stronger, more resilient, more-modern economy; and beginning the important job of repairing the budget. Childcare costs have increased by 41 per cent over the past eight years, and many people are deciding not to work due to the cost. In 2021, 73,000 people who wanted to work did not look for work due to childcare costs. Australians are also having to choose between vital medicines and feeding themselves and their families. In 2019-20, more than 900,000 Australian families delayed or did not get a script filled, due to the cost. These are people in our communities who are not getting the medicine they need because they need the money to eat or pay their rent or mortgage. For too many Australians it is increasingly hard just to put or keep a roof over their heads. Australians are spending more on housing than they used to. This is particularly true for people on low incomes. Working Australians, the backbone of our great country, driving our economy, serving our communities and caring for our loved ones, are struggling with stagnant wages as inflation continues to rise. A decade of neglect by the previous government has got us into this mess, and, with this budget, the Albanese government is beginning the hard work of cleaning it up. Our five-point cost-of-living plan will bring relief to Australian families in a responsible and productive way. We are making child care cheaper for Australian families. We are making medicine cheaper. We are expanding paid parental leave to six months. We are creating more affordable housing and we are getting wages moving. Labor's policy on cheaper child care will make child care more affordable for around 1.26 million Australians and around 5,700 families in Cunningham. We are doing this by lifting the maximum childcare subsidy rate from 85 per cent to 90 per cent for families with a combined income of under $80,000. Subsidy rates for families earning less than $530,000 will also be increased. This change will improve workforce participation and productivity. It will help improve gender equality and give Australian families some much-needed cost-of-living relief. By reducing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general co-payment from $42.50 to $30, we are making medicines cheaper for Australians. This change reflects Labor's deep commitment to universal health care for Australians. Medical conditions are difficult enough as it is. We do not need the added stress of having to make tough decisions between putting food on the table and buying medicine. We are increasing Australia's paid parental leave scheme, adding an additional six weeks of leave for families, taking the total to 26 weeks by 2026—a full six months. This will give families greater flexibility, with extended leave able to be taken in blocks. It is great for women's economic equality and for the Australian economy. The opposition wants Australians to raid their superannuation to buy a home, sinking their retirement savings. Labor's policies will increase housing affordability and supply, enabling more Australians to buy a home and protect their super at the same time. Our ambitious housing reform includes $10 billion for the Housing Australia Future Fund, which will build 30,000 new social and affordable housing properties in its first five years. The Regional First Home Buyer Guarantee guarantees up to 15 per cent for eligible first home buyers, allowing them to avoid lenders mortgage insurance, with a deposit as low as five per cent. The Help to Buy program will reduce the cost of buying a home. On top of our election commitments, the budget introduces the National Housing Accord. The accord seeks to build one million new homes over five years from 2024—a huge boost to housing supply. We are building a stronger, more resilient economy, with investments in 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education places in 2023 and 20,000 new university places over the next two years, including 936 at the University of Wollongong. We are leading a national push to close the gender pay gap. There is $15 billion for the National Reconstruction Fund for a future made in Australia, and the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation plan to upgrade and expand the grid, unlock renewables and drive down power prices. With this budget, we are investing in Australians. We are taking responsible action to ease cost-of-living pressures, build the economy and repair the budget over the long term. It is only through responsible budget management that we can pay for the things Australians care about and build a better future. The Illawarra has a strong history of manufacturing and heavy industry, and our region is renowned for its beauty, nestled between the escarpment and the ocean. The combination of a strong, working-class history and a stunning natural environment is reflected in the views of our community. We are a region that cares deeply about jobs. We are grounded in the reality that there are bills that need to be paid and families we need to provide for. We also care deeply about the environment; it's almost impossible not to, with our beautiful beaches and rainforests. Our government's budget is great for the region and aligns with these community values. There were many issues that community members raised with me throughout the campaign that our budget is now addressing. Action on climate change was right up there. I commend the work of Minister Bowen, who has set a cracking pace in implementing real action on climate change. Already we have legislated a 43 per cent minimum emissions reduction target by 2030, and we are beginning the work to establish an offshore renewable energy industry in this country, which, it is estimated, will created between 3,000 and 8,000 jobs annually. One of the six potential offshore renewable energy zones announced is in our region. This is an industry that would fit the Illawarra perfectly, but we need skilled workers to fill these jobs. I often hear people speak of the need to create renewable jobs, but very little thought has been given to the training that is needed for these jobs. That is why the Labor Party is the true progressive party in this country. We understand how to make progressive change a reality. We know that it is not enough just to create renewable jobs; we need to train our people to do them—and not just renewable jobs but other vital jobs too, such as in the health and care and education sectors. That's why this budget creates 20,000 additional university places for students starting in 2023 and 2024. Nine hundred and thirty-six of these places have been allocated to the University of Wollongong. These places will train more teachers, nurses and engineers and build our workforce in the areas we desperately need. Our community has welcomed this investment in our local university. An editorial in the Illawarra Mercury praised the $29 million investment. The editorial outlined the need to prepare Australia for a future where engineering and innovation are needed for economic survival, and it welcomed the $29 million announcement. The editorial also rightly noted the benefits these investments give to the broader economy, particularly by training more early childhood educators to free Australian mums and dads to return to the workforce. Other community members identified the importance of our housing reform in meeting the increasing demands of our region. Through the National Housing Accord, we are encouraging the investment needed to create housing supply. Michele Adair, CEO of the Housing Trust, spoke positively of the National Housing Accord to the Illawarra Mercury, stating that they hadn't ever seen this from the previous government. I look forward to working with Michele and the Housing Trust as is the policy is rolled out. Adam Zarth, the executive director of Business Illawarra, also identified our community's critical need for housing, particularly for key workers, when speaking to ABC Illawarra. He noted that our reforms are a big first step to meeting this need. Adam also praised our commitments to renewable energy, pointing out that Illawarra businesses have been battling rising energy prices for too long. He noted that local businesses are also pleased to see our government working to lower the deficit and repair the budget. Business confidence has dipped but, as Adam pointed out, our budget charts a course through these difficult times. This is an honest budget that doesn't sugar-coat the harsh realities. Community leaders in the Illawarra have spoken in support of our sensible and necessary reforms—reforms that will help our region and Australia to better weather the hard times we are facing. Our budget delivers for Australians, and it delivers for communities in Cunningham. I made a promise to the people of Cunningham that I would hit the ground running and I would never let the Illawarra be ignored. When I make a commitment, I work hard to make sure that it is delivered. In this budget, I have secured nearly $14 million for local sporting groups, multicultural and community services, disability services, Wollongong TAFE and the University of Wollongong. Sport plays such an important role in bringing our communities together and keeping us healthy. Local sporting groups are usually run by a dedicated group of volunteers who give their time to organise events and maintain their clubs. This budget delivers nearly $500,000 for sporting clubs in my area. A hundred and fifty thousand dollars will be provided to Football South Coast for drainage works at the Coledale, Wollongong Olympic and Russell Vale clubs, as well as for new fencing at Helensburgh football club. Ann-Marie Balliana, the CEO of Football South Coast, and Daniel Hunter, president of the Russell Vale Junior Football Club, welcomed the announcement and said that the upgrades will enable local volunteers to work with their communities in their own back yard, where previously they were having to use other fields. I know it means a lot to them, and I am thrilled to be delivering the funding that they need. A hundred and twenty thousand dollars has also been allocated to Cricket NSW for new nets at Hollymount Park, Woonona. There is $100,000 for the Corrimal Rugby League Football Club to accommodate the growing number of female players; $75,000 for Helensburgh Netball Club for new fencing; and $40,000 for Thirroul Rugby League Football Club for shelters at Thomas Gibson Park. The University of Wollongong and our local TAFEs are a great source of pride to our region, and thanks to our government's investments they will play a vital role in training our renewable energy workforce. $10 million will go to the University of Wollongong for the creation of an energy future skills centre, and $2.5 million will go to Wollongong TAFE for a renewable energy training facility. This will help put our region on the market as a serious player in the renewable sector. Climate change is such an important issue in our community, and this investment has been well received. We also delivering a community battery for Warrawong and another one in Dapto in the electorate of Whitlam, secured by my good friend the member for Whitlam. Our battery in Warrawong will allow around 500,000 households with solar panels to feed into the battery during the day and draw from it at night, cutting electricity bills and emissions. The community and multicultural organisations in Cunningham are an inspiration, and the funding I have secured for them will help them to continue their important work. $1 million will help the Illawarra Legal Centre continue to help vulnerable people in our community. $120,000 has been granted to the South Coast Portuguese Association for refurbishment of their centre in Lake Heights. $100,000 goes to Bulli PCYC for accessible toilets. I used to attend the Bulli PCYC blue light discos when I was at school, and the toilets haven't been updated since then. It's a great improvement for our community. There is $100,000 for the Bellambi Neighbourhood Centre to refurbish their cafe and outdoor area; $100,000 for the Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation for facility and sporting upgrades; $100,000 for the Wollongong PCYC for refurbishments; $90,000 to Narelle Clay and her team at Southern Youth and Family Services to retrofit homeless and at-risk youth housing services with solar panels and water tanks; and $50,000 for the IMAN Foundation for a new van for community food distribution programs. Some of our local disability organisations are also getting much-deserved funding. There is $100,000 for Interchange Illawarra for new toilets and disability access; $83,000 for the Cram Foundation for a client transport bus; and $70,000 for Greenacres Disability Services for refurbishments. In addition to this direct funding we will be delivering a Wollongong urgent care clinic to help take the pressure off our local hospitals. I care about people, I care about their jobs, and I care about the environment. When I commit to something I follow through. This budget delivers on my commitments to the people of Cunningham. It helps the people in our community and it helps the organisations that serve our community. This is a true Labor budget, responsible and compassionate, a budget crafted for all Australians and a budget to take us forward as a nation. 18:08 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies The Leader of the Opposition was spot on when he began his reply with the following: 'We live in the best country in the world, but for millions of Australians things aren't easy right now.' Cost of living is more than a slogan; it is about the gap between income and prices. That gap is growing. Labor's recent budget is good at detailing problems but devoid of real solutions. Families across my electorate of Menzies are struggling to make ends meet. Everything is more expensive, whether you are paying your power bill, filling up the car or saving for your first home. The average price of fuel in Melbourne today is about $2.10 depending on where you buy it from. Electricity prices are forecast to rise by up to 56 per cent over two years. This is despite Labor promising a $275 cut in power prices 97 times before the election. It is no wonder that families think twice more than they used to. We know that inflation must be brought under control, but we should not forget that this comes at a massive cost to millions of families, many on fixed rates that will expire in the coming months and years. If you look at a heat map of mortgage stress, the western portion of my electorate of Menzies is one of the highest in the country. Given record house prices, it is not surprising that families have stretched themselves to live in our part of the world; it's a lovely place to live. This means that each increase in mortgage, rent, power, fuel and food prices forces families to make tough choices between the things they need and the things that make them happy. For many, this trade-off is paid in lost time with loved ones, as they are forced to work extra shifts or even a second job. Many think twice about school excursions. I noticed that not many from my electorate have come on the school tours here. There may be many reasons for that, but, for a lot of families, it's an extra cost they can't afford. For many, it's a choice about whether their children remain in a sporting team. The World Cup is on this Wednesday morning, and most Australians will turn on the TV at 6 am and watch Australia—the Socceroos—take on France. But soccer is actually a very expensive sport to play. It doesn't have all of the subsidies that AFL and cricket have. For families in my electorate who love soccer—they call it football—those fees are very high, in the hundreds of dollars. Again, as rates rise and inflation goes up, they're some the things that have to be cut. Going to the movies—I hear many families say that they go less than they used to, and they don't know whether they will this summer. We often see the great big blockbusters come out on New Year's Day. Again, there'll be fewer families going to the movies than last year. Christmas and birthday presents will be sacrificed. Families will think twice about holidays, and, for many, the cost of food is going up and up and up. Right now, families are making the real choice on a daily basis about what type of food to eat, and those decisions will be even harder next year. The Albanese government needs to recognise they are not in opposition anymore. They were a very effective opposition; that's why they get to sit over there. But they're not there anymore. They need to take responsibility for balancing sustained growth with ever increasing inflation. I am disappointed to see that there is no immediate relief in sight for families. Between a combination of surging inflation and rising interest rates, average wage earners will be $5,000 a year worse off. Even worse, mortgage holders will on average be up to $13,000 a year out of pocket. This budget fails to deliver not only on a macro level but also on a micro level within particular seats. I've listened to many of my colleagues speak about projects they were expecting to see in this budget, projects they fought hard for, and then, when they opened the budget papers: whoosh, gone, not there. Let me talk about one in my electorate. My electorate is mostly metropolitan, but, on the eastern side, there's Warrandyte/Wonga Park, and that feeds into the suburban areas of Warranwood and Croydon North. There's an intersection called Five Ways. It's called Five Ways because five actual roads intersect in the one spot, and it is packed full of families going to and from school every day. It's full of families, yet it is one of the most dangerous roads in Victoria. In 2021, a young girl in her 20s was in an accident and died later in hospital—totally unnecessary, because it's a road that we know needs to be fixed. I fought hard for election commitments, and I never took my seat for granted. But maybe some people thought it was safe, so I didn't get as many as other seats might have got. But this was one that I got, and I was really proud of it: we got a commitment to fix Five Ways. I'd actually prefer the project to be built over any political gain that could be had. When I heard that my Labor opponent would match it, I thought, 'That's a great thing,' because then, whoever wins, the community would get what they need. I thought this was one of those projects. Residents have been calling for urgent upgrades to this intersection for years; 1,000 locals signed a petition. So, when my Labor opponent was quoted in the local Warrandyte Diary as saying that this would be matched, I was delighted, because I thought, no matter what happens, this project's getting filled. However, after the budget, I went flicking through the budget looking for a commitment to this project, and it wasn't there. I asked for a meeting with the transport minister and, to her credit, she sat down and we had a chat about it and she told me something quite alarming: that the candidate, despite having been quoted in the Warrandyte Diary as saying that this would be matched, had never passed that up through the chain in the Labor Party. It never happened. Let's pretend that that's a good enough excuse—that you require some form to fill in that goes through the party. Well, it's just not acceptable, with a road that a young girl died on and where families face that risk every morning and every evening, to have the Labor Party say, 'You didn't fill in a form, so that community's going to suffer.' I notice that that same candidate is now a state candidate in the same area, in Warrandyte. I hope that the locals, whenever anything is promised by that candidate, ask, 'Are you going to fill in that form?' Will the Labor party be trusted to actually fulfil its promises? That side talks a lot about integrity, but integrity is what you do, not what you say. When we look at what they do, it is a trail of destruction. That is one example in my area that was about saving lives. So Labor has said one thing in my seat and then has done another in practice. There are serious questions for that candidate to answer. Despite viewing young Australians as reliable supporters, Labor has abandoned younger Australians. There is no immediate plan found in this budget to assist with homeownership. For example, a young person who has recently found their way into an administrative role out of university and is renting is far worse off under Labor. It is hard to define a typical young person, but take, for example, a young individual who has recently found their way into such a job straight out of university. The median weekly advertised rents for that person have increased by a historic 4.3 per cent over the September quarter alone, bringing the year-on-year rise to 10.3 percent. In dollar terms, Australia's median weekly rent now sits at $520 for houses and $460 for units. While juggling growing HECS repayments and rental costs, this young person must juggle other immediate expenses. One survey of private sector office administrative workers found that 30 per cent have dropped private health insurance to save money. Again, it's another choice that people are making because of rising costs and rising inflation, and that side bank their support because they think they'll always have it. Well, be very careful what you take for granted. Labor's lack of support will see long-term consequences—in this example, to their health, where people are going without. That places further burden on our public health system, which again has a financial cost. We have to do more as a parliament to help young people own their own piece of Australia. We all have to do more to get young people into their own homes. We know it is a source of economic security. I said in my first speech, standing here, that I want to look young people in the eye and say to them that homeownership is core business for our party. But we have urgent work to do—urgent work that shouldn't just wait for the next time that we have the privilege of sitting on those benches. It is urgent work right now. It was Robert Menzies who spoke in the darkest days of World War II—when there was a myriad of other things to be worried about, including the very existence of this nation—not just of the forgotten people but of their desire for a home into which they could withdraw and where they could be among their friends. That is a universal aspiration for every generation of Australians. So, even though we are in opposition, we're offering constructive solutions. We have recommitted to the super home buyer scheme. We will extend the same opportunity to women who separate later in life—women who have few housing opportunities and are increasingly left homeless. I see this in my electorate. Like many others, I have been to food banks in my electorate run by churches and other community groups. I was at the Vantage Point Church in the east of my electorate, and they were running a food bank. As I left, there were 50 cars queued up to get some basic supplies, and just about every car was driven by a woman who had been separated from her partner or whose partner had died. They were doing their best to pay for the mortgage and the food with one income. I'm proud that our party has got a policy for people in that position, because, again, the security of their home is a way for them and their family to escape poverty. We don't want to go down the path of the United States where giants ETFs snap up vast quantities of residential properties, becoming super landlords. On my declaration of interest I own Vanguard shares. But I am shocked to think that that ETF in the United States owns so much residential property. We don't want that here and we don't want it by a Vanguard or a superfund. We want families owning houses. That's who should be owning houses in this country. We hear a lot of talk about old class divisions, but if you really want to create class divisions in this society, you will have fewer people owning homes and you will have a more superfunds owning them. That is a recipe for class division in this society. If the Labor Party are serious about it, they will not walk down that path and they will join with us in getting more young families into their own homes. The part that our leader spoke about on this side was a tax relief. As he said, your cost of living is interconnected with tax relief. To help you and your families to plan ahead, the coalition believes in a core principle and it's this, that you should keep more of what you earn. Hardworking Australians should be rewarded and the best reward for that is lower taxes. Due to tax relief legislated by the last government, a person earning $90,000 paid $3,000 less tax than they did under Labor, each and every year, and that compounds over time. Stage 3 of the tax cuts will lower tax for more than 10 million Australians. It will simplify our tax system. We know it will abolish the 37 per cent tax rate entirely. It means those earning between $45,000 and $200,000 will pay no more than 30c in the dollar. For someone earning $60,000 a year it means $400 more in your pocket. For those earning $80,000 it means $900 more. For those earning $$100,000 it means $1,370 more. For 95 per cent of workers it means a top rate of no more than 30c in the dollar. The coalition plan means that the top five per cent of income earners will pay 33 per cent of all income tax. The legislated tax plan future proofs people's income that they have worked hard for. We are hearing the whispers again about how this particular tax cut won't survive going forward. Again, don't walk down that path. Stagflation is a concept I hope we don't experience but it's one we should keep one eye out for. I will conclude my last 30 seconds with this: what was the point of it all? We all came back here for a special budget, so why? Why did we come back? Why did we sit through that? To those who tuned in to watch, they saw a set piece event designed to exploit publicity. They saw a new Treasurer enjoy the limelight, stand up and get lots of hugs from his colleagues. But Australians are asked to ask, 'What was the point of it all? Was it just an expensive press release?' 18:23 Mr GORMAN 74519 Perth I will begin by addressing the elephant, or the bowtie, in the room—the penguin in the room—which is that I am not dressed for you, Deputy Speaker, as much as I admire you. Tonight is the night of the Prime Minister's science awards. It's a night where we recognise outstanding scientists, research innovators and science teachers across Australia, people who do so much to secure the economic future of this country. I know everyone in this place who believes in policy based in fact, policy based in evidence, policy based in science will join me in commending the scientists of Australia, 500 of whom it will join myself, the Prime Minister and Minister Husic just a couple of metres that way. I am so proud to be supporting Australia's scientists, because scientists, and all those who help us address the great challenges which we face in this parliament year on year, do so much. As a parliament we are facing huge challenges: climate change; the ongoing pressures in health care, in aged care, in child care—across the care economy; tensions in various regions of the world, including dealing with Russia's unjustified war in Europe. These are challenges on which we seek to bring Australians together, to come up with Australia's solutions, to come up with our response to these challenges and so many more. If you look at the way in which this government has sought to address those challenges, we did not waste a day. If we think back to the first sitting of the 47th Parliament, in the first week alone we introduced 30 bills to act on the pressures that Australians are facing. We worked to tackle the pressing challenges in sectors of need, including making sure that we acted on climate change. Again I reflect on the comments that the Prime Minister made when he addressed the National Press Club. He said very clearly, and this is at the core of this budget and the appropriation bills we're debating now: Our plan is a growth agenda. It is unashamedly pro business but … also unashamedly pro workers. We want an economy that works for people, not the other way around. We saw that agenda expanded again at the Jobs and Skills Summit held in September, bringing people together, trying to find those common solutions—trying to look for the common ground which can actually move Australia forward. It's been a long time since a government has hosted such a summit, and I think we can all reflect that it was indeed a success in terms of building dialogue, strengthening dialogue and strengthening policy outcomes. Bringing people together is at the absolute core of the Albanese government, and this budget again shows that. If you look at the careful balance that the Treasurer, along with his ministerial colleagues, struck in forming this budget, it achieves that targeted cost-of-living relief while also trying to do that delicate balance of avoiding further inflationary pressure in the economy. We see the results. It's giving cheaper child care to 1.2 million Australians, including 6,800 in the Perth electorate, and progressively expanding Paid Parental Leave to six months by 2026—again giving families more time at home and more support in those challenging months with a newborn. It's making sure that, where we can, we reduce the cost of medicines. For those who rely on the wonderful Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme that has existed in some form or another for 75 years, it's making sure that we get the cost of those medicines down—now a co-payment of just $30 per script. There are comprehensive investments in more affordable housing, and new, creative policy solutions to make sure that more people can have a secure place to call home. There is our commitment—which I'm sure we will debate more in this chamber and in the other place—on getting wages moving again. It's recognising that people deserve a fair reward for the work that they do towards our economic growth and also ensuring that there's growth in the wages of working Australians. We also invest significantly in a more resilient economy. There are the 180,000 fee-free TAFE places to make sure that more people can access the wonderful training in our TAFE sector and, where necessary, shift their career from one part of our economy to another with that world-class training. There are 20,000 new university places, ensuring that more Australians can have the benefit of, again, a world-class university education. There are advances on gender equality and steps towards closing the 14 per cent gender pay gap. There are investments in cheaper, cleaner renewable energy and in renewable energy transmission. There are investments to ensure that we can in fact have more domestic manufacturing capability, through the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund. There's a huge investment in ongoing transport infrastructure, including the transformative project in Western Australia of METRONET, one component being the very exciting Airport Line on which I was privileged to ride with the Prime Minister and the Premier of Western Australia when that opened just last month. We've got commitments to expand the National Broadband Network, make sure we do more to help Australians who are on a pension keep more of what they earn if they choose to go back to work, and deliver more funding for staff to slash the visa backlog. This is a good budget. If I look at what it means for my community locally, it means we have secured, finally, the investment in the Aboriginal Cultural Centre—something that will be the west coast's answer to the Sydney Opera House. We've got a Medicare urgent care clinic that will be based near Royal Perth Hospital, ensuring that we take pressure off the hospitals that my constituents and yours, Deputy Speaker Goodenough, rely upon in Western Australia in the Perth metropolitan area. We have commitments for the City of Perth to invest more in its Light Up Perth program and the City of Stirling to invest more in lighting up both its strips; investments to help the City of Bayswater reduce their energy bills and emissions by investing in LED lighting across the city; investments for the town of Bassendean to make sure that the Swan Districts Football Club can operate under the appropriate lights for their men's and women's teams; and investments for the City of Vincent to upgrade lighting at Axford Park. There is so much more of which I'm proud, including our commitment to the Bayswater Urban Forest and our commitment to new playgrounds for the children of Bassendean and further afield. Many have FIFA World Cup fever at the moment, but those of us in Perth will be waiting until we do our bit for the training facilities for the FIFA Women's World Cup next year, which will include the Perth Soccer Club—a wonderful club that has stood in the Perth electorate for decades and will get some much-needed upgrades. We are partnering with one of the official local heroes of Western Australia to deliver funding for Short Back & Sidewalks to expand their operations in delivering services to people who are homeless in Western Australia and, indeed, across Australia. When it comes to other investments, one of the things we know we need to do more of is invest in our river health. For our urban rivers, and indeed the Swan and Canning rivers, this budget delivers on a major package of investment in the health of those waterways: restoration for the Tranby House foreshore; revegetation of the Mainland lakes; and a commitment for the Friends of Bardon Park and the City of Bayswater to make sure we continue the great revegetation work and weed eradication which has been choking up parts of the Swan River. Then we get to one of my loves—play based learning. It's not just about the big visionary reforms when it comes to childcare investment and investing in early childhood education and care for 1.2 million Australians; it's also about the little things, like making sure we can support the Bayswater Toy Library, the Yokine Toy Library, the Bayswater Playgroup and the Yokine Playgroup with new equipment and toys, supporting our youngest Australians to get the play based skills and learning they need, and investing in the future of renewable energy through our commitment to community batteries for Dianella and Bayswater as part of a package of 400 across Australia. I note this is a commitment in this Treasurer's budget but I pay tribute to former Treasurer Josh Frydenberg for the work he did on the Jewish Community Centre and Holocaust education centre that will be in Yokine, in my electorate. This is something which has bipartisan support. I've always recognised the strong bipartisanship that applies to building that centre, something that is much needed in Western Australia. I'm pleased that funding is secured and that construction will soon commence on that really important project. The other thing in terms of communities who have longstanding and proud traditions in the Perth electorate is of course our Italian community. I'm pleased we will be supporting the Italian Club of Western Australia—you and I, Deputy Speaker Goodenough, can attend the Italian Club for a range of community functions; it will be a great host of many community functions for many years to come—and supporting the Australian Asian Association with a new vehicle to transport their members to ensure they can continue to provide such valuable community support. I might start concluding my remarks by noting that I am able to support this budget, and all of us are able to come and put our views on these appropriation bills—and, indeed, every piece of legislation that's put before us—because of the support of so many. No-one makes into this place on their own. I want to say thank you to my campaign team. I can vote for this Labor budget because of them. I also recognise that they are people who tend to be pretty honest with you. They tell you when you're doing well, and they tell you when you can do better. For that, I'm grateful as well. I thank my campaign team who supported me all the way up to 21 May, six months ago today. I want to say a huge thankyou to Dylan, Marissa, Kiani, Aoife, Beth, Daniel, Mike, Ebony, Callum, Megyn and Naomi, who formed the core of that team. They sent me out doorknocking when I didn't want to. They sent me out phone banking when I didn't want to. They also sent me out doorknocking when I did want to. They are all passionate people who believe in the cause of Labor. They recognise that the mission of Labor in government is not to hold anyone back but also not to leave anyone behind. I want to say thank you to the team at party office in Western Australia, led by Ellie Whitaker—someone who I have praised in this place before and who still has a long and exciting career ahead of her—and at the time led by Tim Picton, who has chosen to do what many do after a brutal run leading an organisational wing of a political party and take some respite in the private sector. I want to thank Mark McGowan and his entire ministerial team, including my state parliamentary colleagues. In an earlier time I would have named everyone single one of my federal parliamentary colleagues. Once upon a time there were just six of them. It's a slightly longer list now, so I'll use the last two minutes I've got to instead thank some of those people who genuinely gave up their time to volunteer for the Perth campaign. Thank you to the following: Nadia Turner; Marlene Pool-Deaves; Callum Baxter; Stephen Graves; Nermila Kresoje; Ryan Stewart; Jarrah Duckett; Matteo Rossaro; Gary Giles; Trudi Angwin; Robert Taylor; Lee McGrath; Sophie Styles; Mima Comrie, a wonderful member of the Perth community; Pam Day; Jamie Mawer; Steve Carter; Harry Brooking; Linda Pickering; Superv Bat; Jack Matthews; Andrew Mai; Mark Devlin; Dan Bull; Luke and Nicole Archer; Cam O'Donnell; Veronika Gobba; Cath Allgrove; Joanne Fotakis; Cody Steel; Andrew St John; Adrienne Silsbury; Ann Mills; Carol Seidel—Carol's a gem; I've got to say that; Martina Ucnikova; Luke Hutcheson; Dani Montague; Kerry Lawrence; Kaye Crosswell; Agnes O'Kane; Ivy Chen; Julieanne Bull; Jillian Innes; Glenys Addy; Anthea Matthews; Michael Thorn; Joy Nichols; Marisol Nelson; Brenda Higham; Barnaby Sullivan; Peter Mudi; Geoff Parkinson; Brendan Jackson; Tatyana Ignonina; Kerren Hughes; Haeden Miles; Melinda Perks; Tim Dymond; Divij Gupta; Bobbie Oliver; Sophie Farrell; Nyat Mulugeta; Jud White; Andrew Lee; Naomi Schneider; Kiara Wee; Tommy Meagher; Evia Aringo; and Roman Booth—just a fraction of the many people. Like anyone in this place, whatever their politics, I know that we don't get here alone. Once again, I say thank you to all those who supported me and allowed me to vote for this first Labor budget. 18:38 Dr GILLESPIE 72184 Lyne I rise to give my analysis of the critical parts of this first Labor government budget. All around, there are so many programs that are cut-and-paste copies of initiatives that the former coalition government brought through in our former budget, particularly in the aged-care space and in the Health portfolio. I guess I could reiterate that well-known phrase that the best form of flattery is when people copy you. There are some pleasing things. During the campaign we announced some initiatives in the rural and regional healthcare space which were critical for the growth of the rural healthcare workforce. That is the most outstanding issue in rural healthcare. There are not enough nurses and doctors in rural areas of Australia. There is a huge vortex of activity that drags away a lot of health professionals—and other professionals, I might add; it's also engineers and lawyers, and pharmacists, physiotherapists, speech therapists and all other health professionals. It takes a village of professionals to get a good health system. But the most glaring thing is the lack of medical practitioners who are, first of all, going into general practice and, secondly, going into rural general practice. That's why we focused on the rural general practitioner initiatives. Leading up to the last election, following our budget, we had announced a $143 million package. There are tiered financial incentive payments delivered in this budget, like the then opposition, during the campaign, said they said they would deliver. Just so people know, these were policies that we had worked up and funded in our last budget and that we advocated for in the election campaign. There is $74.1 million going into workforce incentive payments in a tiered fashion so that the doctors and the practices that are more rural and remote get more. For those of you that don't know what workforce incentive payments are, they are payments paid in arrears for services that medical practices deliver. It encourages better behaviour. We had already announced the bulk-billing incentive, which was tiered towards the more rural and remote areas. This is a way of getting better payments for doctors working in rural and remote areas. There was $29.4 million allocated to this out of the tiered incentive payments. We have three extra rounds of the innovative models of care program, which allows incentives to be paid to sign on young GPs into rural practices as well as other initiatives to network them and get hub-and-spoke models and innovative models that we had identified in other innovative models of care in rural New South Wales. Rural generalist training is advanced general practice training. There is a particular model of rural generalist training which I know the RACGP is now copying from the august College of Rural and Remote Medicine; it has a very specific rural generalist program. Those two curricula will now mimic one another, not as a result of this budget but because they have decided that's a good system. This budget, like in our announcements, is to deliver another set of funding for extra places in the rural generalist program, which requires GPs being employed in hospitals so they can learn anaesthesia and so they can learn obstetrics. But GP trainees have to compete with the big specialist hospitals, which get a lot of those spots. So the only way we can get them a look-in is to actually fund those positions that are dedicated to rural generalist training. In the last government we started the concept of having a single employer during general practice training, and we plan to expand that, because many people in salaried jobs in hospitals are very loath to leave the security of a salary with all the added benefits like maternity leave, holiday pay, superannuation payments—all those other conditions that you get with salaried employment in public health. When you become a general practice registrar you lose those and you take a pay cut, and they wonder why only 15 per cent of med students plan to go into general practice. That's why it was so important to increase the payments for rural GPs, and I'm glad that the assistant minister responsible honoured their commitment to bringing in these programs, but I would have liked more volume in that assistance. You would also realise that there is a general shortage of general practitioners. We set up the distribution priority areas to favour areas outside the major metropolitan centres, because, whilst there is a shortage of doctors everywhere, the worst shortages are in rural, remote and regional towns, where it's not a question of having to wait a long time to get into a general practice; there are plenty of towns that don't have a general practice, or they're down to their last GP, which also affects the hospital. That's why we wanted this innovative model of care, where the hospital employs the GP, and they work in the hospital but they also work in a general practice. That way, they get all the certainty of a salary, but half of what they bill in the medical centre goes back to their single employer, which is the state government public hospital. That way, they don't think, 'Wow, if I go into general practice, I lose maternity leave, holiday pay, superannuation and all those things.' When you go into general practice, you've got to organise those things for yourself. So it's no wonder people are voting with their feet and choosing a specialty, because they see it as a higher-status, higher-pay part of the profession, and, if you do specialty training, you're staying in hospitals, with all those benefits. There is a lot more work to be done in that. I was pleased to see that there were new places allocated to James Cook University for a rural clinical school and end-to-end training based in Townsville, and they're going to expand into Cairns. That was part of our policy too, so, again, the government have copied good policy, and I give them credit for it. But our policy wasn't for just 20 more places; we were going to allocate 80, across other rural portfolios. I put the Minister for Health and Aged Care and the assistant minister on notice that I expect them, in their next budget, to deliver the other 60 places—which aren't mentioned anywhere here—to the other rural clinical schools that we set up, so that they can have more end-to-end, in-the-country training. We know that, if they train in the country, they're more likely to stay there. If they're there for four or five years rather than just a three-month or a six-month rotation, that becomes the focus of their life, and you actually get better training when you're training in these big country hospitals. One thing I wasn't happy about was the change to the distribution priority areas. They've made it open slather. Previously, doctors who were coming to work in Australia had to work in distribution priority areas in the country. Now there'll be some people who have come from overseas to work who will hightail it into the cities, and they'll just be another number in the cities. Outer metro is a very difficult area to staff as well, but I don't think cannibalising country towns of GPs is a good solution. The trick is to get more into general practice as a whole. Other initiatives in this budget included more university places. Hello? We announced that in our last budget. They've made out that this is a big new initiative, but we were already doing that, also focused on rural places. We knew that there was a skill shortage. We had over 150,000 extra low-fee or no-fee TAFE places over three years. They've just added another year and put the same amount in and made it look like they're giving a whole lot more. So there is a bit of smoke and mirrors happening here. We all know we need more tradesmen. In fact, trade skills are a really important thing that the states need to support and we need to support, and we had all those incentive programs in place to subsidise the cost of first-year, second-year and third-year apprentices so that more employers would take them on. Anyone who has run a trade related business knows that your first-year apprentice doesn't really deliver a net positive cash flow, because you've got to supervise them, and they're slow. But, once they get into their second, third and fourth years, then they're not a burden on you, and you're growing your own replacement for your business. So we need more apprentices. The former Minister for Health and Aged Care oversaw an amazing increase in cash going into the aged-care system. We allocated $17 billion, and we set up a new funding model called the Australian National Aged Care Classification, or AN-ACC, system, as opposed to the Aged Care Funding Instrument, which was being gamed and wasn't reflecting the extra costs of remote care, complex care and high-needs care in aged care. There are many institutions that, since 1 October this year, will have been benefiting from that. That accounts for a lot of this so-called extra funding that the new government has put in. It was decided in previous budgets; it's just that it's only now maturing. A lot of these things, as I said, are actually good because they're exact copies, plus a few changes of title and names, and they're claiming the credit for it—no more comments on that. The other thing that is really disappointing in this budget is that we in the National Party had secured $20 billion of extra funds for regional development. We argued and won the case for huge investments in Darwin and in Central Australia, for sealing east-west roads through the brown plains of western Queensland across into the Northern Territory and over into the Kimberley because with that east-west link we want to connect all these corridors where the wealth of the nation is going to be developed. But unfortunately those opposite think that anything outside a capital city—like Paul Keating said, in Australia, if you're not within 20 kilometres of the CBD, you're camping out. And who on earth would want to build a road that hasn't been graded for 10 years? Well, it's a circular argument. Part of the reason a lot of these roads are needed is that they carry hundreds of millions of dollars of produce and wealth for the nation. They may not have hundreds of thousands of people, like you have in cities. If you're just going to put your money where there are lots of people, we will never develop and we would never have developed regional Australia, which is where most of the wealth of the nation is created. Our tourism product, apart from the Harbour Bridge and Parliament House, is basically rural Australia. Our beaches up and down the coast, Ayres Rock, the Great Barrier Reef, the Kimberley, the goldfields, all those adventure locations—most of them are in regional Australia. We had programs for tourism roads, for beef and cattle and mineral roads. They weren't just for the odd remote agricultural business. But the huge amounts of money they earn for the nation involve transportation costs. That's why we were developing the Inland Rail—so that the cost of freight for products from the farm and the factories could get off the highways and through to ports. That's why we were supporting taking the Inland Rail not just to Brisbane but up to Gladstone. It was going to be great. But all those things seem to have just gone off the radar, as well as really useful programs such as the Building Better Regions Fund. It's really disappointing to hear that all those regional wealth-developing funds—they weren't bankrolling; they were just catching up with the huge investment that's been ploughed into our cities for the last 200 years. The reason we got to be wealthy was because we developed our nation, and that is why we in the National Party argued for it. If the Labor Party want to really make their mark and be respected, they'd put that money back in. They've got the opportunity at their next budget, and we'll wait and see and make sure that they do things that develop things outside of metro Australia just as much as they do inside metro Australia. 