2026-02-04 3 1 0 House of Reps 0 1

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

The SPEAKER ( Hon. Milton Dick ) took the chair at 09:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.

COMMITTEES 1 COMMITTEES Selection Committee 1 Report 1 09:01 The SPEAKER 53517 I present report No. 6 of the Selection Committee, relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and private members' business on Monday 9 February 2026. The report will be printed in the Hansard for today, and the committee's determination will appear on tomorrow's Notice Paper. Copies of the report have been placed on the table. The report read as follows— Report relating to the consideration of committee and delegation business and of private Members' business 1. The Committee met in private session on Tuesday, 3 February 2026. 2. The Committee deliberated on items of committee and delegation business that had been notified, private Members' business items listed on the Notice Paper and notices lodged on Tuesday, 3 February 2026, and determined the order of precedence and times on Monday, 9 February 2026, as follows: Items for House of Representatives Chamber (10.10 am to 12 noon) COMMITTEE AND DELEGATION BUSINESS Presentation and statements 1 Standing Committee on Economics Review of the Reserve Bank of Australia Annual Report 2024 The Committee determined that statements on the report may be made — all statements to conclude by 10.20 am. Speech time limits — Mr Husic —5 minutes. Other Members —5 minutes. [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 2 x 5 mins] PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Notices 1 MR CONAGHAN: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Flags Act 1953, and for related purposes. (Flags Amendment (Protection of Australian National Flags) Bill 2026) (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Presenter may speak to the second reading for a period not exceeding 10 minutes — pursuant to standing order 41. Debate must be adjourned pursuant to standing order 142. 2 MS SHARKIE: To present a Bill for an Act to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995, and for related purposes. (Criminal Code Amendment (Flag Protection) Bill 2026) (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Presenter may speak to the second reading for a period not exceeding 10 minutes — pursuant to standing order 41. Debate must be adjourned pursuant to standing order 142. 3 MS TEMPLEMAN: To move: That this House: (1) notes: (a) that on 1 January 2026: (i) the pharmaceutical benefits scheme co-payment for general patients was reduced to $25, the lowest price since 2004; (ii) 1800 Medicare was launched, giving Australians access to free 24 hours a day, seven days a week quality health advice over the phone; and (iii) Medicare Mental Health Check-In commenced, providing a new free digital mental health service offering self-help tools; and (b) the Government's record investment in bulk billing which has resulted in: (i) more than 3,300 fully bulk billing general practitioner practices across Australia, with almost 1,250 of these practices previously mixed billing; and (ii) rising bulk billing rates and a stronger Medicare; and (2) acknowledges that only this Government can be trusted to strengthen Medicare. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 50 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms Templeman — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 10 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 4 MS STEGGALL: To move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) immigration has been, and continues to be, a fundamental contributor to Australia's economic strength, social fabric, and national resilience; and (b) migrants play a vital role in sustaining small businesses across Australia, including by filling skills and labour shortages, starting new enterprises, supporting regional economies and contributing to local employment growth; and (2) calls on all Members of the House to engage in respectful, evidence-based debate on migration policy, and to reject rhetoric that inflames division or undermines the dignity and contribution of migrant communities. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 5 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms Steggall — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 1 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue at a later hour. 5 MR TED O'BRIEN: To move: That this House: (1) condemns the Treasurer for refusing to take responsibility for the Government's out-of-control spending, which is fuelling inflation and interest rates; (2) notes the: (a) Treasurer's own budget papers show he has added $50 billion of new discretionary spending in the current financial year alone; and (b) average mortgage holder is already paying around $21,000 a year more in interest than under the previous Government and that burden could rise even further; and (3) calls on the Treasurer to adopt measurable budget rules to bring discipline back to the management of our nation's finances. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — remaining private Members' business time prior to 12 noon. Speech time limits — Mr Ted O'Brien — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 5 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. Items for Federation Chamber (11 am to 1.30 pm) PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Notices 1 MR NG: To move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) the human rights situation in Iran remains of grave concern, including reports of the Iranian regime engaging in repression, violence against protestors, arbitrary arrests and communications blackouts; (b) many members of the Iranian Australian community are deeply distressed by the actions of the Iranian regime; and (c) the Australian Government condemns the actions of the Iranian regime and affirms Australia's support for the people of Iran in their struggle for freedom, democracy and human rights; (2) recognises that: (a) the Australian Government has taken strong action to hold those responsible for human rights abuses in Iran to account, including targeted sanctions on more than 200 Iranian individuals and entities and more than 100 Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) linked individuals and entities, as well as listing the IRGC as a state sponsor of terrorism; (b) the Australian Government's most recent sanctions target senior officials and entities linked to the IRGC complicit in oppressing the Iranian people, violently suppressing domestic protests, and threatening lives both inside and outside Iran; and (c) Australia has taken significant diplomatic steps, including: (i) the expulsion of the Iranian Ambassador; and (ii) leadership in international efforts to hold Iran accountable through the United Nations; and (3) affirms its: (a) solidarity with the people of Iran; and (b) ongoing commitment to the protection and promotion of human rights and democratic freedoms. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 50 minutes. Speech time limits — Mr Ng — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 10 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 2 MS SPENDER: To move: That this House: (1) notes that the: (a) Consumer Price Index rose 3.8 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025, up from a 3.4 per cent rise in the 12 months to November 2025; (b) Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) warned last year that the Australian economy could not sustainably grow faster than 2 per cent without running into inflationary pressure; (c) RBA has downgraded Australia's medium term productivity growth forecasts to just 0.7 per cent, per year; and (d) Government undertook an economic reform roundtable with progress made on areas including nuisance tariffs and environmental approvals; and (2) calls on the Government to: (a) introduce stronger impact assessments, scrutiny and executive accountability for identifying and discontinuing costly and ineffective regulation; (b) rein-in Government spending, reinstate fiscal rules, reform the Charter of Budget Honesty and make ministers and departments more accountable for blowouts in budget measures; (c) identify how technology and artificial intelligence can support better provision of public services and government effectiveness; and (d) recalibrate Australia's patchwork of climate and industry policies to a framework that transitions the economy at the lowest cost. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 15 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms Spender — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 3 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 3 MS J RYAN: To move: That this House: (1) acknowledges the start of the 2026 school year and the Government's record investment in Australian public schools through the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement; (2) notes that this agreement represents the largest Commonwealth investment in public schools by any Australian Government ever and is tied to important reforms to lift student outcomes; (3) recognises the importance of teachers and the steps the Government is taking to tackle the teacher shortage; (4) further notes that new data shows more Australians are choosing to study teaching, supported by important measures to help more people start and finish teaching degrees including through: (a) Commonwealth Paid Prac for teaching students; (b) Commonwealth Teaching Scholarships; and (c) reforms to strengthen teacher training; (5) further acknowledges the national effort being undertaken with states and territories to prevent and respond to bullying in schools; and (6) affirms that the Government continues to invest in schools, support teachers, and is committed to building a better and fairer education system. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 40 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms J Ryan — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 8 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 4 MR T WILSON: To move: That this House: (1) condemns the Government for presiding over the insolvency of 41,749 small businesses since being elected; (2) notes that: (a) 2025 was the worst calendar year for business insolvencies since records began in 1999, with more than 14,649 businesses collapsing; and (b) this Prime Minister now has the worst record of any Prime Minister for business insolvencies with an average of 2,938 businesses going under each quarter; (3) further condemns the Government for its failure to recognise the scale of the small business crisis and its lack of urgency in responding to record insolvencies; (4) acknowledges that behind every insolvency statistic is a family, an employee and a local community bearing the cost of the Government's policy failures; and (5) calls on the Minister for Small Business to urgently review the Government's policy settings that are focused on increasing costs, complexity and uncertainty for small and family businesses. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 25 minutes. Speech time limits — Mr T Wilson — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 5 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 5 MR HOGAN: To move: That this House: (1) acknowledges: (a) the Order of Australia is the highest national honour awarded to Australian citizens for outstanding contributions to our country or humanity at large; and (b) community members recognised through Australia Day 2026 Local Citizen of the Year awards; and (2) congratulates all the recipients of awards on Australia Day 2026. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — remaining private Members' business time prior to 1.30 pm. Speech time limits — Mr Hogan — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue at a later hour. Items for Federation Chamber (4.45 pm to 7.30 pm) PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS Orders of the day IMMIGRATION: Resumption of debate on the motion of Ms Steggall—That this House: (1) notes that: (a) immigration has been, and continues to be, a fundamental contributor to Australia's economic strength, social fabric, and national resilience; and (b) migrants play a vital role in sustaining small businesses across Australia, including by filling skills and labour shortages, starting new enterprises, supporting regional economies and contributing to local employment growth; and (2) calls on all Members of the House to engage in respectful, evidence-based debate on migration policy, and to reject rhetoric that inflames division or undermines the dignity and contribution of migrant communities. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 10 minutes. Speech time limits — All Members —5 minutes each. [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 2 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. Notices — continued 6 MS FERNANDO: To move: That this House: (1) acknowledges that the Government inherited the most severe skill shortages in half a century, after a decade of neglect and an absence of any national skills agreement; (2) recognises the Government for securing the landmark five-year National Skills Agreement, giving Australians easier access to training no matter where they live; (3) emphasises that the agreement resets how Australia plans, funds and delivers vocational education and training, backed by $12.6 billion over five years, including $3.7 billion in additional funding to strengthen the skills system; (4) observes that the Government's training reform and investment is delivering real outcomes, with national skills shortages easing over three consecutive years, and occupations in shortage falling from 36 per cent in 2023, to 33 per cent in 2024, and 29 per cent in 2025; and (5) commends the Government's efforts to support Australians to upskill and reskill so more Australians get qualified for well-paid jobs in the sectors that employers and industries need including housing, care and support services, clean energy and digital capability. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 40 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms Fernando — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 8 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 7 MR VIOLI: To move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) Saturday, 7 February 2026, marks the 17th anniversary of the tragic 2009 Black Saturday bushfires; and (b) the recent and ongoing bushfires across Victoria have devastated the state, including the heartbreaking loss of one life, the destruction of homes, farmland, livestock and agricultural livelihoods; and (2) acknowledges the bravery and tireless dedication of local Country Fire Authority crews, emergency services and volunteers who continue to work under extreme conditions to defend Victorian lives and property, including those who met the call and travelled long distances to help support fire-threatened communities. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 20 minutes. Speech time limits — Mr Violi — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 8 MS CHESTERS: To move: That this House: (1) notes the significant natural disasters that have taken place during the summer of 2025-26, including major flooding in Queensland and fires across Victoria; (2) expresses its condolences to the Australians who have lost their lives during these events; (3) offers its sympathy to Australians who have lost property or livestock as a result of these events; and (4) thanks emergency service personnel and first responders for their work in keeping Australians safe. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 30 minutes. Speech time limits — Ms Chesters — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 9 MR TEHAN: To move: That this House notes that: (1) the Government's energy policies have seen a record number of Australians having an energy debt and facing a 24 per cent increase in their electricity bills in the next six months; (2) Australians were promised a $275 cut to their power bills by last Christmas and $378 lower by 2030; (3) Australians, instead, are paying up to $1,300 more; (4) electricity costs rose by 21.5 per cent in the 12 months to December 2025; and (5) instead of lower energy costs, as promised by the Government, Australians are now paying more due to the policies of the Government. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 20 minutes. Speech time limits — Mr Tehan — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 4 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. 10 MR BIRRELL: To move: That this House: (1) acknowledges the: (a) devastating impact of the Victorian bushfire emergencies on regional communities; (b) tireless work of volunteer firefighters and emergency service personnel who put themselves in danger to keep the community safe; and (c) long-term recovery effort faced by the impacted areas to get back on their feet; (2) notes that the: (a) Victorian State Government is failing to properly manage public land by inadequately carrying out fuel load reducing planned burns which mitigate the bushfire risk; (b) Victorian State Government has not learned the lessons from previous bushfires and is failing to keep people safe; and (c) shutdown of the sustainable native hardwood timber industry in Victoria has limited the capacity to fight bushfires in the state; and (3) urges the Commonwealth Government to: (a) support those who have lost their homes and livelihoods; (b) recognise the need to mitigate the bushfire risk to regional communities through planned burns; (c) ensure Australia has the sovereign capability to fight bushfires; and (d) co-ordinate a national response to bushfire emergencies when they occur. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — 15 minutes. Speech time limits — Mr Birrell — 5 minutes Other Members — 5 minutes [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 3 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. Orders of the day — continued AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS: Resumption of debate on the motion of Mr Hogan—That this House: (1) acknowledges: (a) the Order of Australia is the highest national honour awarded to Australian citizens for outstanding contributions to our country or humanity at large; and (b) community members recognised through Australia Day 2026 Local Citizen of the Year awards; and (2) congratulates all the recipients of awards on Australia Day 2026. (Notice given 3 February 2026.) Time allotted — remaining private Members' business time prior to 7.30 pm. Speech time limits — All Members —5 minutes each. [Minimum number of proposed Members speaking = 6 x 5 mins] The Committee determined that consideration of this matter should continue on a future day. THE HON D. M. DICK MP Speaker of the House of Representatives 3 February 2026 DELEGATION REPORTS 7 DELEGATION REPORTS Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the 151st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and Bilateral Visits to Romania and Switzerland 7 09:01 The SPEAKER 53517 I present the report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the 151st Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, held in Geneva, Switzerland, and the bilateral visits to Romania and Switzerland from 12 to 23 October 2025. I'm pleased to present this report of the Australian parliamentary delegation to the 151st Inter-Parliamentary Union, or IPU, held in Geneva, and the bilateral visits to Romania and Switzerland in October 2025. It was an honour to lead a high-level delegation comprising the Deputy Speaker, Ms Sharon Claydon MP; Senator Andrew McLachlan CSC; Senator the Hon. Carol Brown; and Senator Deborah O'Neill. I thank the delegates for their commitment, diligence and hard work. The IPU was founded in 1889 as the first permanent political forum for international negotiation, providing the origins for multilateral cooperation. Australia officially joined the IPU as a member parliament at the first IPU assembly held in Asia, in Bangkok in November 1956. This year we celebrate 70 years of membership of the IPU. The Australian delegation continues to have representation across important IPU bodies, advancing a proposed resolution on tax avoidance and engagement in key debates. As chairperson of the IPU Executive Committee's Sub-Committee on Finance, I reported on the IPU's financial situation to the IPU's geopolitical groups and answered questions from the floor. As a co-rapporteur to the Standing Committee on Sustainable Development, Senator O'Neill participated in a debate on a resolution on tax avoidance which will be endorsed at the next assembly in April this year. The Deputy Speaker, Ms Claydon, was endorsed by the Asia-Pacific Group to serve on the IPU's Bureau of Women Parliamentarians for the next two years. I am pleased to advise the House I successfully advocated for inclusion of the Australian led Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel in the IPU's Geneva declaration of the 151st Assembly, 'Upholding humanitarian norms and supporting humanitarian action in times of crisis'. Senator O'Neill had also served as the President of the Bureau of the Standing Committee on Democracy and Human Rights, and I recognise her longstanding commitment to those issues. The delegation concluded a record 22 bilateral meetings with other parliamentary delegations, strengthening interparliamentary relations to discuss matters of mutual interest. On behalf of the Australian delegation. I wish to thank those who supported our delegates at the 151st IPU Assembly, including the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra; the Parliamentary Library; the International and Parliamentary Relations Office; Dr Jane Thomson of the Department of the Senate, who served as delegation secretary; and Her Excellency Ms Claire Walsh, Australian Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations and the Conference on Disarmament, and her team in Geneva; From 12 to 15 October, the delegation undertook a historic bilateral visit to Romania. It's been seven years since a parliamentary delegation travelled to the country, with the last visiting in October 2018. The key themes of the visit were acknowledging the significant contribution made by Romania in assisting Australians to flee Ukraine following the invasion by the Russian Federation in February 2022, their support to Ukraine and the current threat to democracy of misinformation and disinformation. The delegation was fortunate to meet with high-ranking officials including the President of Romania, the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Minister of National Defence. We also had the privilege of meeting with presiding officers and toured the Romanian parliament. I thank Her Excellency Ms Alison Duncan, the Australian Ambassador to Romania, Bulgaria and Greece, and her team for their tireless efforts to organise what was an extensive and very successful bilateral program. We also thank His Excellency Mr Radu Gabriel Safta, the Romanian Ambassador to Australia, who accompanied the delegation. During a bilateral visit to Switzerland, the delegation met with His Excellency Mr Pierre-Andre Page, the first Vice President of the National Council of Switzerland in Bern. We discussed democracy and civil engagement to trade and investment between our two countries. The delegation also visited the transport company Carrosserie Hess, which is providing electric buses to the Brisbane Metro system in my home state of Queensland, and travelled to Fondation Opale, where delegates toured the Australian Indigenous art gallery. On behalf of the delegation, I also thank our Ambassador to Switzerland and our Head of Mission, Her Excellency Ms Elizabeth Day and Mr Dylan Walsh, for providing the delegation with a snapshot of Swiss politics, business and culture. I commend the report to the House. DOCUMENTS 8 DOCUMENTS Statements of Thanks and Appreciation 8 Presentation 8 09:06 The SPEAKER 53517 For the information of honourable members, I present a copy of statements of thanks and appreciation by former members of the 47th Parliament. BILLS 8 BILLS Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (New South Wales Local Court) Bill 2026 8

Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (New South Wales Local Court) Bill 2026

First Reading 8 Second Reading 8 09:07 Ms ROWLAND 159771 Greenway I move: That this bill be now read a second time. The Law and Justice Legislation Amendment (New South Wales Local Court) Bill 2026 will make consequential amendments to Commonwealth legislation arising from the passage of the Local Court and Bail Legislation Amendment Act 2025 of New South Wales. On commencement, the New South Wales act will replace the office of New South Wales magistrate with the office of judge of the Local Court of New South Wales. Commonwealth law confers jurisdiction and powers on state and territory courts and judicial officers, reflecting the important role of these courts in the federal justice system. Some federal jurisdiction and powers are conferred explicitly on magistrates, while others are excluded from magistrates and instead conferred on judges. The amendments that this bill will make are necessary to ensure that, on commencement of the New South Wales act, jurisdiction and powers conferred on state magistrates by Commonwealth law can continue to be validly exercised by judges of the New South Wales Local Court. Conversely, the amendments will ensure that judges of the New South Wales Local Court will not be able to exercise federal jurisdiction and powers beyond the intended scope of their office. The amendments will do this by providing that judges of the New South Wales Local Court are considered magistrates under Commonwealth law. The bill will commence at the same time that the New South Wales Act commences. The New South Wales act will commence by proclamation. The concurrent commencement will ensure that there is no disruption to the intended operation of Commonwealth legislation. The bill will have positive implications for residents of New South Wales, along with Commonwealth and New South Wales entities involved in matters arising under Commonwealth law which rely on the New South Wales Local Court. Given the central role that the New South Wales Local Court plays in the prosecution of offences against Commonwealth law, the bill is of critical importance to stakeholders involved in law enforcement and prosecution. This bill will ensure that the New South Wales Local Court can continue to perform its important role in the federal justice system, dealing with a range of matters under Commonwealth law, including both civil and criminal proceedings. I commend the bill to the chamber. Debate adjourned. Copyright Amendment Bill 2025 9

Copyright Amendment Bill 2025

Report from Federation Chamber 9 09:10 The SPEAKER 53517 The question is that the amendments made by the Federation Chamber be agreed to. Question agreed to. Bill, as amended, agreed to. Third Reading 9 09:10 Ms ROWLAND 159771 Greenway by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 9

Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025

Reference to Federation Chamber 9 09:11 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor I declare that, unless otherwise ordered, the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 stands referred to the Federation Chamber for further consideration at the adjournment of the debate on the motion for the second reading of the bill. Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 10

Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025

Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025

Second Reading 10 09:12 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I'm very proud to speak on this legislation, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the associated bill, because this is one of the most popular commitments that we took to the election on 3 May—a two-year freeze on the draft beer excise, the first time this has happened in 40 years. I note the amendments moved by some on the other side. I'm not quite sure what side the member for New England is on these days; he was deputy prime minister not once but, believe it or not, in the sequel that no-one asked for, twice. Did anything happen on his watch? No. It took a Labor government to freeze the beer excise, making sure this was part of our cost-of-living measures we implemented—not just talking about cost-of-living pressures but doing something about them. Forty years is a long time between drinks, but it is just one of the rounds of cost-of-living measures that our government has taken. As local MPs we're all a bit biased, but I happen to think that the best small breweries in Australia are in my electorate in Grayndler, in the Inner West—and there is a fair bit of evidence. We have the Inner West Ale Trail. We not only have breweries—16 at last count, in a small area where you can walk from brewery to brewery, in the Inner West; another industry has grown up, of the food trucks and food small businesses establishing themselves outside those breweries. But there's another one as well—the tourism trail. People can book, and they go in a bus from brewery to brewery, sampling the wonderful produce that is produced there in my electorate in the Inner West. Importantly, I am not aware of a single social issue that has arisen at any of those breweries. People engage collectively. They engage in a really positive way. Can I also say that the many pubs, sporting clubs and RSLs around all our electorates are the heart of our communities. They're the organisations that will sponsor the local rugby league or netball or cricket clubs. They are important at a time where more and more we see social isolation being a feature of our society, as families become smaller, as communities become less connected and as more and more interaction is online rather than in person. The capacity of people to gather at their local pub, club, RSL or local leagues club is so important because there's that sense of belonging. I know that is the case in many of the pubs in my electorate. From time to time, there's a particular seat at the Courthouse Hotel at Newtown, at many of the pubs around the Vic on the Park or the Henson Park, that you know not to sit on because that's Daryl's seat or that's Ben's seat. That's the way it's always been, and that is the case right around Australia. I remember being on a visit with the member for Kennedy up at Hughenden and I made what he told me was almost a fatal error of sitting in the wrong seat at a pub. The seven-foot giant who walked in and declared that it was indeed his seat meant that it had been good advice on that occasion from the member for Kennedy. This is a place that is so important and that's why these measures, which are small measures, are important. They are about respect for the work that our publicans and our club executives do on a day-to-day basis. Quite often, when you're there, particularly on a Friday afternoon or over a weekend, they're running raffles to raise money for surf lifesaving or running raffles for the people who are suffering. During hard times or natural disasters, for example, they are the places that really kick in. I'm reminded by the presence in the chamber of the Minister for Emergency Management. Before she was in this place she was a local mayor during those extraordinary disasters that happened throughout Australia, but particularly on the South Coast of New South Wales in her electorate of Eden-Monaro. I well remember going to clubs there where people were staying, literally, in emergency accommodation on the floor. These social organisations were looking after people in times of need and that's why they are deserving of support, because we rely upon them at times of need. And they don't have to be asked to do it; it's just what they do. Overwhelmingly, they're family businesses. They're run by people putting in long hours every day. They also employ locals. For so many people, whether they be full-time or, importantly, part-time workers, it's a way for people to get through their university days or to just work part-time when they're raising a family. This is an important measure. It is good for our economy, good for our jobs, good for our local communities as well, and that's why, from the front bar to the beer garden, when you raise a glass, you can do so knowing that our government won't be raising the price for over two years. As I said, when we looked at the pressures that people are under, we understood. Whether it was the commitment to raising wages or cutting taxes or cheaper child care or cheaper medicines or Urgent Care Clinics or the energy bill relief or the home batteries to reduce permanently people's bills or cutting student debt, my government has focused each and every day on the big measures down to the small ones such as this one, but they all make a difference, because they also make it clear that my government will be continuing to be focused on cost-of-living measures as our first, second and third priorities as we go forward, as we have done given the bin fire that we inherited in 2022, when inflation had a six in front of it and the deficits were huge. We have turned that around. We know that there's more work to do, and we'll continue to work each and every day. But this legislation, implemented by Labor—nothing done over the previous 40 years—is an important step forward, and I commend the bill to the House. 09:20 Dr WEBSTER 281688 Mallee I do note the Prime Minister's comments that, as people around Australia raise a glass in a pub, the price won't go up for the next two years. If it were only dependent on this excise freezing, that would be one thing, but we know that wages have gone up. We know that electricity has gone up. We know that the cost of living continues to rise under this government, so beer will go up. It's just the excise that will be frozen for the next two years. We commend this bill. We support this bill, but we think it should go further. We think it should actually include—and I endorse the member for Cowper's amendments that will be asking for or recommending that we also freeze the excise on spirits in pubs, hotels and clubs. Our pubs and our clubs do incredible work in our community. They really become the beehive, if you like, of social connection for so many people. Whether it's sporting clubs or whether it's families wanting to go out for a cheap meal, it's no longer cheap. I'm just stating the facts. When I take my family out, I can assure you, it costs me well over a hundred and something dollars—sometimes $200—just to go to a pub meal. To pretend that this excise freeze for the next two years is going to solve all the problems is complete and utter rubbish, and every Australian knows it. I think about the cost of coffee. When Labor came to government in 2022, the cost of a cup of coffee or a latte at your favourite cafe, which we all enjoy, was around $4. Now, we're paying $6 for a cup of coffee. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Labor government. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Prime Minister. Let's just talk about freezing the excise on pouring beer in pubs. Don't get me wrong, I support absolutely that our pubs and clubs need this support. They need more support than that though, and this government is absolutely not supplying it. I don't want to talk about every pub in my electorate, because, believe you me, there are far too many. I'm bound to leave out about, I don't know, 250 or 300, so I'm not going to name any, but I certainly have my and my family's favourite places to go. They are very, very valuable small businesses. Largely, they are small businesses, who are doing it so tough. Whether it's red tape, whether it is the cost of producing anything thanks to energy price rises or whether it's wage increases or regulation more generally, it is tougher to run a small business now. Who do we thank for that? The government of the day. I support this bill and I support the amendments that the member for Cowper is going to make, and I'm going to leave it there. 09:23 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I rise enthusiastically, following our prime minister, to speak in strong support of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. As the Prime Minister said, pubs pouring draught beer are made up of communities—communities of people where everyone has a seat. My local, the Buff Club in Stuart Park, is a good example, and I pay tribute to a member of our community there that we lost recently, Harry. I've spoken about Harry in this place in the past, but he passed the week before last, and we raised a glass of draught beer to him. The railway club is another one close to home and has long been a place for true believers to get together and to have a schooner of draught beer. There are many other great establishments and breweries that I'll mention in my electorate, but it is true that for Northern Territorians—and across northern Australia, I would say—this is a welcome measure and a great measure. This measure applies to great brewers such as Darwin's One Mile Brewing Co. and their 4:21 Kolsch and RDO bright ale, as well as Beaver Brewery's Boofhead Lager, which reminds me of a humorous exchange across the dispatch boxes here in the past. I highly recommend all the One Mile beers and the Beaver beers. Visitors to Darwin can also head down to Mitchell Street, where Darwin's Six Tanks Brew Pub makes a fantastic range of beers, draught beers, and you can have a paddle of those craft beers. They'll also apply when you're enjoying multicultural events, such as the fantastic Territory Oktoberfest that was held by Beaver Brewery last year. The Purple Mango brewery at Marrakai in your electorate, Deputy Speaker Scrymgour, is fantastic, as is the Alice Springs Brewing Co., smack bang in Central Australia, where responsible drinking is the order of the day and delicious draught beers are plenty. With my special-envoy-for-the-north hat on, it behoves me to mention the Spinifex brewery in Broome, Western Australia, and in particular their F88 premium lager, which is named after the Australian Army's service rifle. It's another veteran owned business. That label and that draught beer honours military personnel and first responders and is aligned with the sponsorship agreement with Soldiers and Sirens, which supports those personnel. In Far North Queensland, this excise freeze will also benefit you as you're having a draught beer at Hemingway's Brewery in Cairns, enjoying some of those big, bold flavours of their draught beers, such as the grapefruit, citrus and pine of the Wharf St IPA, which incidentally won a gold medal at the 2025 Melbourne Royal Australian International Beer Awards. I congratulate Hemingway's on that win. My point is that, like all points of our great southern land, northern Australia and Territorians love a beer, and it's great to enjoy it in a pub and, as the Prime Minister said, contribute to that social cohesion and promote responsible drinking. In the Northern Territory, beer contributes about $167 million to gross Territory product and 1,273 full-time equivalent jobs. Nationwide, Australia's beer industry, from growing the barley to pouring pints in venues like those I've mentioned, generates around $16 billion a year. According to the Brewers Association of Australia, on average, every Australian made beer contributes $4.36 to Australia's economy, and it's a very decent return on investment. A 2018 study also indicated that local craft breweries play positive roles in engendering social, symbolic and financial capital in their home towns and regions. This bill is good for the Australian economy, including the north, but also our regions, as I'm sure there is agreement across this place. This is a practical, targeted and responsible measure that supports small businesses, protects jobs and keeps the price of a pint stable for everyday Australians. According to the Independent Brewers Association report from February 2025, independent brewers, most of which are small businesses, contribute $3.53 billion to the Australian economy, 56 per cent of them are located in regional and rural Australia, and 48 per cent of the industry reports being unprofitable or just breaking even. So this bill is an assistance to this sector being sustainable and having those conditions for competition over time. The small independent brewers describe how they are forced to absorb the increases from the excise being indexed to CPI and increasing twice per year. They write that polling indicated that Australians wanted government to stop increasing the excise tax, and that is exactly what this bill does. This is what small businesses asked for, and it's very good for independent brewers. As I used to say when I was in the Army, dehydration is a soldier's worst enemy. The Labor government is taking the fight to that fiercest, most unrelenting of foes. So, with this bill, there'll be less of Slim Dusty's pub with no beer and more pubs from Men at Work's land down under, where the beer does flow—with, hopefully, less of the rest of that song! The bill is good for small business pubs and clubs and brewers. It is good for the hip pocket of Australians who do like to have a pint, a schooie, or one of those smaller versions—I think it's called a pot. It's good for northern Australia and the regions. For all of those reasons, I commend this bill to the House. 09:31 Mr BUCHHOLZ 230531 Wright I rise to offer my support for the freezing of excise taxes on draught beer, an election commitment that we made during the last election. It's now time to action it. I want to acknowledge the amazing work done by the Australian Hotels Association in lobbying and advocating for this outcome—the work conducted by Steve Ferguson, the amount of kilometres he walks in these corridors to get these outcomes on behalf of his membership, coupled with my Queensland AHA president, Richard Deery, from the Story Bridge Hotel. He is an amazing Australian who run some significant events there at the hotel tucked underneath the Story Bridge in Brisbane. There is also their CEO for Queensland, Bernie Hogan, a tireless advocate. Interestingly enough, the way this excise is calculated is that there's no cap on it. It would have just kept on going up and up and up and up. In fact, the only way, without government intervention, that the excise would have stopped was if there were no pub left in Australia for the excise to be applied to. It was done originally to keep it in line with inflation, but, unfortunately, the cost of doing business in Australia under this government outstrips the inflationary pressures. There are the cost increases in insurance, labour and energy. Food is up 16 per cent for those pubs with kitchens. This alcohol tax will raise around $8 million per year. The cost to freeze the excise altogether is going to be about $90 million over the forward estimates, but that's only less than two per cent of what the actual receipts are. More important is what this industry does for Australia. Broaden your mind for a moment and think about the jobs, the economic benefit and the multiplier that goes around the economy. The alcohol industry directly supports the employment of around 176,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. The alcohol manufacturing industry employs about 22½ thousand. Now, in my great state of Queensland, we've got two big breweries up there—XXXX and CUB through their manufacturing location on the Gold Coast. Those jobs are mostly Queensland jobs. There are a further 21,000 alcohol related jobs in the retail sector and a whopping 126,300 alcohol related jobs in the hospitality sector, in the restaurants, pubs et cetera. I want to offer my support for freezing the excise, because I think pubs need a fair go. The number of pubs I have in my electorate—I think I've been to every one of them. It's just out of a sense of civic duty and Australian patriotism, getting into my local pubs! My favourite little local is a place called Dugandan. No-one can pronounce it, so we all just call it the 'Dugie'. The way it's written, they'll call it the 'Dug-andan' or something. Wednesday night is quiz night. We're always looking for new quiz members to come down. That pub provides that sense of community, that social hub. I get into the quizzes with the schoolteachers who come down. There's a group from the hospital. There are a couple of retirees. There's even a group we let into the pub who call themselves the 'Greenies'. They play and conduct themselves at the quiz night as well. I actually ran a pub for a very short amount of time after I finished with my time at the bank. It was the Eimeo hotel up in Mackay. Do not kid yourself that it is not hard work. You're up early. You go to bed late. There are big volumes and small margins. You have to have your eye on every bottle, because the margins are so low. If you take your eye off, you can be broke in a very short amount of time. The coalition welcome the relief for pubs and clubs and beer drinkers, and we'll not stand between the government and a cut to the beer tax. But let's be clear: the freeze delivers less than one per cent of relief per pint. That's enough to give Labor the headline of a cut to the beer tax, but it's just a headline. We welcome this. To all of my people and all my publicans in the electorate of Wright: I look forward to having a beer with you when I get home. 09:37 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser Firstly, I would like to thank those members who have contributed to this debate. Together, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 will pause biannual indexation applying to excise and excise-equivalent customs duty rates on draught beer for two years, starting from 1 August 2025. These changes deliver on the government's commitment to taking pressure off the price of beer poured in pubs, clubs and other venues, supporting businesses, regional tourism and customers across Australia. I want to acknowledge the amendments from the members for Warringah, New England, Cowper, Kooyong and Bradfield. While these amendments are well intentioned, they would significantly broaden the measure beyond its intended scope. They're uncosted and would create substantial fiscal impacts. As Assistant Treasurer, I know too well the importance of responsible government spending. When we came to government, inflation had a six in front of it. Today it has a three in front of it. That is not an accident; it is a result of the disciplined economic management of the government. We've delivered two surpluses, spending restraint and savings that our predecessors could not deliver. Our cost-of-living measures have been responsible and targeted, just like this one. What we're proposing here is a round of beers for our pubs and clubs on the government. It's a gesture of goodwill to acknowledge the hard work of our hospitality industry—but it's a measure within our means. Some members are asking us to reach instead to the top shelf for that round, and some are going further and asking us to put our card behind the bar indefinitely. We all love a celebration, but we're a responsible government, focused on the cost of living in a targeted and responsible way. The bill as drafted strikes the right balance between supporting our pubs and clubs and maintaining budget sustainability. The members may, however, be interested to know that the government has announced separate support for all beer brewers and spirits manufacturers in the 2025-26 budget, and I trust they will bring this to their constituents' attention. From 1 July 2026, the excise remission scheme cap will increase from $350,000 to $400,000 per year. These changes provide the greatest benefit to small craft brewers and distillers. Lastly, in response to the member for Cowper's proposal to review the alcohol excise and customs tariff system, the government continues to closely monitor and assess the effectiveness of the tax system. For these reasons, we will not be supporting the amendments. This bill delivers targeted, responsible relief while complementing broader support for the economy. I commend these bills to the House. The DEPUTY SPEAKER F2S The original question was that the bill be now read a second time, to which the honourable member for Warringah moved, as an amendment, that all words after 'That' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The honourable member for New England has moved, as an amendment to the amendment, that all words after 'House' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The immediate question is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for New England be agreed to. Question negatived. The SPEAKER 53517 The question now before the House is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Warringah be agreed to.  

The House divided. [09:45]
(The Speaker—Hon. Mr Dick)

9 AYES Boele, N. (Teller) Chaney, K. E. Gee, A. R. Haines, H. M. Le, D. T. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Steggall, Z. (Teller) Wilkie, A. D. 64 NOES Abdo, B. J. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Briskey, J. L. Burnell, M. P. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Comer, E. L. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. Freelander, M. R. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gorman, P. P. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Khalil, P. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. Phillips, F. E. Repacholi, D. P. Ryan, J. C. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.
Original question agreed to.
Bill read a second time.

 Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 15

Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025

Consideration in Detail 15 09:49 Ms BOELE 26417 Bradfield I move the amendment as circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 23), after section 6L, insert: 6M Temporary freeze in indexation for craft beer (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies, in relation to craft beer and each CPI indexed non-draught beer rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days: (a) 1 August 2025; (b) 1 February 2026; (c) 1 August 2026; (d) 1 February 2027. Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2025 will be unchanged for the next 2 years. Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 6A(1)). (2) In this section: CPI indexed non-draught beer rate means a rate of duty set out in subitem 1.1, 1.5 or 1.10 of the Schedule. craft beer means beer brewed by a member of the Independent Brewers Association or a similar not-for-profit organisation representing independent, local brewers with appropriate governance of member eligibility and conduct. indexation day has the same meaning as in section 6A. Everyone knows that households and small businesses around the country have been doing it tough. The cost of living has been hurting Australians for some time now. To address that, one of the Labor Party's election promises was to pause indexation on draught beer excise and excise-equivalent customs duty rates for two years from August 2025. The idea, of course, is to ensure that the price of a cold one down at the pub stays the same for a little while longer. The legislation, the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, implements that promise. The Labor Party has a clear mandate for it, so I will be supporting the legislation. However, in my view, the underlying election promise was flawed. By pausing the excise on draught beer only, the policy mostly benefits large, multinational companies and does nothing to assist the small independent craft brewers that Australians have come to love so much. Excise on those craft beers will not be paused under the legislation, which means the price of them will keep rising, even as the excise for draught beer stays the same. My amendment addresses that by extending the two-year excise pause to independent craft beer. If government revenue—taxpayers' dollars—is going to be spent to alleviate the cost of doing business, I want to make sure that it's helping local businesses. Take Buckle Cafe and Distillery in Artarmon in my electorate of Bradfield as an example. After this legislation was introduced, I got in touch with Ben, the owner, to see whether he thought extending the excise pause would help the distillery and other similar local craft breweries. Ben said: It's getting harder and harder. I've been in the industry 15 years now and the day to day has certainly not gotten easier. The freeze on draught beer excise was a great vote winner from Labor. Unfortunately, it sounds great; and Joe Public goes, 'oh, that sounds good. My schooner's not going to go up in price at the pub for a little while.' But it actually disproportionately favours the big multinational brewers because they dominate and control a lot of the taps in the market. He goes on to say: Multinational big brewers go out there, they'll secure taps and lock from that. And so us fighting to get our beers on tap is a constant battle. There are already so many walls that you hit as a craft brewer, and this is just another one. It's about a fair go. The Independent Brewers Association, whose members are overwhelmingly small to medium-sized business in big cities and small communities throughout Australia, agree with Ben from Buckle. The IBA points out that independent brewers employ locals, give back to their communities, strengthen Australia's manufacturing capability, provide tourism destinations and work directly with the agricultural sector. Critically, their profits stay in Australia. So I repeat: if the government is going to be spending taxpayer money pausing an excise on beer, surely independent Australian businesses should be the priority. Spending that taxpayer money for the benefit of multinational companies just doesn't pass the pub test. Let's see if the government is listening. I commend the amendment to the House. 09:53 Dr HAINES 282335 Indi I rise to support the member for Bradfield's amendments. These are good and sensible amendments. In my electorate of Indi and north-east Victoria we are lucky enough to have locally owned, locally loved and nationally renowned breweries no matter where you turn. In Beechworth, Bridge Road Brewers are celebrated for their Beechworth Pale Ale, a craft staple in pubs across the country. They're also a leader in the zero-alcohol market, with their popular Free Time pale ale now accompanied by a full range of alcohol-free stouts and hazy ales. Their raspberry sour was recently crowned Australia's best non-alcoholic beer. Bright Brewery, a little further into the mountains, certainly know how to put on a family friendly party. This terrific venue beside the Ovens River is the place to be, no matter whether it's the Bright Rod Run or the Brighter Days Festival. Back in the High Country we have Mountain Monk Brewers and Crank Handle Brewery in the upper Kiewa Valley in Mount Beauty, both popular destinations after a big day on the slopes in snow season. Mitta Mitta Brewing Company is a great stopover on your way to the High Country, while King River Brewing Co have an impressive range and hold their own against the famous wineries of the King Valley. In Wangaratta, Pedal Slowly are demonstrating that a regional microbrewery can achieve in a small place, while On Point Brewing in Alexandra is a must-visit for those travelling through Murrindindi shire as it recovers from devastating bushfires. Breweries aren't just a nice place to visit; they're vital supporters of local industries. When a local brewery thrives, it creates jobs, engages local agriculture and helps sustain the visitor economy. Local, independently owned breweries are strong contributors to the social and economic fabric of many regional communities, with the sector being worth more than $3.5 billion per year. Independent breweries reinvest profits in local wages, local suppliers and local infrastructure rather than overseas shareholders and multibillion-dollar corporations that often pay little tax. If we want locally owned breweries to sustain this contribution to local employment, tourism and community life in rural and regional Australia, then policy settings must reflect the outsized benefits they deliver back into their communities. While I overall support this bill, I express the same frustrations as my colleagues and the independent brewing sector that this measure will only apply to draught beer. I've spoken with the Independent Brewers Association and small brewers right across the electorate of Indi, and they tell me clearly that, while any change to excise to ease cost pressures is welcome, the government's decision is still only a drop in their proverbial ocean, because they mostly sell packaged beer, not draught tap beer. The simple fact is this bill will take 10c off the cost of a beer or $36 if you had a pint every single day for the next year. While the benefits to consumers are small, the benefits of this $95 million tax break will mostly benefit big international beer conglomerates, because the draught beer market is overwhelmingly dominated by three major brewers who control around 90 per cent of the market. They buy up local Australian brands, market them as Australian and then ship their profits offshore. While I try to avoid colloquialisms in this place, this is the appropriate time to say, as my colleague has just said, that this one absolutely does not pass the pub test. When foreign entities have such a strong hold on the sector, it's hard to understand why the government is passing a measure that will disproportionately benefit their bottom line, when it could have designed this tax break benefit for Australian companies. I believe that a targeted pause in excise for independent Australian producers is a fair and sensible way to back local jobs, local investment and local ownership. They argue, and I agree, that such a pause would not only help stabilise a sector under real strain but also support greater investment in domestic production and in the independent retail market, where small brewers have more opportunity to get their products on shelves and on tap. If we want a vibrant, competitive beer industry in Australia with strong local producers and retailers in regional communities, like those in Indi, then we must be prepared to rethink the excise settings in a serious way and not just tinker at the edges to benefit big business. The SPEAKER 53517 The question before the House is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Bradfield be agreed to.  

The House divided. [10:02]
(The Speaker—Hon. Milton Dick)

12 AYES Boele, N. (Teller) Chaney, K. E. Gee, A. R. Haines, H. M. Le, D. T. Penfold, A. L. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Spender, A. M. Steggall, Z. Watson-Brown, E. Wilkie, A. D. (Teller) 65 NOES Abdo, B. J. Aly, A. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Briskey, J. L. Burnell, M. P. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Comer, E. L. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. Freelander, M. R. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Gregg, M. J. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Khalil, P. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. Phillips, F. E. Repacholi, D. P. Ryan, J. C. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.

10:06 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong by leave—I move: (1) Schedule 1, heading, page 3 (line 1), omit "Temporary", substitute "Indefinite". (2) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (line 7), omit "Temporary", substitute "Indefinite". (3) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (lines 8 to 19), omit subsection 6L(1), substitute: (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies in relation to each CPI indexed draught beer rate as if the indexation factor were 1 for 1 August 2025 or a later indexation day. Note: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2025 will be unchanged indefinitely. I propose amendments to the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 and Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. The rising cost of living has challenged millions of Australian families for several years now, with inflation rising sharply since our economy bounced back after COVID. The government has a hand in setting the price of relatively few grocery items, but one of them is the cost of beer. The average price of draught beer has gone up by over 30 per cent in the last three years, an increase which is considerably higher than the rate of inflation. This has, at least in part, been driven by the automatic indexation of the beer excise every six months which has forced price increases above their annual CPI. This indexation is yet another typical anomaly in our unnecessarily complex tax system. It's pleasing to see the government's commitment to freezing indexation on draught beer for two years, but indexation of the excise over recent years has left those draught beer prices already too high. Indexation of the beer excise needs to stop, and that's why I'm moving that this freeze should be permanent. A permanent cap on the draught beer excise would help millions of Australians with cost-of-living pressures. It would also help support Australia's emerging craft beer industry. Despite rapid growth of small independent brewers, 85 per cent of Australia's beer market is controlled by two foreign owned multinationals. Our craft beer industry supports local workers and economies. The independent beer sector employs over 8,000 people directly, with many brewers also contributing to local hospitality and to tourism. Independent brewers face challenges with the rising cost of ingredients and energy, softening consumer demand and stiff competition from large retailers like Coles which are increasingly selling home brand beers and mimicking craft styles. Many small brewers deferred excise increases during COVID and are now struggling with that debt in a persistently tough economic climate. Alcohol taxation in Australia does not make a whole lot of sense. The wine equalisation tax taxes wine and other fruit based alcohol products based on their wholesale price, not their alcohol content. That has led to an oversupply of cheap wine products in Australia. It's decreased tax income, but it's also increased consumption of fruit based alcoholic products, flavoured ciders and cleanskins. The WET should be abolished. We should tax all alcohol products consistently with a volume metric tax based upon their alcohol content. That has been recommended by several independent reviews. There is a lot more that we could and should do to responsibly tax the alcohol industry. In fact, there is plenty that we could do and should do to reform our tax system overall. We could derive fairer income from fossil fuel and mineral exports by more effectively taxing resources that are owned by all Australians. We could get reasonable income from our digital services. We could stop subsidising fossil fuels by means of the diesel fuel rebate for mining companies. We could tax labour less and income from passive sources such as rent, interest, super and capital gains more. We could take a good hard look at every part of our tax system, and we could have the courage to tackle housing affordability as well as the significant challenges associated with the funding of health, education and aged care. But to do that, we would need to have a government which had both courage and vision. For the moment, those of us who do care about tax reform in this country have to push this government—bit by bit, issue by issue—to make things fairer and more equitable, and to restore some sense to a system which really does not make a whole lot of sense. And so I've moved this amendment to permanently freeze indexation of the draft beer excise to help thousands of Australian craft brew workers and to offer some cost-of-living relief to the millions of Australians who simply want to be able to afford one of the simpler pleasures of life. Question negatived. 10:11 Mr GEE 261393 Calare I move: (1) Schedule 1, page 3 (line 1) to page 3 (line 23), omit the Schedule, substitute: Schedule 1 — Removal of excise for draught beer Excise Tariff Act 1921 1 Subitems 1.2, 1.6 and 1.11 of the Schedule Repeal the items. I'm moving this amendment because while freezing the beer excise for a couple of years is better than nothing, the reality is that it just locks in sky-high schooner prices. After that, we're just going to be back in this place arguing about it all over again. I believe it is time to axe the tax, and that's what this amendment does. We need to implement a fairer system of alcohol taxation that helps ensure the long-term viability of our hospitality sector and doesn't keep stinging consumers year in, year out. That's what this amendment does. I've heard opposition members complain that this bill only freezes excise for two years, notwithstanding that it was the policy they took to the last election. The crossbench is here to help. We know things are very chaotic on the opposition benches at the moment. We know that every day brings a new episode of the soap opera—it's like Days of Our Lives. They seem very distracted, and things just aren't very happy in the happy kingdom anymore. But we are here to help, so we've drafted this amendment to give all members of this House, but in particular Nationals and Liberal Party members, the chance to vote to axe the tax. Now, they could have drafted this amendment themselves, but I'm very happy to assist them and do the heavy lifting for them. In my electorate of Calare, there are more than 400 licenced venues that employ around 1,300 people and service countless residents and visitors each year. These venues are often key employers in our smaller towns and villages—and in our larger ones as well! Our country pubs and hospitality venues don't just serve drinks; they support our local farmers, entertainers, local community groups. They keep people connected. Our country pubs and clubs want the tax axed. The Hotel Orange is one of our iconic heritage pubs. Vijay is the publican and says that the hospitality industry is one of the hardest hit when it comes to taxes. Coupled with high operating costs, it's not an easy gig. He says that freezing the tax would be good but if it were completely scrapped, that would be better. It would make business more sustainable and be good for the hip pockets of his customers. Peter Sargent, the chief executive officer of Bathurst RSL club, says: The cost-of-living crisis is about managing the basics and being able to go out and have a beer. But as the excise creeps up, this simple activity becomes unaffordable. Bathurst RSL try to keep their prices as low as possible, but with each and every excise increase it becomes harder and harder to do that. Peter is concerned that, if they keep being taxed like this, being able to go to the pub for a beer and a schnitty—that small enjoyment, that simple pleasure that a lot of everyday Australians like to experience; I love it too—will become out of reach. While the freeze on excise for two years means that the club will be able to keep prices of products lower for longer, Peter says a permanent fix would go a long way to help. That's why we need to axe the tax. This amendment is our opportunity to not only axe the tax but update, overhaul and reform the whole tax regime around beer, wine and spirits. We all know it's long overdue. The current system is no longer fit for purpose to support our local hospitality and tourism sectors. At the last election, I stood at polling booths and I heard National Party members and their Plymouth Brethren proxies constantly tell voters they were for cheaper beer. Well, this is their chance to prove it. Come in and vote for this amendment. Show us that you actually support cheaper beer. Don't just lock in sky-high schooner prices. Put aside the daily drama, the daily soap opera with multiple episodes going live in Parliament House every day. Come in here and actually do something for your constituents instead of talking about yourselves. Come into this chamber and axe the tax. I commend this amendment to the House. 10:16 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser Since I didn't refer to the member for Calare's amendment explicitly in my summing up, I thought I would just briefly acknowledge the amendment and, as with the other amendments, acknowledge the intentions behind it. But I will just again say that the government believes that the bill as drafted strikes the right balance between supporting our pubs and clubs and maintaining budget sustainability. For that reason, we won't be supporting this amendment. The SPEAKER 53517 The question is that the amendment be agreed to. A division having been called and the bells having been rung— The SPEAKER 53517 As there are fewer than seven members on the side of the ayes in this division, I declare the question negatived in accordance with standing order 127. The names of those members who are in the minority will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. Question negatived. 10:22 Mr CONAGHAN 279991 Cowper I move the amendment as circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 23), after section 6L, insert: 6M Temporary freeze in indexation for tap spirits (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies, in relation to a tap spirit and each CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days: (a) 1 August 2026; (b) 1 February 2027. Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2026 will be unchanged for the next year. Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 6A(1)). (2) In this section: CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate means a rate of duty set out in: (a) item 2 of the Schedule; or (b) subitem 3.1, 3.2 or 3.10 of the Schedule. indexation day has the same meaning as in section 6A. tap spirit means: (a) an alcoholic beverage not exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 8 litres but not exceeding 48 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system; or (b) an alcoholic beverage exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 4 litres but not exceeding 20 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system. This is a straightforward amendment that would extend the government's pause on indexation of draught beer excise so that it also applies to on-tap spirits from 1 August 2026. We welcome the pause on the draught beer indexation. In fact, it was Nationals policy going back some time. We've said very clearly that pubs, clubs and hospitality venues deserve support, especially in our regions where our locals play an important role in our communities. But this particular amendment goes to something more important, and that is fairness. Because under the government's approach, if you order a draught beer at a bar, you get relief. But if you order a gin and tonic, a vodka soda or a spirit served on tap, you keep paying the inflation tax. I want to ask a very simple question: how is that fair? Why should Australians who prefer spirits be singled out to keep paying automatic tax increases while beer drinkers get a break? I'd genuinely like to hear someone from the government benches explain that logic. In many venues, spirits on-tap are becoming more popular. They're served the same way over the same bar by the same staff in the same venues as draught beer. Yet the government has decided that one drink deserves relief from inflation-linked tax hikes and the other doesn't, and that unfairness matters more when we look at who is being affected. Spirits, particularly lighter, mixed drinks are more commonly consumed by women and young people. This government likes to pretend it's a friend to women and younger Australians, but clearly not if you don't prefer beer. What the government has effectively done is say, 'If you drink beer, we'll give you a break, but, if you drink spirits, you're on your own.' At a time when the cost of living is already at a crisis, that distinction is hard to justify, and then it becomes even harder to justify when inflation runs hotter than expected. Annual inflation to December is now at 3.8 per cent, and, yesterday, we had a rate hike. So, when Labor provides relief from inflationary tax rises to some drinkers and not others and inflation is out of control, the impact of that unfairness only grows. By pausing indexation for draught beer but not for on-tap spirits, the government is deliberately locking in unequal treatment and letting it compound over time. Why is the government picking winners and losers here? This amendment will ensure that every Australian's tastes are treated the same. The decision makes even less sense when you consider the practical reality for venues. Pubs and clubs don't see beer and spirit drinkers as separate classes of customer. They're all patrons. They're all supporting the venue. They all keep local hospitality alive. But, under this government's approach, venues will face distorted incentives, pushing some products over others purely because of a tax treatment, not consumer choice. That's bad for customers, that's bad for venues, and that is bad policy. This amendment doesn't reduce the relief beer drinkers are getting. They deserve a drink. All it does is say, if we're pausing the inflation tax on alcohol served on tap, we should do it fairly. Beer on tap and spirits on tap should be treated the same. This isn't a radical position, and it's not likely to break the government coffers. It's just basic fairness. At a time when Australians are struggling with the cost of living, the least we can do is make sure relief measures don't arbitrarily favour one group over another. I urge the House to back this sensible, fair and modest change and ensure that, when relief is provided, it's provided equally. Thank you. 10:27 Mr BATT 315478 Hinkler I rise to speak to this amendment. The National Party is backing the amendment presented by the member for Cowper. It's about a fair go for spirit drinkers. It's about a proper, albeit well overdue, review into Australia's ancient alcohol tax system. As I have proudly stated and metaphorically raised a glass to in this place before, my electorate of Hinkler is famous across not only Australia but, indeed, the world for producing some of the finest tipples you'll ever try—the iconic Bundy rum, Kalki Moon distillery, the Spirit Collective and Campfire Distillery in Hervey Bay, the legendary Bundaberg ginger beer, and, of course, the many craft breweries, including 384 North Brewing in Bundaberg and Cauldron Brewing in Hervey Bay. The makers, distributors, the pubs on the corners of the main streets in our country towns, the sports clubs that bring families together for each of these—changes to our alcohol taxation system couldn't come fast enough. It's a mess. That's why the Nationals are putting forward amendments to legislate a review of the alcohol tax excise system to be finalised by Treasury before 2 November and extend the indexation pause on draught beer to include on-tap spirits. These amendments strengthen what is already being served up. It puts the bubbles in the beer and delivers a better deal for the makers, the supply chain and, ultimately, those who enjoy a cold one at the pub, the bowls club or while watching the local footy on a Saturday afternoon. Industry has briefed us and made it clear that tap spirits are a growing part of the product mix for pubs, clubs and small bars and appeal to a wider variety of customers. Extending the freeze to tap spirits served in hospitality venues will strengthen the flow-on benefits and provide cost-of-living relief beyond customers who choose to drink beer. The alcohol excise framework is more than 100 years old. The 2010 Henry review was the last comprehensive look at the excise system, recommended a single volumetric tax system based on alcohol content and criticised the patchwork system of rates. Freezing the tax only for draught beer is arbitrary and unfair. It provides welcome support for pubs, beer producers and beer drinkers but ignores distillers and people who prefer spirits over beer, including many women and young adults. These amendments back up what I called for last year, soon after meeting with the chair of Diageo, Sir John Manzoni, and his Australasian team while they visited here in Canberra. Diageo is a global leader in premium drinks, and they look after the Bundaberg Rum brand and many others. In my home state of Queensland, the Queensland Hotels Association has thanked us for backing the freeze on draught beer excise. Yes, it's a win for local pubs, hardworking hospitality workers and every Aussie who enjoys a cold one without needing a small loan, but these amendments will go further. Hardworking Aussies deserve to be able to afford a cold beer or a glass of their favourite spirit mix. In a cost-of-living crisis, net zero is adding to power bills and sending Australian jobs overseas. Let's reduce the cost associated with keeping your beer cold. Let's cut the energy expense so that the makers of your favourite drop don't have to pass it on. Pubs and clubs are the meeting places for our regional communities. Let's make them more affordable. The Nationals are pushing for the comprehensive Treasury review of the alcohol tax system and an extension to indexation relief on tap spirits. The Nationals support tax relief on beer but want to see the whole alcohol tax system improved. In regional Australia, in the cities and towns I represent in Hinkler, pubs and clubs aren't a luxury. They are the social and economic lifeblood of our communities. They sponsor local sport, host fundraisers and keep towns connected. That's the real Aussie spirit. My electorate of Hinkler's array of award-winning makers, brewers and distillers serve up more than amber ales. When it comes to a top-shelf drop, Hinkler leads the pack. I ask the government to agree to these amendments, back a fair go for spirit drinkers and take this opportunity for a broader review of Australia's alcohol tax system. Do it now while we can, because it's well overdue. Will the government consider long-term relief—relief that makes a real difference—for the hospitality sector and deliver consistent and evidence based measures that matter? 10:36 The SPEAKER 53517 The question is amendment (1) on sheet 1, moved by the honourable member for Cowper, be agreed to.  

The House divided. [10:36]
(The Speaker—Hon. Milton Dick)

23 AYES Batt, D. J. (Teller) Birrell, S. J. Boele, N. Boyce, C. E. Chaffey, J. L. Chester, D. J. Conaghan, P. J. Gee, A. R. Hastie, A. W. Hogan, K. J. Landry, M. L. (Teller) Littleproud, D. McCormack, M. F. Pasin, A. Penfold, A. L. Sharkie, R. C. C. Small, B. J. Steggall, Z. Venning, T. H. Webster, A. E. Wilkie, A. D. Willcox, A. J. Young, T. J. 81 NOES Abdo, B. J. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Bowen, C. E. Briskey, J. L. Burnell, M. P. Butler, M. C. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Chaney, K. E. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Clare, J. D. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Collins, J. M. Comer, E. L. Conroy, P. M. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. Freelander, M. R. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Haines, H. M. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Keogh, M. J. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBain, K. L. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. O'Neil, C. E. Phillips, F. E. Rae, S. T. Repacholi, D. P. Rishworth, A. L. Rowland, M. A. Ryan, J. C. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.
Bill agreed to.

 Third Reading 22 10:42 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025 22

Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025

Second Reading 22 Consideration in Detail 22 10:43 Mr CONAGHAN 279991 Cowper I move the amendment on sheet 1, circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 23), after section 6L, insert: 6M Temporary freeze in indexation for tap spirits (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 6A(1) applies, in relation to a tap spirit and each CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days: (a) 1 August 2026; (b) 1 February 2027. Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2026 will be unchanged for the next year. Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 6A(1)). (2) In this section: CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate means a rate of duty set out in: (a) item 2 of the Schedule; or (b) subitem 3.1, 3.2 or 3.10 of the Schedule. indexation day has the same meaning as in section 6A. tap spirit means: (a) an alcoholic beverage not exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 8 litres but not exceeding 48 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system; or (b) an alcoholic beverage exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 4 litres but not exceeding 20 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system. The amendment on sheet 1 would require the Treasury to conduct a comprehensive review of Australia's alcohol tax system by 2 November 2026. This amendment is about one simple truth: on our current course, the Australian way of life is being taxed and inflated away by the government prioritising ideology and spin over the lives of everyday Aussies. While inflation is easing overseas, Australia's inflation again rose in December. When the cost-of-living crisis is being added to by a further 3.8 per cent, it's becoming an emergency. Australians are doing it tough. Young families can't afford homes. People are struggling to put food on the table, and now, thanks to a government that has lost control of inflation and that is obsessed with taxing you, many Australians can't even afford a drink. Having a drink with your mates is part of who we are, especially as Australians. It's how people stay connected, especially in regional Australia, yet today Australia has some of the highest alcohol taxes in the world and one of the most irrational systems for collecting the taxes. Alcohol taxes are automatically indexed to inflation twice a year, every February and August, regardless of what's happening in the economy, regardless of the cost-of-living pressures and regardless of whether pubs, clubs or consumers can afford them. This means Australians are getting hit twice—first, they're hit by inflation pushing up the price of everything, and then, second, they're hit by these automatic tax increases. You pay more, and they collect even more tax. Australians are already paying over $100 in tax on a litre of some spirits, compared to around $15 in the United States and about $60 in New Zealand. We know exactly what this kind of policy leads to. We've seen it with the tobacco excise. The government jacked up tobacco taxes year after year, ignored warnings and told Australians it was all about health outcomes. But what actually happened? Smoking rates went up, criminal gangs moved in, the illicit trade exploded and tax revenue collapsed. There were more smokers and less revenue—less revenue to fund health services, the exact opposite of what the tax was intended to achieve. That's one of the biggest public policy failures in Australian history, and I fear the same will happen with the tax on alcohol unless the government starts taking this problem seriously. That is what this amendment is about. To its credit, the government, under pressure from the National Party, has agreed to pause indexation on draught beer for two years, and it's no surprise that we support it. But it's really nothing more than crumbs from the Treasurer's table; it will deliver less than a cent per pint, and it's not good enough. It doesn't fix the system. It doesn't deal with the fundamentals. Only a thorough review of our alcohol tax settings can do that. For years now, on both sides of politics there has been a broad acceptance that Australia's alcohol tax system is broken. It is overly complex. It taxes similar products in wildly different ways. Beer, wine, spirits, cider and ready-to-drink products are all taxed under a completely different regime, often with no clear policy rationale. It is not based on health objectives or modern consumption patterns. Labor's Henry tax review all the way back in 2010 acknowledged it was a mess, but nothing was done, and it's only gotten worse. This amendment takes the sensible, responsible step to start fixing that mess. It requires Treasury to review the current alcohol tax system and report back to parliament with options for reform. This is a system we have had for over 100 years without a major review, and it's long past due. A review will create the evidence based policy that is needed to restore common sense to our alcohol tax settings, and I commend the amendment to the House. 10:48 Ms PENFOLD 248895 Lyne I rise to support this important amendment, this sensible amendment to the Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. It will ensure that Australia has an alcohol tax system that is modern, consistent and delivers the sort of reform that Australians deserve. I support the bill that is before the House. I spoke on the bill last year and I agree that we should not let perfection get in the way of good. But the reality is that the bill will deliver only a very small change. What is it—1c a pint? When I spoke to the pubs and clubs in my electorate during the election last year about this bill and about the policy commitment, many of them said to me, 'Well, look, it's really not going to make that much difference because we've actually been subsidising the excise increase for years.' They simply have not been able to afford to put up the price of beer because they then wouldn't get the patrons in the pub. As many, many speakers on all sides of the parliament have said, we value the work that our pubs and clubs do. They support the local footy teams. They do amazing fundraisers. I was at a fantastic one on Saturday night supported by Club Old Bar where we raised $16,000 to build a permanent cenotaph for the Old Bar's RSL sub branch. I appreciate that this bill intends to make a small change, but the fact of the matter is we have a significant issue with our alcohol excise system, one that has not been properly reviewed really since it was first implemented. I know the Henry tax review some 10 years ago acknowledged that the system was broken and in need of reform. Well, we need to do that work now. It's time to do a full review and have it report back to Treasury with recommendations. I might just say something a little bit controversial here, which is not going to be about Taree and the Urgent Care Clinic, I'm sorry to disappoint. Look, I'm not a big beer drinker and, frankly, a lot of women are not big beer drinkers. So whilst this is something that speaks to the tradies and to many people across the electorate, to be quite frank, women tend to drink more tap spirits. Certainly, there are some local producers in my electorate looking at tap spirits and low-carb options as well for those of us very conscious of our diets. We need to do something that's far more comprehensive, far more far reaching, far more inclusive of all Australians and their preferences when it comes to having a drink at a pub or a club. I thank the member for Cowper. We share a border and we share people. Many of my people enjoy the pubs and clubs in the member for Cowper's electorate, so I'm pleased to be able to speak in favour of this amendment. 10:52 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser I refer to my summing-up speech for the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025. I won't repeat all of that but will simply reiterate that the government believes that this bill is also drafted in a way that strikes the right balance between supporting our pubs and clubs while maintaining budget sustainability, so, for that reason, we won't be supporting this amendment. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 The question is that the amendment be agreed to.  

The House divided. [10:57]
(The Deputy Speaker—Dr Freelander)

27 AYES Batt, D. J. (Teller) Birrell, S. J. Boele, N. Boyce, C. E. Chaffey, J. L. Chaney, K. E. Chester, D. J. Conaghan, P. J. Gee, A. R. Haines, H. M. Hastie, A. W. Hogan, K. J. Landry, M. L. (Teller) Littleproud, D. McCormack, M. F. Pasin, A. Penfold, A. L. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Sharkie, R. C. C. Small, B. J. Spender, A. M. Watson-Brown, E. Webster, A. E. Wilkie, A. D. Willcox, A. J. Young, T. J. 76 NOES Abdo, B. J. Aly, A. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Bowen, C. E. Briskey, J. L. Burnell, M. P. Butler, M. C. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Clare, J. D. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Collins, J. M. Comer, E. L. Conroy, P. M. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gorman, P. P. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Keogh, M. J. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBain, K. L. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. O'Neil, C. E. Phillips, F. E. Rae, S. T. Repacholi, D. P. Rishworth, A. L. Rowland, M. A. Ryan, J. C. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.