18:53 Mr BURNS 278522 Macnamara I am very pleased to rise and speak about the appropriation bill. This is a great Labor budget, and I'm proud of our Treasurer and finance minister and the entire economics team of the government, too, who worked extremely hard to put this budget together. It comes as Australia faces difficult economic circumstances and Australians face real pressures in the cost of living. Australians right now are facing high inflation. At the moment unemployment is low, but for a decade we had low wages as a deliberate design feature of the Australian economy, and that resulted in Australian families and Australian workers having wages being outpaced by the cost of living and by the cost of doing business in this country. Thankfully, after a decade where nothing was done about it, our government is getting wages moving again. Of course, you can't point to a single measure of the previous government when it comes to wage increases in this country. There is not one measure where those opposite, in their almost decade in government, did a single thing to increase the wages of the Australian working people. That changed as soon as we got into government. Obviously the first thing the Prime Minister did was put in a submission for an increase in the minimum wage. We supported a wage increase for aged-care workers, and of course we have the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 that hopefully will get through this parliament in time for a Christmas wage increase for Australian workers. Those are the difficult circumstances in which this budget arises, so it is important that we align fiscal and monetary policy to make sure that we aren't making high inflation harder for longer. This budget is responsible. It banks a lot of the increases in revenue to ensure that Australia has the capacity to support Australian people long into the future or in the next situation. It also took some pretty big and responsible fiscal decisions around the sort of expenditure that we want to make. There's over $20 billion in this budget for reallocated or ceased programs of the former government. Take my electorate, for example, in Macnamara. The previous government allocated $15 million to build car parks near a train station. The only problem was that they didn't talk to either the state government or the local council. Had they had a simple phone conversation and picked up the phone, they would have found out that the $15 million that they'd allocated for the Balaclava car park fund was actually for land already designated for social housing. There are countless and countless examples of the previous government making budgetary decisions in their political interest, not in the interests of the Australian people. We have taken a big pen through the budget, line by line, examining it and making sure that we end the rorts and end the waste. The other big decision we made and the other big reallocation of funds was to ensure that the federal government and the federal budget are allocated to and focused on investing in renewable energy. The previous government fought renewable energy and still fights renewable energy to this day. They put too much stake in carbon capture and storage, a technology that isn't the answer. They put too much stake in their so-called gas led recovery, something that wasn't going to produce the energy or the jobs of the future in the way that renewable energy will. Of course, now they're on their crusade about nuclear energy, which is a whole other story. We'll come back to that another time. This budget has the biggest allocation towards renewable energy or the facilitation of renewable energy in our country's history. There is the $20 billion Rewiring the Nation fund, the single biggest piece of public infrastructure that's going to connect up different parts of new renewable energy to the grid. We've already seen a great deal done between the Tasmanian government, the Victorian government and the federal government on the Marinus Link, to bring renewable energy from that small island off the coast of Victoria up to the mainland, making sure that Tasmania stays connected and that Tasmania can benefit from their huge capacity to generate renewable energy. There are a lot of naysayers on that side of the House who say that 100 per cent renewable energy can't be achieved. Well, Tasmania's already achieving it. They're already there. And, over coming years, they'll start exporting clean renewable energy into the mainland, and we are ready to welcome Tasmanian energy as well as invest in some major bits of renewable energy infrastructure. One of the best days of the campaign was when the Minister for Climate Change and Energy joined me in Southbank to announce that an Albanese Labor government will deliver a community battery in Southbank, right in the top corner of my electorate. That was budgeted for in this budget, to deliver a community battery. The reason why it's so important and why we're doing it in Southbank—Deputy Speaker, you'll be interested to hear—is that a lot of people living in apartments don't have the ability to put solar on their roofs, and so the solar that will be fed into the battery will be able to be utilised and extracted by local Southbank families. I'm expecting this to be an oversubscribed program. I'm expecting that in the future there are going to be a number of community batteries right around the country, but I'm very proud that the Albanese Labor government will deliver 400 community batteries, and one of those will be in Southbank. I'm already in discussions with the minister about the next round. We're ending the previous government's rorts, we're fighting to lift wages, and now I want to take you through some of the other fantastic local programs and projects that we've got in my electorate of Macnamara. In Macnamara, one of the iconic parts of my electorate is the magnificent Albert Park Lake, where we have the Formula 1 zooming around once a year, which does obviously attract a lot of attention. While I know that there are mixed feelings locally around the community about the Grand Prix, the truth is that a lot of local businesses benefit from having hotels full and restaurant bookings up. There is another side of this that does actually help a lot of the local businesses in my electorate. But one thing has been missing over a long period. Sprinkled around the Albert Park track is the home of one of the most incredible community sporting precincts in Melbourne. There are ovals, soccer pitches, basketball courts, running tracks and baseball fields. There's a whole network of community sport, and, frankly, for too long that community sport has gone underfunded. So we made a commitment to work with Parks Victoria and with the state government, who are the custodians of that piece of land, as part of their broader master plan to help fund and make sure that people, especially young girls and other females who are playing community sport at Albert Park, have appropriate sporting facilities, appropriate change rooms and other things. We're going to do some planning work, and I'm working with the sporting association and other great, wonderful local organisations on the rollout of that commitment. It's going to be a really excellent part of Albert Park once we complete that work, and, hopefully, there'll be more to come. The job won't be done, but it will hopefully make a big start and benefit a lot of the wonderful sporting organisations in Macnamara. I thank the minister for trade, who joined me on the campaign trail to help kick a footy around Albert Park and announce that commitment. One of the proudest election commitments that we made, which is also funded in this budget, is around the Yalukit Willam Nature Reserve. This is a project in Elwood. It's right on the border of Macnamara and Goldstein, where there used to be a golf course called the Elsternwick golf course, or, as we locals liked to call it, Royal Elsternwick. It was a funny little nine-hole course that, unfortunately, like many inner-city golf courses, was a little bit compact and probably had had better days. There was a whole big community process where the community was asked: 'What do you want to do with the land? What should go there in place of the golf course?' What came out of it resoundingly was that the people of Elwood and the surrounding suburbs wanted to create a really unique nature reserve that was about gifting back to the environment one of the largest pieces of land inside Melbourne. What has occurred there since—the vision for this nature reserve and the work that's already started—is around planting indigenous plants to provide safe habitats for local wildlife. We're already seeing the naturalisation of the park as well as some really brilliant ecological design to bring back wildlife and to help give back to the environment a huge piece of land. In fact, I think it's the largest piece of land in an Australian city to be given back to the environment ever. It's extraordinary, and I encourage people to come and have a look. I have been working with the member for Goldstein on this; we share a border on it, and I want to thank her for her collaboration with this. We're working through the details. Our commitment of $10 million for the Yalukit Willam nature reserve actually comes off the back of the previous member for Goldstein, who committed $5.5 million. It is a huge piece of land and it will require every cent, but the $5.5 million from the previous government and our $10 million commitment combined with the efforts of the local council, Bayside City Council, will mean that this will be an extremely special place. I may not be in this place when all of the flora and fauna is at its full strength and all of the trees are at their full height and all of the local wildlife has a sanctuary there upon its completion in decades to come, but I'm very proud to be starting this. I'm proud of our commitment to that area and I'm looking forward to delivering that project with a number of local community groups. There are other commitments we've made that will be funded as part of this budget. We are going to deliver one of the Medicare urgent care clinics in and around the Alfred Hospital. The Alfred is truly one of the great hospitals in Australia. The staff at the Alfred are extraordinary. This clinic will be in and around the suburbs of the Alfred. It will be bulk-billing clinic and hopefully some of the people who would currently present at an emergency department will be able to access a GP clinic and get the potentially preventative care that a good GP clinic can provide as well as the medical support that they need. We're also going to be delivering a headspace in South Melbourne. We have made a number of other commitments to some of our local multifaith groups. The Hare Krishna temple in Middle Park—if you ever want a good meal, go down to the Hare Krishna temple where they will provide you a vegetarian meal with a good bit of chutney spice. Honestly, that is one of my favourite things to do in my electorate and I'm getting a little bit hungry now just thinking about it! We're very proud to make a small contribution to the Hare Krishna temple. They do incredible work. One of their philosophies is that they want to feed people within a 10-kilometre radius of the temple. No matter who those people are, if they're hungry the Hare Krishnas will feed them. It's a beautiful, simple concept and I'm proud that we're going to give a little bit of money to that. The other one is the Baha'i Soul Food program. The Baha'is are a very peaceful group of people who are discriminated against right around the world, especially in Iran. They have a wonderful local community in Macnamara, and I am very proud to know them. I've also had a number of meals with that community! We're proud to support their Soul Food program. We'll also be making a contribution to the St Kilda synagogue. They have a beautiful dome and a few other things that the state government is supporting them to do, and we're going to support some of their community infrastructure as well. So there are lot of good things happening in Macnamara. We made a number of election commitments, and I'm really looking forward to delivering them. This budget is responsible. This budget builds on our election commitments that we made, and the Australian people gave us the real privilege of being in government to try to help deliver on them. And this budget also aligns fiscal and monetary policy to try to ensure inflation is brought down as quickly as possible. It complements our work to increase wages in this country. It is the budget that Australians need, and I'm proud it's the budget we are delivering. The first Labor budget in over a decade; hopefully, we will have many more in the decades to come. 19:08 Mr HAMILTON 291387 Groom What a joy it is to be following the member for Macnamara and his comments, and I acknowledge his gracious acknowledgement of the work of the previous number for Goldstein in getting that project delivered. I would like to start my contribution with some reflections from local constituents. On Sunday I was lucky enough to have a barbecue with quite a few local business owners, small and large, from my community. It was a good opportunity to talk about the state the nation, as often happens when you find yourself in these environments, and to speak quite openly with people who have skin in the game when it comes to the state of the economy. Amongst the group there were builders, restaurant owners and healthcare providers. Whilst they all told the story of the challenges they were facing, what became clear and what crystallised in the conversation was a fear that the inflationary pressures that we are seeing are already driving us towards that much feared wage-price spiral that we all desperately want to avoid. There was talk about chefs who were paid $50,000 only two years ago now getting $90,000; of formwork prices going up by 60 per cent during the tender period, mostly from the construction guys; and of healthcare providers simply being unable to keep up with the demands on prices that people were getting in other industries. There was a clear consensus across all of these industries that we're seeing that increase in costs being passed on directly to the consumer. We're describing the intricacies of inflation happening right in front of our eyes, and it's very scary. That is the challenge that we face today. This is the context within which we're discussing the relative merits of this budget. We are in a time of high cost-of-living pressures. Inflation is rising and interest rates are going up. Across the board, this pressure is being felt. This budget makes for a very good op-ed by the Treasurer; it's full of excellent commentary on the problems that we are faced with across the country. In fact, if we look at the whole commentary and delivery of this from the government, we see they spend a lot of time admiring the problem but not as much time addressing it. I guess when we talk about this budget being a missed opportunity, that's the context we're seeing it in. There are significant pressures being faced by Australians in almost every area in which they turn. And we need to see that plan. So it is with some regret that I say to the people of Groom that there's very little in this budget for them, which is unfortunate. We've been an area that previous governments have been very, very happy to invest in. They know that every dollar invested in Groom gets returned. We see that not just in public investment but in private investment. During the last term of government we put in $1.2 billion for the Toowoomba Second Range Crossing, a great piece of infrastructure. It took 18 sets of traffic lights out of the delivery of produce from west of Toowoomba going towards Brisbane—a significant increase in transportability to the port there. With Inland Rail, there was $5.1 billion to be spent in the seat of Groom. It's a fantastic project that I will speak more about later. This is an area that is growing. The area of Highfields is absolutely booming. People are flocking to our region and investing. It's unfortunate that we're not seeing that. The headline summary for this project is, of course, that all the things that households, whether in Groom or across the country, are worried about are, unfortunately, still going to happen. The cost of living is going up. Energy prices are going up. Unfortunately, despite a strong campaign by the government, what we see in this budget is confirmation that real wages will not be going up. This will make things very hard. I reflect back on the election and the commitments that Labor made on real wages, on mortgages and on energy prices. I think they made these commitments because they knew that these were concerns that Australians were facing; these were the very real challenges being felt by families, by households across the country. When elected there was an expectation that these things would be dealt with. It's difficult to see this missed opportunity. By Christmas, we can now see that the average household will be $2,000 worse off. Sadly, there's no plan to address that in this budget. Unfortunately, it's going to hurt most those who are doing it toughest. It wasn't that long ago that I was with the member for Toowoomba South in my electorate, at Southtown shops, talking to John Wilson. One of the things he was describing was how customers were coming in and asking if he stocked the same product in a smaller size. They were actively seeking ways to reduce the cost-of-living pressures that they were facing. That's in an IGA. It's a common experience throughout my electorate—people trying to find ways to reduce those pressures. I guess this is where we get to the much-talked-about $275 reduction in electricity prices that was raised 97 times prior to the election. There was an acknowledgement by the then opposition that their ambitions towards changing the energy sector in Australia were to be balanced with the reduction in energy costs felt in the hip pockets of Australians. What's very unfortunate in this budget is that we see that not only is that not going to happen; the reverse will be happening. We will see power bills go up by more than 56 per cent over the next two years and gas bills go up by 44 per cent. This is a broken promise, unfortunately, and one that comes at a very hard time for Australians. I take this back to the opening comment: a budget can only address the challenges of the day, and what Australians are looking for is for the government to address those challenges. Unfortunately, we're going to have to wait another seven months or so, until the next budget, before we can hope to see some sort of solution from the government addressing these pressures. I'm going to reflect on what the previous speaker talked about in far greater detail; I want to touch on it. Unfortunately, this budget has an element of a paper shuffling exercise to it, particularly when it comes to renaming programs that the former government had put in place. I speak particularly about the Building Better Regions Fund. In my area, this was a fund that had a very strong track record of delivering for communities. I could reflect upon the renovation work done for the Soldiers Memorial Hall in Toowoomba that's coming very close to completion now. This was a great public asset, a beautiful building right in the heart of town, that had fallen into disrepair. It was largely unsafe and unsuitable for use, but, thanks to this fund, the Toowoomba Regional Council were able to apply to the Building Better Regions Fund to fix up this historic hall and were awarded $2 million towards the $4 million renovation program. This is a great example of a regional town, a regional asset, being bettered by the use of this fund. In the most recent round—round 5—I was also proud to announce funding for stage 1 of the Darling Downs Health Museum, to be built at the Baillie Henderson Hospital grounds. The museum would be housed in the heritage listed medical superintendent's house at the site and feature important items from our region's medical history, preserving them for future generations. We have a long and proud history of being a strong health hub in our region. It's a history we would like to see continued. Sadly, the Treasurer scrapped the program midway through round 6, and that means that community groups in my electorate, who'd worked hard to put in their applications, have been unceremoniously dumped from consideration. Projects that were very deserving of funding are now on ice until Labor gets its replacement program, which is called Growing Regions, up and running next financial year. Building Better Regions is now Growing Regions; I'm not sure what the improvement on that is. This is politics for the sake of politics, and it's left, quite frankly, a nasty taste in the mouth of those community groups who are back to the drawing board who had done all that work. I look forward to helping them through the next stage. There are two very important points I want to speak about that I had hoped to see from this budget: firstly, the Railway Parklands project; and, secondly, Inland Rail. I will start with Inland Rail. This is a fantastic project for our region. The Inland Rail project isn't just running some train line past Toowoomba. What Inland Rail does is establish us as a transport and logistics hub for South-East Queensland. As produce is brought up south along that line and distributed into South-East Queensland, we grow; we benefit. As South-East Queensland grows, we will grow off the back of that. This is regionalisation in action. This is a project that takes work that would otherwise be done in Brisbane and brings it out to Toowoomba, and it really gives us a new economic edge: jobs, growth, prosperity. But it's more. It's 900 jobs during construction—absolutely a key part of Toowoomba's future. Sadly, from the budget we're very unclear on when this will be delivered. I place this budget within the context of the broader review that the government are bringing in. In my area, this is the eighth review on the inland rail project—eight reviews. I'm adamant that we need to see this project delivered. We need time lines on when that funding will come through so that we can have some certainty on the delivery of this. It has been a long time waiting. Since I've come in, in my nearly two years, I've been a very strong advocate for seeing the rubber hit the road on that project. I'm hoping that in the next budget we'll see a commitment of when that money will be coming forward. The second project is the Railway Parklands project. I think this is one that is absolutely a missed opportunity, because this project is not just a beautification project. This is a project that addresses one of the key issues we're seeing around the country, which is housing availability and affordability. What this project does—and it was chosen for this very reason; I supported it and I fought for it for this reason—is that it brings medium-density housing into the heart of Toowoomba's CBD. This is so important, because it is how we're going to get that foot traffic through the CBD to support our city traders, and it's how we're going to grow and be able to invite in the young professionals we need. I refer back to members who spoke previously about the challenges we face in regional communities in attracting particularly GPs out to our area. The housing options that we have available are so crucial for us to be able to do that. A project like Railway Parklands is absolutely spot on, addressing the issues of the day. Sadly, again we don't have any detail whatsoever on when funding for this project may come through, and I think this is an absolute missed opportunity. This is a regional centre that has the opportunity to grow. We've got great projects that have come through our area. What we need now is the housing availability so that we can build and grow off the back of those opportunities. I will talk to one bright spot, and that is the trailblazer program, a $50 million investment made under the previous government and honoured by the current government, for the Innovative Launch, Automation, Novel Materials, Communications, and Hypersonics hub, otherwise known as iLaNCH, at Uni SQ. This is a fantastic project. It's bringing into a regional town a whole new world of space engineering, a whole new industry—something you wouldn't have expected to see in a regional setting like that 10 or 20 years ago. This investment is crucial for us to continue our growth and continue the offering that we have not only to the young professionals who are out there seeking to develop themselves in this space but also to young children who are coming through and looking for a new pathway. So, that is one bright spot that I will speak to on what is otherwise, unfortunately and sadly, a very disappointing budget, particularly for the people of Groom. 19:24 Ms SCRYMGOUR F2S Lingiari I rise to speak on the recent federal budget. It was the first Labor budget in 10 years and reaffirmed to me just how important for the Northern Territory a Labor government is. This budget is particularly important for my home in the Territory. After 10 years of waste and neglect, the former government left our budget balance in tatters, with huge debt and nothing to show for it. Cleaning that mess up is no easy job, especially as we face the headwinds of national and global economic challenges. The economic outlook we inherited was bleak, but it now falls to the Albanese Labor government to navigate this environment. I am glad we have the team we do handling our economy and working to build a better future. I want to speak a bit about what this better future looks like for people in my electorate. I cannot overstate just how beneficial this budget will be to communities back home. Cheaper child care will mean that families and working parents will have much-needed cost-of-living relief. It will mean that parents who want to get back to work can; as a mum who was raising children while trying to maintain the household budget, I know how important that is. Getting back to work isn't always just about extra cash that makes meeting payments all that much easier; it also gives people a feeling of agency and determination. For many people across the country, particularly women, this needs to be highlighted. For those on the other side of raising kids, for parents of newborns: this budget has you at its heart. Taking time off to raise our children is not a luxury; it is a necessity. These early months are crucial to our young ones but also extremely special times for our new parents. They aren't easy times with the lack of sleep. Keeping the house clean and juggling life's tasks is nothing short of a full-time job. The last thing new parents want is to be stressed out about money and getting back to work. We know how hard our parents are working to raise their kids. This is why the federal Labor budget will help alleviate that stress. We are extending paid parental leave and also making it more flexible. This means parents can share the caring load. This will benefit all our parents and carers, but, again, it's that extra mile for the women of Australia, who for so long have juggled the bulk of carrying the load in many cases. And it is not just child care and raising kids that this government is making cheaper and easier; it's buying medicines, too. This budget will make it cheaper to buy much-needed medicines. For too long we have heard that people have simply not been taking their medicines because they cannot afford them. This is true for many communities in Lingiari which are hard-pressed with the cost of living at the moment. This measure will save 30 per cent of the cost of a prescription. This is putting more money back in their pockets. The people of Australia voted for a better future, and the Albanese government is putting in the hard yards to make sure that happens. A key part of that better future is making housing more affordable. We know how hard it is to get into the housing market right now, especially for our young people. For too long the call for more government support for housing has been unanswered. It was an honour to sit in this House as the Treasurer announced the historical Housing Accord, which will see one million homes built across Australia. The federal government, working with all our states and territories, is stepping up to the plate on housing, and I am excited to see the impact this has. This budget also went a bit further to help support our remote and regional communities in Lingiari. There will be $100 million invested in our homelands to address the critical lack of infrastructure for our families out bush. It's hard to describe how important this immediate funding is. For the last decade the federal coalition government had turned its back on homelands—the traditional lands and homes of so many people back home. I have seen firsthand the desperate need for our homelands to be invested in. There are families living in single-room sheds which are hot in the summer and bitterly cold in winter, families without access to clean drinking water and families without access to roads to their homes. This $100 million is an important step forward and part of addressing the critical state of our homelands. It will enable more people to live on country and it'll take so much pressure off our regional towns and communities, where overcrowding in our major communities is a major issue. It will show our communities that the federal government is finally listening to them. The Labor government's housing package will also, crucially, include 40,000 social houses, of which 4,000 will help women and children fleeing domestic violence. For many of our women suffering from domestic violence, 'Where will I go?' is a debilitating question. This budget takes important steps in helping people answer that question. Debate interrupted. ADJOURNMENT 90 ADJOURNMENT Cost of Living 90 19:30 Mr TAYLOR 231027 Hume Things aren't easy right now for many Australians, including families and businesses in my electorate of Hume. The cost of living and the cost of doing business are skyrocketing. It's getting harder and harder for Australians to make ends meet, and the government still has no plan to deal with rising inflation or cost-of-living pressures. Labor's budget did nothing to address the increasing financial pressures Australians are facing right across the board. More than three million Australian families have a mortgage, and they've been hit with seven consecutive interest rate hikes by the Reserve Bank as it tries to put a lid on rising inflation. A person with a typical mortgage of $750,000 right now is paying over $1,200 per month more than they were when rates started rising back in May. Australians are hurting, and in the October budget Labor failed to outline a plan to take the pressure off the Reserve Bank. As Stephen Koukoulas, former economist of Julia Gillard, has said, the budget puts no downward pressure on inflation, leaving the Reserve Bank with all the work and carrying the can in getting the inflation rate lower. Australians have been told their power bills will go up by more than 50 per cent, their mortgage payments will continue to rise, the cost of groceries will remain high and inflation will continue to surge, and yet the government still has no plan. Australians can't wait another seven months for Labor's second budget to come up with a plan to deal with cost-of-living pressures, which have become very real and painful for so many—what a missed opportunity to help Australians at a time when they really need it. The reality is: it's harder and harder to make ends meet under a Labor government which is clearly incapable of managing the economy. Almost every day of the election campaign, the now Prime Minister promised he would show up and take responsibility. It's time for the Prime Minister to stop making excuses and deliver a plan that will help Australians through these difficult times. As I said, people in my electorate of Hume are hurting. Small businesses, pensioners, farmers, homeowners—absolutely no-one is left untouched. By Christmas—now only a month away and a time when Australians are wanting to spend money on gifts for loved ones, get together with family and go on holidays—the crisis will really start to sink in. Kyle, from Thirlmere, in the north of my electorate, said Labor's budget and increasing financial pressures have forced him and his wife to watch what they spend, and his wife has had to return to full-time work to continue to make ends meet. Lesley, from The Oaks, told me she is at the point where she can barely afford to put food on the table or pay her bills. Brian, from Mount Hunter, said he's not surprised that the Labor Party has already breached faith with the Australian people. His power bills are not cheaper; quite the opposite, in fact—they're only going up. Margaret, from Douglas Park, summed it up perfectly when she said that it's 'just another broken promise from the Labor Party'. These are everyday Australians in my electorate who are feeling the pain of this government's inaction and lack of a plan—families just trying to have a crack and get ahead. We left the economy, in the wake of a global pandemic, in a stronger position than almost any other major advanced economy or country around the world. Just two years ago, we were staring down the prospect of business closures—a million businesses could have closed—tens of thousands of deaths and an unemployment rate of 15 per cent. This government has no plan to keep our economy strong or to help families doing it tough. There's not even a hint of that. It's true that, when you're in government, you don't choose the cards that you get, but you do choose how you play those cards. That lack of a plan is what we see is really the issue that this government needs to confront head-on. On energy alone, they have flown about five different kites over the past few weeks, and none of those kites are even close to landing. Let's see what happens from here. But what we do know is that the pain will continue, and it will intensify, not just for households but also for businesses, as we see the wholesale price, in particular, sharply higher. As we head towards the festive season, Australians can expect further pressure on their wallets with soaring bills—as I said, a huge spike in their grocery bills—and financial stress and anxiety. Labor is demonstrating once again that it cannot be trusted to manage the economy. World Children's Day 91 19:35 Ms SI 298121 Reid TOU () (): On the weekend we celebrated World Children's Day, UNICEF's annual day of action for children by children—and what a powerful day to mark. In the six months I have been a member of parliament, I've had the opportunity to meet so many children and young people who have inspired me. A couple of weeks ago I received the most wonderful invitation from the students at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School in Enfield. They invited me to be the guest judge at their public speaking competition. Students from kindergarten right through to year 6 took part, and they showed bravery, creativity and lots of humour. I would like to read a short excerpt from the speech by Layla, the winner for stage 3: Together as a society we came together to fight the common enemy that was a large spherical mass with protruding red spikes. It was plastered across the world, television and the internet—Covid. Many would argue that this global pandemic made us remote from the world. Curfews, lockdowns and restrictions made us all feel alone and isolated. However, it has actually brought us closer with the people who are most important. Our family. In the rat race of life where many families are rushing to go to school or work people often don't get a chance to enjoy the presence of the people around them. However covid forced everyone to stop and become closer with their family. We all acted as one, putting aside differences to eliminate our common enemy.. covid. Regardless of those differences…. Race, religion, and culture we all came together in solidarity. Fear, panic, distance, isolation, loneliness, lockdowns restrictions. For many people these are all synonymous with covid, however it's a matter of perspective. Solidarity, empathy, unity, family, memories, together.. all of these are really the symptoms of covid… close. What I love about her speech was the incredible insight she showed. It would have been easy for her to list the many challenges of the pandemic, but instead she impressed me with her ability to articulate the lessons that we can learn from the pandemic. I want to thank all of the staff at St Joseph's Catholic Primary School for running this wonderful competition. Huge congratulations to Phoebe, Simon, John-Paul, Lily, Lauren, Christian, Ella, Dina, Mary and Layla for their wonderful speeches. School visits have been one of my favourite parts of my role. I've had the opportunity to meet amazing students, including student leaders from James Ruse Agricultural High School who started up Each for Equal, a student club advocating for greater gender equality. I want to congratulate 15-year-old Anhaar Kareem for being chosen to be on the government's Youth Steering Committee. She said she put her hand up for the committee because she wanted to ensure young people from diverse backgrounds were better represented. Whenever I meet with young people, it is clear to me that they are engaged, they are listening and they are passionate, and they have strong views and opinions about what we are doing to impact the society they will inherit. Safeguarding their futures is important to me, and it's what drives me in this place. It's impossible to talk about young people without referring to climate change. According to the 2019 Australian Election Study, half of 18- to 24-year-old voters surveyed identified the environment as their top issue in the election. The forecasts and predictions on our climate are dire and getting worse, so this government is putting in the hard work to ensure we are addressing climate change. We have enshrined Australia's emissions reduction target of 43 per cent and net-zero emissions by 2050 in legislation because we know we need to safeguard our planet for future generations. They are pushing us to do better, and we will, because we have to. New South Wales: Floods 92 19:39 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina A person from North Strathfield looking at the central western New South Wales floods the other day said, 'There's no need to build dams or heighten the dam wall, just build better roads so that the people in Forbes can have a quicker evacuation plan.' That really is a city centric thinking. As a regional member, sometimes you come to expect that of our metropolitan friends, who we feed, who we clothe. And sometimes there is a level of disrespect about the job that we do in a rural, regional and remote Australia. But when that person from North Strathfield happens to be the shadow spokesperson for water in the New South Wales parliament you get a bit concerned. Rose Jackson MLC should know better. I don't often come into this federal parliament and talk about the state opposition members, because I don't want to give them the credit that they do not deserve. At a time when regional communities are reeling from the flooding that has wiped out a town like Eugowra—it has now peaked four times this year. If you count them as separate floods then it's eight times in the last 12 years—and that's Forbes, that's on the Lachlan. I get a little bit tired of those sorts of comments and I know the people of Forbes do. Next March, on the 25th in fact, they get an opportunity to tell Rose Jackson and the potential Premier of New South Wales Chris Minns that they aren't going to cop that sort of treatment from Macquarie Street. If that sort of comment is emblematic of what state Labor thinks, then if you are casting a vote in central western New South Wales next March you would have to be a masochist or an idiot to vote for Labor quite frankly. I am really disappointed that Chris Minns isn't coming onboard and wanting to raise the height of Wyangala Dam by 10 meters, which would add 650 gigalitres of capacity to that vital piece of water infrastructure. When I was Deputy Prime Minister the loan facility was available for the New South government at $325 million. The $650 million bill provided 650 additional gigalitres of water. The NSW government then wanted it as a grant. Then they said it was going to cost a whole lot more, potentially $1 billion. 'Get me the costings,' I said. Then it became $2 billion or thereabouts. But if you ask Scott Darcey, a farmer from Bedgerabong, who is absolutely sick and tired of getting his farm waterlogged by the Lachlan, then it is an investment. I agree with him. It is an investment in Forbes's future, in making sure that the Newell Highway doesn't get flooded and doesn't get closed. It was not that many years ago that it was closed for several weeks. Sections have been closed in recent weeks, in recent days. It's not good enough. It's certainly not good enough for Rose Jackson to say to the people of Forbes, 'You don't need your dam to be raised. You just need better roads so you can evacuate from your town.' How insensitive. How uncaring. There's a lack of empathy. It's a bit comparable to a CEO of an airline company who says, 'We're not going to worry too much about our planes or safety. We've got the best parachutes money can buy. Just strap one of those on your back and jump out if the plane gets into trouble.' This is nonsense. The Tasmanian government can build dams. It's a Liberal government. When I was Deputy Prime Minister they built the Camden Dam in north-east Tasmania. It's part of the Scottsdale Irrigation Scheme. It has a capacity of 9,300 megalitres—not a big holding. As the member for Braddon will tell you, because he supports water infrastructure, it is a vital piece of infrastructure in that state, which I am reliably informed holds 26 per cent of the nation's freshwater. Norfolk Island 92 19:44 Mr DAVID SMITH 276714 Bean Last week I visited a part of the electorate of Bean that more Australians should be aware of and should consider visiting: Norfolk Island. Norfolk Island is 1,800 kilometres from the rest of Bean, and our visits over the last two years have been stymied by COVID—not so last week. Last week was a particularly busy week on Norfolk Island, when I visited the community with the federal Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, the Queensland Minister for Education, Senator David Pocock and members of the Joint Standing Committee on Public Works. I started my visit by meeting with the council of elders. The councillors are senior members of the community of Pitcairn Islander descent. It was a warm welcome, but they also made it clear that they wanted further action on restoring Norfolk Island's democratic voice, a fair and sustainable rating policy and progress on a solution to the island's shipping issues—issues that were raised consistently during our time on Norfolk Island. Later that evening I caught up with some members of the community that shared concerns about the state of the reef and the impact on marine life, including Doris the turtle, a social media star in her own right. The following day I met with the Norfolk Island Law Association and the tourism association, and participated in a public forum on shipping, hosted by the federal minister for territories, Kristy McBain. Shipping and, consequently, the cost of freight is a significant challenge due to the remoteness of the island and due to changes in both local and global shipping that have seen a damaging reduction in services to the island. I can assure members of the community that the minister is focused on solutions and is working with the community, operators and the department to find a solution to freight, and she appreciated the feedback on other matters of concern raised by the community. On Tuesday, with Minister Kristy McBain and Queensland Minister for Education Grace Grace, I visited Norfolk Island Central School after meeting representatives from the P&C. I met with the school captains and school staff, toured the school with the executive and even sang along with prep. The school community has done well, particularly with the challenges of the last few years with the transition of the school from the New South Wales system to the Queensland system. Teachers, staff, students and their families have done well to work with both systems and the uncertainty that, at times, has come with this change. It was really good to see two governments working together for the local community through the intergovernmental agreement. With Minister McBain, we talked to a number of small business operators in Burnt Pine, the island's business centre. It was clear that, while tourism is rebounding well, freight is an issue that affects all. Later that day I met with local firefighters in relation to their fight for fair pay and conditions, the need for better training opportunities, and their ongoing challenges with PFAS levels and the implications that might be there for the broader community. They need our support. On Wednesday I was joined by colleagues of the parliament's public works committee for site visits in the Kingston historical heritage area, an area that dates to the First Fleet; to the Cascade Bay and Ball Bay areas to provide context to the freight challenges; to the key health facility on the island; and to the special national park, which requires significant roadworks. Thank you to the members for Moreton, Makin and Pearce for taking the time to visit the island. On Thursday we wrapped up the visit with a mobile office at the excellent Olive Cafe. I would like to take the opportunity tonight to thank all members of the Norfolk Island community for making us feel welcome and for sharing your concerns and views with us. I really encourage any members of the broader Australian community who have not visited Norfolk Island to do yourself a favour and book a holiday there. The history of the island is so significant that it has attracted World Heritage listing, and the environment is so unique that it has a Commonwealth national park across the third of the island and a marine area so important that it's protected by a Commonwealth marine park surrounding the island. I'm happy to also report that there is a growing local produce sector, including a local brewery. Those MPs, senators and ministers who visited last week all know that there is much to do and there are still challenges, but we are determined to keep working with the community to land the solutions. And, Mr Speaker, you would be most welcome to join us on a future visit. Australia: Floods 93 19:49 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer I rise this evening to speak on the flooding events we're seeing around the country, but in particular across my electorate of Farrer. First I need to begin by acknowledging the many other communities throughout much of New South Wales which are also being impacted. The pictures we're seeing, the stories, the deaths are truly heart-wrenching. If you need help during a flood or rain event, please contact the relevant emergency service or the SES on 132500. Both the New South Wales and federal governments have put in place a range of assistance measures which can help you get through this. But finding that support then negotiating your way around the application process is not always easy. Your local member of parliament, whether state or federal, is there to help. In Farrer, record spring rainfall has resulted in flooding across every part of my electorate. Tonight there are major flood warnings on the Lachlan River, the Murrumbidgee, Murray and Edward rivers as well as the Lower Darling. In the last 24 hours evacuation orders were put in place for parts of Deniliquin and the small town of Moulamein. Orders remain in place for a number of other communities, many of which are being completely isolated, with all road access under water. Farmers and properties are increasingly being cut off from their own stock and from supplies or workers. Right now it's only taking a short rain burst or a passing shower to top things up again and slow down any clean-up or recovery. An example of this is what we're seeing on the Hay Plain. Floodwater has spread out from the swollen Lachlan and Murrumbidgee rivers, creating what looks like an inland sea. Actually, it really is an inland sea on what is the flattest land in the Southern Hemisphere. Too much water is a sight repeated in every part of Farrer. We're expected to stay waterlogged until at least the new year, and this will continue to drain the confidence of my communities. It's not just a sodden crop or a road blocked off for a day or a week. Most of the electorate is heavily reliant on agriculture. When a farmer loses a crop, he or she doesn't—or literally can't—come into town to shop. Farmers don't put on that extra hand to help with the harvest. They put off a service for their vehicles. They might cancel seed, diesel or fertiliser contracts. Last Friday the federal and New South Wales governments increased recovery grants for primary producers to help with the immediate clean-up and recovery costs and to repair damage. That has increased up to $75,000 for eligible producers. That announcement was made just in the last couple of days. And I want to thank the two administrations for making that happen, but there is more to do. I would encourage the New South Wales government to consider adding the recovery assistance measures that are available in Victoria. That would mean assistance for local councils to help with the clean-up of local rubbish and hazards. It would also employ community recovery officers to coordinate this. Business and not-for-profit organisations could apply for $50,000 to fix damages. There would be up to $200,000 for eligible medium-sized businesses suffering direct losses caused by the floods. We would see grants for impacted community sport and recreation clubs to assist in their recovery. Last week, visiting Corowa, the local footy and cricket oval was submerged, and so were the clubrooms. When I asked whether they had any cash reserves to help start the repair of assets, I was met with a faint smile and a look of resignation: not for this much damage. This additional recovery assistance must be enacted in New South Wales as soon as possible. The same damage to property and possessions in the same country simply has to be treated equally, and in a timely manner. There's no perfect response to handle what Mother Nature throws at us, but the men and women fronting up every day—and we're talking over two months plus now—to manage the response are simply amazing. This includes the SES, Rural Fire Service, police, ambulance, health agencies, the National Emergency Management Agency, the ADF, Resilience NSW, local council officers and many, many more. Thanks also to the people volunteering, whether that's to sandbag a town or property or just phoning a friend to see how they're coping. You too are putting aside your own needs to be there for your fellow citizens in their time of need. As with droughts that come and go, and as with the floods of the past, we will get past this, and we will do it together. My final call to action is: if you're travelling over Christmas, come to the Riverina and Murray areas. Yes, the area is affected by flooding, but we have been smashed, with two tourist seasons in a row that haven't happened. We want to see you, and we want to show you what will be some amazing rivers, amazing wetlands and amazing natural sites. Whitlam Government: 50th Anniversary 94 19:54 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa In 1975 my school, Lurnea High School, held its first multicultural day—a day that, even on its own, was noteworthy. It was two years after the end of the White Australia policy by the then government, but that day was personally significant for another closely related reason. It was the first time that I was lucky enough to meet the Hon. Edward Gough Whitlam. He was Prime Minister and had come to our school because it was in his electorate. He took the time to talk with students, despite the persistence of journalists and camera crews. As we approach the 50th anniversary of the election of the Whitlam government I am reminded of the legacy left behind by Whitlam as well as his connection with Werriwa, which I am proud to represent in this House. I am reminded of the impact of his government on not only my life but also the direction of the nation. My earliest memories of Gough are from the day of his election. My father had called from the election party, excited for the first change in government in 23 years. It was the beginning of the Australia we know today: a modern multicultural society that became a model throughout the world. The hope and the enthusiasm inspired by his election was an experience that many, including myself, would never forget. The hope he inspired in Australians when he was elected was met with ambition and action by his government. Australians voted for transformation. They voted for a government that would seize the opportunities of the time and make Australia a significant player in the region, and that is exactly what that government and Mr Whitlam did. It was the Whitlam government that introduced the Racial Discrimination Act; handed land title deeds to the Gurindji traditional owners; fought for equal pay for women; ended conscription; established diplomatic and trade relations with China; created Medibank, the precursor to Medicare; abolished the death penalty; effectively ended the White Australia policy when he introduced the Racial Discrimination Act; connected homes to sewerage through the National Sewerage Program; established needs-based funding for schools; and created the fundamentals of our social welfare system. What Whitlam did for Australia can't be listed in the time that I have tonight. The legislative, diplomatic and social legacy of the Whitlam government has defined Australian political landscapes for the last five decades. It defines the modern Labor Party and what we stand for. Government can be wielded for the good of a nation. The Whitlam era is perhaps the finest example of how government can better both the individual and the nation as a whole. That is the motivation behind all Labor governments, and that is also true of the Albanese government. Whether it be the Albanese government's meeting with China and the Pacific nations or the government's domestic policies, from environmental action to our housing reforms, it is the legacy of Whitlam that remains at the centre of Labor Party policy. Whitlam was the first Labor leader and Prime Minister to come from south-west Sydney, an area with a history of strong working-class roots and a strong multicultural background. That is our strength and that was the strength of Whitlam. Leaders must know the struggles and experiences of everyday Australians because without that they can't truly act in the interest of everyone. When Whitlam was Prime Minister he would walk around the streets of Liverpool without a security detail, chatting with residents. He was the Prime Minister but, more importantly, he was the member for Werriwa, and those were the people he represented. The second time I met him was at a book launch that my sister contributed to. He was generous with his time, conversed with everybody in the room and was very generous with what he said to me. That was the type of man he was, and also the type of leader. On the 50th anniversary of the Whitlam government's election we remember not only his legacy on foreign affairs, taxation, health policy, Indigenous recognition and women's rights, we remember the personal qualities of Whitlam that drove him to better the lives of Australians and transform this country for the better. It was Whitlam who said: It seemed to me that if governments could not do something for the conditions of life in our cities and suburbs there was something deeply wrong with our system of government and our national priorities. That was the heart of his government. I take great pride, as the current member for Werriwa and part of the Albanese government, in continuing his great legacy. House adjourned at 20:00 NOTICES 95 NOTICES Presentation 95

Monday, 21 November 2022

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Claydon ) took the chair at 10:30.

CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS 97 CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS Youth Voice in Parliament Week 97 10:30 Mr BATES 300246 Brisbane Earlier this year, I participated in the Raise Our Voice parliament campaign, which invited young people to submit a speech to be read in parliament. Raise Our Voice do amazing work engaging young people—particularly women and non-binary people—in politics, and there were many fantastic submissions. While it was hard to choose, I have narrowed my submissions down to two speeches from young people in Brisbane. This first speech was written by nine-year-old Olivia: Hi my name is Olivia Binesh, I am 9 years old and a grade threeier. I want to speak to the Parliament about the environment. We at school are doing term three plastic free, which means that we are reducing plastic in our lunch boxes. Do you know that it takes over 300 years for plastic to decompose? Our states are doing a lot to reduce single plastic use but we need our Federal Parliament to take a stronger stand for the environment. I don't want our land to look like a rubbish bin. I do not want our precious animals to disappear from our land because they don't have a place to live. I do not want all trees to be cut off to give room to more buildings. I want you to help me to change the negative climate impact. It is time for action. Please act now. Thank you for listening to me. This speech was written by 11-year-old Leila: Good afternoon, My name is Leila … I am 11 years old and in grade 6. There are two topics I am raising here with you and I want your help to create positive change. First I want your help to raise the age of child imprisonment. At 11 years old it is my worst nightmare to be locked up. Children shouldn't be imprisoned. We need to be supported and lifted to fulfill our potential. We are the future of this nation. I want your help to make sure no child is imprisoned in Australia. The other topic of importance to me is achieving gender equality. I am grateful for the opportunities we girls have in Australia but we still haven't addressed all barriers. I want your help to make sure that when I am an adult we girls have similar access to housing, superannuation and health outcomes. I also want us to lead the way to address child marriage which is impacting many girls my age or younger in other parts of the world. Our international aid work should focus on improving outcomes for all children. I know we can achieve this if we have all our parliamentarians' support. I want to thank these young people and all those who participated in the Raise Our Voice campaign for engaging with politics at such a young age and for having the confidence to demand a better world and future for themselves. I hope the government will listen to the voices of young people and act on these issues that are so close to their hearts. Werriwa Electorate: Capital Grants Program 97 10:32 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa Recently, I had the honour of opening new school facilities throughout the electorate of Werriwa, representing the Minister for Education, Jason Clare. As our community continues to grow, it's important that so do the schools and the schooling opportunities. The federal government's Capital Grants Program provides funding to non-government schools to help them expand their facilities so that students can have better learning outcomes. In October, the Christadelphian Heritage College Sydney opened their new general learning areas, two science laboratories, a chemical store and a preparation area. I would like to thank the principal, Mrs Melissa Sharman, and the board chairman, Samuel Dando, for their warm welcome. These facilities will be vital to replace demountables and provide students with vastly improved learning environments. On 4 November, I opened new facilities at St Anthony of Padua Catholic College, which received $3.6 million of federal funding under the Capital Grants Program. The facilities include a primary school building with general learning areas, administration areas and a staffroom. This will allow St Anthony's to provide all of the students from preschool to year 12 with the learning environments and education they deserve. A big thank you goes to the principal, Ms Lea De Angelis, and the executive director of Sydney Catholic Schools, Tony Farley, for welcoming me, as well as to the parish priest, Father Kene Onwukwe, for performing the blessings. Last week, I opened the new and general specialised learning areas at Clancy Catholic College. This will be incredibly important for years 7 to 12 and provides a gymnasium, art rooms, outdoor basketball courts, a canteen and learning spaces. Clancy Catholic College has over 1,200 students. I'd like to thank Principal Mr David Fetterplace and Tony Farley, and I thank parish priest Father Joseph Trong for performing the blessing. These three schools will provide thousands of current and future children in our local community with the education they deserve, and the upgrades are important to ensure they provide our locals with up-to-date facilities for study. It has been a pleasure to be a small part of watching these schools grow into wonderful places of learning, but it's now time for the New South Wales government to step up and provide the public schools needed in these growth areas. I thank all the wonderful students of these schools for welcoming me and letting me know just what they think of the world. It's great to hear about your goals and aspirations, and I wish you all the best. Police Citizens Youth Club Wagga Wagga 98 10:35 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina I very much look forward to, at 9.30 this Friday morning in Fitzhardinge Street, taking part in the official opening of the new state-of-the-art, world-class PCYC community centre. PCYC, as we all know, is a fun community club. It's home to the PCYC Emergency Service Cadets program, and in 2022—just this Friday—they're going to be moving into a new facility in Wagga Wagga where they're going to able to offer even more options for the youth of the district. PCYC Wagga Wagga was the inspiration for the song, 'Morning of my Life', by none other than the Bee Gees. Barry Gibb has talked about his time staying at the PCYC in Wagga Wagga and how the Bee Gees wrote that hit song from the club—the old premises in Gurwood Street. The Bee Gees played in Wagga Wagga in 1966. Fantastic! Funding for this new $23 million project comprises $10 million from the former coalition federal government, $10 million from the New South Wales coalition government and $3 million from Wagga Wagga City Council. I fought tirelessly to secure funding for this important investment, and it is not just an investment in a great new piece of infrastructure but an investment in—what could be more important?—our youth. Of course, it's overlooking Robertson Oval, and, whilst I appreciate the new building has a great vista overlooking Robertson Oval, I hope that in the future they can take more advantage of that with, perhaps, even more infrastructure put in place. Already the new site is going to include a large multipurpose hall—large enough to house four indoor sports courts, and I know Wagga Wagga Basketball Association is going to be one of the first tenants—as well as activity rooms, a cafe, a youth club, a childcare centre, after-school care and 120 undercover car parking spaces. It's some 5,800 square metres in size. It's built on the site of the former South Wagga Sports and Bowling Club, and I know the late Charlie Brown would be very pleased to see that the club he was president of for so many years is now being put to use as the site for the new facility. I know what a difference this is going to make for thousands of young people, some of whom have not had a great start in life, who are going to be given great options and opportunities for the future, thanks to this new facility. I know this is going to be a wonderful boost to our central business district. Already, it has created many, many jobs and many, many opportunities. The future is fantastic. I know one person who is going to be very excited on Friday is Fred Loneragan, club supervisor for many years. He was at the club for 22 of his 44 years in policing, until 2000. Well done to all concerned. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 98 10:38 Ms PAYNE 144732 Canberra Today I rise to speak as part of the Youth Voice in Parliament campaign run by Raise Our Voice Australia. This is a fantastic initiative which brings young Australians' voices into the nation's parliament. I've been very proud to support this initiative in the past, and I plan to continue to do so. Australia's youth are some of the most engaged people in our communities. Too often, their really important contribution isn't heard, so this is a great opportunity to hear them. I received a number of really compelling, excellent speeches as part of this year's campaign, and I thank everyone who took the time to write a speech and send it to me. Unfortunately, I can't read all of them in the parliament, but I did read and take a note of each one, and I thank you very much for the effort and thought that you put into those. The speech that I have chosen to read today is by my constituent Emma Wright, who is 10 years old. Her speech is titled, 'The Best Australia'. She says: 'I want Australia to be the best Australia it can be. Parliament, the Prime Minister and the state leaders are there to lead Australia to be the best Australia it can be, but I see most of the work being done for the cities and humans. 'There is more, you know. There are animals and bushland that are disappearing fast. So, if you want to help Australia, you have to do something about that—not just a small thing, but a big thing. These animals breathe the same air as us, feel the same way as us and have kids like us. Our bushland gives us air and provides habitat for animals. 'As well as that, our natural disasters are coming round more often. People are losing their homes and animals are dying, not to mention that the kids are the ones noticing these problems, and by the time we're in charge it will be too late to solve these problems. 'Don't you want your kids to grow up in a world that's balanced and healthy? So let's cut down on coal, use less plastic and save our wildlife and bushland for a better Australia.' Thank you, Emma, for this powerful and heartfelt speech. I think it really gives us an insight into the way that children are perceiving the pressures on our environment, as well as the faith and the trust that they have in this parliament to take responsibility for and act on that. I want to let Emma and all of my constituents know that your government is taking this task incredibly seriously. Since we were elected this year we have made huge strides on environmental reform and we have a long way to go. We have committed to a target of zero new extinctions of Australia's plants and animals and we've also signed on to the global 30 x 30 pledge, an initiative which will mean that at least 30 per cent of Australia's land and oceans will be protected by 2030, and I know that my colleague the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek, is working very hard to this end. Velovski, Dr Susan, Alstonville Public School, Lombardo's Fruit Market 99 10:41 Mr HOGAN 218019 Page I'd like to acknowledge Dr Sue Velovski from Lismore. She received the 2022 Rural Doctor of the Year award at the Rural Medicine Australia conference dinner. Dr Velovski was recognised for her work during the pandemic, where she advocated for cancer patients to receive access to surgery at a time when COVID impacted the ability for patients to receive vital surgical treatment. She also played a significant role in the medical response to the flooding natural disaster that hit our community. She worked tirelessly to assist flood impacted patients with medical supplies and wound management wherever she could reach them. This included service stations at night when they were out of the floods and many other easy-to-find locations that had appropriate lighting to treat patients. Congratulations and thank you, Sue, for your tremendous work in our community. I'd like to acknowledge the Alstonville Public School debating team on its recent victory at the New South Wales debating championships in Sydney. Known as the Cool Blue debating team, they progressed through from the regional zone, advancing to compete at the state championships. In a competition that comprised 871 teams, they made it to the final to compete against Randwick Public School. They came out the unanimous winners, successfully arguing that kids should be given a second chance to complete their assignments if they get a bad mark. Congratulations to Hannah Clark, Liberty McKenzie, Ruby Douley, Frankie Dooley and Finn Thirkell. This is the second time that Alstonville Public School has won the state debating title. The first time was in 2011. Big thanks to Mrs Wheatland for all of her hard work and dedication to the program and congratulations to Mr Frangos for his efforts this year. Well done, Alstonville Public School. I'd like to acknowledge a wonderful family business in my community, Lombardo's Fruit Market in Goonellabah, which recently transferred ownership after trading for 50 years. The business started in 1973, when Vince and Joan opened the store. When Vince, sadly, passed away in 2005, his son Frank became the next integral part of the daily running of the business. It was an icon and a popular stop for residents. Joan, now 78 years old, was there on the final day, with the same attitude, and delivered exceptional service, as she has always done for 50 years. Congratulations to the Lombardo family: Joan, Frank, Kazia, Felicia, Simon, April, Luca, Vince, Gabrielle, Bella, Ruby, Arlo and Gianna. And good luck to the new owners, Dan and Laura Sproule. They're establishing their new business, the Smashed Avo, in the same premises. Good luck to you. Youth Justice 99 10:44 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon One of the election commitments that I was most proud to secure was $5 million for a purpose built and co-designed youth engagement hub in Casuarina in the northern suburbs in my electorate. Youth offending has been an ongoing issue in my electorate in the Territory for many years. At its root it has complex reasons and causes. However, the NT government is working hard to tackle the problem from many sides. It's investing in diversion programs, in restorative justice programs and in establishing a new, purpose designed youth justice facility. I visited the kids the other day in the Don Dale facility, which is a former adult male prison and is not satisfactory for the purpose of caring for and getting our kids back on the right path. We had a youth shack in the northern suburbs in Casuarina, but the owner of that property sold it to McDonald's—because we need more of those, apparently!—and young people in Darwin have not had somewhere to go. So it is my number one priority to get somewhere for our kids to go: somewhere that's safe for them to go, because some kids can't go home, or it's not safe at home all the time; somewhere where they can have trusted adults mentoring them; and somewhere kids can hang out and have fun, develop their life skills, build their resilience, and get connected to positive pathways and any services that they need. We've heard the concerns of Territorians and we're working to get that federal commitment of $5 million, get the facility co-designed and get it up and running as soon as possible. On Friday, along with NT youth minister Lauren Moss, we announced that a site has been chosen for the youth engagement hub. It's the old Casuarina fire station, which is a great location. Darwin Men's Shed is currently in that location, which is why I also got a $1 million commitment in the election to establish a brand-new Men's Shed for Darwin. So they will have a new shed and they'll move out of the Casuarina fire station. It's got some asbestos issues, so we'll flatten it and build a purpose built facility that has been co-designed with young people. The importance of doing that co-design work should be clear to all. The kids need the input to make it as it attractive as possible and as helpful as possible for those kids. It was great to attend the Casuarina Senior College graduation on the weekend. I talked to their board, and their board is very excited about their kids having some input into making this youth engagement hub as good as possible. It's really important work. We need to support our kids and get behind them, and this federal Labor commitment will do exactly that. Defence Equipment 100 10:47 Mrs MARINO HWP Forrest I'm working to have one of the latest Arafura-class offshore patrol vessels named the HMAS BunburyIII and, for the first time, to have Bunbury designated as its ceremonial home port. There's a rich history of service for the Royal Navy from two previous ships bearing the name of HMAS Bunbury. HMAS Bunbury I was a Bathurst-class corvette minesweeper built in Australian shipyards in Queensland and launched in 1942. She was engaged in minesweeping and convoy escort duties. Bunbury I was decommissioned in 1961, with the ship's bell given to the City of Bunbury, in my electorate. The date on it is 1943, and it sits in the Bunbury City Council chambers to this day. HMAS Bunbury II was commissioned in 1984. It was a Fremantle-class patrol boat engaged in border protection and maritime security operations. It supported special forces operations, disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. This ship was decommissioned in 2006. So, in that great tradition of vessels named HMAS Bunbury, I'm calling for one of the new Arafura-class patrol vessels being built currently to be named the HMAS Bunbury III and—for the very first time—for Bunbury to be designated as its ceremonial home port, as it should. Bunbury is a very well-known and strategic port city, and the port of Bunbury has excellent facilities to accommodate the vessel during its visits. I can also see so many people in my communities around the whole of the south-west coming to visit the local HMAS Bunbury when it's in port. We can accommodate this vessel during its visits, and it will also foster a very special connection between the City of Bunbury, all of our people and the Australian Navy. I have an online petition, and I'm asking people to help. Let's get this done. It's really appropriate that HMAS Bunbury III actually have Bunbury, in the south-west of Western Australia, as its ceremonial home port. I also want to give a warm welcome to all of the Defence Force members who are in this House this week as part of the Defence Force program. Cunningham Electorate 100 10:49 Ms BYRNES 299145 Cunningham One of the best things about being a member for Cunningham is being able to meet local community champions. The work they do is energising and it's inspiring. On Saturday I was delighted to join state MP Paul Scully and our lord mayor, Gordon Bradbery, to watch one of our community champions, Andrew Webb, raise money for his son Callum's school, Aspect South Coast. Andrew was attempting to break the Guinness world record for the most weight squat-lifted in one hour. The current record is 57,717 kilograms. He was aiming to crack 60,000 kilos, or just on one tonne per minute, in an hour. That's five reps of 70 kilos every 21 seconds. He fell a little short at 55,827.20 kilos, but what an effort and what a team of supporters. They have raised over $27,000 for Aspect South Coast School. Andrew was supported by his amazing family, and it was an absolute pleasure to get to know his wife, Jade Webb, and their gorgeous children, Callum, Charlie and Molly, as well as Jade's mum, Lesley Reynolds, and her brother, Jeremy Reynolds, who kept Callum amused on the day. This record-breaking attempt was hosted by Steve and Brittany Psaras and their team at Black Diamond Boxing and Fitness. The event was recorded by Trent Elliot and his team at Unknown Group who built the website, did the social media and paid for the videographers so that they had all the boxes ticked to satisfy the Guinness world record requirements. The team at Webb Financial were also instrumental. Lisa was the superstar running the show on the day and was assisted by Caroline, Zoie, Leo, Sarah, Yingying and Marcus. The Webbs are very proud of their community minded team. The principal of Aspect South Coast School, Rowena Perritt, was also there with her team of teachers and admin staff, as well as families from the school. Jade's comments on Facebook summed it up: He didn't get the record but man he gave it everything. Our superhero. He's pretty damn cool. We 're incredibly proud of our Roo. What a team and what an effort. Details for donating are on my Facebook page from post from Saturday for anyone who would like make a donation. Straight after this event I caught up with a good friend of mine, Vicki Meadows, and her partner, Anthony Cawthorne. Vicki has been a champion for people with disabilities following her daughter Melissa's diagnosis. Lissy is autistic with severe developmental delay. Vicki has fought so hard over years to make sure that Lissy's 33 years to make sure she gets the best education and skill development possible. It takes a village, and Lissy has been supported by her grandmother, Cybil Meadows; her aunt, Karen Adamson; her brother, Michael Meadows, his partner Tika Laboyrie and their new baby Hayze; and their extended families. Efforts such as Andrew's make a huge difference to the lives of people like Callum and Melissa and their families. Youth Voice in Parliament Week 101 10:53 Dr GARLAN 295588 Chisholm D () (): It's my privilege today to raise the voices of young people from my electorate of Chisholm as part of the Raise Our Voice Youth Voice in Parliament week event. Thank you to everyone in my electorate who submitted speeches. They were all excellent, but unfortunately, I can only read two today. It's an absolute honour to be able to read speeches by Ayanna Singh, 15, and by Daniel Gao and David Wu, aged 18, who wrote a speech together. I am so proud of these young people, and it really is an absolute privilege to read their speeches in this place. First from Ayanna: Harassment in the workplace is becoming more frequent every single day. Statistics ranging from 2016—2021 recorded that 2 in 5 women and 1 in 4 men have reported experiencing sexual harassment in the workplace. It's not the staggering figures that appal me, but the lack of action being taken. Of the number of incidents that took place, 40% of it was witnessed, and even more shockingly, 69% of the cases have failed to be intervened by a witness. To wrap your mind around the distressing figures, if 100 incidents took place, 40 cases were witnessed and 28 cases were not stopped by witnesses. Of the victims who rightfully reported, 19% were labelled as troublemakers, 18% were victimised, ostracised or ignored and 17% resigned from their jobs. These facts don't just anger me, but they disgust me. This is why I want Australia's new parliament to lead the way for all the workplaces in the nation when it comes to sexual harassment. I want every person in the workplace (employer and employee) to obtain a 'conduct check' and undergo a course that goes through what to do in a scenario (whether you are the victim, perpetrator or a witness). The 'conduct check', relies on the professional and appropriate relationship individuals have with their employers, colleagues and clients. This is just the beginning. If we don't try to accomplish this now, the things that could occur will be anything but good. Thank you, Ayanna. Now to Daniel Gao and David Wu's speech: To the new parliament: with each passing year, more young Australians are taking their own lives than ever before. I ask that you promise me the day is soon to come, the day that suicide is no longer our leading cause of death in this country. To the new parliament, hear my voice. Hear the cries of my peers who feel forced to answer 'yes' to 'are you okay?', who cannot muster the courage to ask for professional help. To reach the struggling youth lost in the statistics, to support this family so dear to me through mental illness, early intervention initiatives must become priority and peer support education must become the first aid of mental health. To the new parliament, hear our voice. We dream of a support system whose services actively seek to detect and treat mental illness before it is too late. We dream of becoming an educated community of youth who possess the knowledge and resources to support one another in times of hardship. And we dream of an Australia where we can truly live, unimpeded by the mental health crisis that plagues our present. Only with your support can our dream become reality. Thank you to those young people who wrote their speeches. I will always do my best to stand up for you in our community. Petrie Electorate: Bruce Highway 101 10:56 Mr HOWARTH 247742 Petrie Residents in the suburb of Griffin are victims of poor planning by the Queensland state government. Over 100 homes along the Bruce Highway on the north side of Brisbane will be bulldozed by the Palaszczuk government to make way for the Bruce Highway upgrades. These residents received keys to their home only a few weeks ago. Some of them, on the same day that they received the keys to their home, received a resumption letter to say that their home would be bulldozed. These people are first home owners; they're families that have worked hard, saved and settled young children into schools; they're families that have migrated to Australia. They are finally living in their first home or dream home. We encourage people to get out of the rent cycle and buy a home, and that reality now is being ripped out from underneath them. After receiving the news that these families would be losing their homes, I doorknocked on each of those homes, and I listened to their desperation and their messages of grief and loss. It was heartbreaking. One resident wrote to me saying: Devastated beyond words. The joy we felt when we received the keys to our first home has been completely shattered. We are a young family who saved and worked so hard to achieve the Australian Dream of owning our own home, and due to the incompetence, carelessness and lack of compassion of our State Government, we are set to lose everything. I walk into my little boys' rooms and just burst into tears at the thought that this will one day all be rubble. It's a real disgrace what's happened there, and it comes down to a lack of planning—a lack of planning by the state government, to build infrastructure and allow all these homes to be built only to then knock them down later on because of their change of use. The state government were originally going to build the Moreton Connector, and then they decided not to do that and to widen the Bruce Highway with additional lanes. The lies that the state government have been telling, that this is somehow connected to the on and off ramps at Griffin and Murrumba Downs, are completely untrue. The on and off ramps have additional lanes up to Anzac Avenue, but that is not why the homes are being resumed. They're being resumed because the state government has ditched the plans for the Moreton Connector. If the member for Murrumba and the minister, Mark Bailey—who I have called on to resign—had done the planning back in 2018 or even 2019 rather than leaving it until late 2021, the people of Griffin, Murrumba Downs and other areas wouldn't be affected. The incompetence goes so far that down in Bracken Ridge in my seat, the state government built a new $6 million fire station which has got to be demolished as well. I will be fighting hard to get these residents compensation, and I'll continue to represent them hard. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS 102 PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Fortem Australia 102 10:59 Mrs ANDREWS 230886 McPherson I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) Australia's first responders to natural disasters perform a vital and valuable job in extreme circumstances for communities across our nation; (b) ensuring the mental health and wellbeing of our first responders is not only the right thing to do but helps them continue their vital work saving lives and supporting communities; (c) the former Government provided $10 million over two years in the March 2022 budget to Fortem Australia for the establishment of a national support program for first responders to maximise their capacity through stronger mental health, given the huge demands placed on them through the full suite of natural disasters; (d) this funding was a scale up of the program that Fortem Australia delivered following a competitive tender process in the wake of the Black Summer bushfires; and (e) in the October 2022 budget, the funding for Fortem Australia was not provided, resulting in an $8 million budget cut that would have meant on-the-ground support for first responders would not be available in the regional towns where it is needed; and (2) recognises, that following public pressure, the Government has since restored the full $10 million funding for Fortem Australia as announced and provided for in the March 2022 budget so that they can provide vital support for our emergency first responder heroes. I do recognise that, following public pressure, the government has since restored the full $10 million funding for Fortem Australia, as announced and provided for in the March 2022 budget, so the organisation can provide the vital support that's needed for our emergency first-responder heroes. The members on this side certainly welcome the confirmation that the Albanese Labor government has reconsidered its position of stripping the charity of its funding and have now decided to provide the full budgeted funding to charity organisation Fortem Australia, which provides mental health and wellbeing services to Australia's first responders. Following an election period, it's convention for an incoming government to continue funding programs that were budgeted by a former government. That's to assist in the continuity of those programs and to provide the certainty for providers in the first instance. After several days of strong public pressure, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Fortem Australia will receive $10 million upfront over one year, despite initially seeking to slash $8 million from this organisation. In a media release, Fortem Australia cofounder and managing director, John Bale, said it was encouraging to see the government supporting the nation's first responders. He said: These men and women across Australia are always there for us when we need them and have been going above and beyond during floods, fires and COVID over the last few years … We know what we do at Fortem works. Our independent and specialised services ensure there is mental health support available not only for first responders but also their families when they need it … This funding will allow Fortem Australia the peace of mind to continue their program expansion to assist more emergency personnel at a time when we continue to experience devastating floods and as we head into the summer months. This expansion of programs will also help provide services to regional areas, including Townsville, Ballina, Albury-Wodonga, Gippsland, Dubbo, Nowra, Newcastle, the Sunshine Coast and Launceston as well as Darwin and Perth. The coalition budgeted funding of $10 million over two years to Fortem Australia back in March after recognising a critical need—a need to provide tailored services to the emergency personnel and their families that come to our rescue every single time we experience a natural disaster or crisis. This was listed in Budget Paper No. 2 on pages 158 and 159. This new decision will undoubtedly be a welcome relief for our first responders in important regional locations. These unsung heroes don't need any additional burden for the work that they do, and their families deserve the peace of mind that they're being well taken care of. The coalition will always back our first responders. They perform an absolutely vital role in the community, supporting vulnerable people in times of urgent need, such as during bushfires and floods. After the Black Summer bushfires, the toll on first responders was noted, and this program certainly helped them out. It was then expanded to cover additional responders across more locations. It's absolutely in the best interests of this country that our emergency personnel and their families are in tiptop shape when they do their difficult jobs and don't come back to work early after experiencing trauma. I call on the members of this place who share the sensible view that the funding to provide vital support for our emergency first-responder heroes should be a priority of any government to support this motion. I'm very confident that there is considerable support in this place for the reinstatement of funding for Fortem. Some members here will have seen and experienced some of the things that first responders have experienced, because they were first responders prior to coming into this place. I haven't, but I will be ever so grateful for the rest of my life that there are people out there who are able to do the work of our first responders. I congratulate them. I thank them. We would not be where we are today without them. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265980 Is the motion seconded? Mr Wallace 265967 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 11:05 Dr 295588 Chisholm GARLAND () (): I'm really glad that this motion has been put to this chamber because it allows me the opportunity to talk about the things that the Labor government are doing to prioritise the mental health of first responders. And prioritising it is exactly what we're doing. That's why we've committed to funding Fortem with the full $10 million that, I must note, was promised but never delivered by the previous government. This is really a case in point in terms of what I found in my own community of Chisholm: lots of promises were made, lots of announcements were made, but, unfortunately, nothing was ever delivered. Unlike those opposite, we're actually delivering on our promises. Labor will always stand up for health, including mental health, and will always work to serve those who serve our community: first responders. I know that, in my own community of Chisholm, we have some wonderful volunteers, as well as paid personnel, who work as emergency service workers and first responders. I think it's really appropriate to reflect on the namesake of my seat, Caroline Chisholm, who always gave so much of herself to the community, and I'm really delighted that that spirit continues in my electorate. I've met with workers from the SES and other emergency services that are based in my community, and I've committed to supporting them in all that they do. We're doing what those opposite didn't. They had the chance; they didn't do it. We're delivering funding. We're not stringing a mental health charity along and never delivering. We're doing it. This point is particularly close to my heart because, for the last couple of years, funding was promised in my electorate—by the previous member, who was a member of the previous government—for a headspace in Box Hill. Over the last two years, the demand for mental health services for young people in my electorate has increased, and it breaks my heart and makes me so angry to think that that service could have been delivered but wasn't. What happened is that the previous government wanted to wait until an election campaign so that they could get photos taken, instead of delivering the service that our community desperately needed. This is another example of us stepping up where those before us had failed to. We believe absolutely in the work that Fortem do. We know, as do Fortem, that first responder work demands courage. People who demonstrate that courage to serve others are inspiring. One of my favourite maxims from the suffragettes was: 'Courage calls to courage everywhere.' Indeed it does. It inspires us all to do better when we see those who serve our community in ways that put themselves in harm's way and those who deal with some of the most traumatic experiences that our neighbours will ever experience in their lives. But there's also courage in reaching out and seeking help, and that's what we want to back Fortem to help people to do: to acknowledge that, as our first responders, they are experiencing trauma and to encourage them to seek help when there is suicidal ideation, when people prioritise their wellbeing, and when people think about the impacts that their work may have on their relationships with their family and friends and other community groups. I love that Fortem say that 'brave is a choice, not an obligation'. We know that people are actually trying to choose wellbeing. They're making that choice, and they're empowered through that choice. It is a really wonderful empowering way to think about the services for mental health that are provided. Funding Fortem isn't the end of the work that the Albanese Labor government is doing to support first responders in terms of their mental health. We're working on long-term, sustainable funding solutions. There are a number of other services to deliver this critical work. The national mental health service, for instance, provides an online mental health assessment and triage service to a variety of mental health supports to emergency service workers and volunteers. That includes direct referrals to the UNSW Traumatic Stress Clinic and the Black Dog Institute, which provide up to 12 free psychological sessions that don't require a GP referral or Medicare, either face to face or via telehealth, which means there's much more reach there for people who need that service. We are committed to the mental health of first responders. I am proud to be a part of a government— 11:10 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher I rise in support of this very important motion. I welcome the late-to-the-party support from those members opposite because, when this funding eventually runs out for Fortem, I will be going through all of the Hansard transcripts of those who are getting up and talking about how great Fortem is. We'll be raising that when the founding rounds come around again. Fortem is an excellent organisation. In the last parliament, we not only funded them the $10 million that we put on offer in the March budget, but we funded them several millions of dollars. This is a pet project of mine that I've been working on for more than six years. The then superintendent of the Queensland Ambulance Service, Neil Reid, who is a constituent of mine, came to me and said, 'Andrew, you guys and the feds do so much for our vets; what are you doing for first responders?' My initial response was that the first responders are the responsibility of the states and territories. We look after defence at the ADF. But, I thought, that's not good enough. Our first responders are our men and women in uniform back home. We provide $11½ billion through the Department of Veterans' Affairs to our veterans, and so we should. But the sad reality is that our first responders, who see so much carnage on our roads and in our homes—floods, fires, you name it—do not get looked after properly by the state and territory governments. Enter Fortem. Fortem was the brainchild of John Bale, who started Soldier On. I had a lot to do with John when he was with Soldier On. He and I got together, and I tried to get funding for Fortem through various ministers when we were in government. I want to give a shout-out to the member for Maranoa, who was the first federal minister to provide funding to Fortem. He understood the importance of providing mental health care to our front-line first responders here in Australia. Whilst technically it is not the responsibility of the federal government, morally it is. I'm not going to stand here and get into an argument about constitutional jurisdictions, particularly when the state and territory governments are not pulling their weight. When they weren't looking after the mental health of our first responders, sadly, we needed to step in. In March, in this last round of funding, we provided $10 million to Fortem. I was extremely disappointed when the now Labor government did not carry that through. Fortem had already received $2 million, or the promise of $2 million, but they had had $8 million cut from their budget by this Labor government. I and the member for McPherson, and every other coalition member who has served in uniform as a first responder, stood up at a press conference and said, 'We will not let this stand.' In fact, I spoke with the minister personally. I said, 'Minister, we've got to change this; we've got to make sure that the funding flows through to our first responders.' I wasn't given a lot of hope, but with the help of the media and the coalition members, we effectively forced the Prime Minister's hand on this. I'm very pleased that the Prime Minister changed his mind about providing the additional $8 million. I thank him for it. We didn't want to make this a political issue because this is above politics, just as the service of our veterans is. The Fortem organisation provide tremendous services. I've had them to a roundtable in my electorate—in fact, not a roundtable but a whole seminar—where I invited all my emergency service responders to come along. They are a great organisation. They care not just for the mental health of first responders but also for their families, who go through so much trauma—almost as much is the first responders themselves. I'm very pleased the government has turned around on this point and I thank them for it. 11:15 Mr DAVID SMITH 276714 Bean Let me first acknowledge the extraordinary work of emergency service workers and first responders who are, right now, in flood and storm affected communities across many parts of New South Wales. I also acknowledge the extraordinary work of first responders across Australia over a very challenging three years. They deserve the support of our parliament and they have the support of this government. It has been a difficult time for communities, and I welcome the recent announcement of the disaster recovery payment being extended to the New South Wales local government areas of Cabonne, Dubbo, Parkes and Walgett. This support will help communities tackle immediate needs like food and clothing, and it complements assistance already available in the area, including 13-week income support for workers and sole business operators and the jointly funded Commonwealth and state government grants of $75,000 for primary producers, $10,000 for rural landholders and clean up assistance for land councils. The extension brings the total number of New South Wales LGAs to 14. This severe weather has been widespread and devastating, to say the least. I encourage all impacted people to check their eligibility for these payments. We in this place all know that the latest flood crisis hitting New South Wales is on the back of other disasters across other states and territories. It feels never-ending and I can only imagine the impact on our first responders and their families. This motion notes that the mental health and wellbeing of first responders is vitally important, and I agree. The challenges of first responders was first brought home to me during my years working with the members of the Australian Federal Police Association. It's there I gained a much deeper understanding of the traumatic and stressful nature of much of the work that falls within the remit of our first responders. We all need to support those who are there for communities in crisis and for individuals in crisis. The mental health of first responders is a priority for me and the Albanese government. In relation to the substantive matter of the motion, the funding for Fortem, the full $10 million will be delivered. We are not just promising this; we are going to deliver it. Fortem Australia has welcomed the announcement to allow the not-for-profit organisation to continue supporting first responders across the country. I note that the funding will allow Fortem to address a growing list of first responders who are seeking clinical support to address mental health problems as natural disasters continue to affect many parts of the country. This funding will also ensure that Fortem can expand its community engagement services on the ground in more locations across regional Australia. The Albanese government is actually doing what the previous government did not, by actually delivering the funding instead of promising it, stringing along a mental health charity and never delivering. Although the start of this motion from the member for McPherson was broad in nature and is supportive and positive, the motion is critical of our government's actions. Just for the record: the previous government announced $10 million in funding for Fortem but did not provide any funding to them despite the announcement. Before the election, Fortem began to spend the funding based on the announcement, and asked the new government to urgently provide funding because of this. The former government, the one the member for McPherson was a cabinet minister in, tried to cut $4 million of funding for the National Emergency Management Agency during the floods. More broadly, we all know that mental health support matters. This government believes in mental health support for first responders, and we are working on long-term sustainable funding solutions. In addition to Fortem, we fund a range of services to deliver this crucial work. The National Mental Health Service provides an online mental health assessment and triage service and a variety of mental health supports to emergency service workers and volunteers. This also includes direct referrals to the UNSW Traumatic Stress Clinic and the Black Dog Institute, who provide up to 12 free psychological sessions—either face to face or via telehealth—that do not require a GP referral or Medicare. Further, the government is committed to implementing the National Disaster Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework. We're currently in the process of looking at long-term, sustainable measures to support communities and first responders impacted by disasters. I support the efforts of the department and the National Emergency Management Agency to work together to ensure transparent, responsive and cohesive structures are in place so we have a strong level of preparedness when disasters continue to strike. 11:20 Mr VIOLI 300147 Casey At home in Casey we rely heavily on our first responders. First responders are one of the resources that you are proud to have but hope you never need. As scenic as the Yarra Valley and Dandenong Ranges are, our area has had its fair share of natural disasters. Time and time again we have found ourselves relying on the police and our selfless volunteers with the CFA and the SES. This is something I know all too well, having narrowly escaped the Black Saturday bushfires in 2009. Our communities were again left battered after the June 2021 storms and the recent floods, and this was yet another reminder of how important first responders are to our electorate. In times of emergency, we rely on courageous volunteer firefighters with the local CFA and rescue teams from the SES. There are at least 31 volunteer fire brigades and several SES units across Casey. The people out there in fire pumpers on Black Saturday working hard to save life and property also had homes of their own under threat. Many of them were locals, all impacted in one way or another, but they still worked tirelessly for the benefit of the wider community. The courage of our first responders to be on the scene when we need them most is not something we should ever take for granted. A day in the life of a first responder includes attending fatal car crashes, suicides, fires, floods and other emergencies. It's not a day you can debrief with your family at the dinner table. First responders are so busy being there for everyone else that they forget to prioritise their own wellbeing. There were 197 intentional self-harm deaths of current or former police, ambulance and fire service employees reported to the coroner across Australia from 2001 to 2016. Unfortunately the electorate of Casey was impacted by this as well. But behind these numbers are people—mums and dads, families and communities. That's why the former coalition government provided $10 million in funding for Fortem Australia, a not-for-profit organisation that provides specialised wellbeing and mental health support to first responders and their families. Fortem Australia uses research and best practice to support the health and wellbeing of people, and the families of people, who work or have worked in national security and emergency response roles. The families of first responders sacrifice time with their loved ones so they can go out and support Australians in natural disasters and emergencies. They face life-or-death situations every single day and the trauma that comes with that is deep and ongoing, and we owe it to first responders to do what we can to help in return. Fortem Australia is a perfect example of an organisation making a difference in this space while also recognising the impact on the responders' families. It's a disgrace that the Albanese government removed funding for Fortem Australia in their October 2022 budget. The budget was a test for Labor and they failed. They ripped away funding that quite literally saved lives. That is, of course, until last week, when the government backflipped on their decision and decided to once again follow in the footsteps of the coalition by supporting first responders. Managing Director of Fortem Australia, John Bale, made a public plea for the government to reinstate the funding, something that he should never have had to do. He said the organisation can't keep up with the number of first responders seeking support. He said they currently provide 300 psychological sessions a month and warned that people would die if this didn't continue. The government might think they can save face by reinstating that funding, but first responders and their families should never have had to question whether than support would be available. To seek support takes courage, and I am pleased to see that this funding has been reinstated, but I condemn the government for making such an important organisation plead for funding that literally saves the lives of the people who save others' lives. We must do everything we can to support our first responders. I will always stand by our hardworking emergency service workers and I thank them sincerely for all they do in the community—in Casey and across the nation. 11:25 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I want to acknowledge the previous speakers and, like them, thank our first responders, as I do, often, in my electorate and across the country. But, more than that, I am acting to support them in the areas where they need support, and the work at Fortem is part of that. Part of it also is a commitment of $3.6 million for supported accommodation for veterans and first responders in my electorate when they need it because of the difficult work that they do and the trauma that they see, often on a daily basis. When they need that support we will be there to support them and give them a place where they can rest up and get connected to the services they need. I've been working with Fortem for some time and there is a Fortem staff person in Darwin. What the funding from the federal government will do is enable a psychologist to be employed to work in Darwin in my electorate, supporting people in the Northern Territory with the mental health support that they need because of their important work. They're the best of our community, whether they be full-time salaried people or volunteers. We owe them a great deal. As well as those who serve on the front line in health and defence, just in my family there is a firey, and one of my nephews is an ambulance officer. They're about serving and protecting the community. A lot of my mates who were in the military have gone on to serve with the police force. They do so bravely. Whether it be facing crime, helping Australians that have been pulled into a rip-tide or facing Australians who have been injured, they are doing horrific things that we don't want the rest of the community to have to do. That's why we have first responders. Just imagine picking up a baby that has passed away, out of a car crash. Imagine the trauma of that. But someone has to do it, and our first responders are the ones that do it. And that's why we're backing them. That's why, as the Prime Minister announced on Remembrance Day, we're going to make sure that Fortem has the funds to have services like the one I've described for Darwin: a Fortem psychologist to provide that support to our first responders. It's important. When I talk to veterans about first responders, they say they've got all the respect in the world for them because they are on the job facing those situations every day—danger, every day. There's a great deal of respect between the two, and that's why the Scott Palmer Services Centre, named after commando Scotty Palmer, who was killed in Afghanistan in a tragic helicopter accident, will honour him by having a facility that not only helps veterans but helps first responders as well. Now, the member for McPherson is making a partisan point here, and I don't usually seek to draw the services into partisan debate, but what her motion does allow us to do is to speak about our first responders and to honour them. Rather than being partisan, I'll be bipartisan and say that I was happy and impressed when Prime Minister Morrison announced last year that the government would commit $10 million in funding for Fortem in its April budget. Of course, the only problem was that that announced funding never actually came into existence. The funding was announced—and we know they were great at that—but it was never appropriated in the former government's budget. Former Prime Minister Morrison announced the funding but didn't appropriate it in the budget. First responders out there and their families, to whom we owe so much, will see that funding for Fortem appropriated in the budget in full so that we can provide our first responders the services that they and their families need for providing the services that they do. We owe our first responders, and their families, a great deal. We'll provide that support with this funding. 11:30 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina I thank the member for McPherson for bringing this motion forward. I thank the member for Solomon for his service to our nation, and I note his comments in relation to the Scott Palmer Services Centre in Darwin, a wonderful facility. I also note the fact that it will deliver services not just for our veterans—and don't they deserve it—but also for our first responders. I note the member's bipartisanship and thank the government for any funding that they can provide to veterans and to these wellness and wellbeing centres for first responders as well. I note my disappointment with the fact that $5 million has been stripped away from Wagga Wagga for not just a veterans centre but also, in conjunction with that, a first responders support facility. This would have been a wonderful facility and amenity for the Riverina and for veterans, of whom there are many. There are nearly 1,500 in the city alone, but across the broader electorate there are thousands, Deputy Speaker Wilkie. I know you know how important our veterans are, and I know you know how important our veterans are in the Riverina, having had an association with the Kapooka Army base there. This is about first responders—they are the brave people who run to a calamity, to a disaster, to a tragedy, when others are running in the opposite direction. When others are running away, our first responders—be they police, be they ambulance officers or be they people who work in firefighting—are the ones who are putting their lives at risk and putting their lives on the line. A huge number of state emergency services people descended upon Forbes, Eugowra and other Central West communities. Many of them came from flood affected communities, Mullumbimby and others, and gave up their time. I say thank you to their employers as well. Let's not forget them, because they are allowing the SES people, the volunteers, to give their time. But it's not just first responders; it's not just SES; it's not just paid full-time or volunteer people. It's also those first responders who are just ordinary, everyday people, such as local Eugowra fitter and farmer Pat Welsh and some of his mates: John Augustin, Stephen 'Snow' Jones and Mick 'Sparky' Miles. They too put their lives on the line when, on Monday last week, Eugowra was absolutely swamped. I was speaking to Max Gransden, a 70-year-old lifelong resident of Eugowra. He said he had water pooling around his ankles and he thought, 'Gee, this flood is more serious than I first thought.' He said, 'The next minute I was scrambling for safety because it was up around my chin.' There are stories of the bravery of so many people. Snow, Sparky and others commandeered a fire brigade vehicle and rescued not just a few people but dozens of people. I hope they receive the due recognition they've earned, a bravery medal, because each and every one of them deserves it. Max told me that a disaster in the dark would have cost 150 people. It would have been a Grantham-style disaster, but, fortunately—in one sense, if you could use that word—it happened at around eight or 8.30 in the morning. Even though there has been a tragedy in town—Diane Smith, a loved local, lost her life and there are a couple of others missing—the death toll wasn't in the order of a national disaster. Yes it is a national disaster, because it is going to take a lot of time to recover and that community will feel the effects of this for years to come, but our first responders have done a mighty job in the electorate of Calare—I note that the member is away this week—and in the Riverina, which takes in the central-western town of Forbes, which has now had four peaks of the Lachlan River this year. Just think of that—four peaks—and yet we've got Rocky Walshaw; Ben Pickup, the SES Parkes incident controller; and Ken Murphy, the SES senior management capability incident controller for the Lachlan Valley, doing a mighty job along with all the other first responders. 