 11:04 Mr CONAGHAN 279991 Cowper I move the amendment on sheet 2 circulated in my name: (1) Schedule 1, item 1, page 3 (after line 30), after section 19AABC, insert: 19AABCA Temporary freeze in indexation for tap spirits Temporary freeze in indexation (1) Despite any other provision of this Act, subsection 19(1) applies, in relation to a tap spirit and each CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate, as if the indexation factor were 1 for each of the following indexation days: (a) 1 August 2026; (b) 1 February 2027. Note 1: This means the rates as they are on 31 July 2026 will be unchanged for the next year. Note 2: When indexation resumes in August 2027, the indexation factor for 1 August 2027 will be applied against these unchanged rates (see subsection 19(1)). (2) In this section: CPI indexed alcoholic beverage rate means a rate of duty in the following: (a) the rate column of subheading 2208.20, 2208.20.10, 2208.20.90, 2208.30.00, 2208.40.00, 2208.50.00, 2208.60.00, 2208.70.00, 2208.90.10, 2208.90.20 or 2208.90.90 in Schedule 3; (b) the rate column of an item in the table in Schedule 4A or a later Schedule that relates to a subheading in Schedule 3 specified in paragraph (a). indexation day has the same meaning as in section 19. tap spirit means: (a) an alcoholic beverage not exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 8 litres but not exceeding 48 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system; or (b) an alcoholic beverage exceeding 10% by volume of alcohol stored in an individual container: (i) of at least 4 litres but not exceeding 20 litres; and (ii) designed to connect to a pressurised gas delivery system or pump delivery system. This relates to having spirits on tap. I've already spoken at length about that, and I commend it to the House. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 The question is that the amendment on sheet 2, moved by the member for Cowper, be agreed to.  

The House divided. [11:09]
(The Deputy Speaker—Dr Mike Freelander)

 21 AYES Batt, D. J. (Teller) Birrell, S. J. Boele, N. Boyce, C. E. Chaffey, J. L. Chester, D. J. Conaghan, P. J. Gee, A. R. Hastie, A. W. Hogan, K. J. Landry, M. L. (Teller) Littleproud, D. McCormack, M. F. Pasin, A. Penfold, A. L. Sharkie, R. C. C. Small, B. J. Webster, A. E. Wilkie, A. D. Willcox, A. J. Young, T. J. 83 NOES Abdo, B. J. Aly, A. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Bowen, C. E. Briskey, J. L. Burnell, M. P. Butler, M. C. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Chaney, K. E. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Clare, J. D. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Collins, J. M. Comer, E. L. Conroy, P. M. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gorman, P. P. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Haines, H. M. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Keogh, M. J. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBain, K. L. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. O'Neil, C. E. Phillips, F. E. Rae, S. T. Repacholi, D. P. Rishworth, A. L. Roberts, T. G. Rowland, M. A. Ryan, J. C. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.
Bill agreed to.

 Third Reading 26 11:14 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 26

Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025

Second Reading 26 11:15 Mr HAWKE HWO Mitchell The opposition supports the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025. This legislation is technical and administrative. The legislation provides a statutory basis for the provision of important translating and interpreting services. It addresses an issue raised in the Auditor-General's report No. 28 of 2014-15 with respect to authorisation for the charging of fees. Translating and interpreting services in Australia have a long history. The first Commonwealth translating service was established in 1947, and the idea of a national telephone interpreter service was developed and announced under the government of William McMahon. Subsequent governments have continued to invest in and expand language services. In 1977, the Fraser government provided an additional $200,000 to expand interpreting services, extended the telephone interpreter service beyond capital cities to regional centres, starting with Wollongong, and introduced measures such as identifying bilingual Public Service staff and displaying multilingual signage. In 1977 in Wollongong, I was born, Deputy Speaker. I just note that, while this interpreting service was rolled out in that same town— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 That's very important information, thank you. Mr HAWKE HWO it was one of two important events: this translating service and my birth! More recently, in 2015, TIS National launched a self-service interpreter booking tool, TIS Online, which dramatically reduced the time it took to allocate interpreters. In 2020, a video remote interpreting service was introduced to support healthcare providers during the pandemic. In 2022, prebooked phone and video services were integrated into the TIS Online system, allowing agencies and interpreters to manage bookings directly. The Liberal Party have consistently driven innovation and expansion in this field, and we're proud of our record in this space. This bill seeks to provide legal clarity for TIS National by defining the functions of the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs, validating existing contracts and authorising cost recovery from government and corporate clients. It responds to an Auditor-General's finding that the department lacks an explicit statutory basis for its fee-charging arrangements. It does not alter eligibility for free services. Programs such as the Free Interpreting Service and the Free Translating Service will continue to be available to individuals. This bill regularises an existing program that reflects a bipartisan commitment to ensuring that people with limited English can communicate effectively with government, business and community services. The opposition's support for this bill is consistent with our longstanding record, from initiating the world's first national telephone interpreter service to expanding and modernising TIS National. I also support the bill for my own, personal reasons: my yaya, who migrated from Greece to Wollongong in 1977, when the TIS was being rolled out, had no English either. For these reasons, the opposition supports the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 and commends it to the House. Debate adjourned. Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 27

Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025

Second Reading 27 11:19 Ms FRANCE 270198 Dickson I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. The Albanese Labor government is committed to strengthening Medicare and building a stronger, fairer healthcare system so that all Australians can access the care that they need. Australians rightly expect that Medicare will be there for them when they need it, no matter where they live or how much they earn. Yet an ageing population, rising rates of chronic and complex disease and workforce shortages, particularly in regional and rural and remote areas, are making it harder for people to get the right care at the right time. 50 per cent of Australians have at least one chronic health condition, such as diabetes, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer's, endometriosis, motor neurone disease, Crohn's disease and dementia, just to name a few. And they're more likely to be women. For people living with a chronic illness, access to affordable health care is life or death. Managing that illness is never-ending, often exhausting, expensive, frustrating and all-consuming. It often means the loss of work, poverty and a breakdown in relationships. It's a huge struggle. Part of that struggle can be delays in accessing GPS and specialists. Some simply can't afford the appointment, and others are on a waitlist. We know this is a direct result of a decade of underinvestment in Medicare by those two unhappy groups opposite formerly known as the coalition—a decade of turning a blind eye to the rising costs of health care and health inequality. Since 2022, Labor has been squarely focused on fixing Medicare. In the 2025-26 budget, we made the single biggest investment in Medicare since it was established over 40 years ago: an $8.5 billion investment to expand bulk-billing for more urgent care clinics, to undertake the biggest GP training program ever, for hundreds of nurse scholarships, for cheaper medicines and for our women's health package. This investment is why I got involved in politics. It is why I wanted to represent the people of Dickson. Labor's record investment restores the $8.3 billion that the Australian Medical Association, the AMA, says was cut from Medicare under those opposite in a decade-long effort to dismantle Medicare by the Liberal and National parties of Australia, a calculated and sustained attack on bulk-billing. That decade cost us all, and we are now rebuilding. This bill is a part of that rebuild. This bill will make life a little bit easier for all Aussies but in particular for those with chronic health conditions. These changes will empower nurses to work to their full scope of practice and improve access to medicines across the country. It enables suitably qualified, endorsed registered nurses to prescribe specified PBS medicines under a carefully designed, nationally consistent framework. Nurses will be able to provide safe, high-quality care, reducing the need for GP appointments for routine repeat scripts or a trip to A&E. We want to remove the barriers to regular and follow-up prescriptions. Registered nurses make up approximately half of the country's health workforce and are the most geographically distributed health profession. This is particularly true in my state of Queensland. More than half of our population lives outside Greater Brisbane. In many communities, the kilometres to the nearest GP and then the nearest chemist are the barrier. In many Queensland communities, nurses are the first point of contact and the most consistent presence in a person's health journey. This is the case across aged-care facilities, community clinics, Indigenous health services and outreach programs. This bill acknowledges that reality and provides a safe pathway for designated registered nurse prescribers to keep people well closer to home. For a relative in an aged-care home, this might mean a timely dose adjustment can be made and dispensed under the PBS by the authorised nurse practitioner working in partnership with their GP. For a family in Central Queensland, it might mean not having to take a day off work or drive hundreds of kilometres for a simple routine repeat prescription. This is how we make Medicare work for real people—by removing barriers and supporting the teams already caring for people in our communities. Harnessing the strength of our wonderful nurses will improve access to essential medicines, support continuity of care and take pressure off our healthcare system. These new laws come after extensive research, development and consultation led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. These changes include safeguards to ensure the best level of care. Only registered nurses who meet the registration standard for designated registered nurse prescribers through specific education, competency and professional requirements will be eligible to apply for PBS approval. This bill outlines a framework that is collaborative, safe and accountable to deliver access without compromising standards. This bill is part of the Albanese Labor government's commitment to strengthen Medicare. We have delivered more bulk-billing GPS by significantly increasing the bulk-billing incentive, supporting more practices to bulk bill and making it cheaper to see a doctor. We are opening more Medicare urgent care clinics so families can get urgent non-life threatening care without having to go to the emergency department and without a bill. The Murrumba Downs urgent care clinic in my electorate has treated over 27,000 people. The staff is incredible, and the community absolutely loves this service. We've made PBS medicines cheaper by reducing the maximum cost of PBS medicines from $31.60 to just $25. The last time they were this low was in 2004. We introduced 60-day scripts, halving the number of pharmacy and GP visits needed for repeat scripts. We are modernising digital health, strengthening e-prescribing, enhancing My Health Record and improving secure messaging so the right to information is available to the right clinician at the right time. We are investing in our health workforce. We're hiring more doctors and nurses, expanding training pathways, and, as I mentioned before, we're undertaking the biggest GP training program across the country that has ever been undertaken. We want to grow our next generation of GPS. We want to see more GPS in our communities and particularly in regional, rural and remote communities. We are investing more than $790 million in women's health—something I'm incredibly passionate about and, as I'm in my menopause era, I'm actually taking advantage of. We're making contraceptives cheaper. We're expanding access to treatments for menopause. We're making access to endometriosis specialists and getting specialist support for complex gynaecological conditions right across the country. This is long overdue, but we're delivering it. We're opening endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics right across the country so that women can get earlier diagnosis and better treatment. We are delivering more free mental health services, with walk-in Medicare mental health clinics popping up right across the country. We opened one in my electorate, in Strathpine, last year. The feedback from that service has been incredible, particularly from local families, who say that, instead of having to go to the A&E if their relative or loved one is having a mental health crisis, they can now pop down to the Strathpine Medicare mental health centre. No appointment is necessary. It's walk in. We will continue to listen to patients, nurses, doctors, pharmacists and community leaders because good policy is co-designed with the people who use it and deliver it. Medicare is Labor's heart. It is the very best of this country and it is dearly loved by all Australians. That is why we are working to strengthen and protect it and why this bill matters so much. The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 is a practical, safety-first measure to improve access, strengthen teams and modernise care. It recognises the central role nurses play in communities across Australia. I stand here in absolute awe of the nurses that I have been in contact with in my health journey. They are an incredible support to so many people across our community. I have always had the most amazing care from our nurses in Queensland and New South Wales. Together with our wider Medicare reforms, this bill helps deliver a stronger Medicare and a more resilient, equitable health system for every Australian. I commend the bill to the House. 11:31 Dr WEBSTER 281688 Mallee The Prime Minister has been at pains to tell us repeatedly that the only card that we need take to a medical appointment is the Medicare card. He's told us that the Labor government's changes to incentivise bulk-billing would make primary health care free to all those who need it. But across Mallee my constituents are lucky if they can get an appointment with a GP at all, let alone not pay a gap fee. The average GP gap fee, or out-of-pocket cost, is now over $50. The national out-of-pocket GP costs have more than doubled, from $780 million in 2021-22 to $1.66 billion in 2023-24. Out-of-pocket costs have risen steadily across all socioeconomic areas according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Bulk-billing, under the coalition, was at 88.9 per cent in 2021. Despite Labor rhetoric, it has fallen. In 2024-25, the latest figures, it was 77.6 per cent. That's an 11 per cent drop in bulk-billing. The fact is remote, outer regional and inner regional areas have lower bulk-billing rates than major cities. So your Medicare card is not all that you need, Prime Minister. That is another fabrication from this arrogant and secretive Labor government. This is a government that is all about the headline or the catchy three-second hook on social media to halt the doomscroll but not so much about doing the hard yards and policy grunt work to make lasting change. The Nationals' perspective on health care, the Mallee experience—when I asked my electorate of Mallee late last year about their biggest concerns, I received more than 5,300 responses, with Mallee residents telling me their No. 1 priority was better hospitals and access to health care. When asked about primary health care, the top concern of my constituents was wait times to see a doctor, followed by out-of-pocket costs and then wait times to see allied health professionals. Health care access and affordability is front of mind for my constituents and regional Australians more broadly. But this Labor government is forever letting them down and putting their needs out of sight and out of mind. The Nationals want to rectify the poorer health status of regional Australians, a status driven in large part by poorer access to health services. Rural and remote Australians have higher morbidity and mortality rates than those in major cities. This is a known fact. In very remote areas potentially avoidable deaths are 2.8 times higher than in major cities. Rural Australians receive less service delivery per capita despite higher need and worse outcomes. How is this okay? This Labor government promised to govern for all Australians, but clearly they are not for rural Australians. The National Rural Health Alliance published a study in August last year which showed that less money is being spent per person in rural and remote regions than in the city. In 2021, the spend was $848 less per person than for city people. But it gets worse. The latest available data suggests that this underspend has blown out to over $1,000 per person in regional and remote areas. Poorer health access is driven in large part by the lack of health workforce in the regions. Here are the facts. In 2023, small rural towns had the lowest number of GPs and specialists per capita. But it's not just GPs and specialists. Small rural towns also have less than half the allied health workforce per capita that major cities have. The Nationals are committed to supporting regional communities and driving policies and programs that will improve the health status of regional Australians. In the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, the Labor government says it is trying to address healthcare accessibility issues due to workforce challenges by expanding the scope of practice of registered nurses. Nurses are the largest component of the health workforce in Australia. There were 329,000 registered nurses in 2024 compared to 122,000 doctors, making up just over 44 per cent of the total health workforce. There are more nurses in small rural towns, remote areas and very remote areas than any other kind of practitioner. It is great to focus on and support nurses. I have a daughter who is a nurse. We know they do wonderful work and they are the bedrock of our health system. The problem with this bill is that having a new category of nurse, nurse prescribers, provide pharmaceutical benefit schedules is not evidence based. It's not evidence based policy making nor is it addressing the core issues driving poor access to health care and core health outcomes, particularly in regional Australia. This is lazy policy making, driven by this government's blind allegiance to Labor state governments with abysmal fiscal restraint and failing health systems who, no doubt, want to employ authorised nurse prescribers in urgent care clinics in cities and larger regional centres. Labor are seeking quick wins with little effort to address policy complexity. What will this bill seek to do? It seeks to grant eligibility for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme rebates on medications prescribed by a new category of prescribers—authorised nurse prescribers. The government's proposed authorised nurse prescribers will be registered nurses with additional training who work in a collaborative arrangement with an autonomous prescriber, a professional who can already prescribe independently. Now, that means GPs and nurse practitioners. Our position as the Nationals on this bill is cautious. We are cautious about the legislation due to the lack of real world testing of this model in Australia and, therefore, the lack of robust evidence. Applications for registered nurses to become endorsed for prescribing were only declared open last month via the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia under national law. The first prescribers are anticipated under this new arrangement from mid-2026—so we're talking July onwards—but require additional changes to state and territory laws. I want to point out, though, that the usual process is that states or territories run a trial or a pilot first on a new prescribing model without PBS eligibility, to ensure the model is tested and safe. A state or territory trial has not happened. Therefore, the clinical governance, safety and responsibility framework of this new system is untested. It needs to be tested before it is supported by Commonwealth taxpayer funds. I also want to highlight that the time difference between endorsement for prescribing and PBS rebate access has generally been lengthy for other prescriber groups, so who knows when nurse prescribers will be able to prescribe with PBS rebates. A pilot program should occur within a state or territory without PBS rebates before national rollout of PBS rebates. That is a responsible approach that this government just has not looked at. Secondly, there is currently no funding mechanism to adequately remunerate these authorised nurse prescribers in primary care settings, which is where they are actually needed. Medicare does not currently fund this approach, and the Workforce Incentive Program, commonly known as WIP, and the Practice Incentive program, PIP, are not adequate or appropriate to fund this model of care. If registered nurses who have engaged in additional study to gain endorsement for prescribing cannot be appropriately remunerated, they will not work in primary health settings. If the services of authorised nurse prescribers are not affordable—in other words, if people have to pay out of pocket—patients simply won't seek them out. Funding mechanisms for this proposed model need to be determined and tested before PBS eligibility is rolled out. This bill is putting the horse before the cart. Who would have thought? Thirdly, the Nationals are sceptical because this bill does not address key drivers of poor access to health care and health status in the regions, including the lack of a primary healthcare workforce with the ability to prescribe autonomously—that is, GPs and nurse practitioners who will oversee the work of authorised nurse prescribers. If you don't have enough GPs and you don't have enough nurse practitioners out in the regions, how is this program actually going to benefit the regions? I would argue it won't. The funding models do not adequately meet the financial pressures of primary health care in the regions or facilitate the provision of multidisciplinary care. We're talking about block funding. ACCHOs and NACCHOs have block funding. The only way that this government can ensure that this rollout will work is under a state funded basis, under public health. I don't think Australians want to have their choice removed. And so the funding mechanism itself must be sorted out, along with the governance of this program. Fourthly, this legislation risks adding to the workload of the limited primary healthcare workforce in regional Australia, adding strain rather than bringing in and training up a workforce who can autonomously assess, diagnose and treat with medications on its own. This negative unintended consequence has not been considered. The Albanese Labor government has made repeated decisions that disadvantage regional Australians when it comes to health care, especially primary health care, including changing the Distribution Priority Area rules that govern where overseas doctors have to work when they come to Australia, making it possible for them to choose to work in metropolitan areas and large regional centres at the expense of rural and remote areas. This was the very first decision that the Minister for Health made, funnelling excessive amounts of money into inefficient and costly urgent care centres in metropolitan areas and large regional centres but unwilling to address the specific needs of rural towns and remote areas, who are rarely served by these clinics. It is a metro-centric approach—make no mistake. The Labor government has also failed to tackle the desperate need for complex funding change in primary health care in regional Australia that would incentivise the provision of multidisciplinary health care in small rural towns and remote areas and appropriately address the higher cost of providing care in these regions. They are failing to address a need and evidence base for end-to-end training of medical and other health professionals in the regions to grow our own workforce. In conclusion, the Nationals are all for positive changes in our health system that will improve access to high-quality care when and where people need it. I acknowledge the essential role nurses play in our health system, especially in our regions, and the very, very important work that they do. But I will always advocate for evidence based policy that is set up to succeed and to address the core issues that my constituents are concerned about. This bill is lazy. It is politically driven policy that does not address the root causes of the problems in our health system. It has not been tested and is being set up to fail. 11:46 Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR 315618 Barton I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This is a bill that goes to the heart of how we deliver health care in this country, who we trust, how we use our workforce, and whether Australians can access the medicines they need when they need them without unnecessary delay or cost. This bill is more than a legislative amendment; it is absolutely about modernising our health system in a way that reflects reality on the ground. It is about recognising the skill, training and professionalism of nurses, and it is also about ensuring Medicare continues to serve Australians not just for today but into the future. This reform matters because Australia's health system is facing pressures that are both known and deeply felt by communities across the country. We have an ageing population. We are seeing higher rates of chronic and complex disease. Demand for primary and acute care continues to rise while workforce shortages—particularly in general practice, aged care and rural and remote services—place real strain on patients and providers alike. For too many Australians, accessing health care has become more difficult than it should be. We know people are waiting longer for appointments. Emergency departments are under pressure, and in some communities people are travelling long distances or delaying care altogether. If we are serious about strengthening Medicare then we must look honestly at how our health system operates and how it can operate better. That means using the skills we already have in our workforce more effectively. Before coming into this place, I worked closely with the New South Wales Nurses & Midwives' Association. In that role, I had the privilege of listening to nurses from every corner of our health system, whether it was in the public or private system, in metro hospitals or regional clinics, or in aged-care facilities or community health services. I witnessed their pride in their professionalism, their commitment to patient care and their willingness to step up, often in incredibly challenging times. But I also heard their frustration. I heard from nurses who knew exactly what their patients needed but were constantly constrained by systems that no longer made sense. I heard from nurses who were trusted to manage complex clinical situations but could not take the final step of prescribing a medicine—even when it was safe, appropriate and well within their competence. I had the opportunity to listen last night to the contribution of the member of Indi on this piece of legislation. I, too, heard about nurses who spent hours chasing signatures, making phone calls and sending patients elsewhere for tasks that they could have easily resolved, quickly and safely, in the same consultation. I heard from patients, particularly older Australians and people living with chronic illnesses, who bore the cost of that inefficiency in delays, inconvenience and sometimes worsening health conditions. This bill responds directly to those experiences. It reflects what nurses have been saying for many years, that with the right training, safeguards and collaboration they can do more and patients would be better off for it. Registered nurses make up about half of the Australian health workforce. They are the pillar of our health system, delivering care across hospitals, general practice, aged care, disability services, community health and beyond. They are also the most geographically dispersed health professionals in the country. In many rural, regional and remote communities, nurses are not just part of the health system; they are literally the health system. Nurses are highly educated and highly regulated but also deeply trusted by the public of Australia. Yet, despite this, their scope of practice has not always kept pace with their training or the needs of patients. This bill takes a sensible step towards addressing that imbalance. The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 makes targeted amendments to two key pieces of legislation. First, it amends the National Health Act 1953 to allow registered nurses who are endorsed under the relevant registration standard to become authorised prescribers of certain medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. This means that when those nurses prescribe approved medicines, patients can access them at PBS subsidised prices, ensuring affordability and equity. Second, the bill amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to ensure that prescribing services provided by designated registered nurse prescribers are subject to the Professional Services Review scheme. This ensures that strong oversight, accountability and safeguards remain in place, protecting patients, taxpayers and the integrity of Medicare. This is not a radical change; it is a carefully designed reform that modernises our legislation to reflect contemporary healthcare practice. It is also important to be clear about what this reform is and what it is not. This bill does not create unsupervised prescribing. It does not lower standards. And it does not compromise patient safety. I had the opportunity to also listen to the contribution made by the member for Mallee, who was making rather bold assertions about this particular policy. She referred to it as being 'lazy', that it doesn't have enough evidence. Assigned registered nurse prescribing is the result of years of extensive research, consultation and policy development led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia in collaboration with the Australian Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer. In December 2024, all Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers approved a new national registration standard endorsement for scheduled medicines designated registered nurse prescriber. That standard came into effect in September 2025. Under the standard, registered nurses must meet strict education, experience and competency requirements to gain and maintain endorsement. Prescribing must occur within an agreed scope and under a formal prescribing agreement with another authorised health practitioner. This is collaboration. This is team based care. This is the gold standard of modern health delivery. The first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and commence prescribing from July 2026. This phased approach ensures the workforce is well-prepared, systems are ready and patient safety remains paramount. For patients, the benefits of this reform are real and immediate. It means quicker access to medicines for common and ongoing conditions. It means fewer unnecessary appointments simply to obtain a prescription. It means less pressure on overstretched general practices and emergency departments. It also means care that is delivered closer to home. For the people living in rural, regional and remote areas this reform is very important. In many communities, access to a GP can involve long travel times and extended waits. Enabling appropriately endorsed nurses to prescribe certain medicines allows people to receive care locally, safely and affordably. This is about fairness. Where you live should not determine how easily you can access essential medicines. This reform aligns directly with the work of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the Unleashing the potential of our health workforce: scopeofpracticereview. It recognises that workforce reform is essential to the long-term sustainability of Medicare. By allowing nurses to work to their full scope of practice, we improve efficiency across the system, reduce duplication and ensure that all health professionals can focus on the areas where they add the most value. This is not about replacing doctors or diminishing any other profession. It is about using the full health team efficiently and effectively so patients receive the right care from the right professional at the right time. The bill ensures that medicines prescribed by designated registered nurse prescribers under the PBS remain subject to the same rigorous processes that apply to other prescribers. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will continue to assess which medicines are appropriate for prescribing under this model, ensuring decisions remain evidence based and cost effective. This protects the integrity of the PBS while expanding access for patients. For nurses, this bill represents recognition: recognition of their education, recognition of their clinical judgement and recognition of the role they play in our society by delivering high care to all Australians every day. Having worked alongside nurses through the New South Wales Nurses and Midwives' Association, I know how deeply this recognition matters. It's not about status. It is about being trusted to do the job they are trained to do—in partnership with others and in the best interests of the Australian people. This bill delivers on the Albanese government's commitment to strengthen Medicare, support our health workforce and improve access to affordable medicines. It empowers nurses, it supports patients and it builds a health system that is more responsive, more equitable and more sustainable. This is sensible reform, it is patient focused reform, and it is reform that reflects the realities of modern healthcare in Australia. I commend the bill to the House. 11:57 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina We should thank our nurses each and every day—not only our nurses but our pharmacists and our doctors. Anyone who puts on scrubs and goes into a theatre ward and anyone who serves our hospital system or our medical system needs the applause and the gratitude of this place and of Australians right across the nation. I'm one who listens very carefully in question time. This government is now nearly four years old. For four years, the Labor government has been blaming the Morrison-McCormack government in particular and previous coalition governments per se for the financial stresses it claims it's under. They exaggerate the figure. Yes, we did have a debt, that debt born out of a global pandemic the likes of which we had not seen since just after World War I—which, of course, ended in 1918. We did what we could. We spent the money that was needed to keep people in jobs and, more importantly, to keep Australians alive—not just Australians but our Pacific neighbours and friends as well. Through those Morrison years, there were more than 94 million telehealth consultations through Medicare, with 16 million patients, and that was a significant achievement. Speaking as one who comes from rural and regional Australia, we don't ever want to see telehealth replace hands-on medical professional care. It was necessary during the COVID years and it's necessary at any time, but, particularly in remote Australia and in Indigenous communities, we don't want to see telehealth replace a person who can give a consult. During the Morrison years, from 2019, 857 new medicines were listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—another significant achievement. There were 1,400 additional nurse placements for the regions, and that is something that we should also be very proud of as a former coalition government. The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 is about empowering nurses. The bill worries me as one who comes from the regions and as one who wants to see nurses being the best they can be, just like pharmacists were, and we empowered those during the COVID crisis, when it seemed that the AMA, the Australian Medical Association, wanted only doctors to issue vaccinations when we knew that in some rural communities the only health professional in town was a chemist. That chemist needed to be able to issue vaccines as well. It just made good sense. And the member for Barton, in her contribution, talked about the fact that in some regional communities a nurse is the only health professional in town, and she's right. Sadly, she's very accurate. But, as the member for Mallee quite correctly pointed out in her earlier speech, the first order of business of this federal Labor government in the medical field was to change the distribution priority areas. That saw doctors operating in some regional communities take their shingle from the wall and move to Newcastle or Wollongong or the Gold Coast or anywhere but regional and remote Australia, and this was wrong. They were making money. They were providing a level of health care second to none, but they saw the opportunity to move to the coast and did so, and good luck to them. But as the national rural health reporter Steven Schubert of the ABC wrote in an article from 15 December 2022 headlined 'Rural doctors say they are losing staff to big cities due to policy change': Annette Pham thought she had recruited two doctors to work in her GP clinics, but a policy change in Canberra resulted in both of them pulling out almost overnight. Ms Pham and her husband own four GP clinics on the New South Wales south coast, all within a few hours' drive from Sydney and on some of Australia's best beaches— no question there. The article continues: "We had two that pulled out officially after signing contracts," she said. "Then we've had probably a further three that looked at our practice, they looked at other practices and they inevitably decided in the end that they would stay in the city." That is a problem. The article also says: Rural Doctors' Association of Australia (RDAA) chief executive Peta Rutherford said the organisation was getting reports the policy— this is the distribution priority areas policy moving the boundaries such that it takes in those areas I mentioned before, Newcastle and Wollongong and the Gold Coast et cetera— was going to have an impact on rural communities before it had even been implemented. Well, if that was the fear before, it certainly ended up being a reality afterwards. And it is true that doctors took their practices and took themselves and moved to other areas of Australia, more populated areas of Australia, areas of Australia where there are more doctors. Unfortunately—and I don't blame them; I blame the government—what this policy meant was that regional areas and some particularly remote areas then got left high and dry as far as doctors were concerned. I also will recall the health minister talking about bulk-billing rates, which we know, because it was quoted so many times in the House of Representatives last year, dropped by 11 per cent under Labor to 77 per cent from the previous 88 per cent under the coalition. He was talking about rural people, and he said that if they can't get a doctor's appointment, they could pick up the phone and try another doctor. That might all be well and good in Adelaide, but it doesn't cut the mustard out in country towns because you're lucky to get a doctor bulk billing or otherwise. You're certainly lucky if you can get a bulk-billing doctor. I know Labor will pat themselves on the back and say: 'Bulk-billing rates are something that is a priority. The GP aftercare clinics, the urgent care clinics—we're rolling them out across the country.' Yes, they are but in Labor electorates and in electorates that they want to win. We heard the member for Lyne talking about Taree, and I do hope Taree gets one of those care clinics because it's needed and not just in Taree but in many other regional communities as well. They are needed and they are good. I will acknowledge that they do fill the gaps of the state public health system and the overall medical system where people often do need, particularly after hours, to take babies and children when there is no other doctor available, and that is saving lives. I acknowledge that. But what we are talking about here is nurses being given more scope to provide medicines to do what sometimes ordinarily would be the job of the local general practitioner. I do wonder what the AMA thinks of this. I know that a lot of the legislation that Labor is bringing to this place and has done since May 2022 is often rushed. There's often not the stakeholder engagement that you would expect in important nation-changing legislation, and that is something that truly troubles me. I know that the member for Mallee, who happens to be married to a doctor, said that the Nationals—indeed, the Liberals too—want to rectify the poorer health status of regional Australians. I know that would be a goal as well of Labor members. Surely that's something that would be across the board. It's a status driven in large part by poor access to health services in the bush. Sadly, we people in country Australia don't live as long as those who live in metropolitan Australia who have closer, better and more diverse access to health services than those who live a long way from the city lights. We as a party, and I will say as parties of coalition, are committed to supporting regional communities and driving policies and programs to improve the health status of regional Australians. Again, I say that I know that would be a goal of Labor too. It would be silly to say it's not, but health has to come above politics. It truly does. I know when I entered this place in 2010, I was told by more than one person that if you get the health of your community right, it provides that happiness factor, that satisfaction factor, and everything else will seem to take care of itself. Indeed, that is the truth. This bill seeks to grant eligibility for Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme rebates on medications prescribed by a new category of prescribers, and they're called authorised nurse prescribers. As I understand, there will be training for those authorised nurse prescribers. Whether the training for six months is sufficient—I'm certainly not in any way, shape or form denigrating those nurses and the work that those nurses perform, whether they are young, freshly out of the system and straight into the hospitals, the practices or the clinics or whether they have been there for decades. I certainly do not in any way put criticism on what they do because the care of their patients is first and foremost. The government's proposed authorised nurse prescribers will be registered nurses with additional training who work in a collaborative arrangement with an autonomous prescriber professional who can already prescribe independently, expanding the scope of practice for a registered nurse. Labor is proposing this new model of prescribing in Australia. Nurses who meet these criteria are not expected to be qualified to prescribe until the middle of 2026, but that's only less than six months away. That's not far away in the scheme of things. So I do wonder and I do question, as with much of what Labor introduces, whether it's policy on the run, whether it masks a more serious situation—and that is the lack of doctors practising in Australia. I would like to think that Labor would not be using this as a trojan horse to not then provide the necessary funding, ongoing support, for such things as the medical schools. I will say that the Murray-Darling Medical School Network is going tremendously well. I know that in Wagga Wagga, in Bendigo, in Mildura, in Shepparton, in Dubbo and in Orange it is actually answering and fulfilling a need that was there. I'm so glad that I was able to, with former health minister Greg Hunt, fund that vital network of services which are provided in just about every town and city. The former minister for education is now taking the credit, and he played a part too, so I do thank the member for Wannon. It was a coalition initiative. Indeed, every one of those facilities, in every one of those centres I mentioned, is producing 20 to 30 new doctors—well, they will be when the doctors graduate; of course we know that takes some years. It certainly started under the coalition government. I know that Mike Freelander, the member for Macarthur, came and opened the one at Wagga Wagga late last year and gave some generous words. He knows that we need to be more bipartisan when it comes to health, because health is everything. There are some conditions and there are some parts of this legislation which do worry me. I know the member for Mallee has set out her concerns, and I know that each and every regional member would also, understandably, share some of those issues that this legislation has in it. 12:12 Ms COFFEY 312323 Griffith Griffith is home to one of the busiest health precincts in the country, and our workforce numbers reflect that, with more than 16½ thousand healthcare and social assistance workers across my electorate—the fourth highest in the country by percentage. Griffith is also home to some of Queensland's and our country's most important hospitals. The Princess Alexandra Hospital is a major teaching and research hospital, leading in major trauma care and home to Queensland's specialist adult spinal injuries rehabilitation unit. The Mater Hospital is a leader in obstetrics and provides specialist neonatal intensive care for some of our tiniest and sickest babies. I would like to shout out the Mater Foundation and also the work of the Mater Little Miracles. The Queensland Children's Hospital delivers specialist health services and care for kids and young people from right across the country, and our community also relies on the high-quality care and treatment provided by Greenslopes Private Hospital and St Vincent's private hospital. So, when we talk about strengthening Medicare, improving access to care and pursuing better health outcomes, Griffith is not watching from the sidelines. We are living it, we are staffing it and we are relying on it. But we also see the strain. We see it in how hard it can be to get a timely appointment in primary care. We see it in the pressure on emergency departments when people cannot get the right care early. We see it in aged care, where clinicians are working to keep residents stable, comfortable and safe. But the system can still create delays for matters that should be straightforward. The Albanese government made an election commitment to prioritise scope-of-practice reforms for health professionals because we know these reforms deliver real benefits to Australian patients through improved access to health care. This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, is an important step in delivering on that commitment. It will help ensure Australians have better access to the affordable medicines they need when they need them, and it backs our registered nurses to deliver safe, high-quality care, particularly in primary care and aged care. This bill does two things. First, it amends the National Health Act to allow registered nurses endorsed against the relevant registration standard to be authorised prescribers. This enables them to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and attract Commonwealth subsidy. That matters because the PBS is what makes medicines affordable for millions of Australians. If someone can receive the right prescription but cannot access it affordably, we are not improving health outcomes. Second, it strengthens integrity by amending the Health Insurance Act so that registered nurses providing these prescribing services are included under the Professional Services Review Scheme. As a result, designated registered nurse prescribing under the PBS will be subject to the same peer review safeguards that protect Medicare and protect the PBS, reinforcing public confidence in a system that must always put safety first. Designated registered nurse prescribing enables safe, timely and effective prescribing by registered nurses, extending their scope of practice, particularly in primary care and aged-care settings. This reform builds on careful design and consultation already taken right across the sector. In December 2024, health ministers approved a new registration standard that allows suitably qualified registered nurses to become designated registered nurse prescribers. That standard took effect on 30 September last year. Importantly, the first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers are expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing from July this year. Our communities know when our health system is not keeping up. They experience it when a script needs renewal and the next available appointment is too far away. They experience it when an older person in aged care needs a timely medicines review. They experience it when someone is discharged from hospital and needs coordinated follow-up to stay well rather than ending right back in emergency once again. In those settings, registered nurses are already doing extraordinary work: assessing, monitoring, educating, coordinating care and keeping people safe. But too often the system still forces extra steps, extra appointments and extra delays just to obtain a prescription, even where the care is already structured and the clinical pathway is clear. Designated registered nurse prescribing helps close that gap. It supports earlier, more seamless care, reduces avoidable waits and helps patients receive the right care in the right setting. And it supports affordability. By enabling PBS prescribing by authorised, appropriately endorsed registered nurses, this bill ensures the medicines they prescribe can attract Commonwealth subsidy and remain affordable for patients. Expanding access must never mean compromising safety. This reform is designed around education, endorsement and governance. It is grounded in a registration standard approved by health ministers, and it operates within a defined scope, with safeguards around which medicines can be prescribed. The bill provides that the minister will determine which pharmaceutical benefits can be prescribed by authorised nurse prescribers and requires the minister to have regard to advice from the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. And, by bringing these prescribing services within the Professional Services Review Scheme, the bill strengthens accountability and protects the PBS. This bill is also part of a broader, consistent agenda from this Labor government to strengthen Medicare, improve health outcomes and deliver real cost-of-living relief. That includes more free medicines and more cheaper medicines sooner, with a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS Safety Net kicks in; the largest cut to the cost of medicines—just $25 as of this year—in the history of the PBS; 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with an ongoing health condition, now covering more than 300 medicines; and freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments not rising with inflation, for all Australians for the first time in 25 years. And, with 1800MEDICARE, the Albanese government is making it easier for Australians to access healthcare when and where they need it. I'm also proud that the new Medicare urgent care clinic in Coorparoo, which I have secured for our community, will open in the coming weeks. This is in addition to the new urgent care clinic we opened in Carina just 43 days ago, which joined the existing network of 16 urgent care clinics right across Queensland, including the South Brisbane urgent care clinic in Woolloongabba, which has been servicing our community for some time now. Ninety Medicare urgent care clinics are in operation across Australia, which have already seen more than 2.4 million presentations since the sites first opened in June 2023—including just under half a million presentations in Queensland alone. It was a Labor government that built Medicare, and it is only a Labor government who will continue to protect and strengthen Medicare. When medicines are cheaper, families feel that relief immediately. When the system enables the health workforce to operate effectively, patients receive care sooner and avoidable hospital presentations reduce. I acknowledge the contribution of my good friend the Queensland state member for Greenslopes, Joe Kelly MP. Joe and I have known each other for many years now, and it's a joy to work closely together with him to support the constituents we jointly represent in that part of my electorate. Joe brings decades of nursing experience to public life, and he speaks about health care with the credibility that comes from having been there on the ward with patients alongside colleagues who carry the load day after day. I'm so honoured that I have colleagues here in the House who also bring such rich experience into this place. Like some in elected positions, including in this place, Joe has stayed close to the front line so that his perspective stays grounded in the realities of care and the pressures our workforce is facing. When he talks about why scope-of-practice reform matters, he puts it very simply: 'Every time I do a shift, I work with caring, passionate, highly-qualified and skilled nurses with decades of experience. Supporting nurses to use their skills to the fullest extent will be fantastic for patients.' I have to say, that is typical Joe Kelly; his focus is always on patients, on the community and on constituents. I could not agree more: this bill is about backing that skill, backing that experience and making it easier for Australians to get the care and medicines they need sooner, safely, affordably and closer to home. It reflects the direction identified through the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the work to unleash the potential of our health workforce, with patients at the very centre. 12:22 Ms CHANEY 300006 Curtin I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. At its heart, this bill aims to improve access to health care and reduce costs by extending prescribing rights under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme to authorised nurse practitioners. These changes recognise the essential role nurse practitioners already play across our health system, and I support the objective of improving accessible, affordable care. In a country as vast and decentralised as Australia, geography too often dictates health outcomes. In rural, regional and remote areas, the closest GP may be hours away. For older Australians, people living with disability, First Nations communities and vulnerable people, the barriers to safe, timely and affordable care can be even higher. When a nurse practitioner is already providing frontline care, it's both logical and safe to allow them to prescribe medicines within a clearly defined scope. While I support the intention of this bill, the success of these reforms will depend entirely on how the detail is implemented. Several stakeholders have highlighted that key elements, including approval conditions and scope of prescribing, are being left for future ministerial determinations. This means we're being asked to legislate a framework without yet seeing the guardrails that will govern it, and we're doing so before the Senate committee has delivered its report. This is not an ideal position for the parliament to be in and risks leaving questions unanswered for practitioners, patients and the broader health system. There are two areas in particular that I want to highlight. First, the scope of medicines available for prescribing must be sensible and safe. This reform should focus on routine, low-risk and clinically appropriate medicines, not those that carry higher risks of dependency or misuse. Schedule 8 medicines, in particular, should fall outside this expanded authority. Our goal here is to improve access, not to create unintended consequences for patients or the health system. Doctors are best placed to make decisions about these schedule 8 medicines, which are used for severe pain or conditions like ADHD and include opioids such as morphine, stimulants such as dexamphetamine, cannabis and certain benzodiazepines. Our goal here is to appropriately improve access. Second, the definition of 'authorised health practitioner' must be precise. Nurse practitioners play an invaluable role, but it should be absolutely clear that they will continue to practise within a collaborative, medically supported model of primary care. This is how high-quality care already functions and the regulations should reflect this reality. Ambiguity helps no-one, not practitioners, not regulators and not patients. These are not objections to the reform; they are a request for safeguards to ensure it delivers what it promises—better access without compromising safety or fragmenting care. This bill has the potential to move us meaningfully towards a more equitable health system but only if the detail is done well. I urge the government to engage openly with the findings of the Senate committee, once available, and to ensure the regulations are transparent, evidence based and clear. Australians deserve a health system that's accessible, safe and equitable. This bill can contribute to that goal if we get the implementation of it right, and I'll continue to engage constructively with the government to ensure that that happens. 12:26 Ms TRISH COOK 312871 Bullwinkel I rise today to speak in strong support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. The Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting and empowering our health workforce. We are not just talking about strengthening Medicare; we are also doing the hard legislative work and structural reform to make health care more accessible for every Australian, and this bill is one piece of the structural reform puzzle in the healthcare sector. This bill addresses the scope of practice reforms for nurses and midwives. It is legislation that is catching up with healthcare demand and practice and it is backed by evidence and consultation. Since 2017, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer have undertaken extensive research and consultation about the potential for registered nurses to contribute to improving health outcomes for the Australian community by supporting nurses and midwives to work at the full scope of their practice. Unleashing the potential of a health workforce scope of practice review was delivered to the government on 30 October 2024 after 12 months of consultation and research led by independent researcher Professor Mark McCormack. The review was clear. When health professionals work at the top of their scope, the entire system breathes more easily. It reduces the bottleneck at the GP's door and it allows our doctors to focus on the most complex, high-needs cases while endorsed nurses can manage stable chronic conditions within a clear framework. In December 2024, Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers approved a new registration standard. It was called 'Endorsement for scheduled medicines—designated registered nurse prescriber' and of course it is under the law which governs nurses and midwives, the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law 2009. The first cohort of registered nurses is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and start prescribing medicines from July this year, 2026, and this bill aligns with that new registration standard. The Nurses and Midwifery Board registration standard, of course, also has a standard for endorsement for scheduled medications. The designated registered nurse prescriber came into effect in September 2025. The standard describes the necessary qualifications that a registered nurse must demonstrate when applying to the Nurses and Midwifery Board to attain and retain the endorsement for scheduled medications. I note the Nationals' view earlier today regarding opposition to this bill due to the system being untested. Sadly, this is an uninformed view of the real world. It dismisses the extensive consultation that was done with stakeholders, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Medical Association, palliative care nurses of the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives, and the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association. This bill is backed by extensive consultation and real-world experience. It meets the desperate need for better access to care, particularly in primary care and aged-care services. This bill makes two critical amendments to the legislation. One is the National Health Act 1953. We are amending this to allow registered nurses endorsed against a strict registration standard to be authorised prescribers. This means that they can prescribe certain medications under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, ensuring that patients get their Commonwealth subsidy regardless of whether a doctor or an endorsed nurse writes the script. The second piece of legislation is the Health Insurance Act 1973. We are ensuring integrity and safety by including nurses in the Professional Services Review. It's a scheme that ensures that prescribing habits are reviewed and held to the highest professional standards, just as we do with medical doctors. This bill isn't just a technical amendment; it is a structural renovation of Medicare and it is fit for the 21st century. But I note that this reform doesn't exist in a vacuum. For too long, Australia has had a siloed approach to healthcare. We have highly trained professional nurses, pharmacists and allied healthcare workers who are restricted by legacy regulations that no longer match their modern education. My own experience, of course, before I entered this place was as a remote-area nurse. My office wasn't a suite in parliament; it was the corridors of hospitals, it was bush clinics and, in fact, at times it was in the bush itself. I stand here not just as the member for Bullwinkel but as a registered nurse and as the 10th nurse to be elected to parliament. I'm proud to be part of this government that's delivering this reform. I've seen how multidisciplinary teams work best when the hierarchy is replaced by a circle of care. Anyone who has worn the nursing uniform knows that nursing is the backbone of the Australian healthcare system. We are the ones who stay and provide ongoing support to patients long after the medical consultation has finished. We are the ones who monitor the vitals in the quiet hours of the night and notice the subtle changes. And of course we are the ones in primary health care and rural and remote areas where we are, at times, the only clinician for hundreds of kilometres. We are the ones who see with heartbreaking clarity the gaps in the patient's journey, the moments where a delay in the signature or a script leads to an increase in pain or a decline of their health. This bill is about closing those gaps. I want to share a little bit of my history to illustrate why this bill is so vital. Earlier in my career as a remote area nurse, I didn't have the luxury of 24-hour imaging departments or a local pharmacy just at the end of the road. Many of those communities, of course, exist, and some are regional and remote communities even in my seat of Bullwinkel. To serve those communities, I underwent intensive and additional training to expand my scope of practice. I wasn't just monitoring vitals and taking clinical assessments; I was actually taking X-rays. I was in the darkroom, developing those X-rays. I was taking bloods, making referrals and, at times, prescribing essential medications that were needed to stabilise patients before they could see a doctor or be evacuated. I know what it's like to carry the weight of that responsibility and work within your scope of practice but still give the care that only you can give in a situation like that. I also know the incredible efficiency and safety that comes when a highly trained nurse is empowered to use the full extent of their skills. When I was in these remote area clinics, I wasn't acting as a doctor; I was acting as a highly specialised nurse, delivering the right care at the right time because someone needed it. This bill takes the spirit of flexibility and clinical excellence and brings it into the 21st century for all Australians. It recognises that the skills that I used in the desert and the bush are skills that should be harnessed across our entire health system to make it more resilient. By allowing designated registered nurse prescribers to operate within their scope after having additional education, we are removing the middleman delay. We are saying to consumers of the health system, 'Your health is too important to wait for a clerical hurdle, especially when we have trained experienced nurses who are available to help and present.' I want to be clear for those that might have questions about this transition. This reform is about professional evolution, not substitution. This is about recognising the high level of clinical expertise that already exists within our nursing ranks and provides a formal, regulated pathway to use it. The first cohort of these prescribers is expected to finish their specialised education and receive their endorsements by July 2026. These are professional, well-credentialed nurses who have completed rigorous postgraduate-level nursing training. As a nurse, I know that my nursing registration is my most valuable asset, I belong to one of the most trusted professions in the country, and I adhere to strict clinical guidelines. The endorsement process ensures that only those with the right clinical expertise and education will be writing these scripts. It is a controlled, safe and logical extension of the work that nurses already do every single day to support their patients and their medical colleagues. We are delivering on a commitment. This is a fundamental election promise made by the Albanese government to prioritise the scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives to deliver real, tangible benefits to Australian patients. This bill is a win for families in Bullwinkel and across Australia, particularly those in regional and rural Australia, who deserve every available option to access their health care efficiently. It is about adding another layer of support to our primary healthcare network and ensuring that, wherever you are—be it in a suburban clinic or remote area—the system is working for you and that you do not have to wait for a doctor to visit, on occasions which are sensible and appropriate. It is a win for the nurse who knows that their patient's needs intimately and can now provide a more seamless transition of care, and it is a win for a more sustainable multidisciplinary health system where every professional—doctor, nurse and allied health worker—is empowered to work at the top of their training. The Albanese government is committed to supporting our health workforce. As I said at the start, it's not just strengthening Medicare; it is doing the hard legislative work to make it accessible for all Australians. When I look back on my time in my career, this legislation would have been very helpful. Today, I'm proud to be part of the government that's delivering this reform. I commend this bill to the House. 12:39 Mr TIM WILSON IMW Goldstein I thank the member for Wannon for his enthusiasm at the opportunity to listen to a speech characteristically to legislation before the House from the member for Goldstein—of course, certainly better than the predecessor member for Goldstein, I'm sure, on the subject matter of which he is humbly agreeing with as well. The point of this legislation, of course, as was mentioned by the previous speaker, is straightforward, but we need to acknowledge it sits in a much broader context about the health care of this nation. We all have a natural interest in having a sustainable health system for our country. Doing so is one that supports the workers to be able to go on and deliver the primary care they need in community, and that's of critical importance. One of the things that COVID demonstrated or revealed to all of us is the health inequity that exists across our country around access to services between not just rural and regional areas but also affluent and less affluent parts of capital cities. In a moment of crisis, when people need care, it's explicitly revealed to the whole of the nation. The question is how you seek to address that and make sure that the system is sustainable and gives people the support that they need. What we've heard from this government to date around health care has been principally, as they hold up their Medicare cards, that everybody can go to the doctor for allegedly free. I now see the television propaganda that has been pushed out by this government to try and reinforce their political messaging. The problem is anybody who has actually gone and visited a doctor. And let's start with the ACT, which is not my constituency, and I can assure you it probably never will be. But, as people who live in the ACT said to me only the other day, there are no bulk-billed doctors in the ACT, the heart of this nation politically. Surely, if the government is going to achieve its objective anywhere, it is here. Yet there are no bulk-billed doctors in this capital city for people. So, if you're low income, you're not getting support. You're a pensioner who doesn't have the financial means and resources to be able to pay. So, despite the bluster and the rhetoric and the holding up of the Medicare card and waving it around and all of the other rubbish that the Prime Minister goes on about, it is not being lived by Australians. A Medicare card comes with a credit card if you want to be able to access a doctor in large parts of this country. No matter what they say and no matter what they do, they are not delivering on the words they promise. You think about the distrust that breeds within the community, where they see the so-called political leader of this nation waving their card around and saying, 'We're the answer and we're giving that pathway,' and then they go and live a very different reality of a co-payment. Let's be honest about health care. Let's be honest about how people are living and what happens with health care. You can ration health care by one of two ways: price or lists. And the answer of this current government is to do both of those things, which is a completely irrational conclusion. You have to wait longer for higher and more expensive health care, principally so that they can feed the interests of the select few they seek to represent through the trade union movement rather than what we should actually be doing in health care, which—call me radical!—is focusing on patient outcomes. That's my radical proposition. I think we should run a healthcare system focused on patient outcomes that actually empowers Australians to be able to get the health and support and community through primary care to minimise long-term dependency on tertiary care and, more importantly, to make sure that people can live their best, full lives as healthy, engaged participants in the community and the workforce so that they can be happy, not a system designed to keep people ill to feed the benefits of the unions and the people that they are paid to represent and to maintain the political control by the Australian Labor Party. So that's the situation we currently face in health care, but that doesn't mean that occasionally we get pieces of legislation that come along that at least can do some good to try and change that, because even the Labor Party know the gig is up and they're not going to be able to sustain the health system that they rhetorically promote through their words and their propaganda on television because Australians know the gig is up because they're living the opposite reality. So, when you empower registered nurses to be able to prescribe things off the PBS in certain circumstances and when they're authorised to do so, you help empower nurses, reduce costs and hopefully get better care pathways through to achieve what I believe the central objective of the health system should be, which is to improve patient outcomes. That is a worthwhile objective, and, frankly, I'm very open to many measures that seek to achieve this in many realms, particularly in the healthcare system, to make it more sustainable, to reduce costs and to improve best outcomes for Australians and best healthcare outcomes for Australians. Having served on the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ahpra from 2010 until about 2013, I've seen what happens within the sector. You see the enormous pride that nurses rightly take in their profession. But, as is often the case with disciplinary and registration boards, you also, tragically, see the consequences of when trust is abused. We see that in this place with certain committees as well, where trust is abused. But when there are improper and rigid guidelines around access to certain healthcare services and certain medicines there are a select few who, unfortunately, abuse that trust for their own gain and their own benefit. Getting the balance in law is right because it's such an important part of it. What we have here is legislation that addresses a pathway for registered nurses who are qualified, have capacity and have the regulatory framework to be able to do their jobs better, to allow better outcomes for patient care. On that basis, I'm very supportive of the principle of the legislation as passing it will improve patient outcomes, will improve healthcare services and will actually free up capital and time for nurses, doctors and specialists to be able to support patients where it's needed. That's going to continue to be a big challenge for our country into the future. We know what happens if we don't do that. We're going to have higher costs and unsustainability in the system that will come through via lower quality care in communities, particularly in lower socioeconomic communities and rural and regional areas. We know that it will make it harder to be able to build a robust and resilient health system that this nation needs. You only need to look at what is happening in the British and Canadian systems. Because of their rigidity with a system geared towards the interests of union members, not patients, the consequences that then flow from that mean people increasingly have to wait, they are denied care and, because they can't buy things on the basis of price, they are forced to ration on the basis of lists. The lists are getting longer and longer and longer and longer and longer. This feeds distrust and resentment within the Australian community, because those who need services are not able to access them, and we're not getting the health outcomes that Australians desperately need. In the context of putting forward a practical, modest measure, I implore the government that finally they might start to work towards a healthcare system that works for the Australian people based on honesty, based on patient outcomes and based on improving the health and wellbeing of this nation. 12:47 Mr FRENCH 316550 Moore I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill represents a careful and deliberate reform to Australia's health system. It strengthens Medicare, improves access to affordable medicines and ensures that our health workforce is better supported to meet rising demand by enabling professionals to work to their full and appropriate scope of practice. It is a reform grounded in evidence, consultation and an understanding of how health care is delivered on the ground in communities across Australia. At its core, this legislation amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Insurance Act 1973 to allow appropriately qualified and endorsed registered nurses to prescribe certain pharmaceutical benefits under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Importantly, it does so within a clearly defined regulatory framework that includes professional oversight, prescribing agreements and established accountability mechanisms. This legislative change reflects a broader shift in how health care is delivered in Australia. Contemporary care increasingly relies on multidisciplinary teams, continuity across settings and the effective coordination of skills, and yet our legislative and funding frameworks have not always kept pace with these changes. In the many parts of the health system, professionals are trained to undertake responsibilities that existing settings prevent them from exercising fully. This creates inefficiency, duplication and frustration both for patients and for providers. Addressing these barriers is essential if Medicare is to remain responsive and sustainable. This bill takes a targeted approach to reform. Rather than restructuring the system wholesale, it removes a specific constraint that has been well identified through policy review and professional consultation. It enables appropriately qualified registered nurses to contribute more fully within defined clinical and governance arrangements. By doing so, it supports a health system that is better aligned with how health care is delivered in practice, particularly in primary and community settings where demand continues to grow. Australia's health system is under sustained and increasing strain. In my electorate, the Joondalup Health Campus serves a large and growing population across Perth's northern corridor and highlights the importance of strong primary and community care in supporting timely treatment and safe transitions for patients. Nurses at the Joondalup Health Campus already play a critical role in assessment, care coordination, chronic disease management and discharge planning. What this bill recognises is that in appropriate circumstances and within defined governance arrangements those nurses should be able to complete an episode of care rather than fragment it. Enabling appropriately endorsed registered nurses to prescribe under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme supports safer transitions from hospital to community care, reduces unnecessary delays in treatment and helps prevent avoidable readmissions. For a health campus operating at scale, and for a community that relies on it every day, these efficiencies matter. They improve patient flow, reduce pressure on emergency departments and support better continuity of care once a patient leaves hospital. Demand for care continues to grow as our population ages and as more Australians live with chronic and complex conditions. These pressures are compounded by workforce shortages, particularly in primary care and general practice. Too often, these challenges manifest as long wait times, fragmented care pathways and avoidable escalation of care that could have been better managed earlier in community settings. Enabling appropriately endorsed nurses to prescribe under the PBS allows care to be delivered more seamlessly within existing service models. It reduces the need for multiple appointments and supports continuity, particularly for patients with ongoing care needs. For constituents, this can translate into more timely access to treatment, fewer delays and a better experience of the health system. For providers, it supports more efficient use of clinical time and skills. This reform recognises how care is delivered on the ground in growing outer metropolitan communities and ensures Medicare settings better reflect those realities. Enabling registered nurses to prescribe under the PBS within defined parameters directly supports that goal. It allows care to be delivered more efficiently and reduces unnecessary duplication while preserving clinical governance and patient safety. For patients, this can mean faster access to treatment and fewer barriers to care. This bill responds to those realities by making better use of the skilled health workforce already embedded in our communities. Registered nurses comprise approximately half of Australia's health workforce and play a central role across the health system. Yet, despite their expertise, regulatory and funding arrangements have often limited their ability to operate at the top of their scope, particularly in the primary and community based care areas. The reforms in this bill allow endorsed registered nurses who meet rigorous education, experience and accreditation requirements to prescribe specified medicines under the PBS. This enables patients to receive timely and affordable treatment from the health professional who is already providing their care, without unnecessary duplication, delay or additional appointments. It is important to be clear that this reform is not about replacing doctors or diminishing the role of general practitioners. Rather, it is about strengthening multidisciplinary, team based care. Modern health systems function best when each professional is supported to contribute their skills within a coordinated and collaborative framework. The policy foundations for this reform are well established. The Strengthening Medicare Taskforce identified scope-of-practice reform as essential to improving access, affordability and sustainability in primary care. That work was reinforced by the scope-of-practice review, which found that unnecessary regulatory barriers were preventing health professionals from contributing fully to patient care and system efficiency. Alongside this work, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia, working with the Australian Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, undertook extensive research and consultation on nurse prescribing. This process commenced several years ago and involved engagement with governments, nursing and medical organisations, medical organisations, clinicians and consumers. It culminated in the endorsement of a new registration standard for designated registered nurse prescribers by all health ministers, which came into effect in 2025. This bill provides the necessary Commonwealth legislative framework to support that standard by enabling access to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It is worth setting out how this legislation operates in practice, because its safeguards are central to its integrity. The safeguards contained in this bill are comprehensive and deliberate. Eligibility, approval and prescribing arrangements operate together to ensure that nurse prescribing under the PBS occurs within a framework that prioritises safety, accountability and professional standards. Approval as an authorised nurse prescriber is not automatic. Applications must be assessed by the secretary, and approvals may be subject to conditions. Chief among these requirements are prescribing agreements with other authorised PBS prescribers. These arrangements embed nurse prescribing within collaborative, team based models of care. The inclusion of authorised nurse prescribers within the Professional Services Review scheme further strengthens accountability. It ensures consistency and oversight across the PBS and provides mechanisms for peer review and sanction where appropriate. These measures collectively demonstrate that the reform balances improved access with strong governance and public confidence. The bill also makes clear that authorised nurse prescribers may only prescribe pharmaceutical benefits determined by the minister for the purposes of the PBS. In making those determinations, the minister must have regard to the advice of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee. This preserves the independence, rigour and evidence-based nature of PBS decision-making. Further, authorised nurse prescribers will be subject to the Professional Services Review scheme under the Health Insurance Act. This ensures that their PBS prescribing is subject to the same peer review and accountability mechanisms that apply to other PBS prescribers, maintaining the integrity of the system. This bill includes provisions allowing the secretary to suspend or revoke approvals where conditions are breached, along with clear notification and review rights. These measures ensure that participation in nurse prescribing is contingent on ongoing compliance with professional and legislative requirements. From the perspective of the electorate I represent, the benefits of this reform are practical and tangible. Across Moore, nurses already play a central role in managing chronic disease, supporting older Australians, delivering preventive care and coordinating services for people with complex needs. Allowing appropriately endorsed nurses to prescribe under the PBS enables more complete and efficient episodes of care. For older residents managing multiple medications, this can mean fewer appointments and better continuity. For families balancing work and care responsibilities, it can mean less time navigating fragmented services. For people living with chronic illness, it can mean earlier intervention and reduced risk of avoidable deterioration. This reform is also significant for equity of access. Workforce shortages are not evenly distributed. Regional and remote communities and some outer metropolitan areas have greater difficulty attracting and retaining health professionals compared with metropolitan centres. By expanding the capacity of nurses to deliver care within their scope, this bill helps ensure that access to affordable medicines is not constrained by geography or workforce bottlenecks. It also supports the sustainability of general practice. By enabling nurses to manage appropriate prescribing within collaborative arrangements, general practitioners are better able to focus on patients with complex diagnostic needs, multimorbidity and care coordination requirements. This strengthens rather than undermines the role of general practice. International experience supports this approach. Nurse prescribing models operate safely and effectively in countries such as the United Kingdom, Norway, Ireland and the Netherlands. Evidence from those systems demonstrates that non-medical prescribing, when governed properly, improves access to care, supports workforce retention and maintains high standards of patient safety. The bill makes clear that prescribing by authorised nurse prescribers will commence only after the relevant delegated legislation is in place. The use of legislative instruments to determine the prescribing scope ensures flexibility while maintaining parliamentary scrutiny. It allows adjustments to be made in response to evidence and experience without undermining the integrity of the framework. It recognises that modernising health regulation requires both ambition and caution, particularly where patient safety and public confidence are concerned. By embedding oversight, review and accountability mechanisms, the bill ensures that implementation proceeds in a way that is transparent and adaptable. This reform is focused on improving how care is delivered within the existing health system rather than changing infrastructure or hospital planning settings. The financial impact of this bill indicates there is no expected additional cost to the PBS. That reflects the fact that this reform changes who can prescribe, not who is eligible to receive, the subsidised medicines. It improves access and efficiency without expanding entitlement. Taken together, the measures in this bill modernise Australia's health legislation to reflect contemporary practice and patient needs. They strengthen Medicare's capacity to respond to demand and support a workforce that is better equipped to deliver timely, high-quality care. For the people I represent in Moore, this matters. It means a health system that works more effectively in practice, recognises the professionalism of nurses and delivers care when and where it is needed. For those reasons, I support the bill and commend it to the House. 13:01 Ms SPENDER 286042 Wentworth I rise to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to allow authorised nurse prescribers who meet strict criteria to prescribe certain pharmaceutical benefits under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The types of medicines that can be prescribed will be clearly specified by the minister, and there will be appropriate safeguards in place. This includes oversight by the Professional Services Review, which will now extend to PBS prescribing by authorised nurse practitioners. These changes are not radical; they are sensible, evidence based reforms that flow directly from the recommendations of the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the Scope of Practice Review, both commissioned by the government following the 2022 election. At its core, this bill recognises something that many Australians already know to be true: our nurses are highly skilled professionals and are more than capable of working to the full extent of their training and expertise, and we want them to. Empowering healthcare practitioners, particularly nurses, is essential for our healthcare system to remain resilient in the face of an ageing population, rising rates of chronic illness, a growing mental health crisis and increasing demand in regional and rural communities. These pressures are not going away; if anything, they are intensifying, and we cannot meet these challenges by relying on outdated modes of care. We must be innovative in the ways we deliver health care, and we must make better use of the resources and talent we already have. Even if our healthcare system didn't have these constraints, I would still support this bill because it allows nurses to work to the full extent of their capacity, and does that in a safe way for patients but also in a way that gives professional satisfaction for nurses. These highly trained individuals, these important members of our community, should have the satisfaction of being able to work to the full extent of their training and their capability. That reason alone is enough to support the bill, but at the same time this will provide important support for our healthcare system. This will mean that patients and members of our community can more easily access the health care they need when they need it, and that is another incredibly important reason to support this bill. We know there is international evidence that these models of care can work safely and effectively around the world. I've seen some of this personally, in my own experience working in the UK healthcare system. I believe this bill strikes the right balance. It expands the scope of practice while maintaining strong safeguards. That's what I think Australians want from us. They want to feel safe, they want to feel in good hands when they go to a GP service or to any of our hospital or healthcare services, but they also want to make sure that our nurses, who we respect and whose care we value, get to work to the full extent of their practice. Let's be honest. There are a couple of other things. For those people who might be nervous about this bill, it expands the scope of practice, but it does have strong safeguards. Only appropriately qualified nurse prescribers will be authorised, and there will continue to be oversight to ensure prescribing is safe, appropriate and accountable. This reform will not solve every challenge facing our healthcare system, but it is a practical and necessary step in the right direction. It reflects the trust that we have in our healthcare workforce, supports better patient outcomes and helps build a more flexible and sustainable healthcare system for the future. For these reasons, I support the bill. 13:05 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby For many years before I came to this place I worked in the health sector in South Australia. I ran a large number of services across northern and central Adelaide and some statewide services. Another of my roles included recruitment of overseas doctors to rural and remote South Australia, and this was partly because we don't have enough doctors in Australia and partly because many of them don't want to work in rural and remote areas. Many of these basic services—general practitioners who often also cover at the local hospital—were reliant on being able to recruit doctors, nurses, pharmacists and allied health workers from overseas who were required to spend at least a few years in rural and remote areas. Health services are reliant on qualified staff to run, and, unfortunately, as a country we have not been training up enough of them for decades. We also have an ageing population, and often with ageing comes an increased reliance on the health system—bodies wear out, chronic diseases develop, trips and falls become more catastrophic. So we need more of these health professionals, and we needed them yesterday. There are ethical issues about recruiting precious health worker resources from other countries; they need them as well. The alternative is that we train them up here in Australia, and we absolutely need to be doing that. But it takes time, and we needed this extra workforce yesterday. Our health system is under pressure today from increased demand and from workforce shortages. A doctor takes six years of university study, then an internship. A GP takes a further five years on top of that. A nurse takes an undergraduate degree of three years, and a nurse practitioner takes at least three years experience and then a master's degree on top of that. A pharmacist takes a minimum of four years of study, plus one year of an intern training program. We are not going to be solving our health workforce shortage here in the next year or two through training up additional workers here, although we absolutely need to be doing that. When I spoke to the now minister for health and ageing a couple of years ago, I was really pleased to hear about the work that was being done on scope of practice across a number of different professions in the health workforce. Today I'm pleased to be able to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. It's a practical, forward-looking reform that strengthens Medicare, supports our health workforce and improves timely access to affordable medicines for Australians no matter where they live. At its core, this bill amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to allow appropriately qualified registered nurses to prescribe certain medicines under the PBS. It's not a radical step. It is a sensible evolution of modern health care, one grounded in evidence, informed by expert review and driven by the needs of patients. Importantly, it makes the best possible use of our existing health workforce, which is good for patients, is good for the health workers themselves and is good for our overall health system. The purpose of healthcare reform should always be clear: better outcomes for patients. Today too many Australians struggle to access timely care. In rural and regional communities patients often travel long distances simply to obtain a prescription. In our outer suburbs families can wait days, sometimes weeks, for appointments. This bill addresses those barriers directly by enabling authorised nurse prescribers to prescribe medicines on the PBS. Patients receiving treatment from these clinicians will be able to access subsidised medicines without unnecessary delay. This is about equity, about ensuring that where you live does not determine the quality or speed of your health care and about recognising a simple truth: when patients receive treatment earlier, outcomes improve and pressure on the system declines. Australia's nurses are among the most highly trained and respected professionals in our health system, yet, for too long, rigid regulatory settings have prevented many of them from working their full scope of practice. This bill changes that. It establishes a formal process through which eligible registered nurses may be approved as authorised prescribers with mechanisms for suspension or revocation if standards are not met. It also ensures that these prescribers are subject to oversight by the Professional Services Review, the same safeguard applied to other PBS prescribers. And, to be clear, this reform expands access without compromising safety. Prescribing will remain contingent on appropriate education, competency and registration requirements already fundamental to safe clinical practice in Australia. In other words, this is reform with guardrails. But this legislation does not emerge in isolation. It implements recommendations from the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the Scope of Practice Review, reforms designed to empower health professionals and modernise primary care. Those reviews recognise what many clinicians already know: Australia cannot meet growing healthcare demand without using the full capability of our workforce. Designated nurse prescribing will help ease workforce pressures, build long-term system capacity and support sustainability across primary care. By enabling suitably qualified nurses to expand their scope of practice, it will also support workforce retention issues. At a time when emergency departments are crowded and GP shortages are felt across the country, we cannot afford to leave skilled professionals underutilised. This is smart reform, the kind that improves productivity while enhancing patient care. If there is one place where this reform will make an immediate difference, it's rural and remote Australia. The government has been clear: empowering nurses to practice at full scope will provide more equitable access to treatment for people living outside our major cities. As well as running health services across SA, including some rural and remote services, I also lived in a very small country town for a number of years, providing services into general practices scattered across remote SA. Access to timely health care can be a challenge in remote areas and can require considerable planning and travel. Consider the farmer managing a chronic condition hundreds of kilometres from a specialist or an elderly resident in a small town whose local clinic struggles to recruit doctors or the young family who cannot afford repeated travel just to renew a prescription. For these Australians this bill is not theoretical; it's transformational. It means fewer delays, fewer avoidable hospital visits and greater continuity of care within their communities. The minister's second reading remarks captured the reforms succinctly. Empowering nurses to provide safe, high-quality care directly in the community reduces the need for GP visits and long waits in overcrowded emergency departments. This is precisely the kind of structural reform our health system needs. Too often patients end up in hospital because primary care was inaccessible. Too often GPs spend valuable consultation time on straightforward prescribing tasks when their expertise could be better utilised elsewhere. Allowing trained nurses to manage appropriate prescribing frees doctors to focus on complex care, a win for efficiency and a win for the patients. This reform also aligns with Australia's longstanding commitment to affordable medicines. The government has stated that the change promotes equitable, affordable and timely access to high-quality medicines and services consistent with the National Medicines Policy. And let's remember what the PBS represents: for generations, it has been a cornerstone of Australian health care, ensuring that life-saving medicines are accessible not only to the wealthy but to every Australian citizen. By expanding the pool of authorised prescribers, we strengthen that system rather than strain it. Access delayed is access denied, and this bill ensures access delivered sooner. As with any reform, stakeholders have raised questions, particularly about which medicines nurse prescribers may ultimately prescribe. These matters, however, will be determined by the minister through disallowable legislative instruments, allowing appropriate scrutiny and flexibility as clinical practice evolves. This is good legislative design. It ensures parliament establishes the framework while allowing expert guidance to shape operational detail. So let's not let hypothetical fears overshadow the very real benefits this reform will deliver. Australia has successfully expanded prescribing roles before to nurse practitioners, dentists, optometrists and midwives, always with patient safety at the forefront. And it isn't unknown overseas either. In the UK, most community health visitors have the V100 or community practitioner nurse prescriber qualification. In New Zealand, nurse practitioners have been authorised to prescribe within scope of competence since 2001. In South Africa and Canada and even in all 50 states of the US, nurse practitioners can prescribe. This is not a radical change. It is a well-thought-through logical change with strong guardrails, and it continues to put patient safety and patient wellbeing at the centre of health care. The National Health Act 1953 has long underpinned the provision of pharmaceutical and medical services in Australia, but a health system built for the 1950s cannot remain frozen in time. Our population is ageing. Chronic disease is rising. Demand for care is growing faster than workforce supply. If we fail to modernise, we risk bottlenecks that hurt patients and exhaust clinicians. This bill is exactly the kind of targeted legislative update required to meet 21st century challenges, not sweeping upheaval but thoughtful adaptation. Sustainability is not only about funding; it's about structure. A resilient health system distributes responsibility across a skilled, multidisciplinary workforce. It encourages collaboration rather than hierarchy. It removes unnecessary barriers that prevent professionals from delivering care. By building long-term capacity, this reform will strengthen the system for decades to come. Future governments, regardless of political persuasion, will benefit from the foundations laid today, because good health policy should never be partisan. It should be pragmatic. This is part of a broader vision. The Australian healthcare system, despite its challenges, is world class. If you are sick or injured, you wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world. But it is a system under pressure, where demand is rising, and so we need to continue to ensure it works to its maximum ability with all the resources, including workforce, that we can provide. This change enacts the vision of a health system where nurses practice to their full capability, patients receive timely treatment, rural communities enjoy genuine healthcare equity and hospitals are reserved for those who truly need them. This is not an abstract aspiration. It is exactly what this legislation advances. The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 is measured, responsible and necessary reform. It empowers trusted professionals. It improves access to medicines. It supports rural Australians. It reduces system pressure. It strengthens Medicare. And, most importantly, it places patients, not bureaucracy, at the centre of care. Parliament is often at its best when it embraces practical reforms that make everyday life easier for Australians, and this is one of those moments. Let us back our nurses and modernise our health system to ensure that every Australian can access the care they need, when they need it, where they need it, no matter where they call home. I commend the bill to the House. 13:19 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong The Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 will enable qualified registered nurses to prescribe pharmaceutical benefits under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It seeks to implement reforms identified as necessary by the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the subsequent scope-of-practice review. The amendments will empower nurses to work to their full scope of practice in primary care. It does make sense that we should do everything possible to ease chronic workforce pressures and provide more equitable access to treatment for people living in rural and remote areas of Australia, in particular. The prescribing of medications has, in the past, generally been limited to authorised health practitioners, primarily doctors but also some others, including dentists, optometrists, nurse practitioners and midwives, who have been given the ability to prescribe within their defined scope of practice. We have chronic workforce shortages across Australia in a range of healthcare craft groups, and these are generally more pronounced in regional, rural and remote areas. Factors contributing to these workforce shortages include the increasing demand associated with an ageing population, rising levels of chronic disease and barriers to education and training, including the financial barriers associated with the absence of paid practical placements for students taking undertaking training in all healthcare professions in this country. Nurses play a critical role in providing essential care for Australians. They manage chronic and complex health conditions and keep people out of hospitals. Nurse prescribing is a cost effective intervention which will offer continuity of care, can reduce the workload for other healthcare team members and improve patient satisfaction. Nurses are highly trusted. Australians trust them and consistently rank them as the most trusted profession in health, which I have a small problem with personally but which I get. And they are the single largest health profession in Australia, accounting for more than half of the Australian health workforce and registered nurses working in Australia—in particular, remote area nurses and rural and isolated practice registered nurses are commonly particularly experienced and skilled. Without access to the PBS, nurse prescribed medications would only be available to those patients who can pay for them privately, and that raises significant questions of equity as well as best practice health care. The Strengthening Medicare Taskforce report from December 2022 was supportive of altering regulatory arrangements to enable all parts of our primary care workforce to work to their full scope of practice. The subsequent review undertaken by the Albanese government proposed recommendations aimed at enabling healthcare professionals, including pharmacists, dental hygienists, nurse practitioners and allied health workers, to work at their full scope of practice. But it's important to note that we're not actually doing that with the legislation in front of the House. Key recommendations of the scope of practice review included the establishment of a national skills and capability framework for consistent legislation across jurisdictions and new funding models to support multidisciplinary and patient centred care. A major finding of that review is the fact that we have ridiculous but ongoing legislative inconsistencies across Australian states and territories which limit the scope of practice for professionals, such as pharmacists and Aboriginal health practitioners. For example, while pharmacists in some regions can administer vaccines, in others, they are prohibited by law from doing so. Similarly, Aboriginal health practitioners in Queensland are banned from undertaking immunisations even though they've had the necessary training. These sorts of discrepancies contribute to inequities in healthcare access. They increase strain on our workforce, particularly in rural and Indigenous communities, and they really make no sense. Basically, we need a commitment from the federal, state and territory governments to removing barriers, to streamline care across all Australian jurisdictions. I do note that this legislation expands the ability of registered nurses to prescribe schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medications under supervision. Under the new standards for nurse prescribing which came into effect in September 2025, designated RNs who are prescribers will have to have 5,000 hours of post-registration clinical experience and to have completed specific training. They have to prescribe in partnership with an authorised health practitioner and complete a six-month period of clinical membership after accreditation. A model in which a suitably qualified RN works closely with a doctor to try to titrate a medication to meet patient needs does seem reasonable, but it would be appropriate to limit authorisations for that sort of oversight to professionals who are free of commercial conflicts of interest. And it makes sense that nurses are given access to prescribable medications which have been carefully selected such as to secure that they're safe and appropriate. It is disappointing that this legislation extends prescribing capacity only to registered nurses. I note that the podiatry endorsement for scheduled medicines registration standard has been in place for years, but we still haven't given podiatrists the ability to be authorised prescribers under the PBS. There's no rationale for this anomaly. In order to optimise scope of practice for health professionals, we could act today to expand authorised prescribers under the PBS to include all professions which are currently endorsed to prescribe. It would be reasonable to expect that, if we did so, in addition to immediately enabling podiatrists to act independently, we could in short order allow optometrists to prescribe oral medications and potentially increase access to prescribing for physiotherapists and for other craft groups. There are some potential pitfalls to expanding the ability to prescribe to healthcare professionals who have not traditionally been given that remit. These include the danger of fragmented care, duplication of services, increased complexity, role confusion and poorer health outcomes. If the professionals who are prescribing don't have adequate diagnostic and clinical experience, of course there's a risk of inappropriate prescribing such as unnecessary antibiotic use and a greater chance of drug side effects in the context of multimorbidities and polypharmacy. This is particularly relevant for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, who often experience multiple health conditions earlier in life, and for older Australians, who are often on multiple medications. Other recent concerns include the increasing use of telehealth and emerging online business models often focused on prescribing specific substances like medicinal cannabis or weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic. In that context, prescribing is often based on a single phone or video consultation, so it carries much greater risks than those associated with typical face-to-face consultations with a GP who knows their patient. Concerns have also been raised by stakeholders regarding the types of medications that can be prescribed by RNs. Specifically, the AMA and RCGP have expressed appropriate concerns around the prescribing of schedule 8 medications such as morphine and other opiates. Schedule 8 medications carry a significant risk of abuse, dependency and harm. It's my belief that prescribing of these should remain the role of the clinician ultimately responsible for patient care and management. There are real concerns not only for patients but also for prescribers with allowing nurses to prescribe schedule 8 medications without putting in place the appropriate legislative guardrails. For example, such designated RN practitioner prescribers will not necessarily have access to real-time monitoring programs, which is a real concern given the significant risk of misuse by some individuals of schedule 8 opiates. The expansion of scope of practice should empower our healthcare professionals. It should improve accessibility and efficiency in health care. Our first priority should always be patient safety and the protection of patient care. Given the increasing complexity of medical care in this country, particularly for older Australians and for those with multiple medical problems, the best model of care is that provided in a multidisciplinary team. I support this bill as I support increasing the scope of practice of all competent healthcare professionals in Australia, but I call on the government to ensure that these changes are appropriately scrutinised and monitored and then not instituted in a kind of band-aid solution in response to the—at this point—unaddressed issue of our chronic healthcare workforce deficiencies. Having said that, I commend the bill to the House. 13:28 Ms JARRETT 298574 Brisbane I rise in support of the Health Legislation Amendment Bill 2025, which is about prescribing medicines listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Access to universal free health care is one of Labor's greatest legacies to Australia, and this bill is just another part of that. You know, I'm one of eight kids. I have no idea how my parents would have possibly managed had we not had access to free health care via Medicare and subsidised medicines through the PBS. My pensioner grandparents, who lived next door, absolutely relied heavily on Medicare and the PBS in their later years. This bill builds on Labor's commitment to make health care more accessible and more affordable for all Australians. This bill increases access to and availability of medicines for all Australians. Importantly, it will allow registered nurses to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and attract a Commonwealth subsidy. Again— The DEPUTY SPEAKER DZY The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. The member for Brisbane will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed. STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 46 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS Lord Buddha's Sacred Relics Tour 46 13:30 Ms LE 295676 Fowler On Thursday 22 January, the sacred Lord Buddha relics arrived in the Fowler community and were venerated at Phuoc Hue Temple in Wetherill Park in the heart of south-west Sydney. For many in our community, the arrival of the Buddha relics on that day was profoundly symbolic, as it was also the national day of mourning following the tragic Bondi shootings. Standing alongside Venerable Thich An Thien and other venerables from Buddhist temples in western and south-western Sydney, I was reminded that, in moments of grief and shock, communities instinctively turn toward peace, reflection and compassion. In Fowler, one of the most culturally diverse electorates in the country, it's often our shared humanity, not our differences, that brings us together in times of sorrow. The Buddhist message of respect, mindfulness and responsibility resonated deeply within my community that day. I thank the Druk Community Centre of Australia for bringing these sacred relics from France in collaboration with the Buddhist Union of France, under the spiritual guidance of His Eminence Kalu Rinpoche. Their presence in Fowler reflected values that define our community: dignity, harmony and care for everyone. At a time when fear can lead to division or calls for rushed responses that risk targeting communities, I will always stand for practical, evidence based solutions that keep people safe while upholding the dignity of all Australians no matter where they come from, what language they speak or what they believe in. Thank you. (Time expired) Sri Lanka Independence: 78th Anniversary 46 13:31 Ms FERNANDO 299964 Holt Ayubowen and hello. I rise to wish the Sri Lankan Australian community and everyone back in Sri Lanka a very happy 78th independence day. For many, independence marks the beginning of a new chapter—one defined by hope, resilience and ambition. While Sri Lanka has faced challenges along the way, the enduring friendship between our two nations has remained constant. That bond is best reflected in our vibrant diaspora. Today, more than 170,000 people of Sri Lankan heritage call Australia home. We have built our lives here and embraced the opportunities Australia provides while carrying our culture with us in the languages we speak and the food we share. As I raise my son, Ilija, I feel how important it is to pass these traditions on. No matter the distance, we never forget where we come from. As the first Sri Lankan born woman elected to this parliament and Chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Sri Lanka, I remain deeply committed to strengthening the ties between our two nations. Happy independence day! International Relations: Australia and Afghanistan 47 13:33 Mr THOMPSON 281826 Herbert This government's priorities are all wrong. Your mortgage is going up. People are doing it tough. Sitting around the dinner table, they're talking about what they're going to have to cut back on—groceries, school supplies, insurance, their mortgage. When asked about this, the Prime Minister and the Treasurer both laughed it off. They're not spending your hard earned tax dollars where they should. For an example, instead of putting your hard earned money back into supporting Australians, they're sending hundreds of millions of dollars to Afghanistan, to the Taliban. The Taliban are responsible for 41 deaths of Australian soldiers and more than 200 wounded in combat, including myself. Many ADF veterans have succumbed to their war within, and hundreds of thousands of Australian Afghan veterans have the memories of what that hell on earth actually is. As part of the Taliban government, they have a person by the name of Anas Haqqani, who ran the Haqqani network and who was sentenced to death. He's responsible for terrorist attacks around the world, killing women, children and soldiers. That's who is counting the money now. The Taliban hate us, and they should hate us for free. Egan, Hon. Edward Joseph (Ted), AO 47 13:34 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon Later this month I will attend the state funeral for Ted Egan AO, a man who embodied the spirit, generosity and storytelling at the heart of the Northern Territory. Through music, writing and his public service, particularly as the Administrator of the Northern Territory, he helped Australians to understand the people and the cultures and the history of the Territory in a way that few others could. Ted gifted me his book Kulilkatima—which means seeking understanding. It begins with the lyrics of his song 'This Land Australia'. There's a passage that I've always loved: Try to understand This land Australia Take her as she is Her moods, her mysteries Mother of us all Beneath the Southern Cross In her frame of peaceful seas. Ted is urging us to listen, to learn and to respect this remarkable country. Whether he was singing in a beer garden, sharing a yarn or representing the Territory on the national stage, Ted Egan did it with authenticity, great humour and enormous heart. He lived big. My thoughts are with Nerys and the whole Egan family as they grieve the loss of their partner, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and mate. Ovarian Cancer 47 13:36 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong Today is World Cancer Day, and February is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. Today, five Australian women will be told that they have ovarian cancer, a devastating condition with a survival rate of only 49 per cent. Ovarian Cancer Australia's national awareness campaign is shining a much-needed light onto one of Australia's most challenging forms of cancer. Every year in Australia, 1,900 women are diagnosed with ovarian cancer. In most cases, detection occurs at an advanced stage, rendering treatment much more difficult. Raising awareness is therefore essential to improving early recognition, timely care and survival outcomes. One of Ovarian Cancer Australia's primary priorities this month is to secure more research funding. The Medical Research Future Fund has allocated only $21 million to ovarian cancer since 2015. The NHMRC has allocated $64 million since 2012. It is, quite simply, not enough. Minister Butler could double that allocation today with the stroke of a pen. So, today, I call on the Albanese government to save Australian women's lives by releasing the money put aside for that purpose—funding life-saving research into ovarian cancer—in the Medical Research Future Fund. Leong, Lachlan 47 13:37 Mr SOON 298618 Banks I rise to pay tribute to Lachlan Leong, who sadly passed away at the age of 17 earlier this year. Lachlan was a remarkable young man: caring, wise beyond his years and a much-loved member of the community in Padstow and at Menai High School. Lachlan was also an extraordinary table tennis player, ranked fifth in the country for his age group and 32nd in the country overall. The last two years had brought Lachlan much success in the sport, including wins in a number of national tournaments and wins over players that were several years his senior. He had a special talent that I was able to see, briefly, at the St George & Sutherland Shire Table Tennis Association last year. It earnt him wide recognition, and he will be sorely missed by many in the table tennis community who saw his boundless potential. I was able to attend Lachlan's funeral on 14 January, and my thoughts are with his family, particularly his parents, Simon and Connie, and his brothers, Mathew and Jayden, who I had the privilege of meeting. At the funeral, many spoke about Lachlan's thoughtfulness and selflessness, whether at school, with his family or at table tennis. The room was full to the brim with family and friends, including countless members of Menai High School and of table tennis fraternities. Lachlan will be sorely missed. May he rest in peace. Defence 48 13:39 Mr HASTIE 260805 Canning Shame on the Albanese government for their neglect of the Australian Defence Force. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have stripped out the Defence budget. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have compromised our warfighting capability. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have destroyed the morale of our fighting men and women, and shame on the Albanese government for the news today that they are selling off our prime defence land and bases across our country. Labor is selling off historic bases like Victoria Barracks in Sydney and Melbourne, central to the ADF's identity and history. Labor is selling off important bases like Irwin Barracks in Perth, home to the 13th Brigade and the heart and soul of our Army Reserve in the west. Labor is selling off key bases like HMAS Penguin, which provide an important presence and capability in Sydney for the Royal Australian Navy, and Labor is selling off land near sensitive bases like Swan Island in Victoria, putting at risk important capabilities. The Albanese government are not stewards; they are wreckers, and they are wrecking our inheritance. They are pushing our fighting men and women and their families further away from the cities that we depend upon for the recruitment of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. Why? For money—it's all about money. That's why I say again: shame on the Albanese government for this shortsighted and foolish decision. These bases belong to the Australian people. Why do you think you have the right to sell them off? Hunters Hill Probus Club 48 13:41 Mr LAXALE 299174 Bennelong Today, I am eager to acknowledge the 50th anniversary of the Hunters Hill Probus Club, the first and oldest Probus club in the country that is right in the heart of Bennelong. Their inaugural meeting was held on 3 February 1976, and, 50 years later, Hunters Hill Probus Club is thriving as it fosters wellbeing, inclusion and connection right across Australia. Probus remains a non-for-profit institution run by members for its members. Probus club memberships are open to retirees, semi-retirees and those soon to enter retirement. Through activities, programs and social initiatives that solidify community relationships, Probus ensures that Australians of all walks of life can maintain a healthy, active and stimulating lifestyle as they age. Starting at Hunters Hill, they now have over 1,400 clubs across Australia and New Zealand, and over half a million members have been involved since 1976. I'm so proud that all of that started right in the heart of Bennelong. This week, on 3 February, the club celebrated its 50th birthday, and attending were Michael Ransom, chairman of Probus; Josephine McBride, who is the current president of the Hunters Hill Club; the local mayor; and my predecessor, former prime minister John Howard. Unfortunately, due to parliamentary commitments, I couldn't be there, but thank you to Hunters Hill Probus Club for all that you do. Parkes Elvis Festival 48 13:42 Mr CHAFFEY 316312 Parkes I'm just a simple country boy at heart, so it was with great pride that I attended the Parkes Elvis Festival in January. Yes, I wore an Elvis jumpsuit, and, yes, I stood alongside a multitude of other 'Elvi', Priscillas and a couple of hound dogs, and they got all shook up. It's part of the Parkes electorate way of life. It's one of the most successful festivals in our nation, and I was simply taking care of business. But let's move along to a little less conversation and a little bit more action. The Parkes Elvis Festival is a huge hit with Elvis fans around the world. It's estimated that more than 26,000 people can't help falling in love with the celebrations and make their way to Parkes via a jet plane, a freight train or the good old Elvis Express. The Parkes Elvis Festival was the dream of Bob and Anne Steel, and they followed that dream to international success. The show's tribute competition, the parade, the photo exhibition, the busking, the gospel service are all part of the carnival time in Parkes, and this year's theme of 'Love me tender' had the thousands of fans there celebrating the wonder of Elvis. Congratulations to the Steels, Parkes Shire Council, the tribute artists, the performers, those who put on their blue suede shoes and the many volunteers that made this happen. Thank you. Thank you, very much. Ovarian Cancer 48 13:44 Ms KARA COOK 316537 Bonner The member for Parkes is a hard act to follow. Today is World Cancer Day, and this month is Ovarian Cancer Awareness Month. This morning, I and many of my colleagues in this place attended an event hosted by Ovarian Cancer Australia, where we heard directly from women and families living with the reality of a disease that is too often overlooked. Their stories are a powerful reminder of why greater awareness and action matters. Today I want to raise awareness of this horrific disease that around 1,900 Australian women are diagnosed with each year. Although it is the ninth-most common cancer in females, ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer death. Survival remains low. Two in three women are diagnosed at advanced stages, and less than half of those diagnosed survive beyond five years. This survival rate has barely changed in 50 years. That's why the Albanese government is backing ovarian cancer research through targeted funding and expanded access to affordable medicines on the PBS. This includes $386,000 for the TRACKFORWARD project, and the government is also ensuring women are supported with treatments such as zejula and lynparza medications, improving options, outcomes and access for women who need it most. More than 300 women each year in Australia will now not be faced with more than $100,000 for the cost of these medications; they are now listed on the PBS at a cost of just $25. Labor is delivering for women today and every day. (Time expired) Reedy Creek Quarry Project 49 13:45 Mr REBELLO 316547 McPherson I rise today to speak directly to the people of Reedy Creek, Tallebudgera, Burleigh and surrounding suburbs, and to make sure your voices are heard loud and clear in the federal parliament. Many of you have contacted me sharing deep concerns about a new proposal for a major quarry to be built in Reedy Creek, adjacent to homes, schools and our natural environment. I share your concerns and I stand with you. This is not a new battle; our community fought this once before and won. A previous quarry proposal was refused by the City of Gold Coast, and that decision was upheld by the Planning and Environment Court in 2017. Now history is repeating itself. Another quarry application has been lodged with the council, and right now your voice matters most. Please join me in making it clear where you stand and make a submission before Monday 9 February. These submissions matter. They will make your views unmistakeably clear and give council the confidence to do what they did last time and reject this proposal. I share your concerns about heavy truck movements through residential streets, noise, dust, health impacts, environmental damage and the long-term loss of amenity. A quarry does not belong beside homes, schools or wildlife corridors. It's quite simply the right project in the wrong location, and we must ensure that council says no again. Lunar New Year 49 13:47 Ms CAMPBELL 312823 Moreton 'Xinnian kuaile', 'kung hei fat choy', 'happy new year'; that is what people from across the Brisbane southside electorate of Moreton are already saying to each other in the lead-up to Lunar New Year—and not just in Moreton but across this country and across the globe. For Australians of Chinese heritage, Vietnamese heritage and Korean heritage, and, indeed, all Australians, we are about to have a very special celebration. I have such incredibly fond memories of celebrating Lunar New Year: hearing the clinking and vibration on the table of mahjong tiles as I crouched underneath; saying 'happy new year' to every single adult so I could collect my well-earned red packet. Mostly, I remember being around family and friends and that everyone was invited. Lunar New Year is more than a celebration of food, although the food is fantastic. It is more than a celebration of colour and movement and vibrancy, although that's fantastic too. It is a celebration of something so very inherently Australian—of bringing people together, of sharing between community and of standing up when it counts, which is what we need now more than ever. Whether you're celebrating on the Sunnybank rooftop at the landmark restaurant or in your home, happy Year of the Horse. Charlton, Dr Susan Lyndsay (Sue), AM 49 13:48 Mr PASIN 240756 Barker I rise today to honour the life and service of Dr Sue Charlton, a deeply respected South Australian whose passing is being felt strongly in Mount Gambier and across the Limestone Coast. Sue was a committed champion of regional communities. As the inaugural chair of the Stand Like Stone Foundation, Sue helped establish a lasting model of community philanthropy and ensured that funds raised locally are directed back into local priorities, strengthening community outcomes across the Limestone Coast. Sue's impact was not confined to the Limestone Coast; Sue played a formative role nationally as a founding member and later chair of what is now Community Foundations Australia. Through that leadership, Sue helped to shape a network of community foundations that continue to deliver for communities right across our nation. Professionally, Sue devoted more than four decades to paediatric physiotherapy, improving the lives of children and families. Sue was a mentor, an educator and a researcher. Sue completed her PhD later in life and exemplified a lifelong commitment to learning and evidence based care. In January 2014, Sue was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the community through philanthropic and charitable organisations and to the profession of physiotherapy. Sue Charlton leaves behind a legacy of service and leadership. Her contribution will endure through the institutions she strengthened and the many lives she touched. Vale, Sue Charlton. Bandyup Women's Prison 50 13:50 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck I come from a place of incredible privilege. Like many here, I have been afforded an education, a roof over my head and a life free from violence. I recently visited Bandyup Women's Prison in West Swan in Hasluck. The majority of women there have suffered family and domestic violence, and sadly those experiences form part of the reason why many of them are there. Prisons are difficult places. I was so pleasantly surprised to see the great, dedicated and caring support by the correctional officers and the rehabilitation practices being implemented that help fill the very gaps that have occurred in their lives, including in education and health care. About 50 per cent of the inmates at Bandyup are Indigenous, underscoring the continuing need for us to work to close the gap across this and other measures. The women are supported at the end of their sentences through a carefully staged release process, and this includes receiving a second-hand phone upon release with important numbers for them to engage with continuing support. The ability to communicate with others is incredibly important for everyone, but for domestic violence survivors who already face isolation, particularly in remote communities, it can be the thing that saves their lives. I have already initiated the DV Safe Phone program in my Hasluck office, which is now a busy drop-off point for phones, and I encourage my colleagues across all sides of parliament to become that drop-off zone for DV Safe Phone. Molineux, Ms Sophie Grace 50 13:52 Mr CHESTER IPZ Gippsland Like all members in this place, I do enjoy the opportunity to speak at my local schools on occasion. Among the key messages that I like to pass onto students is just a little reminder that you should never sell yourself short and never forget where you came from. I want young Gippslanders to be able to achieve their full potential in their chosen field and never to think for a second that a kid from a country town can't achieve great things in their life and do something if they just work hard and put their mind to it. And, in saying that, it brings me to a young Australian who has just been named the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game: Sophie Molineux from Bairnsdale. Sophie was born and raised in Bairnsdale. She played her first cricket as a 10-year-old alongside her father Mark, and she has been a member of the national team since 2018. But the journey for Sophie hasn't been that easy. She has sustained serious injuries during her cricket-playing career which have curtailed her opportunities to play at an international level. So I can say with great pride and great authority on behalf of all Gippslanders how excited they are to see Sophie Molineux selected as the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game. This is a young lady who has never given up, and she's never forgotten where she came from. Myuna Colliery 50 13:53 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter I rise today to stand with the workers of Myuna Colliery, their families and the Lake Macquarie community being treated as a throwaway item by Origin Energy. For more than three years, I've stood with the Mining and Energy Union, demanding that Origin do the right thing. For more than three years, Origin has stalled and dodged responsibilities. Let's be clear about what's actually happening here. Myuna Colliery was built for one purpose: to supply coal to Eraring Power Station. There is no alternative market for them. Origin has locked in Eraring's operation until at least 2029. They are generating power. They are selling electricity. They are making huge profits. Yet they refuse to guarantee the local jobs that make the operation possible. Around 300 direct jobs at Myuna are now on the line, along with over 1,000 jobs and more across the supply chain, not because a mine has failed but because Origin is playing corporate games. This is not the energy transition. This is not inevitable. This is a deliberate commercial decision, shifting risk onto workers, families and the community. Yesterday's short-term offer was a spin, not a solution. It provides no certainty. If Origin keeps Eraring running, it must take responsibility and commit to a genuine long term coal supply agreement. The Hunter has powered New South Wales for generations. The least Origin could do is power these jobs into the future. Sign a deal, and do it now. Ku-ring-gai Rural Fire Service 50 13:54 Ms BOELE 26417 Bradfield In scenes all too familiar to Australians, my community watched with dismay at the devasting bushfires in Victoria this summer. As blazes tore through the state, I was incredibly proud to learn that our very own North Shore volunteer brigades answered the call for help. Congratulations to Huw Bradshaw from the North Shore Lorikeet for reporting on their journey. As Huw reported, several Ku-ring-gai volunteers travelled to places including Yarck in the Goulburn Valley to protect vulnerable communities and their properties. In the great tradition of Australian firefighting and community service, they put their own lives at risk to help fellow Australians. It's what we do, and it's what we need to keep doing as the devastating impacts of climate change usher in weather events that are more severe and more frequent than ever before. Today is 4 February, Extreme Heat Awareness Day. It's critical that we properly plan for what's ahead, but it's also critical that we properly tackle the causes of the problem. We can't protect communities from extreme heat and catastrophic bushfires while we literally pour fuel on the fire. Making climate change worse by approving new fossil fuel projects is not part of our plan. I offer my sincere thanks to our Ku-ring-gai volunteer firefighters for their service, and I call on this place to do everything it can to protect those who answer the call by mitigating the risks, helping to build more resilient communities and ending the approval of new fossil fuel projects. Braddon Electorate: Health Care 51 13:56 Ms URQUHART 231199 Braddon Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, residents of Braddon now have access to free mental health care with the opening of a temporary pop-up Medicare mental health centre in Burnie. Located in Cooee along the Bass Highway, this walk-in service provides immediate support for anyone in distress—no appointment, no referral, just help when they need it most. It is staffed by a dedicated team of clinicians and peer workers, ensuring that our locals receive the right care at the right time. This temporary centre will remain in place while a permanent Medicare mental health centre is established at the Burnie Health Hub, due open in late 2026. This is the second Medicare mental health centre in Braddon, with a national roll-out of 92 centres right across the country. Along with this clinic, a new Medicare urgent care clinic will open on 9 February, offering bulk-billed extended hours care for non-emergency conditions also in Burnie at the Health Hub. This will be the second urgent care clinic in Braddon and is something I campaigned for in the election. This provides my constituents with better access to urgent care and mental health assistance when they need it most, taking pressure off the emergency department at the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie. On this side, all of us are about delivering on our promises. Over on that side, it's all about division. Sydney Youth Musical Theatre 51 13:58 Mr LEESER 109556 Berowra The Berowra electorate is home to some extraordinary young performing talent, and that talent will be on display at the Sydney Youth Musical Theatre's production of 9-5, which will be running from 7-15 February at the Glenn Street Theatre. The SYMT's production will have lots of Dolly Parton's wonderful and famous songs. SYMT provides not only a place for entertainment for people but also a very important training ground for young artists and musicians. People go on to study at NIDA, WAAPA, the VCA and become recipients the Helpmann and Rob Guest awards. Some of the people involved in this production include director Adam Haynes, music director Jono Simpson, choreographer Caitlin Dennis, assistant director Lachie Donlevy and assistant choreographer Bella Speranza. The incredible president of the SYMT and production manager is Chrissy Stimson. The cast includes Erin Pacholke, Danijela Novakovic, Jessica Bate, Nathanael Sherlock, Liz Grant, Aiden Hall, Sascha Masjuk, Eliza Pascoe, Hayley Mathie, Chloe Gardener, Harry Little, Karl Willison and Alex White. I got the privilege of seeing some of the rehearsals over the summer, and I encourage everyone in the electorate—indeed, everyone in the parliament—to buy a ticket to see this fantastic production by some outstanding young Australian musicians, actors and performers in the Sydney Youth Musical Theatre's production of 9-5. Housing 51 13:59 Mr BURNELL 300129 Spence Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz clicked her heels three times and said, 'There's no place like home.' And she's right. There is no place like home. And a home is exactly what John, Yolanda and Luca Tramantono from Munno Para in my electorate of Spence have been able to build with the help of the Albanese government. They graciously hosted us on the weekend for a historic announcement by our government, an announcement that includes a landmark agreement to unlock 17,000 new homes for South Australians, including nearly 7,000 homes for first home buyers. The $800 million investment marked a major milestone in delivering our election commitment to help build 100,000 homes for first home buyers. This is about providing real housing accessibility for South Australians who want the security of their own home, and it would not have been possible without the united, cohesive and driven leadership from the Albanese and Malinauskas Labor governments and our unwavering dedication to delivering for Australians. Whilst those opposite continue to be divided, divisive and too busy fighting with themselves, we are driven in our pursuit of helping Australians purchase their first home. We are focused on delivering real progress, real supply and real hope to make sure anyone has access to their own home. The SPEAKER 53517 In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded. MINISTRY 52 MINISTRY Temporary Arrangements 52 14:01 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I inform the House that the Minister for Social Services is representing myself at the state funeral service of Professor the Hon. Dame Marie Bashir and will be absent from question time today. I know that, particularly for people from New South Wales, Marie Bashir was an absolutely extraordinary human being and a great governor of New South Wales, and she will be missed by so many people who had contact with her. She was remarkable. The Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations will answer questions on the minister's behalf. I also inform the House that the Minister for Communications and Minister for Sport will be absent from question time today and tomorrow. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government will answer questions on her behalf. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 52 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Economy 52 14:02 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor, Australians are living with higher prices and increasing interest rates. While the Treasurer blames the private sector, Australia's leading economists say the problem is government spending. Stephen Smith, Deloitte Access Economics partner, said government spending was 'historically high' and 'a genuine driver of inflation'. We all know the Treasurer won't, so will the Prime Minister accept responsibility for yesterday's rate rise? Yes or no? 14:02 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler This is what the RBA governor said yesterday when she was asked very directly about government spending. She said, 'What's happened in the last six months or so is private demand has turned out to be much stronger than we have been forecasting.' That's what the RBA governor had to say very clearly. We know that Australians are still doing it tough, and we know that cost-of-living pressures are real, but that's why we have measures to actually address cost-of-living pressures to take pressure off family budgets in every way that we can. And we'll keep focusing on easing cost-of-living pressures; on making medicines cheaper, which we did on 1 January; investing in more bulk-billing and urgent care clinics, which we are doing; cutting student debt by 20 per cent—opposed by those opposite—paid prac; $10,000 incentives for people to do apprenticeships in construction or in energy; and, of course, free TAFE, which has now had more than 700,000 people participate in it. It's why we support real wage rises. That's why we supported a tax cut last year and why, on 1 July, there will be another tax cut, and, next year, there'll be another one after that. I note before— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Goldstein, don't make it two from two. Mr ALBANESE R36 I note we had a debate about a cost-of-living measure before question time today. Those opposite can't even agree on cheaper beer, remarkably. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 The Manager of Opposition Business will make his point of order, as he's entitled to do so. Mr Hawke HWO It's on relevance. The question wasn't about the debate earlier today. It was about interest rates. The SPEAKER 53517 The Prime Minister was asked about higher prices and increasing interest rates. He was talking about the price of an individual commodity, but I'll invite him to return to the question. Mr ALBANESE R36 I was, Mr Speaker. I was asked about cost of living and the pressure that people are under, and I'm talking about the measures which we're taking. One of them we're trying to legislate through the parliament. It passed the House of Representatives earlier today, but the Liberals split from the Nationals. More than that, five of the Liberals went and voted with the Nationals against the government's position. Mr Chester IPZ Way to go, Bubble Boy! Mr ALBANESE R36 I take the interjection from one of the Nats talking about the bubble. They can't stop talking about themselves, each and every day. Sky News don't have 30 seconds when there's not one of them sitting in their studio. The SPEAKER 53517 There are far too many interjections from the member for Gippsland. That yelling will not continue. Mr Chester IPZ I gave him his best material! The SPEAKER 53517 No! The member for Gippsland is now warned. I'm not having a repeat of yesterday with a continual barrage of noise. It's not acceptable and it's not respectful to the chamber. The Manager of Opposition Business, on a point of order. Mr Hawke HWO The Prime Minister is defying you. You directed him to direct his remarks to the question. He is not doing that. He's defying your ruling. The SPEAKER 53517 Resume your seat. If the member for Gippsland and other members would stop interjecting so loudly, perhaps the Prime Minister wouldn't be provoked. We can easily deal with this. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! If you want him to answer a question, don't interject, because he's taking interjections. It's pretty simple. The SPEAKER 53517 The House is going to come to order. The member for Gippsland has been warned. It's completely unacceptable. Mr ALBANESE R36 I know the Manager of Opposition Business would be somewhat sensitive given he's now down to 23 members who will follow a decision of the shadow cabinet—23 out of 150. Defence Properties 53 14:07 Mr HOLZBERGER 88411 Forde My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government ensuring the future of the defence estate, and what will this mean for defence capability? 14:08 Mr MARLES HWQ Corio I thank the member for his question. Today, the Albanese government has announced the biggest review of Australia's defence estate in our country's history. As we face the most significant strategic circumstances since the end of World War II, the Defence Strategic Review made clear that we need to be investing more in our bases across our north and our west, and we are doing that. This is one example: we now have exquisite berthing capability at HMAS Coonawarra, in Darwin, which, last year, saw an aircraft carrier come alongside for the first time. We're engaged in an $8 billion redevelopment of HMAS Stirling in Rockingham in preparation for the Submarine Rotational Force—West. But, as we focus on these investments, it's become clear that we need to look at the entirety of our defence estate. Defence is one of the biggest landholders in the country, and it is clear that much of that land is now beyond its useful life for Defence. We commissioned Jan Mason and Jim Miller, both experts in the field, to engage in an audit of the defence estate, and I want to thank them for their work. It was thorough and exhaustive, but in so many ways it was also damning. I will quote their report: Defence is holding more property than it needs and is carrying the burden of past indecision to reorient the estate towards more contemporary and future needs. It said: Attempts to consolidate and rationalise property holdings in the past have been stymied by a lack of political and organisational will to overcome challenges. And: It is clear that maintaining the status quo is not an option. Well, today we are garnering that political will to make the difficult decisions. I really want to thank the Assistant Minister for Defence, Peter Khalil, and the former assistant minister for defence, Matt Thistlethwaite, who have led the government's efforts in this area. Today we are announcing that we are agreeing in principle to all 20 recommendations of the Defence Estate and that includes the divestiture in full of 64 properties, the divestiture in part of another three, and every cent of that will be reinvested in defence capability. But most importantly, we will stop wasting money on properties that we don't need. As just one example, in the last four years we've spent $4 million securing Spectacle Island in Sydney Harbour when we haven't had a member of the Defence Force on that site since 2023. These reforms will now focus the Defence Estate to be the foundation that the Defence Force needs in order for it to do its job to defend Australia. Bondi Beach: Attack 53 14:11 Ms BOELE 26417 Bradfield My question is for the Leader of the House. Two weeks ago this parliament passed legislation to respond to the Bondi terror attack. The crossbench was required to vote on legislation mere hours after receiving it. That process disrespected the one in three Australians who voted for a strong crossbench and it degrades the democracy that we fought so hard to nurture. What steps will the government take to ensure that law-making processes following future crises will not degrade democracy in this way? 14:11 Mr BURKE DYW Watson I thank the member for Bradfield for the question. I thank all members of the House for their cooperation in those sittings that we had not so long ago. Nothing degrades a democracy more than a terrorist attack. It's as simple as that. As soon as the horrific antisemitic terror attack had happened in Bondi, a number of us assembled in Canberra. The Prime Minister made sure that the national security committee was meeting daily. Within the first week, the Prime Minister stood up in the courtyard to announce that there would be a legislative response with respect to guns and with respect to hate laws. From that moment, public servants worked every day, including daily briefings to myself and to the Attorney-General, through the Christmas-new year period. The moment we had legislation ready, two things happened: the Prime Minister stood up in the courtyard and announced that parliament would be recalled, and that day the legislation appeared as an exposure draft, to make sure that people had an opportunity to get across the legislation as best they could. Various negotiations started and a parliamentary inquiry started immediately as well. I would love to have a situation where all legislation could be dealt with in a staged manner, like we do with most legislation in this House, where we don't commence debate in the week that it's introduced. That's what we normally do. But if anyone wanted any piece of evidence about why the timely nature of that going through quickly mattered, it's to think about what happened on the Sunday, not the Sunday after the legislation had been released but the Sunday before this parliament returned, when the National Socialist Network, the Neo-Nazis of Australia, disbanded. It wasn't because we were saying we were going to take our time; it was because they knew it was going to go through that week. That's what happened. They made sure that they had disbanded. There are many organisations engaged in antisemitism. There are many organisations engaged in a number of forms of bigotry that the intelligence and law enforcement agencies that I'm responsible for as Minister for Home Affairs have to deal with. The priority that we take, without apology, is if something has to be done quickly to keep people safe then that's how we do it. Australian Defence Force 54 14:14 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government backing our defence forces by making sure that they have access to the investment assets and infrastructure that they need to keep Australians safe? And what approaches has the government rejected? 