11:35 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur Over the last few years our nation has certainly seen its fair share of troubles, with increasing numbers of bushfires and floods and with the pandemic and other emergencies. These events have really tested our nation, yet through it all, our emergency services personnel continue to turn up and get our communities through these very dark times. We are facing continuing issues with flooding in the eastern states. We know that with the onset of summer we will be facing bushfires, yet again and again, our first responders will turn-up. As the member for Riverina mentioned, they run to disasters, not away from them. It takes a very special person to commit their lives to giving back to their communities in this way. I've worked with many first responders over many years and seen the way in which they turn up to the most stressful events. They get people through. They do their best. They put up with the most terrible emergencies—damaged bodies, death, loss of limbs, loss of major organs—and yet they turn up again and again. This of course can have severe implications on their mental health. So I very much welcome our government's funding commitment of $10 million to Fortem Australia to provide support for the ongoing mental health issues of our first responders who need it. They are our top priority. I am very grateful to be a member of the Albanese Labor government, which turns up time and time again to support people during disasters. I'm a little concerned that the motion of the member for McPherson is a little critical, because she was in government with the Morrison government, which was always there for the photo opportunity but never there with support. I am concerned that the member for MacPherson can be so superficially critical of the Albanese government, because we turn-up, we provide funding, we support people and we are there every time. I will dispel a myth that the very outset. The former minister may claim that she and the previous government provided funding for Fortem, but that is untrue. The Liberals announced funding for Fortem as part of their last budget, but they never sought to pass the appropriate appropriation bills containing the funding measures for it. They had the opportunity to do so and they chose not to. So the money never actually existed. It is another myth from a failed government. It takes some gall for those opposite to lecture us about showing up for first responders, given the last Prime Minister chose to holiday in Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires. The Liberals played politics with Fortem around their funding, but they failed to deliver, of course. It was the worst type of cynical politics from those opposite. It continues, and one really does wonder about their motives. The Albanese government continues to provide psychological support and support by being there and turning up. The Minister for Emergency Management, Murray Watt, epitomises the view of our government. We turn-up and we do things. We carry through on what we say. We are providing psychological support. We are providing GP support. We are providing mental health support for all those who need it. We support our first responders. We stand side by side with them. The work of the first responders is vital, and we will turn up for them every time. I am very proud and thankful for Macarthur's first responders, including the Campbelltown and Camden police, our paramedics, medical personnel from Camden and Campbelltown hospitals, Fire and Rescue NSW, as well as our local rural fire service and SES units. I have been to the control centre at Picton and I saw how they worked during the bushfires in 2020. I have been there and I have seen how they support everyone in our community, and I continue to support them. Unfortunately, we lost two volunteer firefighters, Geoffrey Keaton and Andrew O'Dwyer, during the 2019 and 2020 bushfires in Buxton. I will remember them. These two outstanding men were local fathers and leaders, and I am very grateful for them. (Time expired) The DEPUTY SPEAKER C2T The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Gender Equality 108 11:40 Dr ANANDA-RAJAH 290544 Higgins I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) the social, economic and health disadvantages that women experience are the consequence of interacting and intersectional factors that entrench gender inequality; (b) these factors result in less income over the course of a woman's life, fewer assets including superannuation, and greater vulnerability following trauma, such as relationship breakdown; (c) the economic trade off associated with motherhood was overlooked by successive Coalition Governments who failed to introduce reforms that improved women's economic equality; and (d) insecure work thrived during the former Government's era, disproportionately affecting women who fell further behind under the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic, contributing to their attrition from the care and knowledge economies; and (2) acknowledges that the Government has a suite of measures crafted in consultation with stakeholders and informed by record representation of women in its ranks—these measures include but are not limited to: (a) cheaper childcare; (b) addressing gender pay equity; (c) greater representation of women in key decision-making positions; and (d) addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. I am pleased to move this motion. Gender equity is core business to me and to the Albanese government; however, for too long it has been seen as something of a utopian goal. The World Economic Forum, not known for its hyperbole, states in their 2022 Global gender gap report that it will take 130 years to close the global gender gap. The good news is that this is actually an improvement on 2021, when the gap was 136 years. So how are we doing? Australia is 43 out of 146 countries, while New Zealand is fourth. Why such a disparity? What happened? A decade of neglect, where women were de-prioritised by those opposite—that's what happened. Then came a public health crisis that kicked women when they were already down on one knee. They did the double shift, juggling carer and home duties, driving themselves to exhaustion. And for what reward? Precious little, it seems, according to Australia's gender equality agency, who last year declared that it would take 26 years for the full-time gender pay gap to close. Fantastic. A quarter of a century. Why did this not make headlines? The clue is in the fine print. They said that the gender pay gap for executives could close in the next decade, but in that time workers in feminised industries like the care and community sector may not see a change, if ever. All of this translates to a gender pay gap of 14.1 per cent—likely an underestimate—that has been stubbornly resistant to change. Being on average $263 per week less, it has an outsized impact over a lifetime. Less pay means fewer assets, less super, and less resilience to shocks like relationship breakdown or trauma or a global pandemic. Not fixing gender equity has meant women over the age of 55 are the fastest-growing group who are becoming homeless, and domestic violence is the No. 1 reason for that. What did successive coalition governments do? Clearly not enough. They failed to address the growing pressures on women, like ballooning childcare costs or inflexible workplaces, and allowed insecure work, which disproportionately affects women, to thrive like a toxic weed. Well, we are the weed killers. The Albanese government is intent on hardwiring gender equity into work and our societal culture by zeroing in on two things: pay equity and representation. This program is backed by record representation of women in our ranks; at 52 per cent, it is the highest in Commonwealth government history. The measures are the largest investment—$4.7 billion—in early childhood education and care. We are expanding paid parental leave, which was originally introduced by the Gillard government, by up to 26 weeks by July 2026. With use-it-or lose-it provisions, this reform challenges norms that stereotype men as breadwinners and women as caregivers. We are introducing IR reforms that aim to promote job security, close the gender gap and stimulate wage growth, with the main beneficiaries being the feminised industries. It means outlawing pay secrecy clauses, limiting the use of rolling fixed-term contracts that lock women into precarity, and improving access to flexibility in the workplace. We will be making gender pay equity an object of the Fair Work Commission, backed by two expert panels focused on pay equity and the care economy. We are not forgetting our knowledge workers. We are making gender pay parity an object of peak research bodies like the National Health and Medical Research Council. I was a recipient of one of those scholarships once upon a time. We are tackling sexual harassment and victimisation in the workplace by implementing all the recommendations of the Respect@Work report. On housing, an estimated 4,000 homes from the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund will be allocated to women and children fleeing domestic violence. Our recently formed Women's Economic Equality Taskforce, comprising 13 eminent women, is currently providing independent advice to the government on improving gender equity. We will also compel businesses with 100 or more employees to report on their gender pay gap, because transparency is a great motivator. Finally, we are increasing women's representation in prominent public office, including the High Court, the Climate Change Authority, the Ambassador for Climate Change and the Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner because you can't be what you can't see. After a decade of indifference and inertia, the Australian people have blasted the cobwebs off this House. They understand that when we lift women up we lift up our nation. When we fail women, we all fail. The DEPUTY SPEAKER C2T Is the motion seconded? Ms Ryan 249224 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 11:46 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong I thank the member for Higgins for putting this very important issue to our parliament. The challenges women face in their homes, in the workforce and in their retirement are persistent and pervasive. They are structural, social and economic. We know that when women can share the domestic load, participate in the workforce equally and achieve financial security at all points in their lives our whole society benefits. The 2018 KPMG report Ending workforce discrimination against women found that halving Australia's gender pay gap would increase our GDP by $60 billion by 2038 and that reducing the difference in average earnings of women and men by just 50 per cent would see our households better off by $140 billion over the next 20 years. When women earn more by having the opportunity to work or by being paid more equitably they can spend more and they can save more, creating greater financial security throughout their lives and into retirement. Right now, many women who have spent their adult lives working in the home, raising families and creating the social fabric of our society have been unable to accrue superannuation or savings. If those marriages end, those women often struggle. Women over 55 are the fastest-growing demographic of people who are homeless. Unless we address the structural barriers preventing economic gender inequity, women over 55 will remain at increased risk of poverty and of homelessness. Superannuation must be appended to maternity and other care-related leave as an essential step towards financial equity for women in retirement. In recent months, I've been pleased to help legislate important reforms to help reduce the gender pay gap, including recommendations of the Respect@Work inquiry and changes to eligibility for subsidised child care hours. I take this opportunity, though, to again call on the government to accompany the cheaper-child-care package, which increases the amount of subsidised care hours for working women, with an urgent intervention into the crisis in the early childhood education workforce. A crumbling early childhood education workforce harms gender equity twice over: firstly, because the childcare workforce comprises some of the lowest paid women in this country and, secondly, because workforce participation of women is dependent on the accessibility of child care. Australia has some of the highest levels of education for women in the world, but we are ranked 38th in the world for workforce participation. As the Grattan Institute's Danielle Wood has suggested, if untapped women's workforce participation was a massive ore deposit, we would have governments lining up to give tax concessions to get it out of the ground. Treasury estimates that the government's the cheaper child care package will fund an extra 1.4 million hours of workforce participation each week. This is a significant equalising measure for families lucky enough to get a spot in a childcare centre. But therein lies the problem. There are already insufficient day care positions for our children. Increasing the childcare subsidy without increasing child care enrolments won't get women back to work. It will just cut the cost of child care for those who are already working. Qualified early childhood educators are leaving our workforce at an alarming rate, with 15 per cent having left that workforce since October 2020. Fewer people in the early childhood workforce means fewer women in our national workforce. The benefits to households, communities and the national economy when we advance gender equality are clear. I'm very pleased to support the motion moved by the member for Higgins today, and I will continue to work for legislative solutions to increase women's workforce participation and to close the gender pay gap. 11:50 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor It is said that in human endeavour we often take two steps forward and one step back. This certainly sums up the journey to gender equity in this country and, ostensibly, globally. I stand here today on the shoulders of the women who came before me in the Labor Party. I want to mention Susan Ryan and the work she did in this parliament to progress gender equity. I want to mention my predecessor, Julia Gillard, who was our first female Prime Minister but also, more importantly, as a young woman, was critical in commencing movements within Victoria and a founding member and life force—with the assistance of Joan Kirner, former Premier of Victoria—behind the creation of EMILY'S List, which drove women's representation in the parliament in Victoria and in this parliament from the grassroots up. But it does feel like two steps forward and one step back, and it has done for my nine years here, while I've watched our side of the parliament grow to having 52 per cent representation of women and the opposite benches reduce in the number of women, year on year. This is at the core of the problem and why women's equity has been stagnating across the last decade. It is about attitudes and it's about actions. I am absolutely thrilled to follow the member for Higgins today and to thank her for putting this forward. She's outlined many of the things that this government has committed to doing in its first six months in government to get gender equity back at the front of the decision-making for an Australian government. I am very proud to be a member of that government and proud to see the women's budget back, central to the October budget delivered by the Albanese Labor government. It is actions like this that change the way people think. It is actions like this that drive the changes that drive gender equity in our communities. I would echo both speakers before me in the reflections they made on how limiting the situation we are in now is for us nationally. I welcome, of course, the child care changes that will see 37,000 effective full-time workers—women, potentially—back into the workforce. I welcome the lift of the ban around declaring what you earn, so that people know what they can aspire to earn. It has limited gender equity for some time. I welcome that transparency about salaries. I welcome 10 days domestic violence leave and what that means. We measure what we care about, and in this country—and in most countries—if it has an economic impact, it will see action from government. Believe me, we know that domestic violence is having an economic impact. We just need to demonstrate it through measurements, and DV leave is a key way to demonstrate the economic impact of domestic violence in our workplaces. Therefore, we'll see governments of all persuasions commit to getting rid of it, on economic grounds if not on human grounds. I welcome also the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children, launched by Minister Rishworth most recently. I welcome the 15 per cent pay rise for the aged-care workers in our care economy, and the changes of the Fair Work Commission just in terms of having a government that supports wage increases. I welcome the five per cent wage increase to those on the minimum wage, of whom we know an enormous number are women. I share the member opposite's concerns around the childcare workforce and how we're going to attract and retain women in that care and education industry. I know that that will start when they can earn more doing the most important work of early education. When they can earn more doing that then they can stacking shelves, then we will be able to attract and retain workers in that most important industry. I welcome the changes to paid parental leave, which will allow families to make decisions, to spend the time they need with their families and to rejoin the workforce. I commend this motion to the House. 11:55 Ms DANIEL 008CH Goldstein Gains for women in this country have been few and far between over the past decade. I agree with the mover of this motion, the member for Higgins, that the government's first budget has delivered some important progress towards a more gender equal future. But it has to be said that women in Australia are starting from a long way back—a very long way back. Australia is ranked 43rd of 146 countries in the latest World Economic Forum global gender gap index. The official gender pay gap have hovered between 13 and 19 per cent over the past two decades, but in many industries it is more like 30 per cent. Women are more likely to live below the poverty line. Older women are the fastest-growing group to experience homelessness in Australia. On average, women retire with approximately half the level of retirement savings of men. And women spend twice as much time on unpaid work as men. The moral and economic case for investing in women is strong. Gender inequality is the root cause of the social, economic and health disadvantages that women face. Today I want to focus on one area of gender inequality, because it's urgent: women's safety. According to Our Watch, on average, one woman a week is murdered by her current or former partner, one in three women has experienced physical violence since the age of 15, one in five has experienced sexual violence since the age of 15, and family and domestic violence is a leading driver of homelessness for women. This budget was sold as a bread-and-butter budget. Women's safety is a bread-and-butter issue, or at least it should be. The new National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children is comprehensive and ambitious. But it needs more investment if we're to end violence against women and children in a generation, as the plan strives to do. A woman's ability to access services to be safe after domestic violence or rape is critical and needs proper funding. Right now there are major gaps for women's safety that must be addressed. Until this happens, there will be no broader equality in the workforce or elsewhere. Women who are trying to escape family and domestic violence are still unable to the safety and support that they need. More investment in specialist case management services is needed so women trying to build safer lives can access the support they need to be safe. More investment in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community controlled organisations is needed to support First Nations women affected by men's violence. More investment is needed in trauma responsible for rape and sexual assault survivors so they can access counselling support. As it stands, survivors are being told to wait months for trauma counselling. In the eastern region of Victoria, the waitlist for counselling is six to eight months. The Sexual Assault Crisis Line is the central after-hours coordination point in Victoria for responding to sexual assaults. It can consistently respond to only 65 per cent of calls because it's understaffed and underfunded. Waiting list times for men's behaviour change programs are too long. Men using violence are also on months-long waiting lists. Experts in the sector have said a minimum of $1 billion of federal funding is needed annually to start addressing gender based violence in our communities. The commitment to a new National plan to end violence against women and children in the budget only gets us just over halfway to the funding that's needed over the next four years. Fair Agenda, a movement of 43,000 Australians campaigning for a future where our gender doesn't determine our worth, say: This budget still leaves so many women in danger … They are calling on the government to deliver a 'major funding boost' during this term of government, starting with the next budget in May. I also encourage the government to increase its commitment to women's safety in the May budget. This government has rightly made gender equality a national priority. If the government is serious about wanting to re-establish Australia as a global leader on gender equality, it must address these glaring gaps in women's safety. I thank the member for Higgins for this motion. 12:00 Dr C I8M Parramatta HARLTON () (): I rise to support the motion put forward by the member for Higgins. I support this motion in recognition of the fact that gender inequality is an issue that continues to confront and unfairly challenge Australian women and girls, made worse by the COVID-19 pandemic and a decade of inadequate action by the former coalition governments. It may come as a shock to many that Australia today ranks 43rd out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap Index. In 2006 we ranked 15th. Today, ranked in the immediate spots above us are Panama, Ecuador and Bulgaria. While we are ranked 43rd, New Zealand, a country which in so many other ways is similar to us, is ranked fourth. In the span of 16 years, we have dropped by 28 spots. It's hardly surprising that today women generate less economic income over their lifetimes than men; hold fewer assets, including superannuation, than men; and suffer greater vulnerability following trauma than men. We saw this divide exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, where women were amongst the groups that were most disproportionately affected by its pressures, which entrenched the inequality that exists between men and women in this country. Why is it so important to address gender equity? First and foremost, it's a human rights issue—a fundamental inequity that is an affront to every Australian. Second, it's an economic issue. Australia faces many challenges to our economy, including slowing productivity growth and international challenges associated with the slowing economies around us and amongst our trading partners. If we're to lift economic growth and productivity, then we cannot allow gender inequity to continue in our economy. We cannot allow a gender wage gap. We cannot allow differences across careers. We cannot allow the differences in participation rates between women and men. This is one of the primary drivers of stronger economic growth over the next decade—a driver that we must not ignore. Last week, with the Minister for the Environment and Water, I had the opportunity to visit a site that might be considered ground zero of women's inequality in Australia. Within my electorate, the Parramatta Female Factory is, on the one hand, one of the crown jewels in our trove of heritage assets but, on the other hand, a stark reminder of the history of inequity and marginalisation towards women within Australia. As the Minister for the Environment and Water said during her visit last week, the Parramatta Female Factory is a brilliant example of Australia's social welfare history. It was a place where women were sent if they were unmarried or unutilised and where they were left to engage in manufacturing, in often appalling conditions. The site tells the tragic story of institutionalised women and girls over the 19th and 20th centuries. The site plays a pivotal role in our nation's colonial history, with thousands of women passing through the factory as prisoners and later patients in what was then the Parramatta asylum. The female factory was also the site of Australia's first industrial action, a moment when the female inmates of the Parramatta Female Factory rose up and demanded better treatment. In the famous female factory riot, they stood up to their captors, protested against the treatment they were receiving and demanded better conditions within the factory. Today the factory serves as a constant reminder of how far we've come in the story of gender equity in Australia, but also how far we have to go. How can we reach our aspiration of a more egalitarian and equitable nation without action on gender equity? On 21 May 2022, a decade of inaction and neglect was broken when the Albanese Labor government was elected. I stand here today as a proud member of a government which has begun to deliver real change, addressing the key factors that have entrenched gender inequity for so long. I'm proud to be part of a government that is investing in cheaper child care. I'm proud to be part of a government that is recognising gender equity as a key part of fair working conditions and making gender equity and job security objects of the Fair Work Act. (Time expired) 12:05 Ms WARE 300123 Hughes I rise to speak on the motion by the member for Higgins. In principle, I support any moves that will help to address the gender inequity issues that we currently have in our country. It is important that we shine a floodlight on the barriers that might limit women building their financial security, and focus on practical measures to help change that—because, when Australian women do well, their families do well, our economy does well and our nation prospers. One of the largest barriers to women earning an income equal to men is the predominant responsibility for family and caring duties which falls largely to women. As a first-time mum, I temporarily stepped away from my legal career in order to raise our twin sons, James and Nicholas, full time. Even in 2006, when my sons were born, I battled against the perception in my own workplace that it was not appropriate for me, as a senior lawyer and a partner in a national law firm, to work in a part-time capacity. Unfortunately, this story was all too common amongst my peers at that time. Women in 2022—or even back in 2006—should not have to choose between a family and a career. Today marks six months since the election. And I ask: what meaningful practical change has the government actually brought about to help address the social, economic and health disadvantages still experienced by Australian women? The recent budget was a missed opportunity for the Albanese government to deliver a road map—a strategic plan—to demonstrate how it will address the issues relevant to contemporary Australian women. The motion moved by the member for Higgins speaks about the government's purported record in bringing about cheaper child care and gender pay equity and addressing sexual harassment in the workplace. However, if I turn first of all to the government's cheaper child care bill, it was touted as a win for families in allowing more women to re-enter the workforce. However, the bill did not go nearly far enough. The government, in fact, voted against very sensible amendments put forward by the member for Moncrieff which would have provided real, positive change for women and their families accessing childcare places. The bill, for example, was silent on salient details. It had no plan to address the current workplace shortages and the pressures that have been raised by childcare educators themselves. There was no plan to address access to care and, in particular, no plan to address the chronic shortage of places in rural and regional Australia. The bill simply did not address the supply issues. Demand for childcare places around Australia is still well outstripping supply. The child care bill and the budget did nothing to alleviate that problem or to set out a road map as to how this matter would be dealt with by the government. It is certainly appropriate that subsidies are available for parents to enable them to make choices appropriate for their particular circumstances. However, if we don't address the supply concerns raised by our childcare workers, Australian mothers wanting to return to the workplace simply won't be able to. I now turn to the government's record on sexual harassment within the workplace. The government's proposed dismantling of the Australian Building and Construction Commission in the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 is a disgrace. We are well aware of the reports of bullying and harassment against the 150,000 Australian women who work on construction sites throughout Australia. As at March of this year, the CFMMEU was in the courts and was found to have contravened existing workplace laws on no less than 1,663 separate occasions. It is hard, then, to see how the dismantling of the ABCC can be considered to be anything other than the Labor Party rewarding its CFMMEU friends. I conclude: when Australian women do well, their families do well and the economy and nation prosper. 12:11 Ms SITOU 298121 Reid Around the world, progress towards gender equality has been extraordinary and awe inspiring, but at the same time deeply disappointing and dispiriting. Why the mixed emotions? Because it is an incredibly mixed bag of outcomes. On the whole, there has been slow and steady progress towards gender equality in so many countries. However, in some countries that progress has stalled or we've seen a dangerous backslide. In the United States, some women are being denied access to reproductive health care. Girls in Afghanistan are being denied access to secondary education. Iranian women face the threat of violence daily. The regression of rights for these women is deeply distressing, and we stand in solidarity with women around the world fighting to make our society more equal. For me, these world events are also a reminder that progress is neither linear nor guaranteed. Unfortunately, the rights our mothers and grandmothers fought so hard for can be taken away if we do not actively and persistently fight for them. Here in Australia, with the change of government in May there was a pivot towards recognising the value of gender equality. This government has placed gender equality at the heart of what we do. It's an approach that spans the entire government. We have set ourselves an ambitious goal: to make Australia one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. It's important to outline two of the critical policy decisions made by this government in just its first six months. From July next year the childcare subsidy rates will lift for 96 per cent of families using care. It's good for parents—mostly mothers—who are getting back into work. It's good for children because they have access to that great early education and it sets them up for life. It's good for our economy by increasing productivity. It was our single largest election commitment in our most recent budget. We know women are not getting a fair deal when it comes to pay. On average, a woman working full time earns $263 less per week than a man working full time. The gender pay gap has remained at around 14 per cent for far too long. We must do better, and this government will do better. That's why the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 is so important. It goes directly to the core of the problem. It makes gender equity and job security an object of our industrial relations framework. It ensures the Fair Work Commission factors in gender equity when considering the minimum wage and changing awards. But it does much more than just change the function of the commission. It gives workers in those highly feminised industries the ability to secure the benefits of enterprise bargaining. No longer should it be the case that female-dominated industries receive the minimum award rate and male-heavy industries receive better enterprise agreements. There's more to do, and we need to recognise the varying and sometimes more acute impact of gender inequality on Indigenous women, women from culturally diverse backgrounds, women with disabilities and older women, but this is a government that is starting to take those important steps. It's not a coincidence that these significant changes have been made when, for the first time in our country's history, we have a majority female federal government. Fifty-four of the 103 government senators and members of parliament are women. It is the most diverse government our country has ever had, which means it better reflects the communities we aim to represent. That is significant because it means our policies are better for the community. An honourable member: Well said! 12:15 Mr BROADBENT MT4 Monash It was well said, and I congratulate the member on her contribution. I can only go on my own experience as an employer of women over a long period of time. Most staff in my businesses were women. We had to be as flexible as possible within our community. The experience of my own family and the flexibility needed for them to contribute to our business as well was transferred immediately to the employees. If they needed to get their kids to school but also wanted to be home when they arrived home from school, their hours were reflected within the business of that operation. I don't think I was the only business to approach work that way, but we didn't have the facilities of child care and family day care in those days. I'm talking 40 years ago. For 40 years we've been grappling with these issues of inequality. Of course it's important to address gender inequality. I believe that the Labor government is putting a whole lot of work into that area to make a difference long term. When addressing these issues in the past, governments have tried to make a difference long term, but there are some entrenched longstanding cultural barriers. This issue is far more complicated than some of the presentations that have been made around the issue that it's a simple, easy job to make the change. These problems include discrimination related to pregnancy and parental leave, especially mothers returning to the workforce after parental leave. I've even heard claims of women being more fearful of returning to work as a so-called part-time mum than they were the birth. And some of the distressing stories I've heard from these women back that up. The OECD has acknowledged that a lack of support for motherhood is hurting women's career prospects. My inspiration has always been around the whole family, not just the mum. How do we support the whole family so that the mother involved in that situation is able to contribute in the way that she wants to contribute, not the way that we want to tell her how to contribute? In other words, I'm not demanding that people go back to work to have some substance within communities. One of our former speakers chose to look after her twin sons, to leave a legal practice and work on bringing up her two boys, who are now 16 years of age. She thinks it's all over at about 16. I can tell her, no, it's only just beginning. My twins are now 44 years of age, around there somewhere. I'm not saying there are still issues—they're wonderful boys—but kids never leave you; they're there for life. I want to acknowledge that families play a major role in the contribution their mum can make to community. My point is that they can make that contribution however they like. If we can find ways for women to have more flexibility in the workplace, that's a role that government can take on to make it easier for women to contribute. While having regard for their special circumstances, government can find new innovative ways to make sure they have the opportunity not only to contribute but to contribute on an equal level to anybody else. On top of that, we have a growing cohort of homeless women over the age of 55. In fact, I could now say over the age of 50. Therefore, as a very wealthy community with ample opportunity to make a difference, we in this place need to look at that cohort of women and say in this term, before these members of parliament finish their term, that there won't be that gender inequality and there won't be people who are missing out and unable to look after themselves in their later years—not that 55 is 'later years'! I'm just saying that here's a contribution that we could be making very solidly and very forcefully and having regard to that. And I do congratulate the diversity of the parliament, which has changed so dramatically since I was first a member in 1990. 12:20 Ms MI 296272 Boothby LLER-FROST () (): I'm pleased to rise to speak on this very important motion. We often hear that the fastest-growing demographic of people experiencing homelessness is women over 55, and what sits behind that is women's poverty. No matter what the story, no matter what the life course, poverty always sits behind homelessness. Each person has their own journey and their own story, but I'm going to talk about a typical story from my experience in the sector. We'll call her Susan. Susan is 58 years old. She married relatively young and had a couple of children. Although she loved her career as a nurse, she and her husband decided that she would stay home to look after the children. About 20 years ago, she and her former husband divorced. The children were teenagers, so she returned to work part time and rented a property in the leafy eastern suburbs of Adelaide, near their school. When the children left home, she returned to work full time, but her nursing qualifications were no longer current, so she did a cert IV and worked part time and casually in three different aged-care centres. Susan considered her life secure. She lived in a nice area in a lovely townhouse and had work that she found meaningful, until she got injured. And it might not be an injury—it might be a cancer diagnosis or an illness, a relationship breakdown or a redundancy. Susan could no longer work in aged care, and age and gender discrimination meant she couldn't find any other work. Initially, she used her savings to pay her rent, but when the savings ran out she put her belongings in storage, gave up her rental property and started house-sitting—until the house-sitting jobs dried up, and she found herself couch-surfing and sleeping in the car. Within the space of six to eight months, she had gone from living a secure life to being homeless, sleeping rough—something she could never have imagined would happen to her. Susan's story shows the perfect storm of gender disadvantage and where it ends up—a career path interrupted by caring duties for children, for a husband or partner and sometimes for elderly parents as well and insecure work in low paid, female dominated caring professions. The Albanese government knows that this perfect storm of gender disadvantage needs to end. Women have had enough of hearing that things will get better by themselves or that they will be better for the next generation. That didn't work for my generation, my mother's generation or my grandmother's generation. So what are we doing about this? The Cheaper Child Care bill means women will be able to return to work earlier after having a child if they wish. This will help address the career gap that cripples women's economic prospects and, in Susan's case, might have meant that her degree qualification remained current and she could have continued to work as a nurse at a higher pay rate. That would have meant that she would have more superannuation. She wouldn't have paid the double penalty of a career gap and lower pay rates impacting superannuation contributions. We also know that the national gender pay gap remains, despite nice words over so many decades. In May 2022, the national gender pay gap sat at 14.1 per cent, which means on average a woman working full time earns $263.90 less per week than a man working full time. If you include full time, part time, overtime and salary sacrifice, the total gender pay gap is 29.7 per cent. The Secure Jobs, Better Pay bill will add gender equity to the modern awards and minimum wage objectives and adds the need to improve access to secure work to the modern awards objective. This sets a clear expectation that the Fair Work Commission must consider gender equity when performing all its functions: when setting a minimum wage, when considering changes to awards and in all other decisions. This means that gender equity will be front and centre in the minds of the industrial umpire when it sets minimum pay and conditions and makes other decisions. The bill will also strengthen the Fair Work Commission's ability to order pay increases for workers in low-paid, female dominated industries by setting up two new expert panels in the Fair Work Commission. I also welcome the full implementation of the recommendations of the Respect@Work report. While I didn't touch on this in Susan's story, it is a common feature in the lives of so many women. There is much to be done to address gender equality and I welcome these bills that will improve the lives of Australian women who are 51 per cent of the population. The DEPUTY C2T There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Energy 115 12:25 Ms SPENDER 286042 Wentworth I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) household electrification policies can significantly reduce Australia's carbon emissions, its reliance on fossil fuels, and household energy bills by thousands of dollars each year; (b) such policies are most effective when accompanied by support for household solar and battery systems and electric vehicles; and (c) Australia is well-positioned to be a world leader in benefitting from decarbonisation, through the export of green energy as well as the technology and services to facilitate the clean energy transition; and (2) calls on the Government to: (a) take the lead on driving household electrification by rolling out low interest loans and tailored support for low-income households that help to overcome the upfront capital costs of electrification; (b) work with state and territory governments to urgently improve the regulatory infrastructure necessary for integrating greater electrification into our energy system; and (c) provide additional support to community-led organisations which are facilitating electrification and other climate transition programs. The average home in Australia that is powered by fossil fuels costs around $5,300 a year to run and, in doing so, produces nearly 10,000 kilograms of carbon dioxide. When you add that all together, it means households contribute more than 40 per cent of Australia's carbon emissions. Almost all of this comes from the machines in our daily lives: the petrol cars, the gas stoves and the fossil fuel power plants that supply most of our electricity. This dependence on fossil fuels is hurting our planet, and, as we are seeing right now, it's hurting our hip pockets too. Many families across Australia are in a never-ending struggle to pay their power bills, with gas prices skyrocketing because of the war in Ukraine. The silver lining of this fossil fuel price crisis is that Australian sunshine hasn't got any more expensive. In fact, rooftop solar in Australia is the cheapest home energy available in the entire world. It is so cheap that even a magic power plant providing energy for free would not beat it on price. That's because sending energy over power lines is more expensive than energy that comes off your roof. This means we can reduce our emissions and reduce our power bills through electrification of our households, supercharged by renewable energy. Best of all, the technology we need to achieve this is available today. We already have access to high-quality rooftop solar which can deliver electricity at an average of just three cents per kilowatt. We already have electric cooktops which can replace expensive and polluting gas stoves. We already have household batteries and electric vehicles, which can provide all the power we need when the sun isn't shining. Even before this fossil fuel crisis, the economic benefits of electrifying our households, improving insulation and powering our lives with Australian sunshine were clear. In Wentworth alone, electrification means the average household could save over $3,000 per year on home and vehicle costs by 2030. It means community organisations that install rooftop solar, like the Holdsworth centre in Woollahra, which recently put on rooftop solar, can spend less on power bills and more on delivering services like child care, dementia support and NDIS advice to the people who need it most. Our friends overseas have already realised this opportunity. In the United States, the landmark Inflation Reduction Act is accelerating the adoption of efficient all-electric appliances in homes throughout America. In the European Union, the Fit for 55 package includes a directive that all new building should be zero emissions by 2030. In the UK, the Heat and Buildings Strategy will decarbonise all homes, commercial premises and government buildings by 2050. For too long, Australia has been a laggard on climate policy. Below cost rooftop solar makes it possible for us to lead the world when it comes to electrification. To achieve this, we need governments to make it easier for people to get off expensive gas and to electrify their homes with renewables. We need to make it easier to overcome the upfront costs of these technologies and realise the benefits of cheaper energy in the long term. We need to make it easier to insulate our homes so that we use less energy in the first place. That is why this weekend, I'm bringing together our state MPs, local councils and the Smart Energy Council as part of Wentworth's first ever climate summit. At the summit, residents will hear from local and industry experts to explore technologies, products and lifestyle changes needed to electrify their homes, save on their power bills and power Wentworth to net zero. Local action is critical, but alone it will not be enough. That is why I'm calling on the federal government to take a leadership role. That means working with state and territory governments to get the regulatory framework right, through measures like renewable energy storage targets and strong national energy efficiency and emissions standards for rental properties. It means support for lower income households to electrify and insulate through bulk retrofit of public and social housing, and a national program of low-interest loans for home energy upgrades. It means supporting community led organisations which are facilitating electrification and other climate transition programs, and it means getting more batteries on wheels into households across Australia via the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, which must include strong fuel efficiency standards that reflect a phase-out of new internal combustion engine sales by 2035 at the latest. Household electrification is a massive opportunity to save on our power bills and to save the planet. Let's not waste it. The DEPUTY SPEAKER C2T Is the motion seconded? Ms Steggall 175696 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 12:31 Mr LAXALE 299174 Bennelong I'd like to thank the member for Wentworth for the opportunity to speak on electrification and the role the federal government can play in encouraging electrification of our households, because we know that the role of electrification of our households is incredibly important to mitigate the climate crisis and to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels. It will also help lower the cost of everyone's energy bills, which is incredibly important. These are established facts. This is something we can achieve not only here in Australia but right across the world. And there are added benefits. It simplifies construction by just having one source of energy going into a home. It also reduces maintenance costs, helps quieten households and creates scores and scores of jobs in the construction and energy creation industries. When I was having a chat to some people in my community about this over the weekend—and again I thank the member for moving motion up—I found that a lot of people don't really understand what the benefits of electrification are and how it will help diversify our energy needs. Rather than just relying upon gas or coal for heating—we've got gas cooktops, gas-fired solar heaters and, of course, central heating—by electrifying those household appliances, we can actually diversify the energy that we need to power those things. When the gas prices spike, as we see at the moment, we can switch to the cheapest and most abundant form of energy we have at the moment, being renewables. Having one source of power go into a household and power everything means that we're not exposed to these international shocks in energy prices across the world. Cheaper energy prices are one of the main motivators to electrify everything, and electrification also enables us to reduce emissions, which is incredibly important. Renewable energy is a huge part of the electrification of households. It applies to transport—anywhere between 18 and 25 per cent of a household's emissions are created by transport alone. If we electrify bus networks and our own personal transport, that will mean that emissions are reduced. Thankfully, we finally have a government that understands this. If you look to the former government, you see that they had 10 years of division and delay. Even the Leader of the Opposition's budget reply speech still seemingly ridiculed the role that renewable energy can play in our economy and in reducing emissions across the nation. We have a government that gets electrification and understands its importance and is also delivering policies that will help us achieve it. We look to our magnificent community battery program, with over 400 community batteries funded and $224 million committed in the budget. I am very proud to confirm that one of those community batteries will be in our community in North Epping. What these community batteries can do is encourage people to not only get solar but, for those who have solar, store that excess power that they don't use during the day, in the community battery, to then use at night. It reduces the cost for an individual to get a battery at each home. A 500-megawatt-hour battery will help about 250 households power their home with cheap, emissions-free renewable technology. We are so excited to be able to roll this out as part of the Albanese government. I know many members are very happy that some community batteries were committed to during the election campaign, but of course there are many, many, many more to be rolled out through ARENA and through working with community groups. I know the community in Bennelong are incredibly excited to be able to participate in one of the first. Hopefully, we will see that policy kickstart a battery revolution in our communities right across the nation, because we know that technology will not only help the grid but also help reduce emissions. We know that the government is pushing a national EV strategy and an electric vehicle superhighway of chargers. These are all incredibly important investments. We finally have a government that gets it—a government that is keen to reduce emissions through electrification. 12:36 Ms STEGGALL 175696 Warringah I thank the member for Wentworth for this motion and I strongly support it. Household electrification is something we must talk more of. The largest portion of our domestic emissions comes from our households—42.2 per cent—then it is businesses and, of course, industry. But almost all of these emissions in our households come from energy—the machines in our daily lives such as petrol cars, gas heaters, gas water heaters, gas stoves and the fossil fuel power plants supplying most of Australia's grid network electricity. Electrification of households, homes, cars and businesses is the key to reducing our emissions. It's how we will have the biggest impact on climate this decade. The frustrating part is that we have the technology. This is not something we need to wait for. It is all there; it's the low-hanging fruit. We just need to find the political will to roll it out at scale. So let's look to households' energy use in more detail. What does electrification mean? We need to move from fossil-fuel powered to electric and replace every appliance machine as it nears its end of life, with heat pumps for hot water, heat pumps combined with reverse cycle air conditioning for space heating and cooling, induction cooking in the kitchen and, of course, electric cars for transport. The savings are huge. Based on the calculations by Saul Griffith's Rewiring Australia, each household can save nearly $3,500 per year, which is $34,500 over the 10-year lifetime of appliances, by going electric. At the moment, in the absolute crisis of cost of living, it should be an absolute No. 1 priority to transition as many households as possible and in particular lower socioeconomic households that are struggling with power prices and the cost of living. There's a considerable upfront cost; there's no denying this. And many households are not able to do that. So we need to supply low- or zero-cost loans for this transition, especially for households on lower incomes. To fully electrify Australian homes, an investment of some $12 billion is needed over five years in Australian homes and vehicles, but this would reap $300 billion in household savings by 2035. This is huge, and the benefits are clear. Individuals will save thousands of dollars a year and be protected from fossil fuel costs that are spiralling out of control. We would absolutely be insured against the geopolitical influences that impact energy costs. We would immediately reduce our carbon emissions and fulfil more ambitious climate targets. We'd reduce air pollution and ensure energy security for our country—that is, no dependence on overseas oil. In a similar way, Australian businesses will profit from this transition to all-electric, and they need to be supported. Of course, transition from gas and oil powered appliances and machines will lead to an increased demand for electricity, so we will have to decarbonise the grid at the same time. So we need to decrease demand to as low as possible, but we also need to focus on energy efficiency measures to reduce that demand. For that, we need to incentivise energy efficiency measures through zero-cost loans and subsidies. It can be things like LED lighting, insulation or appliances with higher star ratings. These are all low-hanging fruits that we absolutely can do. There are many in the electorate of Warringah working on this, such as companies like Emerald Planet in Brookvale and so many more. They are looking at electrifying so many of our local businesses. Australia is so well placed to meet this increased demand for renewables with our abundant solar and wind. We absolutely need to support solar PV and protect the rights of solar owners and go further and incentivise all households and businesses that can install solar and batteries. Of course, storage is a major issue and that is why, early in 2023, I'll be introducing a private member's bill to make sure that we set an energy storage target. We must do this to incentivise and drive investment. There are many storage solutions that can be achieved through a renewable energy storage target that includes home batteries and electric car batteries with vehicle-to-grid technology. This would be a game changer because it would make batteries on wheels of our transport. There are currently very few vehicle-to-grid trials and the rollout across Australia needs to be accelerated. We have access to about 20 million car batteries once all vehicles are transitioned. The opportunities are really incredible, and local groups like Solar Alliance Brookvale are doing amazing work in Warringah, as many others are around the country. I urge the government: electrify everything. 