14:14 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for Hasluck for both her service and the question. The government will always support the men and women who proudly wear our uniform to keep Australians safe, investing in our capability and investing in our relationships. On Friday, I will be in Jakarta seeing that through, signing a landmark security agreement with Indonesia. But we also need to support defence forces at home, making sure that every single dollar that's spent makes a difference to defending our nation, builds on our record defence funding and focuses our capacity where it's needed. Now, we commissioned an independent review into our Defence estate to investigate how to do just that. It's clear that there are significant opportunities to do things a better way. Defence owns a significant estate that is simply not being used at all or, in some cases, is just underused. Big buildings on big plots of land are sitting half empty seven days a week, and Defence has a full-time job maintaining them. From a personnel and also an assets perspective, that simply doesn't make sense, and it's not an efficient use of that land either. Many barracks and buildings sit on land that was gazetted for use well before Federation, and they serve a purpose more fitting for that time, frankly, than they do for today. So we are taking action to maximise our defence capability. The Commonwealth will sell 64 Defence estate sites across the nation and invest all proceeds back into defence, supporting our Defence Force personnel, making sure that our Defence estate is fit for purpose but also creating opportunities for urban development for green spaces and housing in our cities. It is about making sure the men and women who keep us safe can do just that. This is a win-win-win. It is a win for the nation's defence. It is a win for opportunities when it comes to housing. But it's also a win for ensuring that economic efficiency comes through, that we don't have estates just sitting there, costing money to be maintained, serving no purpose in either being used by our Defence Force personnel or in defending our nation. This is a sensible way forward, and I thank the Minister for Defence and Assistant Minister Khalil for the extraordinary amount of work that has gone into this. This is a sensible reform going forward. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 55 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Acknowledgement 55 14:17 The SPEAKER 53517 I'm pleased to advise the house that present in the gallery today are Meg Brown, member for Franklin and shadow minister in the Tasmanian House of Assembly, and Councillor John Daw, a former shire president of Mundaring, as a guest of the member for Bullwinkel. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 55 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Economy 55 14:18 Mr TED O'BRIEN 138932 Fairfax My question goes to the Treasurer. Shane Oliver, AMP chief economist, said, 'The best thing that Australian governments can do to help bring down inflation would be to cut government spending'. When will the Treasurer finally admit he must control his spending to prevent the 14th interest rate rise under Labor? 14:18 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Once again leaving out that interest rates started going up on their watch and there were three interest rate cuts last year—but, more broadly, in terms of the points made by Shane Oliver, as I said yesterday in this place and on other occasions as well, that is a view that is not unanimously shared amongst economists. The AMP economists said government spending has peaked and that growth in government spending is going to add less to inflation. Commonwealth Bank economists said the public sector's contribution to growth has eased significantly. Westpac economists said public sector demand growth is slowing and, indeed, was negative over the first half of 2025. Now, if his question is, 'Will the government be looking to make more savings in its fifth budget, in May?' the answer is yes. The fact is that we've made savings in all of our budgets and budget updates. That's why we've found $114 billion in savings, including $20 billion in savings in the midyear budget update less than two months ago. To give the shadow Treasurer and shadow Assistant Treasurer a sense of the magnitude of that, it took the previous government seven budget updates to find anything like $20 billion in savings, so I won't be taking lectures from those opposite when it comes to responsible economic management. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The deputy leader will cease interjecting, or he'll be warned. Dr CHALMERS 37998 This government has helped engineer the biggest nominal improvement in the budget in the history of this country—a $233 billion improvement in the budget. We've paid down $176 billion in Liberal debt, which saves us $60 billion in interest costs. We've delivered two surpluses. They promised a surplus every year and went none for nine, so we won't be taking lectures from them. Now, I want to finish on this important point that was missed yesterday in the back and forth on this question. By the shadow Treasurer's logic, every extra dollar in government spending puts pressure on inflation. Those opposite took to the election bigger deficits this year and next year. So the onus is on the shadow Treasurer to inform the House: if this is his logic about government spending and pressure on inflation, he should tell the House how much higher inflation would be as a consequence of the member for Fairfax and the member for Hume taking to the last election a bigger deficit this year and a bigger deficit next year as well. As always, they've set a little trap for themselves on this question. We know responsible economic management is paramount. We've found savings to date, there'll be more in the May budget, and that's consistent with the approach we've taken to managing the budget and the economy in the most responsible way. (Time expired) Budget 55 14:21 Mr SOON 298618 Banks My question is to the Treasurer. How has the Albanese Labor government approached the task of budget repair? How does this compare with other approaches? 14:22 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Thanks to the member for Banks for the big and thoughtful contribution he's already making in his first term in this place. As I was saying, the midyear update that we handed down in December detailed $20 billion in savings, and it banked every cent of upward revisions to revenue. What made it the most responsible midyear update on record was that it was the only one ever to have a better bottom line every year of the forward estimates, less debt every year of the forward estimates and net policy decisions that improve the budget bottom line. This is entirely consistent with the responsible approach that we've taken since we came to office. We've delivered that biggest nominal turnaround in the budget ever—a $233 billion improvement. We've found that $114 billion in savings. We've got the gross debt down this year to $176 billion lower than what it was when we came to office, and that means we're avoiding that $60 billion in interest costs. But the progress is most obvious when you compare our record on the budget to that of our predecessors. They promised a surplus in their first year and every year—they never delivered one. We've already delivered two surpluses, and we got their deficits down. They had real spending growth averaging 4.1 per cent; we've got it down to 1.7 per cent. They had spending at almost a third of the economy; we've got it down closer to a quarter. They spent the majority of upward revisions to revenue; we have saved most of them. They had debt peaking at 45 per cent of our economy; we've got that down to 37 per cent. They doubled the debt even before the pandemic, and we've been able to get some of it down. They went to the election promising to jack up income taxes on every taxpayer; we'll cut taxes this year and next year as well. I know that the shadow Treasurer has been talking about fiscal rules. The Liberal Party's fiscal rules weren't worth the paper that they were printed on. They promised surpluses; they went none from nine. They didn't limit their spending or bank revenue upgrades like we have. They failed every test that they set for themselves. The highest spending government was Scott Morrison's government. The highest taxing government was John Howard's government. They took to the election a policy for higher income taxes, higher electricity bills, bigger deficits and more debt, and that's why nobody takes them seriously on the economy anymore. They might change their leader, but they can't change their record. We will not be taking lectures from them. We have delivered the surpluses, the spending restraint and the savings that our predecessors could not. We know that there's more work to do on the budget, and that's our focus as they focus on who sits where over there. Interest Rates 56 14:25 Ms LANDRY 249764 Capricornia My question is to the Treasurer. The Reserve Bank decision to increase interest rates will place more cost-of-living pressure on Australian families. When the Reserve Bank cut rates in August last year, the Treasurer put out a long media statement taking credit for the decision. Treasurer, why is it that the government takes credit when interest rates go down but no-one takes any responsibility when the rates go up? Why don't you apologise to the Australian people? 14:25 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Thank you to the honourable member for her question. As I said yesterday and again today, I take responsibility for all aspects of my job, including my part in the fight against inflation. I dispute the characterisation of comments last year. I think I've been saying for the last couple of years that budgets aren't the primary determinant of prices in our economy. I've been saying that, really, for some time now, and that's because it's true. I know that we've got a job to do to roll out cost-of-living help in the most responsible way that we can to and to make the budget even more sustainable. I take responsibility for that as well. When it comes to the points that those opposite have been making about yesterday's decision by the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates, I think it's really important to recognise that the points that I have been making yesterday and today are in lockstep with the points that were made by the Reserve Bank governor. This is what the Reserve Bank governor said in the press release announcing the decision: Growth in private demand has strengthened substantially more than expected … …   …   … … private demand is growing more quickly than expected … In the Statement on monetary policy, they said: Private demand was much stronger than expected … …   …   … The near-term upward revision is driven by private demand … These are just the economic facts that the Reserve Bank governor and I have been pointing out. In the Reserve Bank governor's press conference, she said: … private demand has turned out to be much stronger than we had been forecasting. But, perhaps most importantly when it comes to refuting some of the rubbish that has been peddled by those opposite, this is in the Statement on monetary policy issued yesterday by the independent Reserve Bank, and I'm quoting here: The contribution of public demand to year-ended GDP growth has continued to ease in recent quarters … That's because what's been happening in our economy is an important transition over the course of the last year or so, where the public sector, measured by public final demand growth, has been retreating—last year it was less than a third of what it was the year before—and that slack has been taken up by the private sector, which is a good thing so long as the economy can accommodate it. That's why the work that we're doing on productivity and lifting the speed limit of the economy is such important work. So we're seeing that transition in our economy. We've seen it over the course of the last year or so. So these are the points that I've been making and the points that the RBA governor has been making. We know that there's more work to do on inflation and on productivity against the backdrop of global economic uncertainty, and that's the government's focus. National Disability Insurance Scheme 57 14:28 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing and Minister for Disability and the NDIS. How is the Albanese Labor government securing the future of the NDIS and delivering more funding and support to help Australian kids and their families to thrive? 14:29 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh Thank you to the member, who knows just how much the NDIS is a proud legacy of our Labor Party. It's a world-leading program of supports for people with significant and permanent—usually lifelong—disabilities. But when we came to government we found a scheme that was running off the rails. At a time when the scheme should already have been pretty much fully matured, it was growing at a whopping 22 per cent per year. Our government immediately started the hard work to get that growth rate down to a more sustainable level. We set a target of eight per cent growth this year, in 2026, and the mid-year budget update that the Treasurer published only several weeks ago reported that we are on track to meet that target. But I've also said that an eight per cent growth target for a scheme with a relatively stable population base is still not sustainable. On Friday, state premiers and chief ministers agreed with the Prime Minister and our government to work to get that growth rate down even further to five to six per cent or lower. Of course, we will do that work in close partnership with the disability community itself. But I make the point that sustainable growth in this scheme is not just important for the budget, although it is. It is also a critical way to ensure the long-term future of this absolutely critical scheme. The other concern that we encountered, though, was the huge number of young children enrolled onto the NDIS, particularly young boys. One in six junior primary school boys now are on the NDIS, and in some parts of the country it's as high as one in four. This is simply not what the scheme was set up to do, and it's not the best way to support young children with low to moderate needs. That's why I was also delighted on Friday that state premiers also agreed to our plan to introduce the Thriving Kids program. I want to thank the member for Macarthur, the member for Kooyong and a number of other members in this place for their really quick but comprehensive inquiry into this program that they delivered very recently. I also want to thank the Thriving Kids Advisory Group, which I co-chaired with Professor Frank Oberklaid, for their work to set up this model of a program. It's a program that will be rolled out over the coming couple of years. It will help children with support needs be identified as early as possible. And, importantly, it won't need a formal diagnosis, which we know can take ages and ages to receive and cost thousands and thousands of dollars. Instead, support will be easy and quick to access, and it will be available where young people and their parents live, learn and play. In short, it will give every child in this country the best opportunity to thrive. Interest Rates 57 14:32 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer My question is to the Prime Minister. Under Labor, families have seen their mortgage repayments rise, their savings stretched and their cost of living worsen 13 times. This did not happen by accident. HSBC chief economist Paul Bloxham says government spending has 'contributed to the upside surprise to inflation'. After 13 rate hikes, will the Prime Minister finally accept responsibility, end his reckless spending and stop making life harder for Australian families? 14:32 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I'm asked about government spending. We're the first government in almost two decades to deliver back-to-back budget surpluses. We've returned over 70 per cent of all tax receipt upgrades to the bottom line, compared with our predecessors, who returned about 40 per cent. Debt in 2024-25 was $188 billion lower than what was forecast in their budget in 2022, handed down by Josh Frydenberg. This has saved the nation around $60 billion in interest costs. Under this government, average real annual spending growth is 1.7 per cent over the seven years to 2028-29. This is around half of the 30-year average of 3.2 per cent, and it's less than half of what it was under the former coalition government of 4.1 per cent. The ratings agencies have all reaffirmed Australia's AAA credit rating. Last September, S&P said: Sound fiscal metrics support our 'AAA' long-term sovereign credit rating on Australia. Australia's fiscal performance is sound. Fitch said: Fitch Affirms Australia at 'AAA'; Outlook Stable. The Parliamentary Budget Office found—at election time in 2025, less than a year ago—that our platform would improve the budget over the medium term, and they concluded that those opposite had a platform that equalled higher taxes, bigger deficits and more debt. That's just a fact. All up, the coalition would have increased deficits by $135 billion over the coming decade and added $147 billion to government debt. That is after they were going to slash essential services, get rid of more than 40,000 public servants and not just not have the income taxes that we are going to reduce but legislate to increase income taxes for every single taxpayer. That is what they had to say! They're the facts. They don't like it, but they are the facts as we go forward. We're happy to have a debate with them about the facts, because those opposite are just focused on disagreeing with each other. (Time expired) Education 58 14:36 Ms JORDAN-BAIRD 316021 Gorton My question is to the Minister for Education. As students across the country head back to school, what is the Albanese Labor government doing to ensure Australian kids get the best start possible? Why is it so important to deliver, rather than divide, on school education? 14:36 Mr CLARE HWL Blaxland I thank my friend the glorious member for Gorton for her question. School is now back across the country. That means a lot of relieved mums and dads and a few nervous kids—not as nervous as a few people over there! Mr Caldwell 306489 Tell us a story, Jason! Mr CLARE HWL I'll tell you a story. There are a lot of kids changing schools, changing classes, changing teachers and changing seats. There's a bit of that going on over there as well! There are kids in classrooms right now that are learning how to read and are learning how to count. There's a bit of that going on over there as well! No doubt there are a few kids yet to get back to school. They might be still on a European holiday. They'll get back late and no doubt expect to get elected school captain. But this is a big year for school education. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Herbert is now warned. Mr CLARE HWL Last year, we signed agreements with every state and every territory to fix the funding of our public schools. That funding, and the reform that's tied to it, starts to roll out this year. A big part of that reform is reading. The reading wars are over. We know what works. A big part of that is phonics. A big part of that is explicit teaching. A big part of that is identifying early children who are falling behind and giving them extra support. And part of that is a phonics check for kids when they're six—when they're in year 1. That rolls out right across the country, in every state and every territory, this year. To give you an idea of how important this is, South Australia has been doing this now for almost a decade. When they started doing it in 2018, 43 per cent of six-year-olds met the expected standard. When they did that test last year, 66 per cent of six-year-olds met that standard. That's why it's important. That's why we're rolling this out now in every state and every territory. That's why we're now going to do the same thing in maths—a year 1 numeracy check that starts to roll out this year. I will also use this opportunity to give a quick shout-out to our teachers, people who do the most important jobs in the world. This year, there are going to be big changes to teacher training to better prepare students to teach children to read, write and count and to manage classroom behaviour. Some good news I can advise the House of is that this year the number of applications from students to start a teaching degree at university is up 6.5 per cent, and university offers are up 6.3 per cent. This is all good news: more funding for our schools, more teachers for our schools and more focus on the basics to make sure more of our children get a great start in life. DISTINGUISHED VISITORS 58 DISTINGUISHED VISITORS Acknowledgement 58 14:39 The SPEAKER 53517 I'm pleased to advise the House that Councillor Yolanda Kanyai from the City of Palmerston, as a guest of the member for Solomon, has also joined us in the gallery today. Honourable members: Hear, hear! QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 58 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Energy 58 14:39 Mr BOYCE 299498 Flynn My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The Prime Minister promised that Labor's energy plan would reduce household electricity bills by $275 per year by 2025. Minister, why has this not happened, and will you apologise? The SPEAKER 53517 The Treasurer, until you cease interjecting, we won't hear the answer. 14:40 Mr BOWEN DZS McMahon I thank the honourable member for his question. I note that, in his electorate, 1,128 Flynn households have introduced a cheaper home battery under our policy and have reduced their energy bill by 90 per cent or more and, in many cases, have reduced their bill to nothing and now get a rebate. That's a common story across rural and regional Australia, which I'm sure all honourable members welcome. Whether they're rural and regional members from the Labor Party, the National Party, One Nation or aren't sure, they all welcome this great news. The fact of the matter is that, in Queensland, wholesale prices of electricity in May 2022 were $347 a megawatt hour. They are now $58 a megawatt hour. Some of the biggest reductions we saw in the last quarter were in Queensland, and that's a good thing. It's a direct result of the increase in renewables across our grid. We know there's much more work to do to ensure that every Australian benefits from the increase in renewables and solar. That's why we're doing things like solar sharer, which those opposite oppose. One thing that unites them is that they're opposed to free electricity in the middle of the day, apparently. They're the sorts of policies that this government will keep implementing and that those opposite simply don't understand. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Leader of The Nationals is getting close to not being here in the chamber. Medicare 59 14:42 Mr ABDO 316915 Calwell My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How are the Albanese Labor government's record investments in bulk-billing helping to strengthen Medicare after a decade of cuts and neglect? 14:42 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh The member for Calwell is such a terrific advocate for Medicare in his community and in this place because he knows that Medicare is Australia's most important program. He also knows that the beating heart of Medicare is bulk-billing—the promise that every Australian should feel that they can go to the GP whenever they need to, rather than when they feel they can afford to; the promise that all they should need to take to the GP is that little green and gold Medicare card. But we know that, when we came to government three and a bit years ago, bulk-billing was in freefall. That was the description given to it by the College of GPs. And we also know that the reason why it was in freefall was no mystery at all. It was because the Liberal Party government had frozen the Medicare rebate and frozen the income of doctors year after year after year—most of those years—as a result of a budget decision overseen by the Leader of the Opposition, of course, when she was the health minister. Because of that freezing of their income, GP leaders had started to advise their members to walk away from bulk-billing. When we came to government, we were utterly determined to turn that around. In our first full budget, delivered by the Treasurer in 2023, we tripled the incentive that GPs get paid for bulk-billing pensioners, concession card holders and kids. It was a request from the College of GPs, and, when we delivered on it, they called it a game changer. Bulk-billing rates for those Australians are now comfortably back up over 90 per cent. We also delivered the three biggest general increases to the Medicare rebate in 30 years. The biggest, the second biggest and the third biggest since Paul Keating was Prime Minister. Also, only three months ago, for the first time ever, we delivered bulk-billing support to every single Australian, not just those with a concession card. I'm happy to report that, already, that is making a huge difference out in our community. The member for Calwell and I visited the Craigieburn Medical & Dental Centre late last year. Before 1 November, that centre charged gap fees, but, after our incentives were announced, GPs sat down and crunched the numbers and realised that taking up that offer was better for the practice. It was better for GPs individually and obviously it was better for patients. Today, that practice bulk-bills all of their patients all of the time. Indeed, before 1 November, only about half of the GP practices in Calwell bulk-billed all of their patients. Today, that figure is 90 per cent, which is great for GPs, great for household budgets and great for the health of that community. That is why we work so hard to strengthen Medicare. Economy 59 14:45 Mr TED O'BRIEN 138932 Fairfax My question goes to the Treasurer. Scores of economists, including those referenced already in question time today from Deloitte to AMP to HSBC, are all saying that the Treasurer's reckless spending is contributing to inflation, despite the Treasurer desperately attempting to deny all responsibility. So does the Treasurer truly expect Australians to believe that all of these economists are wrong but he is right? 14:46 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Again, by his logic, the bigger deficits that they've taken to the last election for this year and next year would make the inflation challenge in our economy worse, not better—by his own logic. You can't take to an election a policy to spend much more and to have bigger deficits and more debt and then make the argument that the shadow Treasurer is making. He's got to choose one argument or the other. When it comes to the views of economists, as I've said on a number of occasions now, there are a range of views about this. From AMP: … government spending has peaked and the growth of government spending is going to add less to inflation … The Commonwealth Bank said, 'The public sector's contribution to growth has eased significantly.' From Westpac: Public sector demand growth is slowing and indeed was negative over the first half of 2025. Even this morning, Access Economics made the point that public spending is not the driver of the uptick in inflation that we saw towards the end of last year and represented in last week's inflation numbers. If the shadow Treasurer doesn't want to take the word of those economists, then I refer him again to the comments of the Reserve Bank governor yesterday in the media release, in the statement on monetary policy and in the press conference itself. The governor made the point—and I'm quoting: Growth in private demand has strengthened substantially more than expected … I'm quoting again: Private demand is growing more quickly than expected … In the statement on monetary policy, it said, 'Private demand was much stronger than expected.' In the statement on monetary policy, it reads: The near-term upward revision is driven by private demand … And in the press conference: Private demand has turned out to be much stronger than we had been forecasting … This is the reality that the Governor of the Reserve Bank and I have been pointing to. And, once again, the statement on monetary policy reads: The contribution of public demand to year-ended GDP growth has continued to ease in recent quarters … Those opposite continue to ignore the very clear statements made by the independent Reserve Bank when explaining the decision that they took yesterday. We understand that as a government we need to continue to manage the budget responsibly. We need to rollout this cost-of-living help in the best way that we can. There's more work to do on the budget in May. That's obviously the case. When we talk about cost-of-living help, we should remember that just this morning the opposition leader said, 'All the relief that the government has provided to struggling Australians—that's not the answer.' So they don't support the cost-of-living relief that's rolling out. We do, and we're doing it while we're making the budget more responsible as well. Queensland: Infrastructure 60 14:49 Mr MATT SMITH 312393 Leichhardt My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering the infrastructure and transport regional Queensland needs? What approaches has the government rejected? 14:49 Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR Ballarat Can I thank the member for Leichhardt for the question. It was an absolute pleasure to stand with him, with the member for Braddon and with Minister McBain this morning to announce up to $5 million to support regional and remote airports that supported Rex. Many local councils and their regional airports were left short-changed when Rex went into administration, but they continued to support regional travellers across the country, ensuring that Rex could continue to fly in. That funding will go some way to covering the shortfall for regional airports across country Australia, including in Cairns, and I encourage local councils and members to encourage their local councils to apply for that funding. As the member for Leichhardt knows well, though, we are not just investing in his electorate's airports; we're also making record investments in Queensland, in particular in Queensland's longest highway, the Bruce Highway. It was just over a year ago now that I joined the Prime Minister in Gympie to announce an additional $7.2 billion into the Bruce Highway to improve the highway north of Gympie, up to Cairns. That takes our government's total investment in the Bruce up to $17 billion. I'm really pleased to be able to see the progress that is happening. So imagine my surprise, and I can see him interjecting, when I read comments from the member for Dawson, who at the time was an occupant of the opposition benches—he is now over there—that our investment, being jointly delivered with the LNP government and my good friend Brent Mickelberg—we work well together—that this money was 'just a stunt', with him saying: 'Let's be honest—this $7.2 billion was made purely for politics.' So, seeing as the member for Dawson thinks investing in Queensland is just a stunt, I thought I'd tell you about some of the delivery. Mr Willcox 286535 That's not what Senate estimates says. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Dawson! Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR What we've finished so far: strengthening the road surface at Toomulla Intersection, Spider Creek Road, Goodbye Creek Road and Hencamp Road; completing road repairs and strengthening between Ingham and Innisfail and between Ayr and Townsville; and widening and delivering safety upgrades for the Bootooloo Road. And now we've started preconstruction and design work to improve safety between Mackay and Proserpine and from Ayr through to Townsville—right across the Dawson electorate. Around Mackay, we've kicked off road-strengthening works at the southern entry, continuing down to Proserpine South. Procurement is underway so we can soon start road-surface strengthening at the northern and southern entrances of Sarina. And we're widening the road surface between Aldridge Road and Poppi Road, including the installation of a new wide centre lane. That's 38 projects already started and underway. So, while the former coalition is getting their steps up travelling around, plotting between their offices, we're getting on with the job of building the infrastructure that Queensland needs, including a significant investment in the Bruce Highway. Labor Government 61 14:52 Ms CHANEY 300006 Curtin My question is for the Prime Minister. Since you came to office in 2022, parliamentary committees have prepared 78 reports and hundreds of recommendations on policy areas ranging from domestic violence to plastic pollution to gambling harm. Your government has only responded to four of these within the required six-month window. Fifty-seven reports haven't received any response at all. Why is the government consistently failing to respond to important committee recommendations? Why set up these inquiries if they're not going to go anywhere? 14:53 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for Curtin for her question and for her engagement in the parliamentary processes. The member for Curtin brings due diligence to her local representation but also participates in the broader questions that come before this parliament. My government is characterised by orderly decision-making— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Mr ALBANESE R36 by taking the views not just of the parliament but those outside the parliament into account as well as developing policies one by one, ticking off on the commitments that we took to the 2022 election firstly and then the 2025 election. We engage in a cohesive way as well with departments, making sure that, after a committee hands down a report, we give it proper consideration through our cabinet processes. We make sure as well that we have proper funding involved and go through our ERC process before any expenditure process is agreed to. Mr Caldwell 306489 This is pretty ordinary. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Fadden is now warned. Mr ALBANESE R36 That is the orderly process that we— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Leader of the Opposition has had a pretty good go this question time. It's just continual interjections, and it's just too much. Please assist the House by not interjecting. Mr ALBANESE R36 That is the orderly process that we use. If you go back and have a look at the previous government's record, they used to just not bother to respond at all to committee reports. My government takes these issues seriously, which is why we engage—including, it must be said, with the crossbench—regularly. We have regular meetings. It could be that there are a number of regular crossbench meetings we have to have, even more so into the future. I look forward to all of them participating. Defence Equipment 61 14:55 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. How is a united Albanese Labor government delivering defence capability to keep Australians safe? What approaches has the government rejected? 14:55 Mr CONROY 249127 Shortland I thank the member for Boothby, from the great defence state of South Australia, for her question. The Albanese government is united in working hard to deliver the capabilities our Defence Force needs to keep Australians safe. Importantly, we're accelerating delivery at the same time as creating Aussie jobs. We've increased naval strike range tenfold, and we're more than doubling the size of the warship fleet. Our first new warship will be delivered five years ahead of the Liberals planned first new frigate, and we'll deliver four new warships in the time the Liberal government was to deliver one. We're also delivering the autonomous Ghost Shark submarine to safeguard our maritime approach. They are rolling off production lines in a factory in Sydney right now. We're acquiring counterdrone capabilities in record time. And our world-leading Ghost Bat is the first military aircraft designed and made in Australia in more than 50 years. We're making missiles right now in South Australia, and we'll open another missile factory next year. By contrast, under the last Liberal government not a single missile was built. All they produced was two media releases. You can't defend a country with media releases. I'm also asked about what we've rejected. We've rejected the chaos and division that we've seen from the Liberals and Nationals. The Albanese government runs a proper, orderly cabinet process because our national security demands nothing less. This means we can deliver. We're creating 10,000 shipbuilding jobs. By contrast, the Liberals closed two shipyards, slashing thousands of jobs. We're investing $10 billion in drones and counterdrones. The Liberals cancelled the nation's only armed drone project. We're undertaking the biggest reform to defence in 50 years, while a pet goldfish lasted longer than Liberal defence ministers. We're building factories while they are building leadership contenders. We're rolling out missiles and drones while they're rolling leaders. We're opening production lines while they're opening old wounds. We're focused on boosting our missile numbers, our ship numbers and our drone numbers. The only number the shadow defence minister is focused on is boosting his own numbers in their party room. The Albanese Labor government is delivering on our commitments to keep our nation safe, create jobs and build Australia's future. The Liberals and Nationals are a shambles; they are completely divided. We're focused on national security; all they care about is their own job security. The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Herbert interjected nine times during that one answer. As a result of him being on a warning, he will now leave the chamber for the remainder of question time. Opposition members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 There are consequences for actions. I don't know why people can't understand that concept. The member for Herbert then left the chamber . Water Infrastructure 62 14:59 Mr KATTER HX4 Kennedy Treasurer, young mothers today must have a paying job and be a wife, cook, family bookkeeper, kid chauffeur, house cleaner, laundry lady and go to church on Sunday. Not surprisingly, when 20 Australians die, only 15 will be born. Advance Australia Fair is Hughenden's irrigation scheme. Fifteen Hughendens would create 3,000 farms, 10,000 owner-operator businesses and 100,000 homes with backyards. Hughenden has had $170 million allocated now for eight years. Queensland dithers. Will you create a water authority and call tenders? Treasurer, you won't get a portrait; you'll get a statue! 15:00 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Thanks to the member for Kennedy for his question. I wanted to say that one of the first things I did this year was to travel with the Prime Minister and Minister McBain to make sure that we spent time— Mr Katter HX4 He's been to Hughenden twice—the Prime Minister. Dr CHALMERS 37998 Yes, he has been to Hughenden twice as Prime Minister. He's very committed to the north-west of Queensland, and you can see that in the fact that Minister McBain, the Prime Minister and I went and spent time with the good people and industries of Cloncurry. Our thoughts, obviously, are with the farmers and miners from that part of Australia in the aftermath of the horrific flooding. Now the question was about a number of things, but primarily I think it was about water infrastructure. Since May 2022, the Albanese government has invested $1.2 billion in more than 130 projects through the National Water Grid Fund, improving access to water, driving growth and supporting long-term environmental health. And we know, as the member for Kennedy pointed out in his question, 400 clicks up the road from Cloncurry, in a beautiful place called Hughenden, this government has made a $170 million commitment to support the Hughenden irrigation scheme in the member's electorate. He is right to point out that that project is waiting on a Queensland government review, which is currently under way—the Gulf water plan, I think it's called—which will provide the water necessary to support the scheme. It has been a process which has been under way for some time, and we're waiting for that process to conclude— Mr Katter HX4 They've been waiting for eight years! The SPEAKER 53517 Member for Kennedy, just listen to my advice. You just can't get up and say what you like. You did that during the question. If you wish to raise a point of order on relevance, you can. I take that was a point of order on relevance, but you need to say the point of order on relevance. The Treasurer was asked a question about the funding, and he's talking about the $170 million. I'm listening carefully to make sure he's being directly relevant to what you asked him. Dr CHALMERS 37998 Thank you, and I was also mentioning the frustrations that the member for Kennedy has about the wait on the Queensland government's Gulf water plan. I understand that that's the next thing that needs to be completed in order for the project to go ahead. Obviously, beyond that in Queensland we've got other big water commitments—$600 million near Bundy, which is a really important food bowl as well. But we do know that as a government we can always do more on this front. We take the member for Kennedy's suggestions very seriously. We have decided to review the Water Act, the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the National Water Initiative to make sure they are delivering on what we need them to. I acknowledge Minister Watt and, before him, Minister Plibersek for the work that they have done on that. Our objective here is to maximise the enormous economic potential of north-west Queensland. That is a passion that the member for Kennedy has, the Prime Minister has and the Treasurer has. This government shares that passion with the member for Kennedy, and a big part of that, an important part of that, is building more water infrastructure, not necessarily more statues. Housing 63 15:04 Mr BURNELL 300129 Spence My question is for the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to build more houses and help more Australians into homeownership? Why is a focus on delivery, not division, so important? 15:04 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham I'm absolutely thrilled to get this question from the member for Spence because, of course, on Saturday the Prime Minister and I were in the member for Spence's beautiful electorate in South Australia as we announced a landmark deal with the South Australian government under our 100,000 homes policy—2026 is going to be an absolutely massive year for housing. Our big focus is delivery, delivery, delivery. We have got a $45 billion agenda here, which will make a transformative change to housing opportunities in our country. We're building more homes, we're getting renters a better deal, and we're getting more Australians into homeownership. First home owners are unashamedly right at the centre of the focus that we have. During the election campaign, our prime minister announced that we're going to build 100,000 homes just for first home buyers. We've been able to make this fantastic deal with the South Australian government. That deal will see us build 17,000 homes in South Australia; 7,000 of these homes will be reserved just for first home buyers—no competition from investors or from people who have had housing opportunities already. They're just for those people who are missing out now. The work with the South Australian government has been really straightforward on construction for one reason: we share a very simple belief with the Premier, Peter Malinauskas. That is that we believe ordinary Australians should get the chance to own their own home. Under our government, that is happening more often. I'm asked about alternative approaches, and there are actually quite a few that we've seen. Ms O'NEIL 140590 We're getting a bit of backchat here from the Leader of the Opposition. We saw the work, so called, that she did when she was sitting on the front benches behind me where, for nine years in this country, we had a government that was so checked out of housing for most of that time that they didn't even have a housing minister. Now our government is on the pathway to building 55,000 homes. Do you know how many homes they built while they were in office? In nine long years in this country, they built 373 homes for Australians. No wonder things are so diabolical. That was the 'do nothing' approach. Then we had the 'make it worse' approach, where they brought to the last election a policy that would have seen the Australian government build fewer homes and make existing housing cost more—what a stupid idea. Now, we see the approach that they have at the moment, and the truth is that we have opposite us a set of opposition parties who are so divided, so dysfunctional, that they do not have a single sensible thing to say about housing, one of the most important issues facing our country. They are much too focused on coffees and gossip and psychodrama to focus on the Australian people. We have a different approach. Housing is a priority of our government, and we are delivering for the Australian people. Economy 63 15:07 Mr TED O'BRIEN 138932 Fairfax My question goes to the Treasurer. The RBA governor explained yesterday's decision to raise interest rates, saying this: … we work with aggregate demand … and, 'We're seeing aggregate demand, public and private, push up against the limits of growth.' Note her referencing of 'public'. Yet the Treasurer told the House yesterday government spending was 'not a factor' in the decision they took, and he peddled the same story today. Is the Treasurer suggesting the governor was wrong? Ms O'Neil 140590 You're so in the weeds, mate! The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Minister for Housing is warned. The SPEAKER 53517 The Manager of Opposition Business, I have just warned the housing minister! You'll go down that pathway too. We'll wait for the House to settle. The SPEAKER 53517 The Manager for Opposition Business is now warned! If I'm telling you you're going to be warned, that's a definite time to stop talking. I don't know what you're pointing to, but just sit there. The Treasurer now has the call. 15:08 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin The point that the Reserve Bank governor was making, which I suspect the shadow Treasurer knows and is being dishonest about—she said that, when you look across the economy at aggregate demand and total demand, the thing that stands out is that private demand recovered more quickly than they were anticipating, which goes to the half a dozen or so quotes that I've been reading out throughout the course of question time today and yesterday as well. Of course, when you look across the economy at total demand or aggregate demand, whatever you want to call it, the thing that stands out— Mr Ted O'Brien 138932 So you're saying you said something else than what you actually said! Dr CHALMERS 37998 You're really struggling now, mate. The SPEAKER 53517 I want to deal with this. The Treasurer is going to take a pause for a moment and resume his seat. We're simply not going to have a question time where everyone thinks it's a free-for-all and they can say whatever they like whenever they like. That is not how this chamber will work. We talk about respect a lot, and that sort of behaviour is just—we're moving beyond that. The Deputy Leader of the Opposition will leave the chamber under 94(a). The member for Fairfax then left the chamber. The SPEAKER 53517 I'm simply not going to have that behaviour. It's the same when people are asking and answering questions. Show restraint; show respect. The Treasurer will return to the question and be directly relevant. Dr CHALMERS 37998 I'm addressing directly the quote that the shadow Treasurer put to me. I could read through once again the half a dozen different ways that the Reserve Bank governor made the point yesterday, but this is perhaps the best way to put this argument to rest for the shadow Treasurer's benefit. The governor was asked this question yesterday in the press conference: 'Ted O'Brien put forward today that government spending was partly to blame for rising inflation. What do you think of that? And has the RBA raised any concerns directly with the Treasurer about the government's level of spending over the past inflation cycle?' She answered with a point that they based their forecasts on total demand, which is not contested. Then she said this: 'What's happened over the last six months or so is that private demand has turned out to be much stronger than we had been forecasting.' That was in response to a question very specifically about the comments that the shadow Treasurer had been making over the course of the last couple of days. It really couldn't be clearer that what we've seen in the economy—this is not a political opinion; it's not even an economic opinion, and the facts tell the story in the national accounts and in the inflation figures—is a private sector recovery faster than what was anticipated in the forecasts. That shouldn't be a contested thing. What is also not contested is that this government understands that we've got an inflation challenge in our economy. That's why, more than acknowledging that, we're acting on that. We're rolling out the cost-of-living help that the opposition leader said this morning she doesn't support. At the same time, we're getting the budget in much better nick. That's the government's economic strategy to deal with this inflation challenge that we have. Dr CHALMERS 37998 I can hear the opposition leader contesting that she said this morning, 'We think the answer is to help with the cost-of-living for people who are struggling, and that's not the answer.' That's what the opposition leader said this morning. We've got a different approach. We know what's causing this inflation challenge. We know that we've got a role in helping to address it, and that's our focus, even if it's not yours. Aged Care 65 15:13 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering more well-paid, secure jobs for aged-care workers in Australia, including those in the Northern Territory? And how will these plans help deliver more care to older Australians exactly where they need it? 15:13 Mr RAE 300122 Hawke I thank the member for the question and his tireless advocacy for older Territorians, for First Nations people and for working people in Darwin and beyond. This Labor government was re-elected to build on its strong record of delivery. When it comes to properly supporting aged-care workers, that's exactly what we're doing. Just last week we took another major step forward in our delivery of a new residential aged-care home in Palmerston, with the announcement of the preferred provider to build and operate this facility. This 120- to 150-bed project will create hundreds of jobs, expand aged-care capacity in the Territory, take pressure off local hospitals and deliver culturally safe care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander elders, and we're not wasting a minute getting on with delivering it. It's just one project in the almost billion dollars that this government has invested through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program since 2022 to deliver more aged-care beds and create more well-paid jobs all across our great country. After a decade of neglect, this united Labor government is putting working people at the centre of everything it does. In aged care, that starts with real wage increases. Hundreds of thousands of aged-care workers, most of them women, are earning more because this government stepped up to support them. To be exact, the average registered nurse in aged care is now earning $28,000 more a year; that's 28 grand more than they were receiving in the nine miserable years under those opposite. That's food on the table, it's rent or the mortgage paid and it's birthday presents for kids. This is what delivery looks like under a Labor government—a government that values workers and the amazing work they do to care for the ones we love. And it doesn't stop at wages; it's about investing in people's skills, training and long-term careers. Free TAFE, scholarship programs and now paid prac are getting people into a genuinely fulfilling line of work so that older Australians can enjoy the fruits of a secure, well-resourced workforce in aged care that doesn't miss a beat as our population ages. This is what delivery looks like. While those opposite worry about their own jobs, we're lifting wages for working Australians. While they bicker, we're building skills. And while they focus on themselves, we're delivering the pay rises, skills and new aged-care homes that Australians actually care about. This government backs workers, we back higher wages and we're delivering for every single Australian. Energy 65 15:16 Mr WILLCOX 286535 Dawson My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Given the Prime Minister's broken promise that households would be $275 better off on their power bills by 2025, and with families now being smashed by higher electricity prices under this government, on what exact date will retail electricity prices actually fall—or was the $275 promise never going to be delivered? 15:17 Mr BOWEN DZS McMahon I thank the honourable member for his question. The government's been very clear: wholesale prices are one of the inputs to retail prices. There are other impacts on retail prices as well, but they are also the element of final retail prices that government policies have the most influence on. That's a good thing because we've seen them fall by 44 per cent just in the last quarter. We saw wholesale prices in Queensland in May 2022 of $347 per megawatt hour. You know what they are today? They are $58 per megawatt hour. We're going to see, increasingly, that sort of impact if we keep the policy settings in place that see more of the cheapest, most reliable form of energy penetrate our energy system. We will see it continue to flow through to wholesale prices and retail prices, and we'll also see continued reforms— The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Page is warned. Mr BOWEN DZS like Solar Sharer, which will see three hours of free power for those Australians who choose to take it up as a right; we think that's a good thing. We've also made other reforms to the default market offer to ensure that sneaky price rises are not legal and that customers are on the best possible deal. The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Cowper is warned. Mr BOWEN DZS That's what good reform looks like. Those opposite gave Australia 10 years of denial, delay and dysfunction, and they're certainly keeping it up—particularly the dysfunction side of it. Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence 66 15:18 Dr GARLAND 295588 Chisholm My question is to the Attorney-General. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to promote the safety of women and children, and how is the government working towards ending gender based violence in Australia? 15:18 Ms ROWLAND 159771 Greenway I thank the member for her question. The government is working together to support women and children experiencing family, domestic and sexual violence and to hold perpetrators to account. Together with my colleague the most excellent Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, we launched public consultation this week on draft legislation that will crack down on convicted child sex abusers who are shielding their assets in superannuation to avoid paying court ordered compensation to their victims. The Albanese government is putting perpetrators on notice with a clear message: child sex predators must not be able to game the system. Victim-survivors deserve a real, enforceable justice system, and that's precisely what we want to deliver. This reform is about restoring fairness, dignity and accountability and has been well received by stakeholders. Andrew Carpenter from Super for Survivors said: It's a win for victim-survivors across the country as it shows the web is closing on all sex offenders. This work builds on our government's family law reforms, which make the system simpler and safer for families and children. Our reforms also recognise superannuation as a central component of the property pool, to be considered in cases of separation, and that family violence and financial abuse can severely limit women's capacity to accumulate super. Superannuation funds now hold trillions of dollars in assets, making fair property outcomes critical to the long-term safety and economic security of victim-survivors. I acknowledge the exceptional efforts of my colleagues the Minister for Social Services and the Assistant Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, who are leading cross-government delivery of the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. This is backed by record funding of $4.7 billion to strengthen prevention, early intervention, crisis response and recovery. These reforms sit alongside the government's broader economic security agenda led by the Minister for Women, including reforms to the low-income superannuation tax offset, removing barriers like the activity tests for childcare and improving access to secure housing. We're investing in frontline family and domestic violence services, expanding specialist supports for children and strengthening legal protections so victim-survivors can navigate the justice system more safely and affordably. The Albanese government understands that supporting women and children requires more than words. It demands united action across government and a commitment to sustained reform. Economy 66 15:21 Mr CALDWELL 306489 Fadden My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, Leigh, from Pacific Pines in my electorate, wrote to me yesterday about Labor's latest interest rate hike. Leigh told me: 'It will kill me. My stress levels are already out of control. I cannot remember the last time I had a holiday, and I just work on my days off on the weekend to try and earn extra money.' Prime Minister, can you guarantee to struggling Australians like Leigh that there won't be any more interest rate increases this year? 15:22 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for his question. I am always sympathetic and good to hear from our constituents in whatever electorate. I say to Leigh that we understand as a government that many people are under financial pressure, which is why, for Leigh, I hope that you inform him that he would have had, had you been on this side of the House—although you might have been in bits if you were over here—a higher deficit and more pressure on the budget than what has occurred. You stood for election as part of a team that would have had higher deficits and also would have had not only no tax cuts but tax increases. That was the platform on which you were elected, and I hope you were honest enough to say to Leigh, 'I'm sorry that you were going to get higher taxes if we were in government.' For Leigh, particularly if he's a low- or middle-income earner like it sounds like he was, I hope you also said that, during the last term of parliament, the coalition as it was then, before it broke into bits, was in a position where they wanted to oppose and roll back the tax cuts that we took from the top end to the low- and middle-income end to make sure that we supported them. The fact is that, when it comes to the economy, we have an economy that is continuing to grow. Inflation is down compared with what we inherited. Wages are up. We had the lowest average unemployment rate of any government in the last 50 years; 1.2 million jobs created, three out of five full time and four out of five in the private sector; the smallest gender pay gap on record; fewer days lost to industrial disputes; record numbers of small businesses— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Fadden is now warned. If he interjects anymore, he won't be here for the remainder of the answer. Mr ALBANESE R36 solid business investment, and record investment in public hospitals, and we've rolled out cost-of-living support. The Leader of the Liberal Party this morning had to say that they didn't support, again, cost-of-living support as part of dealing with the pressures that are there on the economy. We will continue to make sure that we provide cost-of-living relief for people like Leigh. Those opposite, I assume, will continue to oppose, with every bit of energy that they oppose each other as well. Energy 67 15:25 Ms KARA COOK 316537 Bonner My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering a cleaner, cheaper and more reliable energy system for Australia? What are the impacts of Labor's delivery on Australian households, and how does this compare with previous approaches? 15:25 Mr BOWEN DZS McMahon I thank my honourable friend for the question. What a difference the member for Bonner has made in just the short period she's been here. I'm happy to inform the House: 219,750—that's how many cheaper home batteries have been installed since 1 July, around a thousand more than this time yesterday. That's the sort of embracing of cheaper, cleaner energy we are seeing right across Australia, particularly in rural and regional Australia. Forty-two per cent of the cheaper home batteries that have been installed have been in rural and regional areas. People in these areas know that what's good for the planet is good for their pocket. New data out today from the Clean Energy Council shows how important this is for the grid in reducing prices—not just for those who have the battery but for everyone. Interestingly, as many Australians installed a home battery in the last six months of 2025 as in all the entire five years previously. That shows good policy in action. Of course, this comes, in terms of the broader context of the last quarter, with renewable energy hitting record highs— The SPEAKER 53517 The member for O'Connor is now warned. Mr BOWEN DZS and the AEMO connection scorecard showing a record 64 gigawatts of new supply in the pipeline. The SPEAKER 53517 I just put the member for O'Connor on a warning, and then, Member for O'Connor, you interjected straightaway. That means you'll leave the chamber under 94(a) as a consequence of your actions. If you get warned and you interject straightaway, you're definitely going to leave the chamber. It's pretty straightforward. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy will return to the question. Mr BOWEN DZS As I was saying, we saw a record 64 gigawatts of new energy supply in the pipeline and, just in the last quarter, 1.8 gigawatts of new generation reach the position where it's connected to the grid. Now, the honourable member asked me how this compares to previous approaches. We know that, under the last government, we saw four gigawatts of dispatchable energy leave the grid and only one gigawatt come on. Compare that to all the new energy supply that's coming into place now. It's a direct result of policy. Of course, one of the consistent features over the last term of office was that, between 2018 and 2022, the minister for energy was the member for Hume. We saw a 'Taylor made' energy crisis in this country. We saw disaster after disaster when it came to energy policy. The opposition has been saying a lot about government expenditure and how government expenditure is too high. The member for Hume announced a $1 billion investment in new energy. Do you know how many kilowatts it delivered to the Australian energy system? Zero. Call me old fashioned, but I reckon, if you're spending $1 billion, you'd want to see at least a watt of energy. When we came to office, my incoming government brief told me that Snowy Hydro was running about two years late, but the member for Hume had hidden that fact from the Australian people. Then we had the member for Hume's famous investment in coal fired power, the Collinsville coal-fired power station feasibility study. He announced $4 million and then, two days later, invited the successful proponent to apply. Not only did we not see a coal-fired power station; we didn't even see a feasibility report. It's a tough week for the Leader of the Opposition, but, if the member for Hume is as confident in leadership challenges as he was as energy minister— (Time expired) Defence Properties 67 15:29 Mr WILKIE C2T Clark My question is to the Minister for Defence. Minister, the rationalisation of the Defence estate was long overdue, and I am supportive in principle. However, media reporting today appears to be silent on the future of Anglesea Barracks in Hobart. Can you assure my community that the barracks will indeed remain a key part of the Defence estate and receive necessary funding for upgrades? 15:30 Mr MARLES HWQ Corio I thank the member for his very good and considered question. The question is noteworthy in one respect, it being asked at 3.30 in question time as the first non-government question on the Defence estate review—inasmuch as it highlights the dog over here who hasn't barked. I mean, we have the biggest reform to the Defence estate in our country's history, and we have not heard from the shadow minister. Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Everyone resume their seats. I'll deal with this. Deputy Prime Minister, it was completely unacceptable to refer to someone in those terms. You will withdraw that comment, apologise and get back to the question. Mr MARLES HWQ I withdraw, Mr Speaker. The SPEAKER 53517 And apologise. Mr MARLES HWQ And I apologise, Mr Speaker. What has characterised the shadow minister in his time in the shadow defence portfolio has been his absolute determination to leave it. Over the last nine months, you wouldn't so much say that the shadow minister has been in defence, rather he's been on the attack, and his target is sitting right there. What we've had is absolute— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Deputy Prime Minister wasn't asked about any of the subjects that he's talking about. I want him to return to the member for Clark's question. I don't want him to refer to shadow ministers or anyone else. He wasn't asked about that, and, if he continues with that, he'll be sat down. The minister will return to the question. Mr MARLES HWQ I do thank the member for his question, and the short answer is yes. Anglesea Barracks remains a critical part of the Defence estate. It is right that, in the member's home state of Tasmania, there has been significant reform as part of the Defence estate review. What that will see is a rationalisation of a number of Defence properties within Tasmania, which will, for example, see the opening of a tri-service cadet facility in Launceston. It will also see consolidation in the north-west of the state for a facility which will deal with both reserves and cadets. But that work includes Hobart and Anglesea Barracks, where, again, there will be a consolidation of the Defence footprint around the Hobart region in the Anglesea Barracks. As a result of that, the government is committing to a $20.8 million increase in investment into the Anglesea Barracks to make sure that it is not only able to undertake the functions that it has had up until now, which are very important, but also able to undertake those functions going forward as, really, the consolidated centre for Defence's footprint in Hobart. Australian Parliament 68 15:33 Ms CLAYDON 248181 Newcastle My question is to the Leader of the House. Why was the sessional order changed yesterday, and will the House be required to adopt a new sessional order tomorrow? 15:33 Mr BURKE DYW Watson It's well understood why, yesterday, we needed to adopt a new sessional order, because, for the first time in living memory, the crossbench became as big as the opposition. As a result of that new sessional order, we've been having more crossbench questions. I note that yesterday we had a question from the member for Clark, where he predicted that the crossbench was 'likely to soon exceed' the opposition with more defections. I don't know if he knew what was going to happen today, but it has turned out to be prophetic. What I would say, though, is: be careful what you wish for. You might not necessarily want the people who you're about to get. But today, of all things and of all the issues to decide where your line in the sand is, we had another five members of the opposition decide to defy the shadow cabinet—another five. I've had a look at the amendments they were voting for. It was the member for Canning, the member for Barker, the member for Longman, the member for Grey and the member for Forrest, all of them defying the shadow cabinet's position. One of the amendments that they decided was a matter of principle was to have a statutory review of customs and excise laws. I really don't think that was the reason they decided. If you want to know the reason—you might notice the member for Canning has been reading a book during the course of question time today. Some people with better eyesight than me have noticed a copy of The Art of War on his desk. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Leader of the House will pause. The member for Gellibrand is warned. We'll hear from the Manager of Opposition Business. Mr Hawke HWO Well, unsurprisingly, the manager was asked about the sessional order being changed on Monday and whether we would need the sessional order to be changed tomorrow. He's not speaking about any of those topics, on relevance. You're letting him, but he's speaking about things that are not to do with the question. The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the House will need to make his answer directly relevant and provide the House with information about why he's talking about amendments. I don't think he was asked about amendments, but I want him to explain to the House how he's being directly relevant, because the manager is correct. Mr BURKE DYW The pathway to the dwindling numbers of the opposition has been consistent. The member for New England defied the shadow cabinet then moved to the crossbench, knocking the opposition, who started at 42 this term, down to 41. The National Party defied a decision of the shadow cabinet and then moved to the crossbench, knocking the opposition from 42 members down to 28 yesterday. Today we had the first step, from the reader of The Art of War and his four followers, making sure that they defied the decision of the shadow cabinet. The number of people— Mr Hawke HWO I move: That the Member be no longer heard. Government members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Members on my right, the manager is entitled to do that. He's done that. We're going to follow the standing orders. He's well within standing orders to— The SPEAKER 53517 Manager, we're just going to deal with your point that you've raised. When the House comes to order, we'll deal with this in a sensible way. The manager has moved that the speaker no longer be heard. The question is that the member no longer be heard.  

The House divided. [15:41]
(The Speaker—Hon. Milton Dick)

32 AYES Aldred, M. R. Batt, D. J. Birrell, S. J. Caldwell, C. M. (Teller) Chaffey, J. L. Chester, D. J. Conaghan, P. J. Hamilton, G. R. Hastie, A. W. Hawke, A. G. Hogan, K. J. Joyce, B. T. G. Kennedy, S. P. Landry, M. L. Ley, S. P. Littleproud, D. McCormack, M. F. McIntosh, M. I. McKenzie, Z. A. Pasin, A. Penfold, A. L. Pike, H. J. (Teller) Price, M. L. Rebello, L. S. Small, B. J. Venning, T. H. Violi, A. A. Webster, A. E. Willcox, A. J. Wilson, T. R. Wood, J. P. Young, T. J. 98 NOES Abdo, B. J. Albanese, A. N. Aly, A. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Boele, N. Bowen, C. E. Briskey, J. L. Burke, A. S. Burnell, M. P. Butler, M. C. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Chalmers, J. E. Chaney, K. E. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Clare, J. D. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Collins, J. M. Comer, E. L. Conroy, P. M. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. Freelander, M. R. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Gee, A. R. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gorman, P. P. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Haines, H. M. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Katter, R. C. Kearney, G. M. Keogh, M. J. Khalil, P. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Le, D. T. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Marles, R. D. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBain, K. L. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. O'Neil, C. E. Phillips, F. E. Rae, S. T. Repacholi, D. P. Rishworth, A. L. Roberts, T. G. Rowland, M. A. Ryan, J. C. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Scrymgour, M. R. Sharkie, R. C. C. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Spender, A. M. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Steggall, Z. Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watson-Brown, E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilkie, A. D. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.