12:41 Ms BYRNES 299145 Cunningham I thank the member for Wentworth for moving this motion and allowing me to highlight the vast amount of work that the Albanese Labor government is already doing in this space. We have committed in our budget to expand the Greenhouse and Energy Minimum Standards program, as well as the Nationwide House Energy Rating Scheme. Energy demand-side actions and performance improvements can help to reduce energy waste, accelerate the uptake of new technology and relieve cost-of-living pressures on consumers. They also help to deliver our key policy commitments, like the Powering Australia plan, and our emissions reduction targets. Our expansion of home energy ratings will improve residential building minimum standards and support improvements in the energy performance of Australia's housing. I agree with the member for Wentworth that household electrification policies are most effective when a company buys solar and battery systems for electric vehicles. That is why the government is taking the lead on driving household electrification by committing $224.3 million in the budget to support 400 community batteries to store excess energy from rooftop solar generation. One of these batteries will be in Warrawong, in my electorate, which is one of the lowest socioeconomic areas. This is a great win for people in Warrawong, delivering lower electricity bills and reducing emissions. We have also committed $100 million for the community solar banks program, which will support 25,000 households to access the benefits of community scale solar, rooftop solar and clean energy technologies. But we're not stopping at households. Our National Electric Vehicle Strategy is bringing state and territory governments, industry, unions and consumers together to bring Australia up to speed when it comes to modern road transport technology. We want to make sure that our infrastructure and our industries are ready to support the transition to electric vehicles. Our Driving the Nation Fund doubles the Commonwealth's investment in EV infrastructure, including charging and refuelling stations. Investments under this fund will create a national EV charging network and a national expansion of hydrogen highways. Our policies finally bring Australia into the modern age, reducing power bills, reducing our emissions and improving access to new technologies. Our government knows the potential Australia has in a decarbonising world. Minister Bowen said it best when he stated: 'The world's climate emergency is Australia's job opportunity.' We can be a renewable energy superpower, exporting renewable energy while using it domestically. I recently had the opportunity to meet in my electorate office with another well-known proponent of electrification: Saul Griffith. Saul is a former energy adviser to the White House and the founder and chief scientist at Rewiring America. After playing a key role in the recent passing of the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States of America, Saul is now focusing his efforts back home with Rewiring Australia. Rewiring Australia is looking to create the country's first electric community, with the pilot program, Electrify 2515, in the suburb of Thirroul in the north of my electorate. With greater investment in the renewable and clean energy space, it is vital that we foster our workforce to grow alongside it. That is why the Albanese Labor government is investing in education and training to equip our current and future workers with the skills they need. I am proud that our government is doing just that—in particular, with two commitments in my electorate in the Illawarra. The first is an energy future skills centre at the University of Wollongong, and I've also secured a renewable energy training facility at Wollongong TAFE. I respect the intent behind this motion, but it does appear to ignore the actions our government is already taking. We are taking the lead on driving household electrification, particularly for low-income households. Around 500 households in Warrawong, a suburb with some of the most vulnerable people, will benefit from the Labor government's investment in a community battery. Households that wouldn't be able to access clean energy technologies will be supported to gain the benefits of rooftop solar and other technologies, helping them to overcome the upfront capital costs of electrification. We are working with state and territory governments to urgently improve the regulatory infrastructure, enabling greater electrification of our energy system. One example of this is the Marinus Link, which is part of our Rewiring the Nation plan, a nation-changing infrastructure project. Our government knows the opportunities that decarbonisation offers our country and, unlike the previous government, we are jumping on those opportunities. Electrification is a major aspect of this, and our policies are driving the change needed for lower electricity bills and lower emissions. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 176304 The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next setting. Physical and Sexual Harassment and Violence 119 12:46 Ms TEMPLEMAN 181810 Macquarie I move: That this House: (1) notes with concern the findings of the Raising Their Voices report of the independent review into sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination in the Australian contemporary music industry; (2) commends the Music Industry Joint Statement of Acknowledgement recognising the harm documented by the review and their commitment to implement 'long-term, sustainable change'; (3) further notes that a pillar of the Government's national cultural policy under development is the centrality of the artist, which includes supporting the artist as a worker; (4) welcomes the Government's position that artists have the right to work in an environment free from bullying, sexual harassment, sexual assault and discrimination; and (5) supports the objective to prioritise a safe working environment for artists and everyone working in the industry. It is very timely that we're debating this motion while ARIA-recognised Thelma Plum is playing downstairs for all to hear and enjoy. When the findings of the national music industry review on sexual harassment, bullying, discrimination and other forms of harm within the music industry were released in September, it was telling that no-one in the industry was very surprised. But to say they were not surprised didn't mean these were not harrowing revelations that were shocking to read. Around 1,300 musicians and music workers shared their experiences, and the problems the report spoke of had been an open secret for a long time—far too long. Of the women surveyed, 72 per cent had experienced workplace sexual harassment or sexual harm during their careers. There were 74 per cent of respondents who had experienced bullying, and 55 per cent had suffered workplace harassment. Some 82 per cent said they did not report incidents of sexual harm or harassment. Only three per cent had made a formal complaint, and half of them were dissatisfied with the outcome. One respondent reported: I can't tell you how many times I have been hit on, groped, grabbed, squeezed and rubbed up against in a sexual way. Another stated that one manager was: … notorious for hiring young women ... You're made to feel you were so lucky to be working there. He had grossly sexual behaviour. If you resisted or said something about it, there would be retribution. These are quotes in the report. For some, the behaviour they were subjected to had far-reaching consequences. One described a mental health breakdown. Some lived in constant fear. Others left the music industry. It has got to stop—no more open secrets, no more excuses, no more turning a blind eye, no more coercion, no more prejudice, no more protection of perpetrators. If we want to feel proud of our Australian music, we need a workplace culture in which every musician and music worker can feel safe. We need perpetrators to be held to account for their conduct. We need victims to be heard, believed and supported. Above all, we need a fundamental shift in the way the music industry thinks about workplace safety, sexism and diversity. We recognise the contribution that Australian women, people who identify as LGBTQI+ and many diverse groups make to the music industry, and I'm committed to working with the industry to support the changes needed to create safe and respectful workplaces. In the wake of the findings, the music industry has promised to act. The Music Industry Joint Statement of Acknowledgement, issued by leaders in the industry, is welcome, but it's an understatement to say that there's a great deal more that needs to be done. There are 17 recommendations in the report, calling for an industry-wide approach and support from government to prevent sexual harm, sexual harassment, bullying and systemic discrimination, and for cultural reform to develop a code of conduct and reporting and compliance regimes, with industry leaders, artists, music organisations, industry bodies and employers all needing to take practical steps to reform. What role does government have in this? There are already rules and responsibilities that employers have to maintain a safe and respectful workplace. They're in antidiscrimination law, employment law, and work health and safety law. We're strengthening them in our respect at work law. Our secure jobs, better pay legislation changes things so that people can ask the Fair Work Commission to deal quickly and effectively with a complaint of sexual harassment, whether the harassment occurred in the past, is ongoing or both. It also empowers the Fair Work Ombudsman to investigate and assist with compliance. This amplifies the message that workplace sexual harassment will not be tolerated. I hear the industry's call for assistance in creating a mechanism or a body to unite the disparate parts of the music industry to be able to better tackle these workplace issues. It recognises that despite existing protections there are potential gaps in support, particularly in this gig economy. As Special Envoy for the Arts, I've been involved in the consultation as we prepare for a new national cultural policy in which the centrality of the artist will be a central theme. We'll support the music industry as it addresses the important issues identified in the report. We need the Australian music industry to tell our stories in a way that we can be proud of, and we'll be looking to support them any way that we can. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 201906 Is there a seconder? Mr Brian Mitchell 129164 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 12:52 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt I commend the member for Macquarie for moving this motion and thank her for bringing it to debate in this chamber. It's really important that we take every opportunity we can to talk about these uncomfortable and unpleasant issues, highlight them here in the federal parliament and make sure that we send the message that, by having a unified position on these issues, we're very committed as leaders in our community to making significant change in any such instance. This one, particular to the music industry, is a good opportunity. I thank her for that and commend and associate myself with all of the remarks she made. In some ways it's disappointing that we hear these revelations on a really regular basis. It can be depressing that we've got so many problems that need to be addressed in the space of the treatment of people in the workplace, particularly around sexual harassment and other things. I feel the silver lining on it is that at least we're now revealing practices that, let's be honest, have clearly been happening consistently for a long time. Let's be blunt. It's been thousands of years in professions that go back that long. At least we live in an era now where we are talking about these issues. We are calling them out. People are feeling, at times, empowered to tell stories that they didn't feel comfortable telling in years and decades gone by. I hope that, both in this parliament and more generally in society, people who have had these awful, terrible, unacceptable experiences are feeling that change is occurring. I think we all wish it was occurring much more quickly than it is, but I hope that we're bringing leadership in this place to this topic generally. Specifically, this motion gives us an opportunity to talk about the music industry, but I hope that we are bringing leadership and cultural change that empowers people to talk about this poor treatment. I hope we are sending a very clear message that it's completely and utterly unacceptable, that members of the Commonwealth parliament find it completely and utterly unacceptable and that there is more support for victims of this kind of treatment than ever before. Workplaces, I hope, are giving confidence to employees across every sector in our society, if there are issues like this that are systemic or if they've had particular appalling experiences, to come forward, because we want to help and support them and we want to stamp out these sorts of appalling and disgraceful practices that are occurring. I know this motion isn't singling out this industry at all; what it's saying is that this is a good example of revelations in a sector that are not acceptable but which are also an opportunity for that sector to take the steps that they are taking to send a very clear signal. Having uncovered this appalling culture of behaviour, as an industry, they are going to provide leadership to change that for the future. Hopefully, if nothing else, despite those people having had such terrible experiences, they will have some confidence that no-one in the future will have to go through the sorts of things they have had to go through. I think this is in light of a really important piece of legislation that will pass through the Senate by the end of this term, the respect at work bill, and of course the excellent work that Kate Jenkins has undertaken in her role broadly but also the review that she undertook into workplace culture and some very uncomfortable and confronting issues that occur in this building. Again, I would say that I'm pleased that we are shining a light on this topic. There have been poor, terrible and even criminal experiences that people have endured. Whilst it's very uncomfortable to hear the truth that they occur, at least we are shining a light on this topic so we can make the changes we can make as parliamentarians in our workplace. Also, from a legislative point of view, we can make sure to provide an opportunity to ensure that people don't have to endure those awful experiences and that awful treatment into the future. On that basis, this is a very uncomfortable, disappointing set of revelations, but it shows an opportunity for us to do what we can to change it for the better into the future. 12:57 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle I'm very glad to speak to this motion. I thank the member for Macquarie, the government's Special Envoy for the Arts, for bringing it forward. Can I say at the outset that, without question, live music is one of the best things. We can argue about whether storytelling or music is likely to have been humankind's first collective cultural experience—for all we know, it was quite possibly both at the same time. Through live music we join into something bigger than ourselves. We tell and hear stories. We experience the amplification of joy and pain. We remember and we celebrate. Sometimes we might shake our fists and dance for change. Sometimes we mourn. Without question, making, hearing and dancing to music together is one of the great heartthrobs that animate our experience of creativity and community. Because it represents such a magical, primal, essential human experience, we should expect it to be a ubiquitous and frequent part of our lives. On that basis, it absolutely has to be a welcoming, safe, inclusive experience for all involved, starting with musicians and other workers in industry, and for everyone who goes along to support their work and to revel in their noise. Unfortunately, we know that isn't always the case. The Raising their voices report showed that 55 per cent of the nearly 1,300 survey participants had experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment and 72 per cent of women had suffered that kind of unacceptable treatment. In addition, 76 per cent of survey participants reported having experienced bullying at some point in their musical career. This independent report has shone a light on the prevalence of conduct like this in the music industry, and it has to stop. Live music can be wild. Live music can push buttons and boundaries. It's okay if the noise is a little bit dangerous. It's great sometimes if the lyrics and the performance are on the edge or over the top. But it is 100 per cent not okay when the live music environment is an environment in which violence, sexual assault, harassment, or anything that is fundamentally exploitative and non-consensual occurs. Those behaviours are not okay anywhere. We know in Australia that we have work to do to eliminate that kind of conduct in almost every area of life, but it has been, unfortunately, common and widespread in the music industry and that needs to stop. As Jaguar Jonze has noted, the Raising theirvoices report took a lot of sacrifice and energy from survivors, and it must be the beginning of serious remedial work. Jonze has said: We now require commitment to change and action. I hope that with the report, the industry leaders will commit and implement the recommendations to begin the process of creating safe arts workplaces.' I'm lucky to have grown up surrounded by music. Both my parents are musical, and my brother is a musician. My dad chaired the board of a not-for-profit live music venue: the Fly by Night Club in Fremantle. Freo has long featured a range of distinctive and evolving music venues, but Freo has had its share of unacceptable behaviour and poor venue management of such behaviour, including in the last couple of years. Sadly, for women, whether they're musicians or fans of musicians, it's the case that a concert crowd is an environment in which they can almost be guaranteed to experience unwanted and inappropriate attention. That needs to change, and it needs to change through the behaviour of men. Men need to change. There needs to be a cultural and behavioural shift with no tolerance of the crap that has been endemic in some of these situations. All of us can be part of that change by having a good hard look at ourselves, by not looking the other way when it comes to the behaviour of people we know and by showing a bit of courage as a bystander to call out or report bad behaviour when it happens around us. The prospect of live music performed or enjoyed should never be tainted by the anticipation of harassment or bullying. There is much to be done to ensure that Australian songwriters and performers are properly valued and supported in their vital work, starting with safe workplaces. I call on people around Australia, in my community and in communities all around the country, as summer begins, to reflect on the fact that musicians are among those worst affected by the COVID pandemic and that, in some jurisdictions the live music scene has only recovered to 50 per cent of its pre-COVID state. Let's do something about that. We can do something about that by getting out and supporting the Australian live music scene as summer arrives—which I think is happening in Fremantle today, but I'm not so sure about the east coast! A critical part of that work within the industry, within venues, within some of the bands and, certainly, within the crowds is to make sure that our ability to be energised by the primal goodness of live music is not limited, diluted or ruined by stupid, ugly, unacceptable behaviour. 13:02 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons I, too, would like to thank the member for Macquarie for moving this important motion, and I'd like to take the opportunity to commend the work she's been doing as Special Envoy for the Arts to support the arts and shape government policy in relation to Australia's creative sector. I know she wanted to be here for these features, but she has been called away due to her coughing. I note our strong support for the industry across the parliament, which we saw demonstrated on the weekend with many MPs across the parliament repping their favourite Aussie band for Ausmusic T-Shirt Day. And today, right now, globally recognised Australian artist Thelma Plum is downstairs, performing to some very lucky MPs, senators and staffers. Of course, you can wholeheartedly support an industry and still acknowledge that there is room for improvement. I do share the member for Macquarie's deep concern about the findings of the Raising their voices report of the independent review into sexual harm, sexual harassment and systemic discrimination in the Australian contemporary music industry. For example, some 55 per cent of respondents alleged they had experienced some form of workplace sexual harassment and sexual harm in their career. Further, almost 80 per cent of respondents said they had experienced some form of everyday sexism during their career—those nasty throwaway lines or gestures or whatever it may be. And just as many—the vast majority being women—said they had experienced workplace bullying. These are issues that many industries and workplaces have been grappling with of late, as the former speaker noted, including our own parliamentary workplace. The music industry is, historically, insecure—contracted, casualised. It's, frankly, a breeding ground for abuse for people who wish to get ahead and are told the only way to do that is to make themselves available sexually. That's got to stop. It's just unacceptable. As the member for Macquarie said earlier, it is totally unacceptable and it just has to stop 'full stop'. All workers, including artists and anybody else who works in the music industry, or any industry at all, have the right to work in an environment free from bullying, free from sexual harassment, free from sexual assault and free from discrimination. The right to physical and psychological safety at work is enshrined in legislation and international human rights agreements, but we need to take the next step and have it enshrined not just in legislation but in the culture of workplaces. I commend the music industry for its joint statement of acknowledgement, which recognises the harm documented by the review, and for its commitment to implement long-term sustainable change. The Raising their voices report makes 17 recommendations, which provide a blueprint for the industry to become a global leader prioritising safety, inclusion and respect. That's a very worthy goal, and I certainly hope they get there. The recommendations include the creation of a contemporary music industry cultural reform council to further develop a code of conduct, establishing of an independent safe space for people to confidentially disclose experiences and the creation of awareness campaigns. I'm proud to be a member of a government that is committed to ending sexual harassment in the workplace and, frankly, proud to be part of a parliament that is recognising the longstanding issues in this place as a workplace and that is finally dealing with them. As we've seen with the Jenkins report, Set the standard, these issues have existed for decades, if not generations. We are recognising that they are real, and they are being dealt with. Over the past five years one in three people have experienced sexual harassment at work, with women experiencing higher rates of harassment than men. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people with a disability and members of the LGBTIQ community are, on average, more likely to experience workplace sexual harassment. Everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace, and the fact that workplaces have not been safe or respectful for so many Australians is unacceptable. The Albanese government recently introduced into parliament the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022, delivering on an important election commitment to end sexual harassment at work. The bill implements seven legislative changes recommended by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins that were left unfinished by the former government. There are a range of issues that that goes into, which I won't have time to talk about now. To conclude, I would like to echo the words of the Prime Minister in his speech in the second reading debate on the bill: … there are some basic yardsticks by which any civilised society should measure itself. One of those is that everyone has the right to a safe and respectful workplace … The fact that workplaces have not been safe or respectful for so many Australians is simply unacceptable … This government is acting to help put an end to sexual harassment in Australian workplaces. 13:07 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck A denial of equality on any basis is a denial of respect. It's a failure to uphold the rights of every person. It's a failure to have our nation realise its full potential. I add my voice to speak in favour of this motion by the member for Macquarie, the government's Special Envoy for the Arts, who has a long-held interest in both the arts generally and in combating inequality. The Raising their voices report, delivered in September, covers many ills: sexual harassment, sexual violence, bullying, pay disparities, a culture of drug and alcohol misuse, misogyny and a poor workplace culture where women and minority groups find it difficult to thrive. At the root of each of these ills is the denial of equality and the denial of respect. The Raising their voices report did not happen suddenly. It is the result of many people, mainly women, being prepared to speak up and take action over many years. The report is the result of those cumulative efforts, and I salute all those who have contributed. We know that many times people decide not to speak up when they have been abused or discriminated against or even assaulted. There are many reasons for this. Sometimes it all seems too hard, sometimes there's a job on the line, sometimes there's fear, sometimes peer pressure might play a part, sometimes the last experience of a complaint going nowhere mitigates against complaining this time and sometimes maybe we think that our voice doesn't count, that it's just one voice, that it won't make any difference. Tarana Burke, the founder of the Me Too movement, responded to the report in the keynote address in conversation at Bigsound 2022. Tarana challenged artists and industries to take responsibility for their part in the harms described in this report. She reflected on the courage of those who came forward to describe abuse and asked industry to show the same courage. The courage Tarana Burke refers to requires much more than the Music Industry Joint Statement of Acknowledgement, released the same day as the report. The music industry accepts the report, acknowledges the harm and has apologised, with over 100 music companies and organisations signing on. This is just a first step. Courage infers action; action requires courage. I'd like to thank every woman, man and gender-diverse person who participated in this report. Your voice made a difference. I thank the artists who came together in 2021 to kick off the process, the temporary working group and the review team, and I'd like to thank all those who raised their voices in the years leading up to the report, who may have thought that it didn't make a difference. I thank Rae Cooper, Amanda Coles and Sally Hanna-Osborne, who delivered the report Skipping a beat: Assessing the state of gender equality in the Australian music industry back in 2017. I thank All Our Exes Live in Texas for speaking out. I thank Mallrat for not just letting it lie but pointing out the ARIA Awards' gender disparity this year. I thank David Novak for challenging men in his industry to grow up and stand up. I thank Camp Cope for noting that there's always another man telling them that they can't fill a tent and yet riding in the dark on their bike with no handlebars and refusing to be just a female opener for anyone. This government has already taken action to implement the recommendations from the National Inquiry into Sexual Harassment in Australian Workplaces, delivered by Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins in March 2020. It is salient for this motion that the proportion of the workforce found to have experienced sexual harassment in the Jenkins report was about a third—too high but significantly lower than the more than 50 per cent in the Raising their voices report. As the Prime Minister stated in the House, it is simply unacceptable. The music industry has a problem, and it needs help. Among other things, the Anti-Discrimination and Human Rights Legislation Amendment (Respect at Work) Bill 2022 aims to prohibit conduct that subjects another person to a workplace environment that is hostile on the ground of sex and aims to introduce a positive duty on employers to take responsible and proportionate measures to eliminate unlawful sexual discrimination, including sexual harassment, as far as possible. In my first speech, some five months ago in this place, I looked forward to 'a country where politicians speak less of the need for cultural and gender diversity because it has become the norm'. I wish this for the music industry and hope that the courage and action that now needs to follow the Raising their voices report will provide a basis for an industry that is firmly rooted in equality and respect. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 201906 There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Sitting suspended from 13 : 13 to 1 5 : 59 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 123 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS Cystic Fibrosis Queensland 123 15:59 Mr BATES 300246 Brisbane I was lucky enough to have the chance to attend a morning tea with Cystic Fibrosis Queensland a few weeks ago, where I got to hear firsthand about the work they do across the state. They're an important part of my electorate of Brisbane, supporting many people and families within our community. I had the privilege of meeting multiple people who have benefited from their work. A child is born with cystic fibrosis in Australia every four days. There are approximately 3,500 people living with cystic fibrosis, and almost a third of these people rely on Cystic Fibrosis Queensland for advocacy, support and services. There is no cure for cystic fibrosis, but there is hope for children being born today, and that is thanks to the life-saving modulator drugs. Cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, or CFTR, modulators—apologies if I got that wrong!—are a class of drugs that act by improving production, intracellular processing and/or function of the defective cystic fibrosis protein. The latest generation of this drug is called Trikafta. It is estimated that Trikafta could give people with cystic fibrosis who are six years and over a longer life and improved quality of life. For a child to be born with cystic fibrosis, both parents must be carriers, and carriers are symptomless. The work we do around raising awareness is critical because in Australia one in 25 people are carriers. I want to thank CFQ for the work they are doing raising awareness and supporting our community, and I look forward to continuing to work with them into the future. Migration 123 16:00 Mr HILL 86256 Bruce I ask everyone here to imagine, just for a moment, that 10 years ago you had to leave Australia because you were about to be killed. Then imagine you spent the next 10 years separated from your wife and children, who were at the mercy of terrorists. Try to imagine the pain, the shame, the trauma at being unable to keep your family safe and missing your own children growing up. That's what thousands of people in my community who have lived here for over 10 years still live with every day. They are genuine refugees who fled war, death and persecution, working and paying taxes here but unable to build a life or be fully Australian, cruelly condemned by the Liberals to temporary visas. It's done Australian society no good to have this hidden underclass of tens of thousands of permanently temporary migrant visa holders. I'm proud that this Labor government will honour our election commitment to provide permanent protection to these TPV visa and SHEV holders. I spoke recently to the Prime Minister, who confirmed work is advancing and it will happen as soon as possible. That day cannot come soon enough. A first step happened last week, when the minister announced restrictions will be eased to make it easier for TPV visa and SHEV holders to leave Australia and visit family. The Liberals' treatment of these people has been needlessly cruel, and the mess they left in Home Affairs is shocking. Labor did not create this mess, but we are taking responsibility for cleaning it up. Housing 124 16:02 Ms SHARKIE 265980 Mayo Over the last couple of months, my office has hosted a wonderfully capable young man, George Baker, while he prepared a report, under the South Australian Parliamentary Internship Program. George's report is a 5,000-word thesis on one of Australia's most pressing issues—the housing crisis. It focuses particularly on my electorate and solutions that we need. Calling on data from the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation in 2022, George found that the August 2016 median house price of $442,000 across selected towns had increased by 63 per cent in August 2022 to $724,000. This is not restricted to Mayo. We know this happens right across the country. George identified a number of strategies to fix the housing crisis, including addressing social housing stock, the National Rental Affordability Scheme, reform of capital gains and incentivising building more housing stock. He also looked at overseas models such as Japan, Singapore, Germany and the Netherlands. I commend this report to the parliament and in tabling it call on all members to take the time to read and absorb this, particularly how it can assist other areas in regional Australia. I look forward to working with my local community to make this report a reality. I seek leave to table this report. Leave granted. Youth Voice In Parliament Week 124 16:04 Mr KHALIL 101351 Wills I'm going to share a very important speech with the House today. It was written by Freda Dowsey as part of the Raise Our Voice campaign. Thank you, Frida, upfront, for your thoughtful, well-argued speech. I hope I can do it justice. Here goes: 'Hello. I am Freda Dowsey. I'm 15 years old and a member of the electorate of Wills. The Australian wage gap between women and men must be closed. Women earn on average $261.50 per week less than men. This not only has a detrimental effect on women who are financially struggling but also means young girls grow up with the fact that women are worth less than men cemented in their minds. The Australian parliament can help fix this pressing issue. There are many things the parliament can do to end this cycle of sexism through wage discrepancies. Changing company policies to force groups to pay women equal amounts to men with the same role, mandating companies to publish their wages to promote equality and creating female employee quotas in male dominated fields are all things the Australian government is capable of. Doing this would pave the way and create much-needed representation for the women of tomorrow.' Freda, I agree wholeheartedly. This is a fantastic speech. Our government is taking action on the gender pay gap, requiring companies with more than 250 employees to report their gender pay gap publicly; prohibiting pay secrecy clauses and giving employees the right to disclose their pay if they want to; addressing the gender pay gap, particularly in the Australian Public Service; and strengthening the ability and capacity of the Fair Work Commission to order pay increases for workers in low-paid female dominated industries. Thank you again for your speech, Freda. Warringah Electorate: Trash Hack Challenge 124 16:05 Ms STEGGALL 175696 Warringah This month I was invited by Zero Emissions Sydney North to judge their inaugural Trash Hack Challenge. Ten schools from the Warringah area competed, including Beauty Point Public School, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Primary, Middle Harbour Public School, Mosman High School, Mosman Prep, Mosman Public School, Queenwood School for Girls, SCECGS Redlands, Sacred Heart Primary School and St Cecilia's Catholic Primary. The world generates over two billion tonnes of waste each year. The Trash Hack Challenge—originally developed by UNESCO—asked students to create an initiative to reduce waste in their local community and inspire others to do the same. The winning initiative was from Sacred Heart Catholic Primary for their 100 per cent waste-free lunches and other projects. Other entrants created community recycling stations and even eco-friendly homemade cleaning products. I was very impressed by these innovative student led initiatives. Not only did they curb a substantial amount of waste; their ideas were simple to execute and could easily be replicated by other schools and community groups. I want to congratulate these students for taking leadership in reducing their waste and encourage other schools and community groups to get involved. We know waste is a massive problem for the future, and it is our young people and students who will lead the way in solving the challenge. Ellenbrook Multicultural Festival 125 16:07 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck On the weekend I attended the Ellenbrook Multicultural Festival for the second year in a row. It's been delivered by the Ellenbrook Multicultural Community and the Ellenbrook Punjabi Council together with the support of our local members, Rita Saffioti and, most significantly, Jessica Shaw. Beyond the huge range of delicious food stalls, stunning cultural performances, traditional games and informative workshops, it shows to me the power of coming together as a community, recognising the value of such an ethnically, racially and culturally diverse community that we have in the seat of Hasluck. It is a true privilege in my role as an MP to be invited and to be able to celebrate this wonderful and diverse electorate. Only the weekend before, I was at the Sikh gurdwara to celebrate the birth anniversary of their first guru. Before that, I was trying to lift boulders at the Scottish Highland Games in the Swan Valley. In my first speech I spoke about one of the country's greatest strengths being our ethnic and cultural diversity, and it is absolutely something we need to foster and grow to continue to learn from each other. There are so many organisations like the Ellenbrook Punjabi Council who are doing exciting and important work throughout our suburbs, and it's always an immense pleasure to see the colour of our beautiful community on display as it was this weekend. Monbulk Cricket Club 125 16:08 Mr VIOLI 300147 Casey Yesterday I was lucky enough to join the Monbulk Cricket Club's anniversary celebration with a game against Seville, exactly 125 years to the day of their first ever game. Congratulations to the presidents Steve Utting and Chris Defina, and the whole committee for such a successful event, including the fiercely fought game with Seville, resulting in a score of Monbulk one for 95 and Seville four for 95. On the day, five club legends were also announced: Frank Anderson, Ken Fleming, Don Matthews, Ken Utting and Jason Fraser. Congratulations also to the club's best 12 and their families announced yesterday, in batting order: Frank Anderson, Len Fleming, Ken Utting, Jason Fraser, Lance Symons, Don Matthews, Colin Jonas, Max James, Ken Fleming, Ted Mattingley, Michael Surwald and Dennis Colee. Life member Greg Hardy also launched his book 125 Not Out: A History of the Monbulk Cricket Club 1897 to 2022, chronicling the club's founding to the modern day. Greg and other members of the club have done an enormous amount of work to bring this day and the book together. Greg shared the story that several travelled to Monbulk in 1897 and played around piles of logs that had been left on the ground. As I said my first speech, our sporting clubs are the heart of our towns in Casey, providing a safe place and refuge for young men and women. Congratulations to the Monbulk Cricket club on such a great event. Prostate Cancer, Lockley, Mr Don 125 16:10 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I rise to speak about prostate cancer, which affects around 230,000 Aussie men each year, including 630 in my hometown of Darwin. Prostate cancer will likely be the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men in our country this year, just as it has been in the past. I would like to pay tribute to one man who is a beacon of hope for many in the Northern Territory. Don Lockley is a 91-year-old prostate cancer survivor and the legendary leader of Prosper, which is our Darwin prostate cancer support group. Prosper meets Monday monthly in the Harbour Room at the Christ Church Cathedral on Smith Street, Darwin, at 7.30 pm. Don retired back in 2013 after 12 years of working and serving in the Air Force, 22 years in OHS roles and 50 years in scouting. In August, Don ran a 72-kilometre marathon to raise awareness and funds for men with prostate cancer. He was 91 years old! But he doubled that to run 166 kilometres. Don encourages men of all ages to take their health seriously. He says, and I quote, 'Don't be so macho and bulletproof'. That's his advice to Aussie men, whom he urges to listen to their GPs and get a prostate cancer check. The Nurso 125 16:11 Mr VASTA E0D Bonner Small businesses are the backbone of our economy. They're run by our mums, dads, brothers, sisters and friends. When small businesses thrive, so do our families and our communities. As a small-business owner myself, it gives me great joy to see local small businesses succeed through their passion, determination, hard work and innovation. One such example of this in Bonner is the Nurso. The Nurso is a cafe and plant nursery located in Chandler. This family run business is already a much part loved part of our local community. Earlier this month, they celebrated their first birthday. Catching up with the owners, Marni and Dave, it was fantastic to hear about their exciting plans to expand not only their business operations but also their community events and outreach programs. Since 4 October this year, the Nurso has been offering a free breakfast club on school days for local school students. The team at the Nurso are passionate about giving back to the community and ensuring that all children attending school have eaten a healthy breakfast before starting a day of learning. They are also working on a youth day to help connect local children with community groups. There is always something happening at the Nurso—go and see for yourself. Youth Voice In Parliament Week 126 16:13 Mr GEORGANAS DZY Adelaide Jessica Bryson is a 12-year-old from Temple Christian College in my electorate of Adelaide. As part of the Raise Our Voice initiative, Jessica has asked me to read her speech. Her speech reads: I am 12 years old; my name is Jessica and my goal is to have less climate change in the world, it's not too late to change our ways. I want to see colourful nature and wildlife. I want to see polar bears and other arctic animals. But despite the protests, the people in power refuse to help. In that entire 40 years all we have done to change is ban plastic straws, we need more solutions. Personally, I believe most plastic packaging can easily be replaced with beeswrap (if not food items). Most single used plastic items such as plastic spoons can be replaced with wood. We also should stop mass producing plastic packaging and swap to beeswrap. If we don't try to fix our past mistakes, the earth will continue to spiral out of control until it's too late. It's not too late yet, it will be soon. Australia: Floods 126 16:14 Mr PASIN 240756 Barker We've all seen devastating floods on the eastern seaboard, but I'm here to report that water is now making its way through the Murray-Darling Basin. I've spent time in communities throughout the Riverland over the past couple of weeks, meeting with local businesses, residents and local governments who are busy preparing for the expected flows. We're currently seeing 108 gigalitres flowing into South Australia past lock 5. To put that in context, our annual allocation puts the rate at about seven. This is expected to increase to 175 gigalitres per day by early December and could reach as much as 220 gigalitres per day. This will be more water than you can fly a rocket ship over but also more water than we've seen in the Riverland since 1974. It never fails to amaze me to see the level of community support when our fellow Aussies are in need. I can say the situation right now is no different, from truck drivers donating their equipment and time, to local sand quarriers providing sand to aid the sandbagging efforts. Sadly, however, coordination at a state level has been less than remarkable, with residents reporting a lack of coordination and communication, making it very hard to plan and prepare. I also noticed the federal Minister for Emergency Management was in South Australia last week, but couldn't take the time to visit the Riverland. Government at state and federal level need to lean in and support people on the river in their time of need. Carey Bay/Toronto Scout Group 126 16:16 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter Last week I had the pleasure of joining the Carey Bay/Toronto Scout Group where two of their joey scouts, Peter and Misha Wooden, were awarded a peak award, the pinnacle of the achievements pathway in each age section of scouts. Scouts encourage participation in the full range of activities and recognise individuals who go above and beyond. This award exists to challenge those scouts who wish to reach the mountain peak and be recognised for their achievements. The milestone requires the completion of activities in elements such as outdoor adventure, skills, special interest areas and adventurous journeys. Peter and Misha are the first joey scouts in their group to ever receive this award. Peter and Misha were also very grateful to receive a special shout-out from the PM himself. I was also very honoured to receive my very own Carey Bay/Toronto Scout Group scarf on the night. I left feeling extraordinarily confident in the future generations and in this group's coming events. Congratulations to Peter and Misha on your hard work and determination in reaching this milestone in your scouting journeys. Well done to all the hardworking volunteers in Carey Bay/Toronto Scout Group. Without the mums and dads and the volunteers, these organisations just don't go. Thank you very much to everyone that's involved in that and thank you to the parents all around Australia. Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program 127 16:18 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher Last week I joined colleagues in the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade on a delegation to Perth. We visited HMAS Stuart, RAAF Base Pearce and Irwin Barracks. In my committee roles and my role as a federal member I've been afforded an enormous number of opportunities to engage with members of the Australian Defence Force. The ADF Parliamentary Program offers brief internship programs for current service men and women to connect them with policymakers and the parliamentary process, and we do likewise with them. It's an exchange. We spend up to a week with them and they spend a week with us. I'm not sure who gets the short straw. Each of my ADF PP interns has exemplified the professionalism and can-do attitude of our ADF, which is absolutely world renowned. One of my first interns was the Royal Australian Navy's Commander Jacqueline Swinton, an accomplished legal officer. Jackie still comes to visit me regularly in my office at APH. Today I'm excited to welcome Squadron Leader Sarah Robin of the RAAF, whose work in training and advising Australia's air-battle management and electronic warfare units, among others, ensures that we can contend with emerging threats. Welcome Squadron Leader Robin, and thank you to the ADF and the parliament for facilitating such a fantastic program. Scouts Victoria 127 16:19 Ms FERNANDO 299964 Holt I am proud to stand in this chamber today wearing my Scouts Victoria supporter scarf. Scouting has a strong presence in my electorate of Holt. Just last week I attended the statewide Scouts Victoria awards night, held in Cranbourne, which was a fabulous celebration of all things scouting. I am particularly proud to have the 1st Devon Meadows scout group in Holt, which I have been pleased to visit on several occasions since my election in May. Most recently I was pleased to attend their annual report and awards night and see firsthand the amazing adventures and skills all the joeys, cub scouts, scouts and venturers have learned over the past year. At that event I had the pleasure of confirming the scout groups successful nomination for a $2,000 Holt volunteers grant. The entire leadership team and the kids worked really hard, and I know this small contribution will be put to great use. However, I think the kids might have been more excited about the cupcakes I baked and brought to the awards night. I was happy to put my baking skills to the test for my constituents, but I hope I haven't made this a condition of entry for the next time I'm invited along. Dawson Electorate: Schools 127 16:21 Mr WILLCOX 286535 Dawson Last Friday marked the final exams for this year's year 12 students—the end of an era for the graduating class and the beginning of their new adventures. I have been pleased to be able to attend the end-of-year awards at many schools across Dawson in the last few weeks as the year comes to a close—from Holy Spirit College in Mackay to Ayr State High School, from Pioneer State High School to St Catherine's Catholic College in Proserpine, from Mackay State High School to Home Hill State High School and Proserpine State High School. And to the ones I wasn't able to get to: well done on your year of achievement. Some of our brightest and finest students are coming out of Dawson. They are showing a great deal of promise, intuition, intelligence, innovation and leadership. These students have worked hard; they deserve a break, and they deserve to let their hair down. Schoolies from all over descend on Dawson to have a week of celebrations. Dawson is Australia's tourism mecca. With Airlie Beach and the Whitsundays, which boast 74 beautiful islands, we are the heart of the Great Barrier Reef. I would like to wish our young students all the best in their future endeavours. Please, make good choices as you enjoy your celebrations. Look after your mates and, most importantly, stay safe. All the best, everyone. Take care. Youth Voice In Parliament Week 127 16:22 Ms COKER 263547 Corangamite I'd like to read a Raise Our Voice Australia's Youth Voice in Parliament Week speech from a young woman in my electorate. She writes: My name is Charlotte Mullens. Like one in nine females in Australia, I live with endometriosis. What I want our new parliament to achieve is tangible progress to support changes in endometriosis treatments. This disease is more than just a bad period. It is debilitating and life-altering. Currently, the gold standard for treatment is laparoscopic surgery. But, even after surgery, this disease continues to take us out of the classroom, the workforce, and our lives. Instead, it could be research into cutting-edge treatments recognizing genetic markers. Perhaps setting national standards to regulate which doctors can complete surgeries to treat endometriosis or improve access to care outside major cities. Or investing into education programs to support young people to spot the signs of gynaecological diseases. I am a motivated, driven young woman, eager to do anything to achieve my dreams. But when some of our best specialists suggest there is nothing else I can do to stop my periods from leaving me bedridden, it is absolutely heartbreaking. You have the power to change the reality for people with endometriosis. Thank you, Charlotte. We are listening. That's why the Albanese government is introducing 10 endometriosis clinics across our nation. Mountains and Murals Festival 128 16:24 Mr RICK WILSON 198084 O'Connor I rise today to recognise the artistry of the muralists who painted the town of Mount Barker, in the far south of my electorate, red, green, orange and blue—in fact, all the colours of the rainbow—over the weekend. In 2019, Dave 'Johnno' Johnson was instrumental in bringing the Walldogs mural collective from North America down under to WA's mountainous Great Southern region. At the time, Johnno was officer in charge of the Mount Barker police. Sergeant Johnson, respected as a law enforcer and revered as a footy coach, had a hidden string to his bow: he was once a sign-writer and he harboured a vision to colour the walls of the town. And so, the Mountains and Murals Festival was born. Timing is everything when arranging events, and the inaugural festival snuck in just before COVID. I'm so proud that the former coalition government was able to provide $35,000 to help bring the muralists back to town. The festival, which wrapped up yesterday, was powered by the passion of a small army of local volunteers. During a cool and stormy opening night last week, the warmth between the Walldogs and the people of Mount Barker was palpable. As Illinois muralist Jay Allen said that evening, the Walldogs are a mirror for what is possible in any community. I applaud the Shire of Plantagenet and its people for having a red-hot go at putting Mount Barker on the world murals map. Climate Change 128 16:25 Dr GARLAND 295588 Chisholm My community of Chisholm in Melbourne is full of passionate young people, and today I want to lift up the young voices that champion climate action. I've been really privileged to meet with a lot of young people in my community who've told me their stories of when they became concerned around climate change and their vision for a more sustainable future. The leadership from young people has been inspiring. I met with the Tomorrow Movement, and it was wonderful to meet with Desiree, Molly, Sarah and another Carina to hear about the work they are doing. Something they're really passionate about is making sure there are good, secure jobs for people as we take action on climate change. That's something that, of course, the Albanese Labor government feels very strongly about too. I was privileged to be taken on a tour of Huntingtower School, where I saw the incredible program on fundraised solar panels and the sustainability leaders. Thank you very much to Xabier and Anjali for taking me so proudly around your school. You are wonderful leaders at a wonderful school. I thank Max for his advocacy. He's a 25-year-old graduate of Melbourne university, and he told me about his time in Fiji working on community development and climate change adaptation. It's very important work in this region to be partnering with nations like Fiji. It's a privilege to meet and work with you all to secure a better future for all in our climate and our communities, and I'm really glad our first piece of legislation was getting through the climate change bill. Jellis, Mr Bruce 128 16:27 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies My friend Bruce Jellis passed away on 8 November. Bruce was husband to wife Julie, father to Ben, Kim and Beau and grandfather to Ollie, Emmy, Louis, Oscar, Otis and Odette. Each of them loved him, and he will be dearly missed. I looked at my final messages with Bruce, and every single one from him, bar one, finished with 'Love Brucie'. The only one that didn't was from the moment my election was declared, which simply said: 'Well done—yubba dubba doo!' I'm sure he would be chuffed that this is now in Hansard. My memories of Bruce will be of a man who loved time away with his family, including over many summers in Merimbula. My memories will be of a man who was engaged in politics and our community, often between study sessions on his kitchen table. My memories will be of a man who was incredibly proud of his family and their successes, including my friend Ben Jellis, who excelled at school, went to Oxford and later joined me at the Victorian Bar. Bruce was kind, hardworking, generous and loving, and the measure of his legacy will be his wonderful family, who I am proud to call my friends. Rest in peace, Brucie. South Australia: Storms 129 16:28 Mr ZAPPIA HWB Makin Over recent days Adelaide and much of SA has been lashed by severe wind and rain events, causing widespread public and private property damage, including extensive power disruptions. At one point, 163,000 customers were without power. The scale of damage to the electricity grid was such that, for some of those customers, the outage extended for days. As is always the case when these situations arise, emergency service workers as first responders are always quickly on the scene, often at considerable risk to themselves, to restore services, reduce dangers, assist with temporary repairs and protect properties from further damage. To all of those emergency service providers, including the SA Power Networks crews, I say: thank you. Your round-the-clock efforts have made a difference and are appreciated by individuals and whole communities affected by the wild weather events. I particularly thank the Salisbury, Tea Tree Gully and Enfield SES crews. I don't have the up-to-date statistics for call-outs, but I know the SES were out there responding professionally to call-outs by people in the Makin electorate and beyond at all times of the day and night. They provide an invaluable community service, which raises the question: what would we do without them? Safer Communities Fund 129 16:29 Mr YOUNG 201906 Longman Every government has a different agenda and different priorities, items it feels are more important than others, and it's up to the government of the day to prioritise what it feels are the most important issues. In many cases, both sides of politics have the same agenda items to address. We may differ on which items are the greater priority, and we will probably deal with the same issue in different ways. That's democracy and I respect it. One of the major issues facing our society today is how we deal with at-risk youth. I speak about those 14- to 24-year-olds who, for whatever reason, have lost their way, have no hope in their lives and, in many cases, have been given up on or labelled a lost cause by society. Unfortunately, this cohort are responsible for a large percentage of mischief and crime, which is very disruptive and costly to the rest of their community. That is why I was so disappointed that this government has decided to cut the $50 million seventh round of the safer communities program from the budget. In round 6 of the program, under the coalition government, Worklinks, in my electorate of Longman received $1.5 million in allocations. I'm pleased to say that after just two months—having spoken with one of the facilitators of the course—and out of 24 participants, seven youths who were deemed unemployable and were told that they would never amount to anything are now gainfully employed. This is the stuff that changes lives. Please reconsider and reinstate this vital program that everyone benefits from. United States of America: Attacks 129 16:31 Mr BURNS 278522 Macnamara I rise to extend my heartfelt condolences to the loved ones of the victims of the horrific shooting in Colorado Springs. The news overnight was truly distressing. For many members of the LGBTIQA+ community, so many places around the world already are not safe. Even venues that have historically been safe places for LGBTIQA+ people to come together and celebrate who they are feel increasingly unsafe. That this mass shooting took place on the eve of Transgender Day of Remembrance, a day when we honour the memory of trans people who have been murdered, only deepens the trauma and tragedy. Hate crimes and hate speech cannot be downplayed, because to do so, including defending egregious homophobic and transphobic remarks on the ground of free speech, is to amplify the platforms of those are spread hate. Where is the freedom for the members of the LGBTIQA+ community to live their lives without fear of violence and discrimination? Surely, as a society, that is what we should be advancing. LGBTIQA+ people exist, belong and want to live in peace and safety, and as political leaders, we have a responsibility to protect and defend their rights. So we send our condolences to the family members of those who were murdered, and we wish those who are injured the speediest of recoveries. Banks Electorate: Oatley Writers Group, Banks Electorate: East Hills Junior Rugby League Club 129 16:32 Mr 241067 Banks COLEMAN () (): On 18 November I attended the Oatley Writers Group function at Oatley RSL. The Oatley Writers Group is unique. There is no other suburb in my electorate that brings together so many writers from diverse backgrounds and with diverse focuses on different genres to write, celebrate literature and contribute to the culture of our community. The anthology of Oatley Writers Group for this year is called A Touch of Malice, and it draws on a range of really interesting stories, some short and some a bit longer, with the theme of a touch of malice. It's their sixth annual anthology, and it's a great credit to the Oatley Writers Group community. I thank in particular Fiona Johnstone, the official convener; Bill Keats; Helen Armstrong, who edits the anthology; and everyone else who is involved in Oatley Writers Group. On Saturday, I attended the East Hills Bulldogs Junior Rugby League Club presentation. East Hills rugby league is one of the strongest rugby league clubs anywhere in Sydney. The club was established more than half a century ago. In fact, it predates the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, who are, of course, somewhat better known. It has 10 junior teams ranging from under 5s to under 15s and a growing group of female players, with two female teams this year. In particular, I want to thank Rowan Brown, the president, who leads the organisation with great skill; Josie Tobenhouse, the secretary; and all the volunteers who make East Hills Rugby League Club such a great organisation. Parramatta Electorate: Budget 130 16:34 Dr CHARLTON I8M Parramatta In the weeks since the October budget, I've been out and about in the community talking to local residents, organisations and small businesses about our first Labor budget. This was a budget that delivered for the people of Parramatta. I'm proud to have secured funding for some wonderful projects in our local community. Labor's budget delivered $6.2 million to help upgrade Richie Benaud Oval in Belmore Park, $3.5 million to develop Harris Park's Little India precinct, $12 million to deliver world-class aged care facilities in Harris Park, and $900,000 to begin the World Heritage assessment of the Female Factory in North Parramatta. Parramatta's families have also benefited significantly from Labor's cheaper child care reforms. No fewer than 9,000 families will save money on their child care and have more money in their pocket at the end of the week. Aged pension recipients in Parramatta have benefited from an increase to the pension, and now more seniors are eligible for the Commonwealth seniors health card. Australians of all ages have benefited from our steps to lower the cost of medications, and working parents in Parramatta will benefit from our expansion to paid parental leave. We are delivering cost-of-living relief to Parramatta's residents, and at the same time we're delivering on our election commitments. Youth Voice In Parliament Week 130 16:35 Mrs ARCHER 282237 Bass I'm very pleased today to deliver a speech written by a young constituent from my electorate, Hazel Doyle, who is sitting in the gallery today with her family. The speech is part of the Raise Our Voices Australia campaign, and these are Hazel's words: I want the Australian Government to achieve the creation of laws to ban nicotine and vapes and make them illegal to people under 30 and vapes should be banned to be on or near school properties or facilities that work with under 18s. Even being exposed to smoke and vaping increases the likelihood of harm to that child vaping or smoking from a young age and getting a drug addiction. Nicotine and vaping harms brain development up to 25 years old, not to mention the major health risks. According to Kids Health Information.org, vaping impacts learning, memory, attention, and it increases the risk of drug addiction. As a year 7 school student myself, I see a lot of students my age in year 7 and 8 at my school getting vapes from relatives and friends and vaping in school which causes many mental and physical health risks such as rapid onset coughing, nausea, lung diseases, depression and suicidal tendencies. Also, teachers, child carers, staff members who work with or near children and teens, who smoke or vape can expose the children to smoke and the chemicals in vapes. Overall, our Australian Government needs to take action and make changes for the future Australian generations of children. Vaping must be banned. National Disability Insurance Scheme 130 16:37 Ms CLAYDON 248181 Newcastle I was thrilled to join with Novocastrians living with disability, their families and carers, disability service providers, workers and the Australian Services Union recently, to celebrate the National Disability Insurance Scheme and to ensure it is the best that it can be for everyone involved. The NDIS is a proud, world-leading initiative of a Labor government and is one of the most important social reforms in Australian history. It delivers choice and control for people living with disability and creates new business and employment opportunities. It is also one of the largest job creation opportunities in the history of this country. The NDIS works well for many, but, after years of neglect by the former Liberal government, there are inadequacies in its current design, where providers have incentives to deliver more services rather than better outcomes for participants. It's our job now, as a Labor government, to rebuild community trust in the scheme and get it back on track. That's why we have established the independent NDIS review, a new fraud fusion taskforce and an alternative dispute resolution pilot, to achieve fairer, faster and better outcomes. We'll fix the funding constraints and remove dependency on labour-hire firms and contractors, and we've created an additional 380 permanent, secure jobs in an agency to ensure a quality, professional and sustainable workforce. Moncrieff Electorate: Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Avenue and Woodland Walk 130 16:39 Ms BELL 282981 Moncrieff Last week I attended the official launch of the Queen Elizabeth II Platinum Jubilee Avenue and Woodland Walk at the beautiful Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens. I visited several times this year, and last time I was honoured to plant the inaugural tree for the woodland walk. I'm proud to say that, even though local news didn't quite cover it as such, this project was funded, through my office, by the former coalition government, with $18,215 under the Planting Trees for The Queen's Jubilee Program. This project will increase community awareness and is a celebration of Her Majesty's jubilee and now stands in her memory. I extend my thanks to the Governor of Queensland Her Excellency Dr Jeannette Young for making the trip down the Gold Coast to officially launch the walk and my colleague the member for Southport, Rob Molhoek, who is in the House today. I especially acknowledge Benowa State School and St Kevin's Catholic school who attended and who avidly support the botanic gardens all year round. And I give a special shout-out to Vyum from Benowa State School who was celebrating his 12th birthday on the day. Last but certainly not least I cannot speak about the botanic gardens without highlighting the fantastic 'Friends' who are the absolute heart and soul of the gardens. I commend President Alex Jakimoff, Secretary Catherine Simpson, Friends founder and project leader, Kate Heffernan, City of Gold Coast Curator Paul Cockbain, and all the wonderful volunteers for the hours of dedicated work they put in to make the garden such a special place. Let's not forget the egg sandwiches and the date cake! The Bunyip 131 16:40 Mr BURNELL 300129 Spence I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about an interview I had not so long ago to discuss the Albanese Labor government's first budget. The interview was with the Bunyip, a newspaper whose circulation covers the largest portion of my electorate of Spence. The Bunyip was first printed on 5 September 1863 and has been a constant fixture in Gawler and quite a large surrounding area since then. The Bunyip has seen, and been there to report on, South Australian premiers since Francis Stacker Dutton, whose term began a few months prior to the Bunyip's first edition, and saw South Australia join the new nation of Australia at Federation. Their operations remained uninterrupted for 157 years until early 2020 when the pressure placed on them by the pandemic caused them to announce their indefinite closure. As a community, we are lucky that, due to strong public support, this closure lasted only months rather than years—or forever, which has, sadly, been the case for many regional publishers in the area. This longstanding, trusted institution has the young and extremely talented Brendan Simpkins at the helm as its editor. Brendan is a local who was both born and raised in the Spence electorate and has been with the paper from 2020 until recently being appointed editor in October this year. I hope to read, and work with, the Bunyip within my local area for many years to come. Nicholls Electorate: Soccer 131 16:42 Mr BIRRELL 288713 Nicholls The Nicholls electorate is a haven for sport. Our good weather, facilities and supportive families and volunteers provide the opportunity to participate in all manner of sporting activities. This week, of course, I want to focus on soccer or football and on Garang Kuol, who is part of Australia's World Cup squad—the Socceroos—in Qatar. Garang won his first cap in a friendly against New Zealand on 25 September so it has been a meteoric rise. Garang has made quite an impact on the world game since he started with the A-League side Central Coast Mariners. When he came on for the A-League All-Stars as a late substitute and carved his way solo through the world-class defence of Barcelona FC, more people took notice. Garang's fearlessness and flair would have been news to many but not in Shepparton in my electorate. It was here that Garang cut his teeth as a junior playing in the Shepparton Junior Soccer Association and then through the Goulburn Valley Suns, under the coaching of Tommy Giuliani. Garang is from a Sudanese background and he moved to Shepparton, like so many others, with his family as a refugee. He made friends, joined a soccer team, went to school and thrived. After the World Cup, Garang will move to English Premier League club Newcastle United. I would like to place on the record just how proud we all are of Garang's achievements. And there's more good news for Australia from Shepparton, and that is that his little brother Didi is showing great promise and making defences around the region very nervous indeed. Higgins Electorate: Services Australia 131 16:43 Dr ANANDA-RAJAH 290544 Higgins I recently visited Services Australia in Windsor. I was honoured to be given a tour by team leader, Skye, who took us through their work and the customer experience. When we talk about Higgins, images of sprawling estates, ambition and opportunity come to mind. We must not forget that disadvantage hides in plain sight. Higgins has a lack of addiction services and a significant ageing population, many of whom struggle when identity theft occurs. For families, the complexities of child care are often difficult to navigate. This is where Services Australia steps in. The team at Services Australia Windsor assists up to 750 people per week, totalling upwards of 40,000 people per year. This requires staff to think quickly on their feet, all the while maintaining their professionalism in the face of distressed customers trying to navigate a system that has become overly complex. Skye and the team often deal with vulnerable customers in crisis, not unlike what I experienced in my previous role as a doctor at The Alfred. They provide that soft landing when people struggle. Their mantra is, 'Help as much as we can as soon as we can. The same is applicable to this House. The work that Skye and her team provide is vocational, requiring a sense of compassion, patience and emotional intelligence. They are motivated by justice. The fact that they have a couple of professionals like Steve, who has celebrated 30 years of service, is testament to their mission and their culture. Their work is rewarding and purposeful, and we are immensely grateful for their service. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 249710 In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded. PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS 132 PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Economy 132 16:45 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) the previous Government's economic plan, implemented following the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, left Australia in a better economic position than almost any other advanced economy; and (b) the 2022-23 budget was an opportunity for the current Government to build on this strong position and address the cost-of-living crisis; and (2) acknowledges that: (a) on every measure, this Government has failed in its task to deliver for everyday Australians, through their budget with: (i) the cost-of-living continuing to rise; (ii) electricity and gas bills predicted to soar by 56 per cent over the next two years; (iii) wages for Australian workers forecast to go backwards; (iv) unemployment projected to grow; and (v) tax increases; and (b) Australians are being hampered by a new Government with no economic plan for the future. In the pandemic years—I note, with many colleagues now testing positive, we're probably still in them—Australians faced an unprecedented challenge, particularly when COVID first came. Lockdowns, border closures, trade blockages—this was a time of uncertainty and grave risk. Our institutions were stress tested; our social fabric stretched thin. So many Australians were left wondering what tomorrow might bring. Were they to have a job? Was their business, particularly if it was a small business, to last? In the face of this challenge, a Liberal government did act. A Liberal government delivered transformative stimulus spending under the JobKeeper and JobSeeker programs. A Liberal government unwound the fuel excise. We did what needed to be done at the time. Under a Liberal government of the cash rate remained stable and unemployment reached record lows. Ideology was put aside and action was taken. This motion is about the new government. The challenge the new government inherited was clear. In the post-pandemic age, stewarding the nation's finances means fiscal discipline. It means shouldering the burden for tackling inflation. It means honouring commitments to keep cost of living low. By each metric this government is not doing well, and in some it has failed. I'd like to consider them in turn. Inflation drives up bills, it wipes off savings, it steals from progress. Today it sits at 7.3 per cent, the highest annual inflationary figure in more than three decades. What does the government do? Nothing to shorten the path to balancing the books. It is the old story of reckless spending. What does this mean for Australian families? Stephen Koukoulas, Julia Gillard's former economic advisor—certainly not in team blue—has stated as much: here is a government that has left the RBA with all of the work 'carrying the can in getting this inflation rate lower'. When Labor shirks responsibility, families suffer. The rates will go up and mortgage payments will increase. Already a family on a $750,000 mortgage will pay an extra $1,200 per month compared with May this year. The pain does not end there. Goldman Sachs has forecast the possibility of a fivefold increase in the interest rate, and Goldman Sachs is not alone. The RBA, ANZ and Commonwealth Bank have all forecast end-of-year inflation higher than the budgetary forecasts. The Prime Minister promised the Australian people cheaper mortgages. No fine prints, no conditions—a simple promise. What we got instead is record price increases. It could have been so very different. Supply-side reform is an option available to the government. A technology-friendly agenda is an option. Sustainable wage growth accompanies those. Productivity was supposed to be the name of the game. We were promised a 21st century economy. What we instead got was a 20th century enterprise bargaining code. Instead, the great trend of liberalisation was arrested. Instead of agility and dynamic, forward-looking thinking on the economy, we have returned to centralised wage fixing. The Labor Party's industrial relations bill has invited the ire of every representative body for business. It is bad policy. It is anti-productivity, but it is also, sadly, predictable. The bill confirms what many Australians already suspected: that this is not a responsible, progressive, forward-thinking government but the mere political arm of its union paymasters. Empty promises. Missed opportunities. But this government is not done waging a war on productivity. Stage 3 tax cuts are now on the chopping block. These cuts were legislated. These cuts were part of your personal income tax plan. (Time expired) The DEPUTY SPEAKER 249710 Is there a seconder for the motion? Mr McCormack 219646 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak, after my fine friend over here. 16:50 Mr HILL 86256 Bruce This is very strange, isn't it? It's difficult to know what the chamber is expected to make of this motion. The member opposite has been here for a few months now, and they talk of him as a future Prime Minister. Quietly, they talk of him as a future Prime Minister, possibly the next Liberal Prime Minister. An opposition member: Hear, hear! Mr HILL 86256 Why, you might ask? Well, he can talk in full sentences—the bar's pretty low! He doesn't seem too extreme, as we heard from his measured, reasonable, statesmanlike tone. He impersonates a normal person. But then he goes and does something really weird like this. He moves a motion, bringing on a debate, praising the Morrison government's economic management. I mean, seriously? It's been six months since the election, and we get the shock-horror routine: wages are too low; electricity and gas costs are too high; the cost of living is out of control. Well, I'll give a tip to the new member, the future Prime Minister, over there: a big advantage he has in his quest is that he was not a member of the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison circus. Own that. Don't be doing silly things, moving motions trying to defend their incompetence. I should say sorry, also, for tagging you as a future Prime Minister, because Josh Frydenberg was a future Prime Minister. What happened to Josh? Where'd he go! Dave Sharma, my friend Dave, was a future Prime Minister. He lasted a term. Tim Wilson was a future Prime Minister—according to Tim Wilson!—so it's a dangerous moniker to own. But, seriously, this is ridiculous. If the Liberals' record of economic management is success, I'd hate to see failure, Member for Menzies. We have a trillion dollars of Liberal debt with no economic dividend to show for it. Perhaps the biggest slur that you could make at a government facing a crisis is, 'They let a good crisis go to waste.' Yes, as you said, the former government spent money on JobKeeper, and $20 billion of JobKeeper—now in the national debt for the next generation to repay—was paid to companies to increase their profits. Well done, Liberal Party! The economic record that the Liberals left after a decade in office was falling real wages, and they can't hide behind COVID. If you look at the OECD, wages were falling even before COVID. The Liberal record before COVID was 0.7 per cent negative wage growth, the third-lowest in the OECD. It was the worst decade for productivity growth in 50 years. In 2013, when Labor left office, we were 10th highest in the OECD. By the end of the Liberals, before COVID, in 2018, we were negative on productivity growth and fifth last in the OECD. They turn around and they hate these facts, but they're facts from the Parliamentary Library. That's the Liberals' economic record even before we got to COVID. They covered up power price rises before the election. They actually changed the law to hide the truth of what was coming down the pipe after 23 energy policies they had over a decade—and they couldn't agree on one of them. They failed to invest in skills to prepare the economy for this moment. Who knew? You cut $3 billion from TAFE and trash the apprenticeships system, and then you get an economic spurt and there's no apprentices and no-one with skills, and employers are screaming out for migrants. We had a decade of wasted opportunities and warped priorities. The Nationals leader said that the budget position that the former government left was a gift to the nation. Nearly $1 trillion of Liberal debt—that's a gift? I'd hate to get his Kris Kringle! The government's budget delivers on our election commitments: responsible cost-of-living relief without putting upward pressure on inflation; cheaper medicines, cheaper child care and more affordable housing; and beginning the hard yards, the long, hard road ahead, of budget repair. I was told by the contribution of the member for Menzies that the government was engaged in 'reckless spending'—straight from the talking points of Liberal Party propaganda they read out on Sky News. It's reckless spending, apparently. Well, adult government is back. Let's deal in facts. Unlike the Liberals and the Nationals, we did not spend the record commodity income boom in this budget. Yes, the terms of trade have improved. Yes, there's money flowing into the budget for the next couple of years from commodities. We spent one per cent of that. That's a fact—a Parliamentary Budget Office fact. We should deal in facts. What did the Morrison government spend? 60 per cent of the commodity boom revenue that came in. What did John Howard spend—that great hero who baked in the middle-class welfare, the structural budget deficit? It all stems from Howard's days. He spent 70 per cent of the commodity boom. Let's be very clear. If this government behaved like the former government in its budget, we would have 1.4 per cent higher interest rates. If that's the record that you're promoting, I suggest you try again and get a better motion. 16:55 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina I very solidly and earnestly and stridently support this motion put forward by the member for Menzies. The member for Bruce has just given us a five-minute dissertation and asked a few questions. There were no facts—I say this as he scurries out of the Federation Chamber—about his trillion-dollar debt claim. It is not $1 trillion of debt. It is nowhere near $1 trillion of debt. But we keep hearing it. We hear it from the Prime Minister. We hear it from the Treasurer. We just heard it from the member for Bruce. We get asked: what have we got in return for the debt that has been incurred? I'll tell you what we have. We have many tens of thousands of Australians alive today because of the investment that we placed in making sure that during the COVID pandemic we kept Australians as safe as we could, as alive as we possibly could. Indeed, the member for Bruce mentioned JobKeeper, through which 700,000 jobs were saved. What was the alternative? We hear repeatedly members opposite talking about $1 trillion worth of debt and asking, 'What have we got in return?' A government member interjecting— Mr McCORMACK 219646 I was in those meetings where we were faced with the prospect—the Chief Medical Officer, Dr Brendan Murphy said—that we could potentially lose tens of thousands of Australians within months, if not weeks. I was there when we were very worried about the prospect of having businesses close their doors not just for the downturn but, potentially, permanently. We put in place urgent and necessary and responsible measures to make sure that we kept the doors of business open, that we kept the economy going and, most importantly, that we kept Australians alive. But we didn't just stop there. We also kept vaccines getting out to Pacific island nations. We played our part as a good neighbour should. We played our part in making sure that, indeed, we kept homes being built through the construction industry, through HomeBuilder. I heard the member opposite talking about wages. We have the highest minimum wage in the world, and that's a fact that not a lot of those opposite often espouse. We should be extolling the virtues of that. We are very lucky. A lucky country isn't just there by good luck; it's there by good management. For nine years, this country was under very good management under the successive Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison governments. Just have a look at what three years of getting it done did. We had 815,600 female business operators and 220,000 trade apprentices. It was a record high. Indeed, 71.3 per cent of trade and exports were covered by free trade agreements. When we got into government, that percentage was in the 20s. It was very low. What we made sure of was the fact that we were getting our trade, all of those wonderful agricultural and resource exports, to the world. Australia was very much open for business after years of neglect by those opposite when Labor was last in power. Electricity bills went down eight per cent in the past two years, but what do we hear from those opposite? We hear 97 promises leading up to the election of power bills going to be reduced by up to $275. I wonder when that's going to happen. Not in the immediate future, let me tell you! An honourable member interjecting— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 201906 Order! Order! Mr McCORMACK 219646 Indeed. I listened to them very closely and earnestly in silence. They should give me the same respect, but that respect isn't always forthcoming. It doesn't worry me in the chamber, but it does worry me when they don't show Australian families and Australian businesses the respect that they should be showing them by making sure they work night and day to get those electricity bills down. That's the important thing. If they want to show respect, that's what they should do. They should respect the promises they made leading up to the election and get power prices down. When people get their power bills, that's when they'll know that there's been a change of government. That's when they'll know that Labor is back in power because you can rest assured that, when Labor's in power, prices will always be up, whether it's the power bill, the grocery bill or any other bill. 17:01 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck I must admit that I was a little wide-eyed upon reading this motion by the member for Menzies. He has reflected rather oddly upon the economic performance of the previous government, so let's set the record straight. The previous government bumbled its way through the COVID pandemic, just one of the reasons it was ceremoniously bundled out of office. Prior to the pandemic, the previous government managed to double Australia's debt—well before the international health crisis. When the pandemic hit, the Morrison government had to be dragged by the scruff of the neck to introduce a wage subsidy scheme. Trade unions and the ACTU led that push and ensured the wage subsidy was better designed than it would otherwise have been. That is what kept Australia's head above water: unions and a Labor opposition putting workers, people, at the centre of the response to the pandemic. Ignoring the coalition government and its dithering, the state and territory governments swung into action. They each had a plan. In Western Australia, the McGowan Labor government's plan was so well received that, at the election in 2021, Labor was rewarded with a record-breaking landslide win, securing 53 out of the 59 seats in the legislative assembly. At the risk of sounding a tiny bit parochial, McGowan's strong and assertive approach to protecting WA's population and economy created the $200 billion bedrock upon which Australia, as a nation, avoided some of the worst health and economic disasters experienced by comparable nations. In order to do so, the McGowan government had to spend a fair bit of time and energy ignoring the Morrison government's so-called plans. This government has been upfront about the fiscal and monetary challenges it's inherited and is taking action. Treasurer Chalmers' budget delivered in October will be the first of many to start unscrambling the rotten eggs of $1 trillion of debt. The Liberals have left us with stagnant wages and rising inflation, all festering after a decade of denial and neglect. If the previous government were still in office now, the same cost of living challenges would be present, but not the same will or capacity to act. We're giving Australians a hand up out of difficult circumstances born of the previous government's decade of utter indifference. This is why we are investing in cheaper child care to give parents more options to work and earn, making PBS medicines cheaper to ease the cost burden and keep people healthier, getting wages moving again and empowering workers to earn more, and paying down the debt. Contrast that with the one-trick pony the previous government had become addicted to—handouts—an approach we know would not help Australian families and workers. Only today, the Australian newspaper reported on how our fiscally responsible budget has spared many Australians from the pain of unnecessary inflation increases and further interest rate hikes—a rare compliment from the Australian and a case of credit where credit is due. To give some credit to the previous government, they were the masters of illusion. With so many announcements and so little delivered, you can only pretend for so long before you are found out, and they were found out six months ago. Yet I stand here responding to a motion created in the house of mirrors that created the economic challenges the Albanese government is now tackling head-on. This motion mentions energy prices. Since May, we've had a minister for climate change and energy. The true path to long-term sustainable lower energy prices is the rapid transformation to a green energy economy based on renewables, a dependable grid and forms of storage including batteries. One by one, members of the coalition are come to that very realisation as, to borrow a phrase from former Treasurer John Dawkins, they each 'stumble backwards into the future'. The member for Menzies also mentioned wages, after years of coalition governments when low wages were a deliberate design feature of their policies. This is after the first act of the Albanese government was to support a wage rise for low-paid workers. This is after the member for Menzies has sat in the House and heard many times the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations utter the phrase: 'We will get wages moving again.' I may have missed it, but I do not recall any coalition government ministers ever saying, 'We will get wages moving again'—certainly not while waving the legislation in their hand. It is, in any event, good to hear that at least the member for Menzies wants to see wages moving again and this is exactly what the 'secure jobs better pay' bill will do. I look forward to seeing that pass through the Senate over the course of the coming fortnight. The motion also mentions tax increases. It must be a lazy copy and paste from the Liberal Party playbook. No tax increases have been mooted by the government for ordinary taxpayers, so, unless members want to go into bat for tax-avoiding multinationals, perhaps it should have been omitted. These are difficult times and challenges, and I'm proud to be part of a government that is taking action. 17:06 Mr VIOLI 300147 Casey While the minister might have spent a lot of time talking about wages going up, the budget shows that real wages are going backwards under this government. Talk is cheap and actions speak louder. The reality is that Australia as a nation should be proud of the way in which we responded to the threat imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Australian economy, thanks to the strong fiscal and economic management of the previous government, was able to weather the storm and exit the pandemic as one of the strongest economies among Western countries. None of this would have been possible without the leadership and determination of the former government. The former coalition government ensured that all Australians were given the opportunity to withstand the impact of the pandemic and recover quicker and stronger than any other advanced economies such as the United States, the United Kingdom and France. They made support available to people from all backgrounds to provide stability through this troubled time. One such program implemented by the Morrison government was JobKeeper, which enabled 700,000 Australians to hold onto their jobs during this period, especially in small business, to help the unemployment rate stay low while job insecurity was high. I was working in business at that time and I can attest firsthand to the impact JobKeeper had in keeping our business afloat and keeping Australians employed. This solidified the decrease of the unemployment rate to 3.5 per cent as of September 2022, which is a far cry from the unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent the coalition inherited from the Rudd government in 2013. This result highlights why it is an insult to all Australians when the Treasurer and those opposite talk about a trillion debt with nothing to show for it. Not only is the trillion dollar debt a lie and political spin—debunked by economists and that conservative place of media, the ABC Fact Check—but it devalues the lives saved and the jobs saved by the actions of the former government. The Treasurer also never mentioned in his budget speech that this budget increased debt levels compared to the coalition's budget in May—a fact that he does not like to mention. As the representative of my electorate of Casey, I was anxious to see the government's economic plan for the 2022-23 budget, how this would build on the foundations of pandemic recovery put in place by the previous government and what the impacts on my community would be. On budget day, I couldn't have been more disappointed. In addition to no economic plan, the Albanese government ripped away millions of dollars of infrastructure funding which would have ensured the safety of my constituents—funding that was bipartisan. The $150 million roads to communities project for sealing dirt roads across my electorate was dumped in favour of the $2.2 billion suburban rail link—a project not even reviewed by Infrastructure Australia yet. That's not to mention the $110 million for the Wellington Road duplication that was cut by this government, decreasing safety for those in the Dandenongs. Looking to the future, under the current government, Australians have nothing to look forward to. Under this government's reckless strategy of spend more, save less, our nation's debt has been predicted to skyrocket by over $230 billion. They're in charge now and they are taking action. This will lead to increased interest repayments which will take over $25 billion out of the budget by the 2025-26 financial year, taking money out of health, leaving our communities short-changed when it comes to funding. This increased spending will only lead to one thing for Australians: Labor's bread-and-butter plan of raising taxes. From the budget, Labor's forecast is an increase in taxation by almost one per cent of GDP, raising the overall tax receipts to 23.4 per cent of GDP. It is clear that this government has no plans for the Australian economy. All we hear is political spin and excuses. This will make life harder for the residents in Casey and the nation. This Treasurer needs to stop blaming others; he needs to take responsibility, realise he is no longer in opposition and actually deliver for the Australian people. 17:11 Mr RAE 300122 Hawke May I extend my thanks to the member for Menzies, who I do have great regard for. In this case I extend my thanks because he is allowing us on this side of the House to highlight how the Albanese-Labor government is delivering responsible and targeted relief to Australian households after almost a decade of economic mismanagement and wilful neglect by those opposite. As we know, those opposite often like to point to economic management as their greatest strength. They can't be relied to build schools or invest in health, but the one thing that they hold onto is that they are apparently great fiscal and economic managers. We know that this claim is entirely false, because they didn't manage to balance the books. In fact, for the benefit of everybody here, I am happy to summarise that decade of economic management, to assess the claim and draw together the economic record of the previous government in just a few words: $1 trillion of debt. The Liberals' economic legacy is $1 trillion of public debt, with nothing to show for that decade of debt driven cost. Now, those opposite will claim that it was COVID-19 that caused this—they claim all sorts of things—but we know it was only in March this year that the former member for Kooyong delivered a budget that was absolutely rife with waste and pork-barrelling. The Australian people saw this; no-one was fooled by it. The truth is that the Labor government has inherited a dire budget position because of this terrible economic management by the former government over the last decade. This astronomical debt—I will say it again: $1 trillion of debt—provided no economic dividend. There was no economic investment attached to this and no economic dividend for the taxpayer. Instead, they oversaw the worst decade for productivity in half a century and the lowest level of business investment in this country since 1992. That doesn't sounded very good economic management to me. Unfortunately the Liberals' failure to drive economic supply left Australia exposed to the inflationary pressures of the global economy. We are now suffering the results of that. I would also like to draw the Chamber's attention to the line in the member for Menzies's motion about low wage growth. Deputy Speaker, I trust that the irony is not lost on you or the rest of the people in this Chamber. Those opposite oversaw a decade of wage stagnation, standing in the way of any possibility of wage growth at every opportunity. It was only months ago that the former Prime Minister described a $1-an-hour increase to the minimum wage as 'reckless and dangerous'. We know that this was not a mistake. The Liberals themselves have admitted that low wages were a deliberate design feature of the economy that they were managing. Just over a week ago, they chose to vote against the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 in the House of Representatives, further attempting to suppress wage growth even from the opposition benches. The record of the Liberal Party on wages is clear. Sadly, everyday Australians, like those in my electorate of Hawke, are still paying the price. Real wages are lower today than they were 10 years ago. The economic legacy of the former Liberal government was to set the conditions for the cost-of-living challenges facing so many Australians today: low productivity, low business investment and no real wage growth. Whilst Australians know that the Albanese Labor government did not create these economic conditions that we face, they did elect us to address them. That's why, in last month's budget, the Treasurer detailed Labor's economic plan to deliver a direct and deliberate response to the challenges facing our economy, including the cost of living. Under the Albanese Labor government, almost 7,000 families right across my electorate, from Ballan to Sunbury, will be provided with cheaper child care as the maximum childcare subsidy is lifted to 90 per cent. Families in Hawke will also see paid parental leave expanded, providing parents with a full 26 weeks, scaled up over time. The cost of medicines will be slashed as the cost of scripts at the local pharmacy is reduced by $12.50 a script. The rising cost of housing will be addressed through the new housing accord. The key piece to addressing the cost of living, however, is getting wages moving again. One of the very first acts of the Albanese Labor government was to successfully argue for an increase to the minimum wage, lifting the income of almost three million of Australia's lowest-paid workers. Earlier this month, after receiving a submission from the Albanese government, the Fair Work Commission ruled that aged-care workers would receive a full 15 per cent pay rise. Just over a week ago, the Labor government's Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 passed the House. This bill will restore the balance between the power of workers and the power of employers at the bargaining table. This will deliver stronger wages for Australian workers and stronger relationships between employees and their employers. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 176304 The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Workplace Relations 137 17:16 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) Australia's unemployment rate sits at the lowest level since 1974 at 3.4 per cent; (b) large sectors of the economy are facing jobs and skills shortages due to the tight labour market; (c) the record low unemployment rate is not translating to significant and strong wages growth in line with inflation and real wages have declined as a consequence; and (d) the gender pay gap has remained high and has increased in the past 6 months to 14.1 per cent; (2) acknowledges that: (a) the gender pay gap is a major concern socially and economically; (b) the Government's Jobs and Skills Summit worked collaboratively with all stakeholders—unions, business, and advocacy groups to find solutions to skill shortages and close the gender pay gap; (c) the Jobs and Skills Summit has identified 36 initiatives that can be taken immediately to alleviate skills shortages; (d) areas of reform in the industrial relations system have been identified to spur wages growth for workers; and (e) the sectors that will benefit the most from industrial relations reform are undervalued areas such as childcare, aged care and disability support, which are female-dominated sectors and are less likely to collectively bargain; (3) supports further consultation with all groups to solve Australia's economic issues and to set Australia up for further decades of economic and social growth; and (4) expresses concern over the increase in the gender pay gap and the decline of real wages and supports any efforts to alleviate these issues. Australians are currently facing a cost-of-living crisis and have had to face the highest levels of inflation in more than 30 years whilst also suffering from a decade of wage stagnation. The inflation crisis we are experiencing has wiped any wage growth in the last eight years. Australians are now grappling with the consequences of real wages going backwards. One in four Australians is struggling to get by, according to a recent ANU survey. Workers are enduring a cut in pay, despite the same survey noting that the average for hours worked has increased over that time. Real wages are now back to where they were in 2012. Despite the fact that unemployment has been consistently low and has not been seen at these levels since 1974, Australians are not reaping the benefits. It has not translated into wages growth, which points to an industrial relations system that has been undermined and is no longer working. Of course, this is due in part to a previous government's strategy of low wages growth as a feature of its economic policy. At every corner, Australian workers have seen their conditions degrade, with working environments becoming less safe, job security disappearing and inadequate pay for their labour. Nothing has highlighted this more than the pandemic. We saw essential workers thanked yet not paid fairly. We saw unfair dismissal of thousands of workers, and we saw that many workers could not take a single day off without serious financial consequences. This is just not good enough. Our government convened the Jobs and Skills Summit, bringing together industry, unions and stakeholders to identify areas of reform and improve how the economy works for all Australians. The summit agreed that getting the economy working for female participation was a must. Women tend to be undervalued and underpaid, yet they work in some of the most important areas of our economy, from child care to aged care. Ensuring that these predominantly female workers can fight for better pay and conditions is a key element of the Albanese government's economic agenda. A key proposal raised at the Jobs and Skills Summit was to extend paid parental leave. Labor introduced paid parental leave, and it was Labor that strengthened it in its recent budget. This will boost women's participation and encourage more dads to take parental leave. The government has also supported a raise to the minimum wage in line with inflation because that increase would directly impact the sectors where workers have been most affected by low wage growth. Additionally, we're committed to funding the outcomes of the aged-care workers case that was before the Fair Work Commission, which recently announced an interim decision to lift the minimum wage of aged-care workers by 15 per cent. The Albanese government will also be reducing the cost of child care for over 1.2 million Australian families because we know that a significant barrier for women going back into the workforce or picking up extra shifts is the cost of child care. The economy is suffering a skills shortage that needs to be addressed in many ways. Offering women the option to work extra hours—that work for them and their family—is just one way of tackling this problem. The government also acknowledges that training Australians is crucial to alleviating these skills shortage. The $1 billion national skills agreement with the states and territories is also important. It will provide 180,000 fee-free TAFE and vocational education places in 2023. The absence of planning and the lack of coordinated response to the skills and labour shortage over the last 10 years has contributed to the current crisis. According to the National Skills Commission priority list, shortages have nearly doubled in the past year from 156 to 286 occupations. The budget also supports the TAFE Technology Fund in building a clean energy workforce and supports Jobs and Skills Australia. It is time to get wages moving again and to get Australians trained for the jobs of the future. It's time for the industrial relations systems to change, and for the lowest-paid workers and female dominated sectors to be at the heart of the reforms. That's what the Albanese government seeks to do in order to improve the situation for all Australians. All Australians will benefit when all sectors and all workers have extra wages to spend in our economy. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 176304 Is the motion seconded? Dr Reid 300126 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 17:21 Ms SPENDER 286042 Wentworth I thank the member for Werriwa for proposing this motion. My contribution today will focus primarily on the gender pay gap, and I agree entirely with the member for Werriwa that it is a major social and economic concern. But, while the gender pay gap may originate as a financial issue, it doesn't stop there. It flows to girls' and women's sense of self-worth and confidence, our mental health and our ability to care for ourselves and our families. According to KPMG, almost a quarter of the gender pay gap is explained by the types of jobs that women do. This is critical, and I commend the government for trying to address some of this through the low-wage stream of their recent industrial relations bill. I absolutely support the recent 15 per cent pay increase for aged-care workers. While I support elements of the bill that just went through, I believe that we should have addressed the gender pay gap through other awards as well, such as childcare awards, to make a real difference to workers today. I also want to acknowledge that, while the government, I believe, is genuinely trying to address this, there are real concerns from the business community about elements of the bill, which we need to address and consider very carefully. Going back to the gender pay gap, there is still much more to do despite the work that I think the government is genuinely trying to do here. We need to ensure that the government, businesses and community don't ignore the other drivers of the pay gap, particularly including gender discrimination, care and family obligations. It is astonishing that gender discrimination persists in Australia and that it is the largest driver of the gender pay gap, accounting for 36 per cent of the total. That's right: the persistence of gender discrimination is the biggest driver of the gender pay gap. There are a variety of drivers of this discrimination, but it includes greater scrutiny of female workers, fewer opportunities for social-capital formation and different standards in relation to recruitment and pay negotiations. We, as a community, need to work doggedly and systematically to identify and resolve these barriers to female equality and success. Other important drivers are care and family responsibilities, particularly career interruptions around parenthood. This is very close to my heart and very close to the hearts of many families in Wentworth. A recent Treasury report estimates that women's earnings fall 55 per cent in the five years after they become a parent, which is what they call 'the motherhood penalty'—as if late, sleepless nights weren't quite enough! This is driven by lower participation in paid work, fewer hours worked by those who choose work and lower hourly pay. Treasury's work shows that it's the mothers who suffer this penalty, rather than the parents. The fatherhood penalty is virtually non-existent. This is corroborated by Grattan Institute research, based on OECD data, which shows that men account for just two per cent of primary-carer parental leave in Australia. The OECD average is around 17 per cent, which just shows how far behind we are. It also shows that the reform needed is particularly cultural reform. We have a problem in Australia in that we automatically expect mothers to be the primary carers. Many families spend a lot of time thinking about whether to have children and how many to have, but they don't spend as much time thinking about how the parenting workload will be split up, who the primary carer will be and what the social and economic implications of that decision will be. These decisions matter. It's a conversation that couples should be having before they become parents. It is also a conversation in which we need to redress the balance and accept that this should be a very open conversation rather than one which has assumed roles built in. My hope is that the proposed reforms to paid parental leave will help encourage couples to have this conversation. I very much support the government's choice to increase paid parental leave to 26 weeks, but for me it is absolutely crucial that at least six of those weeks are held as 'use it or lose it' for the second parent, because we need to change the culture for raising our children. We already have two weeks of paid second-parent leave at the moment, but it just doesn't get taken up and it doesn't change the culture. We need to change the culture so that men—and it is typically men who are second parents—are involved with caring from the beginning, because this makes a difference to the gender pay gap, but it also makes a difference for male mental health, for male connection to children and for children's development. It's absolutely crucial, and we must change the culture for raising our children in this country. This could make a real difference in the gap and to the lives of women right around the country. It's no silver bullet. There's a lot more that needs to be done, but it's an important and practical reform which we can and should deliver and support in the new year. 17:26 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur I'd first like to thank my very good friend the member for Werriwa for raising this very important motion. I do know very sincerely how importantly the member for Werriwa takes this issue, particularly gender pay equity, as well as the importance of equal sharing of parenthood, and I totally agree. I am very proud to be part of a government that's actively working towards growing wages and improving the quality of life for all Australians, especially those in low-paid sectors that are largely female dominated. As the parent of three boys and three daughters, I can say that my wife and I didn't raise our children with any expectation that they would be treated differently in the workforce or that they would, if they were female, have to accept lower pay than their brothers. I certainly think the world has changed, and we must persevere in our efforts to make equity in pay and equity in work important for all of us across the entire political spectrum. My own professional field of paediatrics has had gender equity and equity of pay for many, many years and I've been very proud to work with some incredible women in paediatrics: my friend Professor Elizabeth Elliott from the Children's Hospital at Westmead, Professor Kathryn North from the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne, Professor Ingrid Scheffer in Melbourne and, of course, the most famous paediatrician in Australia, Professor Fiona Stanley. They all worked in my field of paediatrics and all worked in a field that treated them equitably, and I hope this will continue in following generations. An example of our government's view on this is our submission to the Fair Work Commission's annual wage review, which argued that workers who are the lowest paid in our country must have their wages increased. For too long these workers have seen their wages remain stagnant, harming their ability to keep up with ever-increasing costs of living; yet executive positions, which are mostly male dominated, have had astounding increases in their pay in the last couple of decades. This has impacted many, many families in both the electorate of Werriwa and, of course, my electorate of Macarthur, which are adjoining electorates, and I was very pleased when our government's argument won the day. Not only that; all Australians won as a result of the approval of a 15 per cent increase in wages for those in the lowest-paid categories. The commission agreed with our submission. As a result, 2.7 million Australian workers benefited, with a 5.2 per cent increase in the national minimum wage and a 4.6 per cent increase for all other award wages. We made another submission arguing for a pay increase for all aged-care workers to the Fair Work Commission. Aged-care workers that I know work incredibly hard. They do some of the hardest work in our communities. You only have to watch them work in an aged-care setting to realise how difficult their work is, both emotionally and physically. Of course, during the pandemic they were on the frontline fighting against the virus to protect our elderly citizens and our most vulnerable. This, again, resulted in a win for these workers, with a verdict delivering a 15 per cent pay rise to aged-care workers, with a possibility of a further increase. Minister Burke summed it up well when he said that this result was the first step in our fight for increased wages and gender pay equity, particularly in industries that are low paid and female dominated. It has been widely reported recently that we're struggling to fill job vacancies in many industries. This is only going to get worse until we get gender pay equity and fair wages for fair work, and work conditions to attract and retain our workers. We have to fight for fair minimum standards for workers in this nation, particularly those working in the gig economy. Those entering employment by labour hire companies are particularly at risk, and some increases in pay for these workers are urgently needed. I appreciate the collaborative approach taken by the Prime Minister during the Jobs and Skills Summit and the wonderful results of that Jobs and Skills Summit. One of the finest achievements thus far is the expansion of paid parental leave, which will be of enormous benefit not only to my family but to many of the families in Macarthur. As a paediatrician and a parent, I applaud these changes as a sign of a new world coming in fair pay for Australian workers. I thank Ms Stanley, the member for Werriwa, for this motion. I think it's very timely and I think the rest of the parliament will follow her lead in advocating for gender pay equity across the community. Thank you. 17:31 Mr YOUNG 201906 Longman It's my pleasure to rise, today, to speak on jobs and skills. This topic, jobs and skills, has always been one of my greatest passions. The reason I am so passionate about these subjects is that, rightly or wrongly, people derive their self-worth from what they do, so when they do nothing they feel like they are worth nothing and they act accordingly. People getting into jobs not only changes their life, it changes the life of their entire community. The data tells us that when unemployment rates go down, so do crime rates, drug use rates and domestic violence rates. When people get a job that they love, that's a whole other level. I was pleased to see that this government was going to attempt to maintain the momentum created by the last coalition government in the jobs and training sectors. We saw the lowest unemployment rate in half a century obtained recently, and the benefit from the last government's policies and management will continue, I will say, until the middle of next year. This is when the fruits, healthy or rotten, of the new government will be tasted. I am pleased that this government has announced it will continue the 15,000 new places for aged-care training that the coalition announced in its last term, although I am concerned that they have announced that all funding will go to public providers only. The reason this concerns me is that private RTOs have been providing 70 to 80 per cent of training across our VET sector, and according to Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia, or ITECA, 79 per cent of women are trained through private RTOs. I am absolutely for TAFE, but I am also a big fan of private RTOs. Competition is crucial in any industry, including the VET sector. People need options and flexibility when selecting who they do their training with. Whether their challenge be geographical or flexibility with time, due to family or work commitments, they simply need more than nine to five, Monday to Friday providers. I would love to go a step further and see funding for all RTOs, private and public, tied to outcomes. Sadly, I know that is just a pipe dream. There is also an indication that this government may cut skills funding for apprentices. The last time Labor did this the number of people in training fell by 111,000 between June 2012 and June 2013. We simply cannot afford for this to happen again. When speaking with employers, apprentices and group training organisations, they tell me the coalition's apprentice wage subsidy program was a godsend. It encouraged employers who wouldn't normally have put on an apprentice, to give one a go. This was great news for everyone, and especially for those in such sectors as the residential building sector, where there is a massive shortage of tradies. This scheme resulted in record numbers of apprentices, and for the first time in our nation's history we hit over 220,000 apprentices. It would be a great pity if the scheme was not continued. It was also great to see under the coalition in the last term that women's employment rose by 41,000 and that we were able to reduce the gender pay gap by four percentage points from when we took over government from Labor in 2013. The NSC, or National Skills Commission, was another jewel in the coalition government's crown, with the organisation identifying where skills shortages actually were. After all, what is the point of training people for jobs that don't exist? When I'm visiting businesses in my electorate of Longman, the No. 1 complaint I get from employers is that they simply cannot get workers to fill available jobs. Then I speak to constituents who are unemployed, and they say they can't get a job. I was puzzled by this, so my team and I decided to run a jobseeker expo. We invited jobactive providers, group-training organisations and disability employment services, as well as employers who had actual jobs going on the day. I'm so pleased to say that I was out at one of those employers, Rockpool aged care, for their residents' art exhibition, and they excitedly shared with me that they had employed three people who attended the expo. That's three lives changed and an employer that is able to continue to offer its elderly residents the standard of care and service they deserve. While we had this skills shortage, the coalition just before the last election developed a policy to double the income credit for age pensioners from $7,800 to $15,600 to engage those in our community who have retired and would still be willing to work but don't want to lose their pension. This government has increased the threshold to $11,800, which is a start, although short of our policy of doubling it. I sincerely hope that any new initiatives and programs developed and implemented by this government achieve outcomes that we as a society all crave—that is, lower unemployment and workers obtaining the skills they need to develop their dream career. 17:36 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I thank the member for Werriwa for this motion on industrial relations. I am really glad that we are getting to speak on it, because in the last sitting we weren't able to. I'm really glad that it has come up again. Whilst I don't usually point out the weaknesses of the previous government, because they are clear to all, they were in office for almost 10 years and the gender pay gap hardly moved. Notwithstanding that, it was a deliberate strategy of the former federal government, whether it was under Abbott, Turnbull or Morrison, the member for Cook, to keep wages low. What we and Australians have seen in the six months of our government under the Prime Minister and member for Grayndler, Anthony Albanese, is the smart turning around of that. According to the OECD, Australia is experiencing the second-most severe labour shortage in the developed world. That has been exacerbated by COVID 19 and those 10 long years of policy neglect. As honourable members will know, Australian businesses are crying out for workers. The migrants who have made or want to make Australia home have been trapped mostly in an administrative limbo for years. It's no secret that the cost of living has always been higher in places like the one that I represent in northern Australia. In the regions generally in Australia we pay a bit more for a number of reasons. One of those reasons is that it is difficult to attract workers, and there is an insufficient focus on training so that Aussie kids and, in my example, Territory kids have the skills. That's where fee-free TAFE and more federally funded university places come in. I continually speak with businesses and industry groups in my electorate about the challenges they're facing. The worker shortage is by far the biggest concern up in our neck of the woods. The member for Gorton, the Minister for Skills and Training, recently came to Darwin, and we met with a broad cross-section of industry. They all told him the same thing, that a lack of skilled workers, whether they be from overseas or through us training our own is adding to the increased cost of living and it is affecting productivity. It is acute. Unfortunately the previous government left our migration system and education and training sectors in crisis. They did not support either group when COVID hit, and migrants were understandably choosing other nations ahead of Australia because they found that their systems were simpler, quicker and cheaper to navigate. They did not want to sit around waiting for years for us to decide whether we could use their skills or not. Just imagine the productivity and the growth that would have occurred if we had supported people to stay. They've moved on and now we are caught short. The migration system needs review, and that is what we are doing. Businesses are finding it exceedingly difficult to hire staff. The processing times for visas means businesses are waiting much too long—many months, often years—for an application to be processed, and that is why we've put more staff into the processing of those applications. The feedback I have had from Hospitality NT and other industry stakeholders is that restaurants in Darwin and Palmerston in my electorate are finding it incredibly difficult to find chefs and floor staff, and sometimes they are having to close midweek, or they are only opening a few nights a week or having to close the kitchen early when they do open. A call out to any young Territorians and young Australians: come up to the north if you want some work. We have some work in our hospo industry. Some of our hospitality businesses are finding it so difficult with fewer openings and less revenue. Their leases and overhead costs are no lower, so it is a very difficult time for them. The biggest thing that I think we have seen from this government is support of workers on lower wages, and that is something I am very proud of. 17:42 Ms STEGGALL 175696 Warringah I rise today to speak on the motion by the member for Werriwa concerning the skills shortages in the Australian workforce, the means to address it and, sadly, the lingering and increasing gender pay gap that really has not been the focus of government for too long. The Jobs and Skills Summit highlighted the importance of unlocking all the skills already in the country and developing more comprehensive workforce planning to address both the immediate labour market issues and skills shortages in some areas, and also the long-term plan. In the time that I attended the Jobs and Skills Summit I was surprised at how little talk there was about education. There were a lot of other issues raised, but not sufficient discussion when it came to education. There was a lot of talk in terms of immigration. In some areas we have high unemployment or underemployment, and we have a critical shortage of workers. This is true in regions and also in the cities. In my electorate of Warringah businesses, especially in hospitality and retail, are crying out for workers. They are unable to open full hours or are having to reduce some of their hours of operation because they simply can't put on a full contingent of staff. Yet in the electorate of Fowler, just on the other side of the city, there is over 10 per cent unemployment. So we have to understand: why is that happening? We need to look at ways to breach the barriers to relocating for work and the affordability of transport to better connect workers with jobs available in different communities. This motion refers to the gender pay gap, and I welcome the movements by the government to increase the affordability of childcare and improve the ability of women to participate in the workforce. I also welcome the commitment to increase access to paid parental leave, although I'd argue that 2026 for full implementation of this measure is simply too late; it's taking too long. We know that these measures will unlock skills and have a positive economic dividend, so I would ask: why delay the implementation? This should be accelerated. There is further room for improvement in this space. We know that it is more often than not women who take time out for caring responsibilities. It is not always just a childcare issue; it is caring for elderly parents as we have an aging population. I have requested the women's economic equality committee work on a proposal, and I will be working with it, to ensure that there is better equity for men and women who take time out from their paid employment for caring roles, so that when they return to work there is some process of compensation, essentially, for that time and for the loss of income-earning capacity and of superannuation. That's through a system of income averaging, which is a system I was familiar with during my time as a professional athlete, but it is a system we have in other professions. I think it is a way in which we could start to recalibrate and to better value and provide assistance to those taking that time out. When we talk jobs and skills shortages, immigration is a very important lever for improving skills in Australia, and it was very much the focus of the Jobs and Skills Summit. We have to remember that education is a huge export industry for Australia, but unfortunately, many of those we educate here then leave. They take their skills elsewhere. We need to find ways to keep those who are educated here and who have the skills we need in the country so they contribute to and build Australian businesses. We need a strong campaign to encourage the transitory workforce to return. As we come into summer months, we need backpackers and students to come back in droves to work in our hospitality and tourism sectors. Businesses in Warringah and Manly in particular are still crying out for staff. But we need better long-term planning for a future workforce that not only addresses the key labour market challenges of decarbonisation, ageing population, participation rates for women and First Nations people, and digitisation. We need to co-ordinate all of this. We know young people will not have one job for life. We cannot even imagine the jobs of the future, so we need to implement an adaptive and dynamic process to ensure Australia thrives. So developing the skills required in advance of the jobs and skills—two-thirds of Australia's top 50 economists said that education and skills was the top issue that needed to be addressed at the summit. The government needs to set the guidelines of what our industries are and provide the necessary incentives for investment to congregate around those skills, research and development. I certainly welcomed the inclusion recently of additional professions of the fashions and textiles industry into apprenticeship programs, but we can and should do more. 17:47 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter I rise today to support the motion on industrial relations that was moved by member for Werriwa. I will start by emphasising the importance of the issue raised in this motion, particularly wage growth, or the lack of it, and the gender pay gap. These issues impact most Australians are issues that were neglected by and, in the view of many, were caused by the former government. In the Hunter people are going to work and, at the end of every week, are realising their pay buys them less than it did the week before, unfortunately. They aren't working less. Their jobs aren't any easier. Why is their pay buying them less and less? This isn't a new issue. It's just more serious now than ever before. This is a real issue that impacts real people. I take great pride in being part of the only government in the last decade to care about workers and their wages. I'm honoured to speak here today about our government's plan to address the gender pay gap, but at the same time, I'm disappointed that the previous government sat back and did nothing for a decade. We should not be here fixing the mess left by those who came before us, but nonetheless here we are. We have got straight on with the job. We didn't waste any time in getting wages moving. In our first week, we made a submission to the annual wage review and argued wages of low-paid workers shouldn't be going backwards. As a result of this we had a 5.2 per cent increase to the national minimum wage and a 4.6 per cent increase for all other award wages. Because we are a government that prioritises people, we helped to raise the wages of up to 2.7 million employees, making their life just a little bit easier, making the burden of an increasing cost of living just a little bit less. It is a fact that women play an equally important role in the workforce as men, so it makes sense the gender pay gap is addressed. It should not and cannot be ignored. On average, women earn $263.90 less than a man each week. There is no reason why this should be the case, and there is no reason why we can't fix it. That's why our government is taking steps to address this issue by making gender equity an object of the Fair Work Act and strengthening the Fair Work Commission's ability to order pay increases for workers in low-paid female-dominated industries. It must be embarrassing for those opposite to know that our government has achieved more for workers, and specifically women, in the country in only six months than they did in nearly a decade. Yet, still, there will be some who rise today to tell us that the issues we're addressing are the fault of our government while at the same time overlooking and disregarding their decade of incompetence and warped priorities that led us to the current decisions. The fact that they continue to stand in this place and have the audacity to tell us that the economic issues facing this country just popped in over the last six months shows how petty and politically minded they are. I would need a magnifying glass to find some logic in the arguments of those opposite, and I still doubt I would find any. All I would find is self-interest and blame shifting. They are here for political pointscoring, but our government is here for all Australians, making sure no-one is held back and no-one gets left behind. I'm here standing up for the Hunter. I'm making sure that women in my electorate get the pay they deserve, equal to their male colleagues. I'm fighting to make sure that, when the lives of people in the Hunter become more expensive, their wages rise to help them afford the things they need to get by in life. Once again, I thank you, Member for Werriwa, for getting this going and your very good work. 17:51 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt In rising to speak on this motion, the first thing I'd say is that it's really important in the social compact that we have in this country that there is a share in the growth of our wealth between profit and wages. It's very important that, if the economy's growing, investors and their capital get a fair return, and, equally, as the economy's growing, that wages are increasing in real terms. The devastating reality right now is that wages are going backwards at the worst rate they have this millennium, effectively. With inflation at 7.3 per cent and the latest wage growth figure at 3.1 per cent, we've never seen wages going backwards as much as they are right now. What's worse, the budget that Labor handed down a few weeks ago says inflation is going to increase to eight per cent. So, unless wage growth is dramatically growing from its current 3.1 per cent, in real terms, workers will go backwards under Labor to the tune of about five per cent, which is absolutely devastating for them. It's an urgent crisis that needs to be addressed. Frankly, it shouldn't be addressed by increasing wages by eight per cent; we have to get inflation down from eight per cent. If wages are outstripping inflation at that rate, we will have the terrible circumstances that we have seen before, particularly in the 1970s. This is why it's so regrettable that, in the spectre of that horrendous impact on some of the most vulnerable, lowest-earning people in our economy, we have a government that wants to take the industrial relations system back to the era that destroyed their wages in that way by having inflation and wages chase each other into the double digits. It's a frightening time for Australian workers, with that prospect looking at them straight down the barrel. We in the opposition are desperately hoping that some sense will be seen when it comes to the risk and what it will mean to working people in this country if we take the industrial relations system back to the 1970s. People like Paul Keating know this all too well. He would be privately—and maybe not so privately, at times—despairing at the attitude in the government to effectively take us back to a situation where, instead of having the enterprise bargaining apparatus that he established, which was working very well, we have the Gillard-Rudd system that was put in place, which effectively destroyed enterprise bargaining. We know that from the data and statistics. That industrial relations apparatus that Labor themselves put in place is the one that they're now criticising and attacking. It has led to a decade of the Fair Work Act, or 13 years in fact, given that the Fair Work Act was legislated in 2009. I don't mind accepting it hasn't been successful. It was Labor's concoction. But, in terms of the solution that they're proposing, I think the medicine will be even worse than the shortcomings of the system that they put in place. If they have failed and if the Fair Work Act of the Gillard-Rudd era has been a failure, what we should be doing is improving it, but what is being proposed is nothing like that whatsoever. We have a large crossbench in the parliament, so at times they can be an interesting barometer. There is slim support from the crossbench. The Greens are on board. That says it all: the Greens are on board. You've got the Greens and the Labor Party. Whenever the Greens are in favour of something, be very, very wary. There were some in the Labor Party who used to know to be very wary when the Greens are liking what you're looking to do. People like Paul Keating who designed a modern system that we should be returning to—we should be improving the BOOT test and improving the ability at the enterprise level to negotiate agreements and have, at the core of that, business productivity that is shared between profit and wage growth. That's the kind of system that we could be embarking on to fix all the problems in the Gillard-Rudd workplace relations system that we currently operate under. That is not what's being proposed, regrettably. As inflation is heading towards eight per cent and wages growth is at 3.1 per cent—so wages are, under Labor, deteriorating in real terms by about five per cent—now is the time to very seriously reconsider where you're heading, focus on getting inflation down and focus on real wages growth driven at the enterprise level between businesses and employees. 17:56 Mr BURNELL 300129 Spence I rise to make a contribution to this debate in support of the motion moved by my colleague the member for Werriwa, and I thank her for moving this motion. It is important to speak about the economic circumstances that the Albanese Labor government inherited when it took office, particularly concerning the state of the labour market and wages, the gender wage gap and the efforts that government has undertaken to get things back on track by way of the Jobs and Skills Summit, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 and the establishment of Jobs and Skills Australia. When the Albanese Labor government took office, it inherited what can only be diplomatically described as a mixed economic bag, especially when our gaze turns towards the labour market and real wages. On one hand, we have an unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent and a tight labour market, but, if you look beyond the headline figure and dig a little bit deeper, you'll see a very different story. The story you'll see, when you pair the wage price index alongside the consumer price index, is that real wages are going backwards. How could unemployment be so low? Employers are crying out for vacancies to be filled, yet wages still stagnate. Now we have identified some key ingredients that were baked into our economy by those opposite. When I hear rhetoric from the other side of the chamber about what a strong set of economic fundamentals were left to the Albanese Labor government by those opposite, I'll call a spade a spade and call that nothing but economic gaslighting. Those opposite likely refer to this flaw as a 'design feature', depending on the audience they have at the time. Coupled with stagnating wages and going backward in real terms, we also have a gender pay gap sitting at 14.1 per cent. From the latest figures across all industries, women are earning $263 less than men every week. It adds up, particularly when it comes to someone's ability to save, pay down debt and, most importantly, grow their superannuation. We have heard, as part of this debate, that it has sat stubbornly between 14 and 19 per cent for 20 years—a problem of governments of both persuasions—and it's the Albanese Labor government that feels persuaded to tackle this problem head on. I vividly remember the final leaders debate during the election campaign. As a candidate at the time, I was watching intently. It was a watershed moment, especially for those out there in the community who felt there was really no difference between the two major parties of government. What you had was our Prime Minister up against the former Prime Minister—the former minister for most things, as we discovered later—the member for Cook. During that debate, our Prime Minister was asked if he backed an increase to the minimum wage in line with inflation. The answer was simple, yes. This was met with derision from the member for Cook and sections of the media. Within days of the dust settling from the election, the government stood up for the lowest paid workers and made a submission to the annual wage review, bringing about a win for workers who needed it the most. Low wages won't just fix themselves when the system is stacked against workers. Lastly, I'd like to touch on another part of the member for Werriwa's motion concerning the Jobs and Skills Summit that was held in early September this year. The summit was something our country sorely needed in order to hit the reset button on some of the factory settings that are holding us all back. In the lead-up to the summit, I held a roundtable in my electorate of Spence. I know that many others in this place did the same. Many of the key findings at the end relate to getting wages moving. Other findings involved the need to expand educational opportunities. This is why I'm extremely pleased to see the Albanese Labor government sign a skills agreement with the South Australian Malinauskas Labor government as the first cab off the rank. The agreement will see around 12½ thousand fee-free TAFE and vocational education places open up in 2023. Many of these places involve industries of high need, such as the care, hospitality and agricultural sectors, to name a few. As we know, we can upskill people into these industries, but we also need to make joining these industries a worthy endeavour. Having a government that is committed to increasing wages, improving industrial relations settings and boosting conditions, particularly for highly feminised industries and for some of our lowest paid, goes a long way to unwinding the industrial malaise of the previous government. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265980 There being no further speakers, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will made an order of the day for the next sitting. Digital Services 144 18:02 Mr VIOLI 300147 Casey I move: That this House: (1) notes that the: (a) Government has not articulated a plan to improve the experience of citizens using digital channels to access government services and payments; (b) 2022-23 budget did not contain a single new initiative designed to improve citizens' digital experience; (c) 2022-23 budget will see more public servants employed by Services Australia, but without any new funding allocation to equip them with the latest digital tools; and (d) development of the Digital Identity system has stalled significantly under the current Government to the extent that it is not even mentioned in the 2022-23 budget; (2) further notes: (a) most Australians are now transacting with the Government through digital channels with 1.2 billion online transactions taking place in the past financial year alone; and (b) that the former Government initiated development on the Digital Identity system; and (3) calls on the Government to continue the former Government's strong track record by prioritising service modernisation through digital transformation. Given that our modern way of living is now synonymous with the use of technology to manage our lives, it is no wonder that the Optus and Medibank data breaches have alarm bells ringing. It's such sensitive personal information, including Medicare numbers and Centrelink CRNs, information used by Services Australia. Minister Shorten must uphold his responsibilities and make sure this data is secure, protecting the privacy of all Australians. Surely the time is now for the government to prioritise as a matter of urgency the continued development of the digital identity system. A digital identity, once set up, means we can interact with government services online any time of day or night in the most secure way. It can be used for both personal and business matters. In the last financial year alone, there were 1.2 billion online transactions through Services Australia. We know that many Australians are now transacting with government services through digital channels. By December last year, more than six million Australians were using a myGov ID, which is managed by the ATO and subject to the highest levels of identity security. It's convenient and allows us to access more than 75 digital services. We can do our taxes, apply for our safety net payments, like JobSeeker and Youth Allowance, access our immunisation records and certificates, and track payments and claims. The coalition supports the user led audit into myGov. This review announced prior to the data breaches needs to take a very serious look into what improvements can be made to Services Australia's cyber protection. If the government is serious about the review, it must also provide the necessary funding to implement its findings. There is no doubt that the COVID pandemic has permanently changed many aspects of our lives. We are unlikely to trade in the convenience of digital channels to rejoin the long queue at a Services Australia office. Not only has the government failed to explain its plan—if it has one at all—to keep up with Australia's expectations and improve the user experience when navigating these vital digital channels; shamefully, the 2022-23 budget contained no initiatives to further improve citizens' digital experiences. By removing staff cappings and cutting external labour, the government has drastically increased the number of public servants to be employed by Services Australia, without any indication that this would create better customer outcomes. Despite this, no new money has been provided to allow new IT systems that could simplify and make transactions with the government agencies more efficient and user friendly. The former coalition government instinctively understood the need to modernise government services through a digital transformation. In 2015, the coalition commenced the development of the digital identity system through the Digital Transformation Agency, which was strategically placed under the guardianship of the minister responsible for government services. The coalition government completed significant groundwork in formulating a system to establish trusted identity providers. In a manner similar to myGovID, a person would be able to use an identity provider to verify who they are through electronic checks against secure government records held by the likes of the ATO, the Australian Passport Office and state government license systems, with face identification taken by your smartphone. Your personal information is only stored once by a trusted identity provider, which is subjected to the strictest requirements to maintain security. This new system would allow banks and other third-party companies, like the telcos, to identify an individual without the need to store sensitive and private information, which, as we know, can fall into the hands of criminals. It is now time for the government to expedite a digital identity system and give Australians the option to access a secure identification system that they can use with confidence. Now more than ever, our privacy and safety depend on it. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265980 Is the motion seconded? Ms Tink 300124 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 18:07 Ms PAYNE 144732 Canberra I welcome the opportunity to speak about how the Labor government is modernising service delivery through digital transformation. This service delivery, particularly by Services Australia, has been crucial to many Australians over the past three years through the pandemic and through natural disasters, which, sadly, are continuing today as we speak. In the budget, I was pleased to see that after years of cuts Labor will bolster Services Australia staffing numbers to better deliver emergency support in the wake of increasing natural disasters, including the recent floods through eastern Australia. Services Australia staff were also crucial through the pandemic, when we saw thousands of workers who suddenly lost their jobs and were forced to line up in long queues for hours outside Centrelink offices for financial support. That included the Centrelink in my electorate, in Braddon—the only Centrelink in my electorate, which the previous government closed. The way that my constituents found out that that Centrelink office was being closed was that an ad for the office space just happened to pop up on my Facebook page. We noticed it, and we said, 'Isn't that the Centrelink?' We wrote to the minister, and indeed it was the Centrelink. They were going to close the Centrelink, and that was the only way people found out. Services Australia staff have been crucial through the last few difficult years. We have the Public Service to thank for working very hard through those tough years to make the policy and to deliver the services to make sure that Australians had the support they needed. Whether Services Australia staff work in contact centres, in service centres or out in the community, a number of digital tools are making their job easier, and we are aspiring for a future where customers benefit from a simplified digital service experience. As an example, our Health Delivery Modernisation Program is focused on transforming health experiences and outcomes for health consumers, healthcare providers, government and staff. Services Australia is actively engaging with these groups to provide insights that will inform the design and construction of new digital products and services into the future. Over recent years, intelligent tools, including voice biometrics, digital assistants and push notifications, have helped users to complete more actions digitally, connecting them with staff when they need them most. We're also working to improve digital wallets, modernising our correspondence and looking for more personalised and simple ways that Services Australia can assist customers. Our government is also committed to auditing myGov. The myGov user audit and enhanced myGov and other related digital initiatives that our government has committed to will help to improve user digital experience to access government services and payments. We are delivering on our election promise to audit myGov and expect the report by the end of the year. This audit will clear up the Morrison government's legacy of confusion and fragmentation in digital service delivery, where they created myGovID, a completely different facility to myGov that was confusing for users. The audit will chart a path from this confusion into a world-class service. MyGov supports more than 25 million active and linked accounts, with more than 80 per cent of these customers having signed into myGov once in the last 12 months. It averages more than 1.1 million sign-ins per day, so it's critical that it's working well and is user friendly. The enhanced myGov program is focused on delivering a range of tangible improvements to create a more connected, intuitive and personalised digital experience for customers. New functions will create a simpler digital experience. A myGov app will deliver a more modern, connected and seamless myGov experience. A customisable dashboard with information about upcoming payments and tasks will be provided, as well as a more secure environment that protects customer information and privacy. These improvements will rely on a range of new underlying capabilities which expand significantly on the traditional capability of myGov. We are moving from the traditional role to providing a single sign-on for government services such as Centrelink, Medicare, ATO and NDIA, an inbox to receive electronic mail from member services and a 'tell us once' service, which allows users to share updates to their name, address and contact details with other member services. 18:12 Mr FLETCHER L6B Bradfield I want to start by thanking the member for Casey for moving this important motion. He brings to this place significant experience in the digital economy and a great passion for using digital platforms to better serve customers. It's that mindset which the Liberal and National parties bring as we think about the way that citizens ought to be served. We want to see a customer service mentality using digital technology, just as we've seen in New South Wales, where a coalition government has done an extraordinary job of delivering improved services to citizens through Service NSW and delivering digital products and services such as the digital drivers licence and many others. They've been warmly received and, of course, the minister there, Victor Dominello, has done quite a remarkable job. By contrast, the Albanese Labor government has no plan and no enthusiasm for improving the experience of Australians using digital channels to access government services and payments. The budget did not contain a single new initiative designed to improve citizens' digital experience. That is despite the fact that citizens are overwhelmingly showing that they value engaging digitally. In fact, in the last financial year alone there were 1.2 billion online transactions. That is Australians saying how they want to deal with government. But the way the Albanese Labor government has responded to this is underwhelming, to say the least. We've seen the Digital Transformation Agency being now put deep into the bowels of the Department of Finance, and we're already seeing a stultifying level of activity. In an underwhelming speech to the Institute of Public Administration on 13 October, Minister Gallagher, who has responsibility for the Public Service, mentioned digital just once. This government seems to be more interested in looking backwards. We hear a lot about the number of additional people that the government wants to employ within Services Australia, but we don't hear anything about the way these new employers will be supported with digital tools, and we don't hear about a focus on the customer. That may well be because if you are a public servant who works for Services Australia, you can contribute to union delegateship numbers, and that's something the Labor Party is very enthusiastic about but when it comes to serving customers. That's not really in the life experience, frankly, of most Labor Party parliamentarians. The facts are clear in terms of how Australians want to engage with government. I've quoted numbers already. If we look at what happened between 2019 and 2021: in 2019, on average, 571,000 people were accessing myGov every day. By October 2021, this had risen to almost two million, with a record of 4.2 million in a single day. On this side of the Chamber we look with some pride at the work we were able to do to drive the take-up of digital engagement, to use tools which respond to the way citizens want to engage with their government. We would like to see the current government moving rapidly to build on that track record. One thing they could do is continue to roll out the digital identity system. We did a lot of work on that over the last few years. This is effectively a portable, reusable digital ID card. You can think about it in those terms. One of the great benefits this offers is that, if it becomes possible for this to be used by private sector businesses and in engaging with state government departments, as it is now possible for citizens to use it in dealing with federal government departments, it allows people to verify their identity without needing to provide volumes of personal identification documents. If I'm renting a car from Hertz, Hertz needs to know that I have a driver license and that I haven't racked up so many demerit points that my license is no longer valid. But they don't actually need to know the number. They don't need to keep that on file if they can have their system engage with the Service NSW system to validate that fact and simply have that certification come back. The work that's been done in developing myGovID is just one example of the commitment we had in government to use the capacity of digital technology to allow citizens to be served more efficiently and to engage with the government more efficiently and more quickly. There is huge potential to do more of this. The current government is lagging behind in terms of its enthusiasm for that. Let's see some more enthusiasm from the current minister rather than his squalid experience of political payback, which seems to be his main priority at the moment. 18:17 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser Can I begin by saying that I find this to be a very audacious motion. When I say 'audacious', let me be clear: what I mean is that it is completely lacking in any credibility. It's another example—and there are so many in this Chamber and the main chamber—of those opposite coming to this place and complaining about the state of affairs that we see, forgetting, it seems, that they were in government for a decade and achieved so little. Those opposite come in, claiming that the last budget didn't do enough: 'The last budget didn't lead to digital nirvana. We were so measured. We achieved so much.' It really is a group of people who, after an election loss, don't seem to have mastered the skills of introspection. I think they could do with a little bit of looking back at their track record in this area, and so many others, with a little bit more brutal honesty. It would do them a little bit of good. Let's look at Services Australia. I can speak about the impact of Services Australia on real people in a real-world situation in my electorate. The suburb of Maribyrnong and a number of surrounding suburbs experienced terrible floods in recent months. Dozens of homes were inundated, more than a hundred people were left homeless and hundreds of people were severely impacted. The day after the flood, many streets were still impassable due to deep mud, which was being cleaned up by the council and other agencies. Furniture was piled up in front of every home. This was the case for street after street. It looked like a war zone. When I went doorknocking in that area the day after those streets were opened, I was working with people to access their emergency payments on the Services Australia portal, and what I found was that it worked well. It was very user-friendly. There were two things this government had done. Firstly, it had done a remarkable job, I think, of giving people access to their emergency services payments very rapidly. All they had to do was to answer a few simple questions on their phone, and they had their payment within 15 to 30 minutes. It was the payment system at its best. It was a very user friendly IT system. It wasn't completely without any difficulties, and that's why it was critically important that Services Australia had people in the community response centre just up the hill—two people, there for all business hours and often beyond business hours, helping people navigate that system. So Services Australia was operating a way that was using the digital interface. It provided people to help households who were facing very difficult circumstances—direct interpersonal help—to complement that if needed. Contrast that with the previous government. We hear that they were so measured and strategic and achieved so much. Look at what happened to the people in Lismore. Days and days and days after the floods, people were still wondering, 'Where's the Army?' Days and days and days after the floods, they weren't getting their emergency payments. In the Maribyrnong floods, which were the major floods in my electorate, within 24 hours of the first disaster relief payments being activated, 658 claims had been paid. This was the digital payments system being used. It was speedy, it was timely, it was reliable and it was user friendly. So there's that. This government has actually operationalised Services Australia in a way that has helped people in the most difficult of circumstances, and for those opposite to go here after their performance in the previous term is quite bewildering. But this government also has a longer term plan. As the previous speaker on this side indicated, this government is delivering on election promises by delivering a strategic plan. A report to the government will be delivered which provides an audit on myGovID, a system which the previous government had partially implemented but which, far from being so strategic and so well delivered, was something which was actually very fragmented in practice. This government is delivering on its election commitment to better deliver that system. We are in the process of delivering a framework. It is absolutely critical to get these kinds of systems right. You can't rush them. We are setting out a process where we are going to be able to use best practice digital technology in a range of areas—again as the previous speaker indicated, in health biometrics and digital wallets—but you have to do it correctly. Services Australia is the direct interface for many people. It is critical that it is timely, user friendly and trustworthy, and this government is investing the resources and will get it right. 18:22 Mr PIKE 300120 Bowman I rise today in support of this excellent and timely motion moved by my good friend the member for Casey. We find ourselves in a rapidly deteriorating cybersecurity environment for which we are ill prepared. In many respects, we lag behind other nations. This is an environment made more hazardous by escalating global tensions and increasingly sophisticated criminal enterprises, which expose Australians, Australian businesses and Australian institutions to rampant identity theft, online scams, blackmail and fraud, as we've seen over recent months. No-one is immune to the consequences of these crimes, which in some cases have been shown to be state sponsored and which continue to grow at an exponential rate. Over recent years, Australians have been the target of ruthless cybercriminals and fraudsters. Once they're inside our networks and firewalls—which in some cases may not be overly difficult, as we've unfortunately discovered—there is a rich seam of wealth, information and identity to mine, and mine it they do. In the past financial year alone, some $1.2 billion in online transactions took place between Australians and Commonwealth agencies. But this is just the tip of the iceberg when you compare it to the many billions of dollars in private-sector transactions which take place over the course of the year across the whole of this country and which, in many cases, are even further exposed. In just the last few weeks, we've seen cyberattacks which resulted in the theft of massive amounts of personal data from Optus and Medibank. Of course, I wouldn't be alone in saying that many of my constituents have been affected by these issues and have raised these issues with me, as I'm sure they have with all the other members in the chamber here. The Optus and Medibank breaches have highlighted a compelling need for a national digital identity system. The digital identity system initiated by the coalition government in 2015 is a safe, secure and convenient way for Australians to prove who they are online each time they access government services. What a fantastic improvement in online government services we saw over the course of the nine years of the previous coalition government. The system is entirely voluntary and is controlled by the individual. The coalition's digital identity system today provides safe, secure and convenient access to government services online for more than six million Australians via the myGovID provider platform. I'm sure many members here have just filled out their tax returns and had their assessments back and know how easy it is to utilise that system. In late 2021, the coalition, after significant consultation, circulated an exposure draft to extend the number of digital identity system providers beyond the 80-odd services offered by the Commonwealth. Extending the digital identity system to state, territory and private-sector services is now a national and personal data security issue of the highest order. The extension was to include various state and territory agencies and private-sector businesses, allowing them to verify a person's identity and remove the need to collect and hold vast swathes of personal information themselves. Don't get me wrong: I'm not suggesting that if the coalition had been returned the identity system would be up and running, and not to such an extent that the personal data that we've seen exposed by the recent Optus and Medibank matters would not have been compromised. But what I am saying quite clearly is that we would be in a far stronger position on this issue under a coalition government. Aside from firing off the odd dissenting criticism in the 2020 Senate committee report, Labor have largely been silent on the issue of digital identity. Labor failed to announce any position on a digital identity system either before the election or after the election. Labor's dereliction of duty on this issue is starkly evident in their recent budget, which failed to reference so much as a single new initiative to boost the performance or security of digital services that many Australians rely on. Labor's budget provides plenty more public servants but fails to fund the necessary digital capability that secure and reliable government services in this third decade of the 21st century will require. The minister has finally acknowledged the urgency of the problem and has pulled state and territory digital ministers together for a blatantly beefed-up digital identity system, effectively picking up where the coalition left off before the election. I strongly encourage the Albanese government to show they care about the personal information of millions of Australians by taking action on this front, and I call upon them to urgently extend the system by introducing the coalition's Trusted Digital Identity Bill 2021. I commend the motion to the House. 18:27 Dr CHARLTON I8M Parramatta I rise to speak on the motion put by the member for Casey, a very important motion, and I acknowledge the member for Casey's experience in the technology sector, which is experience that will be very valuable during his time in parliament. This is a very important topic. The tech sector is absolutely critical. The tech sector is the seventh-largest employer in the Australian economy, employing one in 16 working Australians. That's nearly 860,000 Australian people working in the tech sector. As the tech council has said before, there are now more software and application programmers in Australia than there are plumbers, hairdressers or secondary school teachers. The tech sector has come of age, and the government's role in supporting the tech sector is very important. The tech sector doesn't just create opportunities for government; it creates opportunities right across the economy. In my business, we used technology as a critical ingredient in our success and efficiency. Technology improved our hiring, our invoicing, our accounting, our human resources and our marketing. New digital tools did help us engage with government, improving our efficiency, saving us time and saving us money. The tech sector will continue to grow into the future, and the government's role in supporting the tech sector's growth is absolutely critical. But, unfortunately, we have had a wasted decade in the tech sector, and that is the great irony of this motion. Today, after 10 years of coalition government, Australia ranks 36 out of 38 nations in the OECD for our ICT trade balance. When the Productivity Commission looked at Australia's digital performance this year, they released an interim report with the following observation: … while we do well compared to other developed economies on foundational aspects of technology and data use (such as internet connections and data volumes), we are falling behind on some more advanced indicators. The Productivity Commission goes on to say: Australia's internet speeds are relatively low and business use of data-driven technologies, such as AI and analytics, trails uptake in other countries. As a report card on Australia's digital economy and the performance of the coalition government over the last 10 years, the Productivity Commission report makes damning reading. It points out that Australia is 26th in the use of data analytics and artificial intelligence, it points out that 26 per cent of Australian businesses have identified a digital skills gap, and it points out the weak levels of cybersecurity that Australia was left with after 10 years of coalition government. Of course, the most egregious act of the previous government was their performance on the NBN. And we had the member for Bradfield in the chamber just a moment ago giving us chapter and verse on the performance of his government in delivering digital technologies, but he slightly omitted to reference his own record on the NBN. This was a minister for communications who took a fibre network that was going to deliver a futureproof solution for the Australian economy and changed it to that world-beating future focused technology of copper. The reason they were going to do that—the reason they took a network that was going to be futureproof, low-cost fibre to all Australians and replaced it with copper—was that they said it was going to be much cheaper. They announced it was going to cost $29 billion. Unfortunately they then had to announce that it wasn't going to cost $29 billion; it was going to cost $41 billion. Then they had to announce it was going to cost $49 billion, and then, finally, they had to admit it was going to cost $58 billion. That's twice as much as they originally planned, to build an inferior NBN network in this country. For all of their protestations about the importance of the digital economy and the importance of government leading in the digital sphere, they delivered a second-rate NBN to Australia—to all of Australia's industries and to all of Australia's consumers. In my electorate of Parramatta, businesses are still suffering from the low quality of the NBN created by the previous government. It was high cost, low quality and a tragedy for Australia's digital sector. The truth is that, after 10 years of Liberal government, despite there being many great technology businesses in Australia, those businesses have succeeded despite, not because of, the Liberal government. Australia's progress in the digital economy has been held back by poor leadership, poor decisions in the delivery of the NBN and poor decisions across the digital economy. Let's remember that this was the government that delivered us the census fail. They couldn't even ask Australians where they lived, let alone give them leadership on the digital economy. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 176304 The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Pensions and Benefits 150 18:33 Ms SWANSON 264170 Paterson by leave—On behalf of the member for Jagajaga, I move: That this House: (1) welcomes the recent increase in pensions, following the largest indexation increase in 12 years. (2) notes that in a time of cost of living pressures this increase is a welcome support for pensioners across Australia. (3) commends the commitment of the government to support older Australians, who have worked hard all of their life and built this country; and (4) acknowledges that it was the previous Labor government that commissioned a review into pension payments, and ultimately adopted the recommendation to upgrade indexation requirements to support greater pension increases. I want to commend the member for Jagajaga for bringing on this motion. It really does need to be recognised that this pension increase has happened and that it has happened at a time when lots of things are going up. Of course, something that this government is working very hard to do is provide support for all of those members in our community who need support at this time. Harking back a little longer than 12 years ago, I think it was 1909 when the very first pension payment was actually made. Interestingly, it was a Labor government that oversaw the commencement of what was then referred to as the old-age pension in 1909. If we fast forward over that 100 or so years, the pension has been around now for a long time, but we haven't always been good at indexing it the way it should've been, and I am so pleased that this government has finally stepped up to that task. Pension rates increased by $38.90 a fortnight for singles and $58.80 a fortnight for couples combined. As I mentioned a moment ago, the Albanese government is proud to continue this very long-held tradition of support for older Australians. We acknowledge that they work hard all their lives, they pay their taxes and then they continue to make a contribution to our economy and our society. It's rather interesting—the member for Parramatta has just left the chamber—that I was here with him for the jobs summit. We were having a conversation about older Australians. These days, 50 is the new 40 and 60 is the new 50. People do seem to be staying younger and more vibrant for much longer, thanks, in part, to medical technology, but also we now have more at our disposal in terms of health, nutrition and exercise research. We know how to look after ourselves perhaps a little better than they did in 1909, with the miracle of modern medical technology. I made a comment to the member for Parramatta on that day of the jobs summit that older Australians make fantastic employees and that, at a time when we are struggling to fill skills shortages and gaps, it would be wonderful if we could incentivise more older Australians to work. That's why I am particularly proud that, in fact, that very afternoon the Treasurer made an announcement. The member for Parramatta and I were having a bit of a joke. He said, 'You speak and it's so.' But, quite coincidentally, that announcement was made that older Australians on a pension would be able to increase their income-earning capacity. I think that's such a fantastic thing. Older Australians not only bring a wealth of experience when it comes to work but I think they often bring a perspective. They have had not only all of that work experience but, more broadly, life experience. That's why I was delighted to see that pensioners could, in fact, earn more money under our government, and I'm particularly proud of that. In addition to the indexation and my support for this motion, and recognising the recent indexation and increases to government pensions, we know our country has been built by the hard work of older Australians. I particularly want to acknowledge the 21,000 age pensioners that I have in my seat of Paterson. It's such a great contribution that they have made. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 176304 Is the motion seconded? Ms Miller-Frost 296272 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 18:39 Mrs ARCHER 282237 Bass I join the member for Paterson in welcoming the recent increase in the pension. However, given that this coincides with some of the biggest cost-of-living increases in decades, the increase is negligible. Pensioners in my northern Tasmanian electorate of Bass are feeling the pinch, so the self-congratulation seems a bit premature. Whether at the supermarket, at the petrol station or turning on the heater—in Tasmania we're running our heaters well into December—there's a shock no matter where you turn, and, for anyone on a fixed income, the challenges are increasing daily. For many on pensions, whether it be an age pension or a disability or carer pension, they're also faced with a sharp increase in rental prices. Rental prices have increased from around five to almost eight per cent across the northern Tasmanian region, including in areas as far out as Scottsdale, which has seen rental prices increase by an average of 7.2 per cent, and in George Town, where I live, which has seen an increase of 5.9 per cent. These are typically areas where people may choose to live due to lower cost of living, but, with rental increases and significantly higher fuel costs, they're left stuck in a situation where it's becoming increasingly difficult to meet the cost of everyday essentials. When the budget was handed down last month, the first message I received was from a constituent asking me if they were missing something, as they just couldn't see what measures were put in place to assist them through an increasingly difficult financial period. I've also received correspondence from age pensioners who are feeling despondent over the battle that they're facing with rental increases and juggling chronic illness. I have said time and time again that governments, particularly in times of crisis, need to respond to situations as they evolve. I think all sides of politics have the best intentions, but I think that the current government have missed the mark when looking at the response to the current cost-of-living crisis facing so many Australians, particularly pensioners. It's what I'm hearing over and over again when I'm out in the community. I do want to acknowledge that there's a changing economic situation that we're facing, and that governments have to, of course, weigh up a number of factors when it comes to expenditure. But, for all the posturing, particularly during the 2022 federal election, there is a failure to deliver solid assistance where it's needed most. Next year will be a particularly difficult one for many, with electricity bills expected to soar 20 per cent and a further 30 per cent next financial year. While some can absorb the cost by making adjustments here and there, many have legitimate concerns about how they're going to meet increased costs when there's already very little wiggle room. Christmas is just around the corner, and by then, Treasury is tipping annual inflation at 7.75 per cent. The Launceston City Mission has stated that demand for services is at its highest in a decade, acknowledging that inflation and a tough rental market is putting a strain on the budget of those seeking its services. One Tasmanian pensioner, Suzanne, told local ABC that to make ends meet, she's begun to ration her food, and limits leaving her home. She said: We now only go out when we absolutely have to because of the petrol prices, and if we have to go out, we make sure we do more than one thing. We don't put our heating on until four or five o'clock, so the house is quite cold all day, and you go to bed early because you cannot afford the heating. I am anxious, depressed, worried. It's not the life that I planned … I just never expected at this time in my life, that I would be living like this. I used to buy salmon every so often and now I don't do that. There's no special treats any more because you just can't do that. Everything you buy, you have to be really careful with and you have to ration it. Earlier this year, Tasmanian Labor made a lot of noise about the cost-of-living crisis facing pensioners, with Shane Broad MP saying: With pensioners spending more on transport and housing, the pressures they face are causing enormous hardship. …   …   … When the aged pension is already barely enough to live on, the ever-rising cost of basic necessities means making ends meet is a daily challenge for some of our most vulnerable people. I certainly hope that Tasmanian Labor members are considering the impact their own federal government can have in addressing some of these immediate and painful cost-of-living challenges. They have been suspiciously quiet on this front, but I hope that they will find their voices soon. Governments, of course, cannot be all things to all people at all times, but our communities do expect their representatives to step up in a time of need, and I will continue to advocate to the government to help our most vulnerable. 18:43 Mrs PHILLIPS 147140 Gilmore I am proud to be part of a team working to make life easier and more affordable for those living on the pension. My electorate of Gilmore, on the New South Wales South Coast, has the second-highest number of age pensioners in Australia. Almost 28,000 local people are receiving this payment every single week. That is huge. And that is just the age pension. In fact, if you were to calculate each government payment being received across Gilmore, it totals more than 156,000. While some people may be receiving more than one payment, this is still a hugely significant number, so it is no surprise that I am truly passionate about this topic. The Albanese government is the first government in more than a decade to take serious action to support those receiving government pensions. In September, our government oversaw the largest indexation increase to government payments for pensioners in more than decade and the largest indexation increase to allowances that so many people rely on in more than 30 years. This pay rise saw pension rates rise by $38.90 per fortnight for singles and $58.80 per fortnight for couples combined. It has also seen those receiving the JobSeeker payment receive an extra $25.70 a fortnight. I know what a difference this will make in the lives of local people. When we have a housing crisis growing out of control, and every day I have people contacting my office and telling me they can't afford their rent, an increase in the rent support payment is going to make a difference. When more and more people are struggling to afford their medicines, bringing the price down by more than 29 per cent and increasing the threshold for the Commonwealth seniors health card will give 50,000 more self-funded retirees access to cheaper medicines and medical care. This is real action to address the rising costs of living for the more vulnerable people in our community. And it is great news for our community. Before the Jobs and Skills Summit in September, I conducted a survey across my community to ensure that local people could have their voices heard. Traditionally, the South Coast has been an area of high unemployment. But, like most places right now, we have worker shortages across a range of key industries. There are many outcomes of the Jobs and Skills Summit that I like to say have come about because of the input of local people in Gilmore. But probably the most influential were comments about supporting older Australians to work. With almost 28,000 age pensioners, it is little wonder this is a big concern for many people. I recently met with Michael. He is a retired teacher who wants to return to work to supplement his pension and help him maintain a suitable standard of living. We are in dire need of teachers across the country, but people like Michael have been disincentivised to return to work. Michael is not alone. In my Jobs and Skills Summit survey, people like Sandra suggested we incentivise older Australians to work more hours per week without it impacting their pension. Ian said we need to encourage older Australians back into the workforce. Ian's wife is on the disability support pension, and, when he works, her pension is reduced by 25c in the dollar, reducing her independence. Felicity told me: We have an untapped resource in employment of the pension aged members of our community … Many have skills, capacity and desire to work in retail, hospitality, but a major disincentive is the loss of benefits applicable should they work more than very minimal hours per week … With many of our businesses unable to operate for full opening hours or days and a significant older population in this region, surely this is a potential solution. Felicity, Ian and Sandra were among many who made this suggestion. So I wrote to the minister, and the government agreed. We have introduced legislation to strengthen incentives for age pensioners to work. If this passes, from 1 December, pensioners over age-pension age will benefit from an immediate $4,000 increase in the maximum work bonus income bank balance, which they can access until the end of December 2023. This will mean that pensioners will be financially better off if they work, helping to address labour shortages and helping to support pensioners. Thank you to everyone who continues to make suggestions about how we can better support older Australians in our community. We are doing so much to support our pensioners, and I will keep working every day to make sure that you get a better deal under an Albanese government. 18:48 Mr BROADBENT MT4 Monash Deputy Speaker Claydon, you've been around a while, like I have, and these issues have been fought before us for quite a while—you haven't been here quite as long as I have, but you are an experienced member of this House, and I appreciate that you're in the chair tonight. You will understand that these issues around servicing for the benefit of older Australians have been on our table for a number of years. The previous government put a lot of work into how they might support older Australians. There was a whole package that they offered at the last election and had introduced before the last election on behalf of older Australians. This new government—I call it a new government; it is only six months old—has put some of those policies into practice and made it easier for pensioners to earn more. But the disincentives for pensioners and recipients of benefit from government are these: they live a precarious lifestyle, unlike us; they have a fixed income; they have a healthcare card; they have other benefits that accrue around where they're at with their money—and their money is not great. Yet we have this massive untapped resource of people in Australia who have reached a certain age and can take a pension but are still quite able to work—and are probably willing to work. Where does that leave government in trying to put in place incentives without putting in place disincentives? If their healthcare card is threatened, they will choose not to work. If other accrued benefits are threatened, they will choose not to work. In fact, if, in particular, you ask any unemployed women—sometimes they have children, but they also have other responsibilities—why they are not necessarily taking up the opportunities they need to take up, they will tell you it is because they can't afford to lose their benefit. Why? It is because it takes so long to go through the process to get back onto the benefit. They're threatened by the fact of what will happen if they lose their benefit because they've gone to work. We as a government have to find ways to ease the burden of the restrictions that do not allow people to easily go into the workforce. So I think what the government has done here, as well as what was proposed by the previous government, is of great benefit. It will enable the government to say, 'You can earn some more money before you lose any benefit whatsoever.' Now, I think it's not enough; I think we could always increase it. But to do that, we would have to radically change our ideas of what we actually think about older people in the workforce. Are we as a nation prepared to be radical enough to say, 'We're prepared to pay you a pension, and we'll benefit you by telling you that you can work many more hours without losing your healthcare card or without losing part of your pension'? We are so desperate for nurses, healthcare workers and hospitality workers. Even if you're not out front, you can be in the background. There's such a shortage when you walk into a community. Deputy Speaker, I could walk into your community and there'd be a sign: 'We are hiring. Come and see us. Come and talk to us.' And it's probably because of this policy that I now see more older Australians actually working behind the counter, especially in some of the bakeries and food outlets that I visit. The socialisation that comes along with work makes a huge difference to the lifestyle and the opportunities that people have. They're suddenly back in society and back in the community. We don't want people sitting at home if they don't want to sit at home. As a community, as a government, as a nation and as a parliament, we actually have to find ways to encourage those people to feel free to go back into work and not suffer the restrictions that we put upon them with other regulations. These are our own unintended consequences—because we don't want them ripping off the system, do we! Oh, no, that would be terrible! These are not people who are ripping off the system; these are people who have the opportunity to contribute to this great south land. They can contribute. They're in every state. They're in every community. They're everywhere, and we want them on board, as part of our society, working. Let's try to make it easier for older Australians. 18:53 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons I think the member for Monash has opened up a really interesting proposition. Of course, we've never had unemployment as low as it currently is. It's very difficult for people to find workers and there is a potential workforce out there amongst older Australians. Some of the ideas that the member for Monash has promulgated are certainly worthy of consideration. I thank the member for Jagajaga for moving the important motion before us today and I stand here to note that it takes a Labor government to get things done. It was a Labor government that commissioned the last comprehensive review of the pension, with the 2009 Harmer review, which ultimately resulted in a one-off increase to the single age pension and beneficial changes to indexation. Australians on a pension are benefiting from a boost to their bank accounts, thanks to the largest pension indexation increase in more than 12 years and the largest increase to allowances in three decades. The service pension, age pension, disability support pension and carer payment have all risen by $38.90 a fortnight for singles and $58.80 a fortnight for couples in the latest indexation round. The maximum rate for pensioners increased to $1,026.50 a fortnight for singles and $773.80 for each member of a pensioner couple or $1,547 per couple, including the pension supplement and energy settlement. The rate of JobSeeker payment for singles without children has increased by $25.70 a fortnight to $677.20, including energy supplement, while parenting payment single has increased by $35.20 a fortnight to $927.40, including pension supplement and energy supplement. There are a lot of supplements and things in there, and certainly simplification of the system would be the way to go. We know that cost-of-living pressures are hitting Australians hard right now. That's the legacy of nine years of neglect by the Morrison government. We have a big mess to clean up. This much-needed boost to pensions will go a long way towards easing some of the pressures that have been building up over the last nine years. Our guiding principle as a government is to ensure that no-one is left behind and no-one is held back. This indexation increase will help pensioners keep up the cost of living. Labor is committed to a strong social security system, and our system is designed to safeguard pensioners living standards by indexing pensions regularly to reflect these increases to cost-of-living changes. This is just one of the measures that the Albanese government is putting in place to support older Australians. We have also made it easier to get a Commonwealth seniors healthcare card, and we are providing access to cheaper medicines for more older Australians. Since coming into government six months ago today, we have frozen social security deeming rates at their current levels for two years to 30 June 2024, protecting around 900,000 aged pensioners and other pension recipients from interest rate rises. The Albanese government is and always will be committed to ensuring that Australia has a strong social safety net so that no-one is left behind. Keeping deeming rates low is one way to support older Australians who rely on income from deemed financial investments as well as the pension to deal with the rising cost of living. The lower deeming rate will remain frozen at 0.25 per cent and the upper rate will remain at 2.25 per cent for the next two years to 30 June 2024. The government has also introduced legislation for changes to strengthen the incentives for aged pensioners to work, which the member for Monash was talking about and which I fully support. If passed, from 1 December, pensioners over the age pension age will benefit from an immediate $4,000 increase in the maximum work bonus income bank balance from $7,800 to $11,800, which they can access until the end of December 2023. It's certainly my hope that we'll be looking at that when that review period is up. Pensioners are financially better off if they do some work. This will provide an immediate benefit to any pensioner over the age pension age who works and will help address some of the labour shortages we are facing in the community. I join member for Jagajaga in commending the commitment of the Albanese government—six months old today—to support older Australians delivering tangible measures to help them get by in a time where the cost of living and other challenges are forcing people to make their pension stretch further every day. 18:58 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt Unfortunately, a large increase in the pension on the back of indexation is not something to celebrate whatsoever. If the pension is going up by a record amount thanks to indexation, it's because inflation is equally at record levels. The cost of living and the burden on everyone in our society, particularly those on fixed incomes who have to provision very carefully for how they meet the costs in their household and their everyday expenses, means they are really, really struggling. The increase we've seen come through is in an environment where the Commonwealth budget predicts inflation increasing even more dramatically in the future. The latest ABS figure is 7.3 per cent. The budget predicts eight per cent. All the predictions that are happening around the world at the moment continue to be revised up. We desperately hope that inflation won't increase beyond its current rate, let alone to eight per cent or higher, but unfortunately there is a serious risk in the environment that we're in right now that inflation will potentially be revised up even further. But even at eight per cent that is making it really, really difficult for people on a fixed income and particularly for pensioners. At the same time, interest rates are increasing. We've had seven interest rate increases in a row, each and every month for the last seven months. Regrettably, in a couple of weeks time when the Reserve Bank meets in December, there is every chance that we'll have an eighth increase. Decisions like that are, again, only putting pressure on the people who find it the most difficult to balance their budgets. That means they have to make serious decisions and sacrifice some of the special things that they do with what discretionary income they've got, if they've got that discretionary income, and that's making things tighter and tighter. This is a motion that congratulates the government for something that happened automatically through legislation and that has happened for many years. It is right and appropriate that we increase the pension to meet increased cost-of-living burdens on people, but there's nothing pleasant and nothing to celebrate about the fact that the pension has increased by a record amount which is linked to a record increase in the cost of living. As I say, that is a burden that sits disproportionately upon people that are on a very fixed and managed income. The member for Monash made some important points, in a lateral way, around the need to put a lot more flexibility in place for people on the pension and for senior Australians more broadly, so that they are able to contribute to our economy in a voluntary way—if they want to—without being penalised and without having that impact their eligibility for certain things like the Commonwealth seniors healthcare card. For those that are on the pension, that is providing an increased incentive for them to participate in the economy by taking on work and earning an income without hitting them too early and too hard on the eligibility of the entitlements that rightfully belong to them. I acknowledge we've made a few steps in that direction recently, which was thanks to important policy announcements that the coalition made during the election, particularly the increase to the entitlement of the Commonwealth seniors healthcare card. Since the election, of course, the opposition has led the debate on increasing the earnings eligibility that should be there for pensioners before it starts to impact on their pension entitlement. What the government has done is a half step towards that. It is temporary, and we certainly think that we need to go further. But at least we're all talking about the very important need to be supporting pensioners at a time when they have never been doing it so tough because of factors that are completely out of their control, like the costs in their household budget increasing so dramatically. The inflation rate might be 7.3 per cent and it might be increasing to eight per cent or beyond, but we know that there are elements within that, particularly around fuel and around groceries et cetera, that have been increasing even more significantly. That's putting a huge burden on them, and Labor are now saying they're getting a 56 per cent increase in their electricity bills over the next two years. This pension increase is nothing to celebrate. We want to increase the pension, but more importantly we want pensioners to not have to face these dramatic cost-of-living pressures that they're enduring under Labor. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The time allotted for this debate has expired. Road Safety 154 19:03 Mr PASIN 240756 Barker I move: That this House: (1) recognises the critical importance of harmonised road safety data in formulating road safety policy; (2) notes that: (a) individual state and territory governments collect road safety data on a non-uniform basis; and (b) the road safety data collected by state and territory governments is not made available to the Commonwealth Government notwithstanding the Commonwealth Government's significant financial contribution to state and territory governments to improve road safety outcomes; (3) commends the leadership of the former Government in ensuring road safety was a consistent agenda item for the Infrastructure and Transport Ministers' Meetings (ITMM); (4) further notes that at the ITMM that took place on 5 August 2022 road safety was not included on the agenda or indeed discussed; and (5) calls for a nationally consistent approach to the collection and distribution of road safety data by establishing a national road safety data sharing agreement with the states and territories. Sadly, 2022 has been a terrible year on Australian roads. In fact, we surpassed last year's national death toll by July this year. The road toll is going in the wrong direction, with 1,196 people killed on Australian roads in the 12 months to October 2022. Road related trauma places significant financial and social burden on the community, and its financial cost is quantified at more than $30 billion. Beyond the financial cost, the emotional and social cost of road trauma on the community is far-reaching and long-lasting. The Australian government provides significant funding to state and territory governments to deliver safety treatments on road networks nationally, including through the Road Safety Program. But it's self-evident that we're unable to adequately quantify the extent of road trauma or the effectiveness of funding for programs and treatments to reduce it without adequate data to understand the multiple causes of road accidents. The lack of consistent measurement and reporting of national road safety data across the states and territories continues to be a major impediment to data driven, evidence based solutions to reduce road death and trauma. Current data collected by states and territories is not coordinated nationally and it lacks detail in many key areas such as serious injury. There need to be consistent metrics and reporting formats at a national level for data to be coordinated and made available to inform policy on and investment in road safety across all levels of government. The collation and reporting of road safety data will allow for the quantification of road safety issues, the development of evidence based solutions and the cross-jurisdictional evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions. Australia's National Road Safety Strategy 2021-30 sets out a commitment to reduce annual fatalities by at least 50 per cent by 2030, an admirable goal. Accurate and consistent data is paramount to informing policies and investments into road safety to achieve this, as is the National Road Safety Action Plan currently being developed. Harmonisation of road safety data is an important item for discussion in previous infrastructure and transport ministers' meetings under the former coalition government. Meetings of infrastructure and transport ministers listed road safety as the first item on the agenda, signalling its importance. The first infrastructure and transport meeting under the new Labor government, held in August 2022, saw road safety dropped off the agenda for discussion. The former coalition government was committed to establishing a national data sharing agreement with states and territories, but this no longer seems to be a focus for infrastructure and transport ministers' meetings under Labor. The coalition government was making inroads—pardon the pun—having tasked the Office of Road Safety to work with states and territories to develop a data sharing plan. But I don't want you to take my word for it; let's see what the AAA, the Australian Automobile Association, which has been calling for this data harmonisation, has had to say. AAA Managing Director Michael Bradley said just last week: There is an urgent need for the Commonwealth to declare the changes it will make, as our National Road Safety Strategy is not credible when one of its two key objectives is to reduce the incidence of a metric which is neither measured nor reported. Reviews of Australia's road safety performance continue to identify the leading cause of Australia's failure to achieve road trauma reduction targets as being the Commonwealth's lack of leadership and coordination. It is not acceptable that in 2022, we have no national data on the quality of our road network, the types of road crashes occurring, the factors causing them, the enforcement of road rules, or their relative effectiveness, when road trauma continues to hospitalise 100 Australians daily and cost the economy $30 billion annually. Commonwealth road safety data collation and reporting must be an urgent priority if road death and injury targets are to be met. The Commonwealth's ongoing failure to facilitate the timely, consistent, and open reporting of national safety data prevents Australia from quantifying its road trauma problem, developing evidence-based responses, or evaluating their effectiveness. It's said that if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. What we need to see is a program that immediately harmonises data collection across state jurisdictions. In return for the gargantuan amount of money that the federal government provides for each of those state jurisdictions for road safety treatments and road funding otherwise, we should have that data and we should share it and use it as a management tool. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Is the motion seconded? Mr McCormack 219646 I second the motion and reserve my right to speak. 19:09 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur I would like to commend the member for Barker for moving this motion. It is of course very much in keeping with coalition policy: plenty of announcement, no delivery. They had 10 years to do something about this, and what did they do? Nothing. I recently met with one of our major insurers who tells me that the data is, in fact, available through the insurance industry for major motor vehicle accidents—from the causes to the type of vehicle, the type of driver and the type of road. All this data is available. In 10 years, the coalition government has done absolutely nothing about it. In Macarthur, of course, the residents travel long distances to and from work. They are exposed to very poor roads, and the recent rain events and the floods have, of course, exacerbated this. So residents drive on dangerous roads and they drive long distances. I'll mention Appin Road. I have been begging for seven years for the coalition government on a state and federal level to do something about it. They have done absolutely nothing. In fact, there was another fatality on Appin Road in July, bringing the total in the last 15 years to 22 people who have died. We know from road safety data that, for every person who dies on our roads—and there are about 1,200 a year in Australia—at least six times as many people are severely injured to the point where their injuries will have major lifelong effects on them and their families. I've lost count of the number of kids I've looked after who have lost one or even both parents to major road traffic trauma, yet for 10 years we've had a federal coalition government who sat on their hands and have done very little. The Albanese government understands the major issues that traffic accidents and road safety problems cause, particularly in rural, regional and outer metropolitan areas. Macarthur has recently received almost $1 million for recent road safety upgrades in the recent budget, and the budget also outlined another $26 million over three years to address the four pillars in the Road Safety Strategy. Those pillars are safer road use, safer roads, safer vehicles and safe speed. There's much that can be done with road safety improvements to our national vehicle fleet, yet there's no mandatory safety implementation process for new vehicles on our roads. There are very important steps being taken at a Commonwealth level to see where deaths and injuries can be prevented and, unfortunately, the Morrison government and the New South Wales Perrottet government have an appalling record in improvements to road safety. The road issues can be fixed. The data can be addressed. We can't continue on the same laissez-faire road management process with the rorts of road grants to country areas to save a few coalition votes. We can't continue along that process. There needs to be fairer data collection and appropriate management of our road safety issues across the country, not just for a few select electorates. The New South Wales government continues to act very slowly, with many families unfortunately severely impacted by injury and death that's occurring on our roads. My personal entreaties to the coalition government about the roads in Macarthur and the adjoining electorates of Hume and Werriwa and further south have fallen on deaf ears. We've had nothing but rorts and poor management of road safety data that already exists. Yes, we need global national data. That can be collected and our insurance companies are well aware of that, yet the coalition government did nothing for 10 years. It's now down to the Albanese government to make sure that our data collection is correct and that we encourage state and federal governments to work together for better road safety across the broader Australia. 19:14 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina As much as I like the member for Macquarie, I have to say that I earnestly disagree with some of the comments that he made—scripted, of course, from the Albanese government's talking points. I headed up many infrastructure and transport ministers meetings. I went to those meetings in good faith. I implored some of those state ministers to come on board with us in relation to road safety data collection. Sadly, all too often you go to these meetings in good faith as a Commonwealth minister. The states will agree politely, and there will be a great discourse about what we need to do. Then they will return to their respective capital cities and all will be forgotten. Even though at a national meeting they may well have agreed that they will do something about it, the difficulty is that they will go back, and because they hold so near and dear to the jurisdictional obligations they feel, they won't do things in the national interest. Other ministers who've headed up similar forums would tell the chamber this and back me up every step of the way, and I'm sure Labor will find this out. It's unfortunate. They'll do things in our own political interest to keep that niche, that obligation they've got to the states. This is a good motion. I commend the member for Barker. His electorate is more than 63,000 square kilometres. Mine is nearly 49,000 square kilometres. That of the member for O'Connor, who will speak after me, is 1.1 million kilometres squared of land. We know about roads and we provided record funding for roads. When you provide that money in infrastructure budget—it was $110 billion when I was the Deputy Prime Minister—every piece of road funding equates to road safety. Every piece of bitumen that you put on a previously unsealed road leads to better road safety outcomes. As the member for Barker has quite correctly pointed out, if you can't measure it, you can't manage it. He is so right. The quantified financial cost of road trauma to the Australian economy in 2016 was estimated to be more than $33 billion. Imagine what it is now. That was in 2016; we're now in 2022. We do need these road statistics to be compiled, because if you have proper data that is available, ready and easily accessed by all concerned, be they states, the Commonwealth or other stakeholders, it will lead to better outcomes. I also commend the Australian Automobile Association, I had a good relationship with Michael Bradley and still do. The work they do in this area is admirable. We do need to be able to get on board. The member for Macarthur was in here. In the meeting I was talking about, the initial infrastructure and transport meeting under the new Labor government in August, road safety wasn't listed as a discussion item—what a pity, what a great missed opportunity. I wear the badge that Peter Frazer has put out there for SARAH, Safer Australian Roads and Highways. Sarah is the name of his daughter, who was killed in 2012 on the Hume Highway while heading to Wagga Wagga to study. The driver who struck her and tow-truck driver Geoff Clark was distracted for 11 seconds. I was silent then for 11 seconds. It's a long time. Look away from the road for that amount of time and you don't know what's going to happen. Eleven seconds is a very long time. Peter has dedicated and devoted his life to making sure that road safety is something that is paramount in every person who gets behind the steering wheel, and I'm sure he would commend the member for Barker, as I do, for bringing this motion to this important parliament, to this important debate. Peter Frazer doesn't want to see anyone else suffer like his family has. He received an order of Australia medal for his efforts to improve road safety, so I commend the member for Barker. I love Peter Frazer; he's a great bloke. Anything I can do and that we as a parliament can do to improve road safety outcomes we should do. 19:19 Dr REID 300126 Robertson I'm standing in the emergency department as I have so many times before, first as a medical student and then, finally, as a senior medical officer. There's one sound that will always stand out in my mind, and that is the piercing drill of the bat phone. This phone is the prearrival notification of a critically unwell patient requiring immediate and life-saving therapy or life-saving intervention. The paramedic provides a brief handover with regard to the status of the patient and the mechanism of injury. On this occasion, standing on the flight deck—the part of the emergency department where that bat phone is—phone in hand, I'm rapidly transcribing details of the information of a patient who has been seriously injured in a motor vehicle accident. This is a constant reality on the Central Coast, it is a constant reality throughout New South Wales and it is a constant reality right across Australia. Someone's family—their world—has changed in an instant. The gravity and enormity of the situation, the absolute catastrophic and horrendous time when someone is involved in an accident, cannot be understated. From the time of the crash to the extrication and treatment by paramedics, emergency management and beyond, the toll on the patient, the family, the staff and the emergency services is enormous. It's unparalleled. I want to take you now to the emergency department following a traffic accident. The bright lights are on, the team are assembled and we're standing in the resus bay. The airway doctor and nurse stand prepared, ready to assess and secure the airway of the patient. The breathing staff are ready to assess and manage immediate and life-threatening insults to the patient's ability to breathe and oxygenate. Circulation is the urgent evaluation and management of the patient's circulatory system, arresting major sources of bleeding. In the disability assessment, there's a rapid neurological evaluation, an assessment of the level of consciousness and the spinal cord, and a hypo/hyperglycaemic evaluation. During exposure assessment, we have a hypo/hyperthermic assessment and evaluation for other injuries, minor or serious. Further staff then prepare the necessary pharmacological intervention that may be required for the patient. Radiology arrive with a portable X-ray machine, and the CT scanner is placed on standby because in a motor vehicle collision it's likely the patient has suffered serious fractures or serious injury. Pathology and the blood bank are placed on standby in case of the need for a massive transfusion protocol to be activated, and social workers are present to provide psychosocial support to the family and loved ones of the patient. This is only to name a few of the team members ready to provide care to the patient who has been involved in a motor vehicle accident. This is a massive team effort to ensure the health of the patient. We are not invincible or impermeable to harm. I have seen this firsthand on many occasions with people of all ages, of all abilities and from all backgrounds. Life is precious, and we must treasure it and protect it. That is why we need to act, and that is why we are acting, as a government and as a country. Our government is firmly committed to delivering improved road safety throughout Australia. The National Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030 will guide the government to deliver these safety outcomes alongside our partners in the states, territories and local government areas. This strategy sets out Australia's road safety objectives and priorities for action. It includes road trauma reduction targets for the decade to 2030. Tragically, approximately 1,200 people are killed and a further 40,000 are seriously injured on Australian roads each and every year. This strategy will cover four pillars of the safe road system: safe road use, safer roads, safer vehicles and safer speed. The government is developing an action plan to be considered by Australian infrastructure and transport ministers. It will be designed to have measurable criteria and clear lines of accountability for action, divided between the states and the federal government. Of local importance on the Central Coast is the Black Spot Program. Fagans Road at Lisarow and Showground Road at Narara are being targeted by this program to reduce risk. It's through these actions of our government that we can make our roads a safer place. 19:24 Mr RICK WILSON 198084 O'Connor I rise to support my good friend the member for Barker and his private member's motion on road safety data collection. The first point I want to make is that the road toll this year is heading in completely the wrong direction, with 1,197 people so far this year having died on Australia's roads. I'll come back to my electorate of O'Connor in a moment, but 95 of those people have died on regional Western Australian roads. That's about 70 per cent of the total road toll. Many of those 95 people perished, sadly, in my electorate. The member for Robertson has given a very moving description of what happens in the emergency department of a major hospital when someone is brought in from a critical accident. People across my electorate of 1.1 million square kilometres can only dream about getting to that level of care and help so quickly. Many people have accidents hours from that critical care, and, sadly, many of those people, who may otherwise have been saved by the care of the member for Robertson and other fantastic medical professionals, may well pass. The quantified financial cost of road trauma in Australia is around $30 billion. That's a massive cost to the economy, and it's obviously a massive emotional cost to those families and loved ones when someone doesn't return home from a road journey. Sadly, still to this day, current data collection by states and territories is not coordinated nationally, so it's very difficult for policymakers to get an accurate handle on exactly what is going on out on the roads and what we need to do to drive down that way-too-high number of road deaths in Australia. The Australian Automobile Association has said, through their director Michael Bradley: There is an urgent need for the Commonwealth to declare the changes it will make, as our National Road Safety Strategy is not credible when one of its two key objectives is to reduce the incidence of a metric which is neither measured nor reported. That's a fairly damning statement on all policymakers. I know that the previous coalition government were certainly working very hard to achieve that outcome. We had the former minister and former Deputy Prime Minister here talking about the moves and efforts that he'd made to get a coordinated compiling of that data. It's simply not acceptable, given the increased road toll, and policymakers certainly do need to get on with the job. It's incumbent on the new government now to take up the cudgels to try and bring the states on board. I want to talk a little bit about of my electorate of O'Connor. As I said, it's 1.1 million square kilometres, so a great deal of the Western Australian road network falls within my electorate. I'm sure the member for Macarthur, who is one of the really decent people in this place, regrets making his comments about road funding in regional areas being a rort. I really think if he had time to reflect on those comments he would probably come back in here and withdraw them, because it is a spear in the heart of those 95 families who have lost loved ones on regional roads in Western Australia to describe efforts to make the roads safer and prevent deaths in future as a rort. I'm very, very proud of the road safety funding program in Western Australia—$120 million across our state. Every Western Australian would have travelled roads where there's about a metre of bitumen being put on the shoulder, which Main Roads tell me has a significant impact on road safety. Also, as the chair of the WA roads black spot funding committee, we put $13 million into identified road black spots to reduce those instances of fatal accidents. I also want to say, in the lead-up to Christmas, to everybody who's taking a long journey or who's going to be on the road in the next little while: please drive safely and make sure you come home to your loved ones. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The time allotted for this debate has now expired. The debate is adjourned, and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:30