15:44 The SPEAKER 53517 In continuation, the Leader of the House? 15:44 Mr BURKE DYW Watson The number of people on the non-government benches, following the shadow cabinet position, now comprise 23 that will follow the shadow cabinet and 33 that will not. That means, for the Leader of the Opposition, who at the end of this week has to fill 11 frontbench vacancies, there are only five backbenchers left to fill these 11 vacancies who follow the shadow cabinet position. It's a group of four across there now on the crossbench—cross, very cross, apoplectic and just plain weird. Mr Albanese R36 I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper. STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER 70 STATEMENT BY THE SPEAKER Jonceski, Mr Ljupco (Luch) 70 Reference to Federation Chamber 72 15:58 Mr BURKE DYW Watson I move: That further statements on the death of Ljupco (Luch) Jonceski be permitted in the Federation Chamber. Question agreed to. QUESTIONS TO THE SPEAKER 72 QUESTIONS TO THE SPEAKER Questions in Writing 72 15:58 Mr HAMILTON 291387 Groom Speaker, in accordance with standing order 105(b), I wish to draw your attention to multiple overdue questions in writing, including question 22 to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government; question 79 to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors; question 85 to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy; questions 93, 94 and 96 to the Minister for Home Affairs; questions 83, 86 and 109 to the Treasurer; question 127 to the Minister for Defence; question 128 to the Minister for Housing; and question 129 to the Assistant Treasurer. Speaker, can you write to the ministers responsible and seek their explanation as to why they have chosen not to answer my questions in writing in 60 days? 15:58 The SPEAKER 53517 I shall do so, as the standing order provides. Questions in Writing 72 15:59 Ms SHARKIE 265980 Mayo With respect to standing order 105(b), I request that you write to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government seeking reasons for the delay in answering my question in writing No. 119, which is now 31 days overdue. Also with respect to standing order 105(b), I request that you write to the Minister for Communications seeking the reason for delay in answering my question in writing No. 120, which is now 31 days overdue. 15:59 The SPEAKER 53517 I shall do so, as the standing order provides. DOCUMENTS 72 DOCUMENTS Presentation 72 15:59 Mr BURKE DYW Watson These documents are tabled in accordance with the list circulated to the honourable members earlier today. Full details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE 72 MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE Cost of Living 72 15:59 The SPEAKER 53517 I have received a letter from the honourable the Leader of the Nationals proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely: This Government's reckless agenda driving up the cost of living for Australian families. I call upon those honourable members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places. More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places— 16:00 Mr LITTLEPROUD 265585 Maranoa In the last 24 hours, we've seen a treasurer that has refused to accept any culpability for not just yesterday's rate rise but also the 12 that have preceded that over the long four years that he has been the Treasurer of this country. That has added an extra $23,000 to the mortgage bills of Australian families and Australians right across this country. Their standard of living is being torn apart by a treasurer that has forgotten the fundamentals. While writing a 6,000-word essay, he has forgotten about what actually drives inflation—about his responsibility in spending and the influence of that on inflation. In the last six months, those on that side have spent $50 billion out of government coffers. That is fuelling this inflation, putting pressure on Australian families and driving down their standard of living. In fact, our real wages in this country have reduced to 2011 levels. It will take 19 years for Australian families and Australians to get their real wages back to where they were previous to that. That shows the anaemic growth that this treasurer has presided over, thinking that big government can do it all and that the government knows best with Australian taxpayers' money. But all they have done is forgotten the fundamentals. And this has driven inflation, whether it be in education by over 17 per cent, electricity by 40 per cent, insurance by 39 per cent, food by 16 per cent or rent by 22 per cent—22 per cent not just for rent but also for the lift in housing costs that has also been exacerbated not by spending but by a migration policy that has increased demand while supply has been flat. This government has brought over a million new people into this country without even having an understanding of the priorities of who they are bringing into this country. We are giving the greatest gift we can give to any person on this planet: a ticket to Australia. So why wouldn't we prioritise the people that have the skills that we need to build homes, to ensure that we address the supply of housing and say to young people that they can hope to own a home one day and may actually be able to afford rent. That is what real governments would do. That's what a treasurer would do: understand that it's not just about spending money; it's about pulling the levers. It's about pulling the right levers that will ensure that we give hope to young Australians and to every Australian that we can all enjoy the opportunity of homeownership or simply of having a roof over our head. That is a government that has lost sight. Instead, over the last three years, they've prioritised dog groomers and martial arts instructors over the tilers, roofers and plumbers that might be able to build the supply that we need. That's just common sense. That's what has been lost by this government: understanding what the fundamentals are that drive our nation's economy and what they can do without having to spend your money. That is what real leadership should be, and that's where the Treasurer has missed this opportunity. For him, after four years, to try and walk away from his track record of 13 interest rate rises that have cost Australians an extra $23,000, taking it out of their pockets and putting it into the banks' pockets, shows that this treasurer is out of touch with what real Australians are feeling. There will be Australians tonight that can't afford to put dinner on the table. And the reality is this: energy is the economy. If we are going to fix the fundamentals of what is driving inflation, what we can do as legislators is ensure that we are pulling the proper levers to bring down those energy costs and ensure that, right through the economy, whether you're buying food or building a home, you can drive down those costs, put downward pressure on inflation and therefore take the pressure off the Reserve Bank. That is what this treasurer has missed and what this government has missed because of an ideology—an ideology that you are all paying for. The reality is that we were told of this green dream of an all-renewables approach. Let me tell you that it was meant to be cheaper and it was meant to be greener. The reality is, since the energy minister and the government have taken over, all we have seen is a continual increase in energy prices flowing right through to your grocery bill, right through to the construction of homes. So if you're not prepared to tackle the fundamentals then unfortunately you're going to continue to drive up inflation and you are not going to fix the problems of this country. We could have a targeted migration approach. We could pull a lever and reduce the mass migration that we are seeing. We could also have a policy on energy that will actually drive down prices. Let me tell you, there are three quick ways we can do that in the here and now. In fact, the Prime Minister today could sign to scrap the safeguards mechanism penalty that is imposed on energy generators. This government is taxing energy generators every year to reach unsustainable emissions reductions targets of nearly five per cent every year. The safeguards mechanism was about using technology to reduce emissions. If the technology doesn't exist, lo and behold, what you have to do is buy offsets. Offsets are a cost and that cost goes onto your energy bill. The good generators and distributors are not going to wear that; they're going to pass that on to the Australian consumer. So I challenge the government today, if they are serious about reducing energy bills—we've forgotten about the $275 that was promised to come last year that is never going to happen—then they need to be honest, look the Australian people in the eye and get rid of the safeguards mechanism today. That will drive prices down immediately. We also need to ensure that the capacity investment scheme that is skewed to bringing new generation of renewable energy—not whatever energy that can be brought onto this grid—should be expanded to every source. We should have a technology agnostic approach to ensure we get supply into the grid. That's just simple economics. I learnt in grade 8 at Chinchilla State High that it's all about demand and supply. The reality is if you increase supply then the prices will come down and that is the opportunity for expanding the capacity investment scheme right across to any technology model of energy. It would also say to the Australian Energy Market Operator that you will change your mandate from sourcing energy predicated on a renewable energy target or on a reductions emissions target to one that sources the most affordable and cheap energies. They are three quick ways that this government, with a stroke of a pen, could fix today. That's the reality of what this government has missed because of an ideology of effectively getting an energy grid that will be over 90 per cent renewables. We're not against renewables; we're just saying you have to get the balance right. If you want to look at a world example, look at Portugal and Spain. They had a red-hot crack. They got to 77 per cent renewables and they lost their grid because they didn't have this thing called baseload power. You need baseload power to ensure that when there's a wind drought or a sun drought that the grid can continue effectively and will not have to be restarted. That's why they lost their grid for a period of time. That is where we are opening ourselves up to sovereign risk. They are connected to continental Europe but we'll have nothing. We will have zero redundancy built into our grid. We're not saying we should walk away from emissions but we're saying we'll do what the rest of the world is doing. We are currently around 1.1 per cent of global emissions. That's actually including India and China. If we were to take them out, we'd be under one per cent. We've said, 'Well, let's keep pace with what the rest of the world's doing.' While the rest of the world, the OECD, are only reducing their emissions by 1.7 per cent every year, the Albanese government is asking the Australian people to reduce their emissions by 4.7 per cent per year. They are streaking ahead and that means the cost of it gets put into your energy bill through the safeguards mechanism, because that is a tax on energy generators that they have to pass on to you. There are simple solutions. I challenge this government today: if you were in touch with the everyday Australian out there, you would understand the hurt families feel when they are paying an extra $23,000 just on their mortgage, and that is before you start talking about their education costs, about their insurance, about their food. There are Australian families that will not be able to put food on the table tonight. In a country as rich as this, that is an embarrassment. It is an embarrassment on this place that we have not had the courage to look ourselves in the eye and look the problem square in the face and say, 'There are solutions right here in the here and now and in the long term. We are energy rich. If we open our minds up to the opportunities and solutions across every spectrum then that will make sure that young Australians can have hope one day to own a home.' Young Australians might then feel as though they can actually have a lifestyle that we've taken for granted for so many years. That's the commonsense that I challenge this government on—to walk away from the ideology that might give them the kudos on an international stage but leads them to forget the average, everyday Australian that feels this every day and that has the shame of not being able to take their kids on a holiday, to send them to the school they want or even to put dinner on a table. Australians are better than that, and they deserve a better government than that. 16:10 Ms McBAIN 281988 Eden-Monaro It's a real pleasure to be able to stand here today and talk about the cost-of-living measures that we, on this side of the House, are voting for. It's almost ironic to hear the Leader of the National Party say that if we were in touch with the Australian people we would do better. Perhaps, if they were in touch with the Australian people, they'd stop talking about themselves and actually focus on what people sent you here to do. They sent you here, and they didn't ask you to hold up a pamphlet. They didn't ask you to talk about backroom deals on media outlets. They asked you to come here and talk about what matters to them, and what matters to them is how governments respond when people are in crisis. That's exactly what we've done. We voted to cap gas prices. We voted to cap electricity prices. Those opposite voted against that, against real cost-of-living measures. We voted on energy bill relief. They voted against that. We voted to reduce PBS medicine prices. They voted against that. When we talk about people being driven by ideology, perhaps it's time those on the opposition benches actually had a think about that, because what you are doing is continually voting on ideology rather than talking about what matters to the Australian people. What matters to the Australian people is that this place comes together at times and puts politics aside and says: 'What matters right now is how we get energy prices down. What matters right now is how we get PBS medicines cheaper. What matters right now is how we get more bulk-billing doctors. What matters right now is good education for our kids.' Those things matter, and, on this side of the House, those things matter so much that we vote on them and we put money towards them. We don't talk about doctor shortages in our regions because we do things about it. Do you know how we do that? We waive HECS fees for doctors and nurse practitioners when they come out to rural and remote Australia for five years. We've waived HECS fees to make sure that young people can actually get into the housing market. We've created five per cent deposits for first home buyers, and that's working in our regions. More 17,000 across our regions have got into their first home because of the policies of this government. We're not talking about backroom deals. We're not talking about media opportunities. We're getting on with the real world and real life for many Australians. Today the member for Maranoa was in the media again talking about how his party might or might not get back together with the Liberal Party. I'm a bit over it, to be honest. I don't care. We're getting on with the issue of delivering for Australians across the country. I was in the media this morning talking with the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the member for Leichardt and the member for Braddon about how we can help regional and remote councils with support after the Rex administration. We're getting on with the job. We announced $5 million to help those regional and rural councils impacted by the Rex administration because we focused on what's in front of us. I'm proud to be a part of a government that is not only focusing on important issues like regional aviation but also talking about investing billions in remote, rural and regional Australia and investing in talking about the things that matter to the people who live there instead of talking about ourselves and little else. We know people are under pressure, and we know there is more that needs to be done. It'd be great if that was the focus of every member of this parliament at this point in time, but we know it's not. We're supporting real wages to grow. We're delivering tax cuts for every taxpayer, including another tax cut in July. We're delivering cheaper medicine, as I said. On 1 January this year we saw the largest ever cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS. We're taking the price of medicines back to $25. The last time it was that price was in 2004, when the coalition was actually a party that came together and agreed on things. We're investing more in bulk-billing doctors. We want to see more people go to a doctor and be bulk billed. We've invested in Medicare urgent care clinics, which is a massive game changer across our communities. They are free, timely and high-quality care that thousands of Australians are getting. Over 120 urgent care clinics have opened, with 39 of those in regional, rural and remote areas. Last weekend, the latest Medicare urgent care clinic to open was in the heart of Bega, in Eden-Monaro. It's at 61 Carp Street, Bega. It's open now, with extended hours, seven days a week. There is no need for an appointment. You can walk in and get the service. I've already had a number of people contact my office who used the service over the weekend for the first time. Strengthening Medicare and making health care more accessible and affordable should be the job of all of us, but we know it's only the government that ever invests in Medicare here. Whether it's home batteries, cheaper child care or home-care packages, we have to make sure we invest in them. Those opposite might call those things reckless spending, but they make a difference to every Australian's life—whether you live in metropolitan Australia or you're part of the one-third of Aussies who live outside metropolitan Australia. We know how important it is to make sure that we're getting more tradies into our system. I know firsthand—my husband's a tradie and my dad was a tradie. We're delivering $10,000 payments to housing apprentices to make sure that we are incentivising people to take up those roles. We know it's required. When we came to government in 2022, the largest skills gap ever inherited by any government on record was ours because those opposite didn't invest in TAFE or universities. Ms Kearney LTU They ran it into the ground. Ms McBAIN 281988 They ran it into the ground. It is really a terrible outcome. We are talking about a skills shortage that didn't need to be there. We've seen successive coalition governments at state, territory and federal levels rip money out of TAFE, in particular. Not only do we know that there's a skill shortage; we know that we have to incentivise people to get back into those skills shortage areas, which is why we've got prac payments now rolling out to nurses, teachers, social workers and midwifery students—people who make a real difference in every community across the country. It is so important to focus on what's in front of us instead of focusing on what's behind you—for those opposite. We are committed to making sure we make a difference to every person across the country, and I'm particularly committed to focusing on how we deliver for regional Australians, because right now, on this side of the House, there are 24 members of the Labor Party who represent rural and regional Australia. That is a number larger than the National Party, larger than the crossbench and larger than the Liberal Party. So when we talk about delivering for regional Australia, can we please not go through this old trope that somehow you—those opposite—are the party of regional Australia, because it is not true. Regional Australia is not a monoculture. Regional Australia is diverse. It is interesting, and they vote Labor too. It is incredibly important now that we come together and we look at how we deliver for communities. I've been listening to communities across the country. Over the last couple of months, I've been in the Tiwi Islands, Swansea in Tassie, Cloncurry, Bendigo, Ruffy and Colac, particularly over the high-risk weather season, listening to people and their firsthand experiences in the wake of bushfires, cyclones and floods. It's incredibly important we deliver for those communities both now and into the future. We've delivered almost $330 million to Victorians impacted by devastating bushfires. We've committed more than $66 million for Queenslanders to help them recover from floods in the north and north-west, and we know that it is important to continue to deliver for communities that have been impacted. That spending isn't reckless, and I would really— Ms McBAIN 281988 That interjection is so inappropriate because cat D funding has been delivered for your community. It has, and it is so disappointing to hear politicisation over something when it doesn't need to be there. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The member for Lyne, enough of your interjections or you'll be leaving the chamber. Ms McBAIN 281988 People who have been impacted by disaster are going through a really tough time, and every level of government needs to step up when that happens and deliver as quickly as possible. Category C and D funding has been delivered on the Mid North Coast. Category C and D funding has been delivered in north-west Queensland. Category C and D funding has been delivered in Victoria. And we'll continue to deliver for every member of our communities. When we talk about policies, we don't have to put 'regional' in front of them to know that they're going to help regional Australia. Whether it's bulk-billing, whether it's infrastructure investment or whether it's disaster recovery, our government will continue to deliver for all of the country. (Time expired) 16:20 Mr CONAGHAN 279991 Cowper Before the member for Eden-Monaro leaves the chamber, I refer to her last contribution. In the past, with disasters in my area and in previous times, we have worked very closely together. Where credit is due, I will certainly give the member that credit. However, your last speech was rank with hypocrisy in saying we were looking at ourselves—looking backwards, not looking forward. What was the last question in question time about? Was it about the interest rate rise that will cause the majority of households to pay another $1,300 a year? No, it wasn't about that. Was it about the housing crisis? No, it wasn't about that. Was it about the fact that electricity prices have gone up 38 per cent? No. Was it about gas going up 42 per cent? No? What was the question about? Was it about the economy? Was it about how people are suffering? No. It was about why standing orders were suspended. All they wanted to do was talk about what's happening in this bubble. They didn't want to talk about what's happening to people on the ground. The point of that is that it was completely political. The last question in question time—the show people want to watch to hear answers to questions from those across this side—was deliberate and political and had nothing to do with people because you don't care. The government doesn't care. It was complete spin. It was a very deliberate question, to take the shine and the spotlight away from a failing Treasurer and a failing government and a failing economy. What we see is that that will continue. We see the unlucky No. 13. This is the 13th rate rise since this government came into power—$1,300 a year. These are normal people who are being affected. In my electorate, we don't have the highest mortgages. But with this interest rate rise—and I've already spoken to people in my electorate—people are now deciding whether they pay for food or whether they pay for pharmaceuticals. These are business owners. These are farmers, pensioners, students and people going to university who are deciding whether to buy food or going-back-to-school supplies. It's no wonder that we have the highest insolvency rate of businesses in 35 years—35 years! But it's 'business as usual, and we'll ask a political question for the last question of question time.' We are going to see over the next decade a sea of red, of deficits, because of the policies and ideology of this government. They will continue along with net zero, and damn the cost for ideology. That is why you have seen the increases in the price of electricity. That is why you've seen the increases in the supermarket—because of input costs. That is why you have seen the biggest insolvencies in 35 years. And that is a shame. That is a shame for Australia, but it is shame on this government. You talk about the policies, but you don't go out and consult. You make the decisions in your backrooms and then you turn around and point at us when we say we can't agree with that, because it's not our ideology and, from what our people are telling us, it doesn't work. You say you represent rural people. Well, I certainly don't see you representing them in here. The government needs to take stock, the Treasurer needs to take responsibility and this Prime Minister needs to own up to it. 16:26 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter Here we go again—another day, another MPI from the Nationals, claiming the sky is falling in, families are failing and somehow it's all Labor's fault. It is the same script and the same scare lines from the same people who had nine long years to fix things and chose not to. The truth is that this MPI is not about helping regional Australia. It's about distracting from the Nationals' own record of neglect, of turning up to the regions at election time, taking photos in hi-vis and then disappearing when the hard work needed to be done. When the Nationals were in government, regional Australia did not get relief; it got ripped off. They left us with inflation at 6.1 per cent and rising. They left bigger deficits, no savings and debt heading completely in the wrong direction. They went to the last election with a plan for even more debt and higher taxes to pay for a nuclear fantasy that would drive up power prices and kill jobs in our regions. That is the reality they don't want to talk about. Now, are people doing it tough? Yes. There is no doubt about that at all, and the Labor government has never pretended otherwise. The difference is that this government is actually doing something about it. We are not pointing fingers, not talking Australia or Australians down but getting on with the job of governing in difficult global conditions. We are delivering cost-of-living relief that is responsible, targeted and fair and tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer—three rounds of them. The first are already flowing, with even more to come. From July next year, lower income and middle income earners will pay less tax and, from the year after, even less again. That is real money back into people's pockets week after week. There are cheaper medicines, with PBS scripts capped at $25, the lowest price in two decades, and frozen for pensioners and concession card holders at $7.70. That makes a real difference in regions, where chronic illness is higher and access to healthcare has become much harder. A stronger Medicare with more bulk-billing, more urgent care clinics and more doctors and nurses where people actually live—these are not promises but actual delivery. Cheaper child care, energy bill relief, a $40 increase to JobSeeker, higher rent assistance and a 20 per cent cut to student debt—these are policies those opposite all voted against, by the way. And, while we're doing all of that, we also have done what the Nationals never managed to do, which is actually fix the budget. There have been two surpluses, a smaller deficit and debt going down, not up, and we are over $233 billion better off than what we inherited, with more than $114 billion in savings found. That's not reckless. That's actually responsible. The IMF says our fiscal strategy is effective. The OECD says we have tightened policy, but apparently the Nationals know better than the world's leading economic institutions. What really sticks in the throat is the hypocrisy. The Nationals like to pretend they are the guardians of the regions, but where were they when regional manufacturers were hollowed out? Where were they when power prices went through the roof? Where were they when wages flatlined, apprenticeships were cut and regional health services were stretched to breaking point? They were silent or, worse, they were just complacent. This government is backing regions with real investment, like investment in roads, like the Singleton and Muswellbrook bypass; energy; skills; health care; and local jobs. We're backing fee-free TAFE so young people don't have to leave town to get the training they need. We're backing apprentices, local industry, the energy sector, mining and critical minerals. All these create jobs in places like the Hunter instead of shutting the gates and walking away. We're doing in partnership with communities, unions, local councils and industries, because lasting change only works when the regions are actually part of the plan. The Nationals don't have a plan for regional Australia's future. They have nostalgia and fear—fear of change, fear of progress, fear that, if the regions succeed under Labor, people might remember who actually delivered for regional Australia. Australians can see what this MPI is all about: the same old boring attack from a party that talks big about the bush but failed when it mattered most. 16:31 Dr WEBSTER 281688 Mallee This MPI is about the government's reckless agenda, which is driving up the cost of living for Australian families. It's not actually a question. It is a statement that the policies that this government has brought in since 2022 are hurting Australian families. When families are paying, on a $500,000 mortgage, $23,000 more since Labor have come into office, that hurts. That hurts families. We have more families who cannot even think about purchasing a home because the housing market can't give them a home at a price they can afford. The policies that this government has implemented are hurting Australian families. When they go to the supermarket—I'm not going to say the names. When they go to any supermarket, the prices that they're paying for eggs and for bread and for milk and for all the ordinary daily needs of a family are through the roof. Sixteen per cent is the current figure. Then you add in the electricity costs. Electricity is something that people need. In our society, people need electricity. Costs are up 40 per cent—40 per cent! How is that reasonable? For the government—from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to the Treasurer and the Prime Minister—to go on with the hubris and the arrogance that we've listened to today, it shows that they are all, every one of them, singing from the same hymn sheet: 'Not our fault. Not our fault. Don't look at us. It was actually those 10 years of waste and deficit.' It's 'the dog ate my homework'. This government needs to take responsibility. They've been in government for four years. When are they going to take responsibility? Australian families are hurting. Whether it's paying school fees, whether it's putting fuel into their cars, it doesn't matter which way they go. They can't afford to live. A cup of coffee in 2022 was $4. How much is it now? It's $6 for the average latte, and that's a small one. Mr Birrell 288713 It's $7 in the Hunter. Dr WEBSTER 281688 It's $7 in the Hunter. There you go. The member for Hunter probably knows. The fact is that people can't afford to go out to a cafe any more. If they want to purchase a meal at a pub, the price is through the roof. I know because I take my family to the pub. Then we go into all the subsidies. What drives this 13th rate increase? It comes because inflation is out of control. And guess what? It's on this Labor government's watch. It was not happening under the coalition. It is happening under this Labor government. They need to take responsibility for continually giving out subsidies. We've now got a new subsidy for EVs—another $50 million. 'That's not going to hurt anybody!' Yes it will, because it comes out of taxpayer pockets. The way this government spends money to make up for or to put a bandaid on what is a broken economy is appalling. It will only cost taxpayers more. It will only continue to see inflation rise. I actually feel a little sorry for the RBA and for its chair. These are the stories they have to keep coming out to tell the Australian people while trying not to annoy the current Labor government, which is where the responsibility needs to sit. Then we've got things like policies, great policies, like the gun buyback—$15 billion, Member for Hunter! Where's that going to come from? Oh, the Australian taxpayer. One more time: a terrible policy that was just simply a repeat of 1996, when John Howard was doing the right thing. Here we have a government and a Prime Minister who have made a decision for gun buybacks because he wanted to cover over a massacre that should never have happened on his watch. The fact is this government is responsible. It needs to take responsibility. We will continue to work to make it take that responsibility seriously. 16:36 Mr MATT SMITH 312393 Leichhardt We are the regions who provide your food. We have custody over the places that you go on holidays. We provide you with critical minerals. We provide your power. We are practical people. We are the salt of the earth. We are the best parts of Australia. Not a single person in this House would disagree. Do not disrespect us. I grew up in Gippsland. An opposition member: Best member to ever come out of Gippsland! Mr MATT SMITH 312393 Thank you! I keep telling him! I played in Wollongong. I spent some time in Albury and the Atherton Tablelands. I played in Cairns. But I also spent a bit of time in New York City, where I picked up a phrase: studio gangster. I might be the first person to put the phrase 'studio gangster' into Hansard. I'd like that to be recognised. For those who don't know, a studio gangster is someone who yaps when there's nothing on the line. This is what we are seeing from those opposite: a lot of noise; no influence. Studio gangsters are fun. You like to hang out with them—good times, great times—but when the rubber hits the road they're nowhere to be seen. So let's speak about roads and investment in roads. Take the main artery for Queensland, the Bruce Highway. The last time the Bruce Highway had any investment in it at all, guess who did it? Then infrastructure minister, now Prime Minister, the Hon. Anthony Albanese. Oh, and he's back as Prime Minister, so guess what's getting invested in? The Bruce Highway with $7.2 billion. This will allow freight and families right the way up Queensland to see each other, to spend time with each other. We're making that road safer so that our truckies don't have to worry about it so much anymore. I go to the depots; I have a chat to the lads. They are afraid of the road, but they know the money for it is coming. They know the work is going to commence. They know they will get home at night to see their loved ones. What I'd like to hear from those opposite is more science and fewer feelings. We tend to cherrypick ideas, cherrypick stats. Portugal and Spain? That's a nice example, and it fits your narrative then fantastic. California, the fourth-largest economy on the planet, has 67 per cent renewable and clean energy—the fourth-largest economy on the planet! It's something we should be aspiring to, but, instead, we cherrypick numbers rather than trying to deliver for the people that we are paid to represent. So what is the Labor Party doing for the regions? As Minister McBain said, we don't have to put the word 'region' in front of it to make it relevant. Tax cuts. People in the regions pay taxes. Fee-free TAFE has been taken up more in the regions than anywhere else to address skill shortages. The students are building the homes that people can live in. Come to the wide open spaces that we represent, that we love so much, that we hold so dear. We want to share them; we want to show them. Bring your businesses to us. Bring your talents to the regions. Build these houses. Build these businesses. All that is going to be made possible. When you get there, there are urgent care clinics and there's cheaper medicine—there are going to be two clinics in Cairns; it's going to be awesome! Cairns is a big, big place. There are two electorates—Kennedy and Leichhardt. They've just got effective members! Fee-free TAFE is under threat from the Queensland government. It is taking our workforce away. We have an opportunity here to show the regions as they are—the place we all love—and we are taking it. We're delivering for the people that have delivered for Australia for well over 200 years. Our food, our mining and our places to holiday all belong to us. Labor knows that when we take care of the regions, we take care of the country. 16:40 Mr BIRRELL 288713 Nicholls Let's have a think about what has happened this week as a result of inflationary pressure—the uptick in the inflation numbers. Interest rates have risen. What does that mean for people? It means their mortgage repayments have risen, and it means the cost-of-living crisis just got a lot worse. That's a serious problem for people out there who live in the real world—not in the chamber, where sometimes people are more interested in talking about political games than what actually matters to people. There's a lot of duck and spin in parliament this week about why this has happened, but I want to put some points together and try and link them logically; try and follow with me. Firstly, the government's failing energy policy is putting the retail cost of energy power up. It's going up because the policy's a dud. It's based on ideology, not reality—and if you want to know that, talk to RepuTex. In an attempt to paper over this failure, with sleight of hand the government gives out energy rebates—one of a very great number of government spending measures by this Labor government that thinks fiscal responsibility is an optional extra. The Treasurer thinks: 'That's okay; we'll give out energy rebates and that will reduce the headline rate of inflation. No-one will notice and everything will be rosy for the economy.' The issue for the Treasurer is the RBA are a bit smarter than that, and they take into account the trimmed mean inflation number as well; therefore, interest rates have gone up. Before people talk about criticising us about the rebates: we wouldn't have had such a ham-fisted energy policy that increased prices in the first place. What does this mean? It means it's getting more expensive to get a mortgage. If you're already paying one off you're paying a lot more, and the cost-of-living crisis is now affecting you even more than it was. If you aspire to buy a house, it just got a lot harder because you're going to need a lot more in your repayments. Not only is that an issue; business is getting harder and harder to do in Australia. I go around my electorate of Nicholls, which has the Goulburn Valley, one of the great entrepreneurial places in Australia. We have a high proportion of private sector economic activity as opposed to public sector. You go out to those farms and to those factories, and you can see what's driven Australia and why so many migrants over many years, as soon as they get off a boat in Sydney or Melbourne, come to Shepparton—because it's the land of opportunity. It's inspiring to see what those people have done and will continue to do. But all those people who run these businesses are telling me it's getting harder to do business. Why? Because the imports are getting more expensive. There are so many examples of that. If you run a farm, fertiliser is more expensive because of energy prices. If you're running a business, wages are going up because there are people who don't understand that if you put too much energy into the public sector there's a rise in the costs for the private sector. It doesn't mean we don't want higher wages across the board, but there's got to be that balance. Keating understood there had to be a balance and Costello understood there had to be a balance, but I'm not sure this Treasurer does. I'll quote Judith Sloan from the Australian, who said yesterday in the paper: … it is becoming increasingly clear that Chalmers doesn't understand how the economy works. I don't know when that has been said about a Treasurer in the past. I also want to just touch on, in the minute that I've got left, and address some of the dishonesty in the debate about what Labor inherited. I wasn't in this place during the last term of the coalition government. I was out working in the private sector. I can tell you that when COVID hit it was very frightening for those people who had businesses. They thanked Josh Frydenberg for looking after them by introducing JobKeeper. That did put some pressure on the budget, and it did put some pressure on inflation. But I remind those opposite that they wanted to spend $81 billion more for JobKeeper and other measures during COVID. So how much worse would it have been coming out of that absolute crisis had Labor occupied the Treasury benches then? I think it's a really important thing to remember when people are saying, 'What we inherited.' They have very short memories, and I remember how difficult that time was for the private sector and the fact that the previous coalition government actually looked after them during COVID. 16:46 Mrs PHILLIPS 147140 Gilmore People in my electorate of Gilmore put their faith in me once again at last year's election because they know, as part of the Albanese Labor government, I will continue to deliver for my local community. I've delivered important community infrastructure, like the Jervis Bay intersection flyover, which is well underway, the new RFS sheds at Manyana and Lake Conjola, a new surf lifesaving club at Gerringong and the reconstruction of the Mogo Local Aboriginal Land Council building, which was destroyed in the Black Summer bushfires. The people of Gilmore voted for cheaper medicines, cheaper child care, free TAFE, reduced student debt and tax cuts. They voted for more bulk-billing GP clinics and wage increases for our wonderful aged-care workers, and they voted for Medicare urgent care clinics, with the new Nowra Medicare Urgent Care Clinic due to open very soon. I can't understand on what planet any of these significant local projects or important cost-of-living initiatives equate to reckless spending. Do those opposite want to pull the pin on the new Nowra Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, leaving people in my community waiting hours for medical attention at the overcrowded Shoalhaven Hospital ED? Do they want to slash the $752 million for the Milton Ulladulla bypass, which has been in the 'too hard' basket for more than two decades? Will they tell my community that the Princes Highway duplication between the Jervis Bay road turnoff and Tomerong is a waste of money? Do they want to scrap plans for the revitalisation of the Nowra Riverfront Precinct, which will support local jobs and provide more housing? Or maybe they want to sink the upgrade of the Shoalhaven marine rescue base? Or maybe those opposite can tell the kids at Gerringong that plans to upgrade their clubhouse at Gerry Emery oval have tanked or notify the Batemans Bay Seahawks Football Club that their new clubhouse has been axed? I'm proud that the Albanese Labor government is backing our regions, our families and our communities. We've made a record investment in funding for regional roads through the Black Spot program, Roads to Recovery and, in my area, a special $40 million Shoalhaven roads package to help the council fix local roads. Should we scrap that essential road funding and put drivers at risk? Do those opposite, who claim to support regional and rural areas, want to slash funding for the New South Wales South Coast? We're boosting our regions with better roads, more doctors, full funding for our public schools and more funding for our hospitals, and we're helping people buy their first home. What's got to go from those opposite? To say that these important investments are reckless spending just goes to show how out of touch they really are with everyday Australians. Like everyone on this side of the chamber, I know people in my electorate are doing it tough. That's why we're doing something about it. We're helping families, students, our older residents and small businesses with tax cuts for every taxpayer, more bulk-billing and cheaper medicines. We're backing higher wages. We're helping train young people in Gilmore to become doctors, nurses, social workers, builders and electricians, with free TAFE, supported uni places and by slashing student debt—all policies those opposite opposed. We're getting on with the job of rolling out responsible cost-of-living relief, just like we said we would. People in the Gilmore electorate tell me every day how the expanded hours at the Batemans Bay Medicare Urgent Care Clinic have helped them or their loved ones, and people in Nowra are champing at the bit for their new Medicare urgent care clinic to open—as am I. I'm so thrilled that the number of fully bulk-billed medical centres in my electorate has almost tripled, from 10 to 27, in just the past three months. And so many people in Gilmore have told me that our cheaper medicines are making a huge difference to their household budgets, with PBS scripts now costing no more than $25. We'll continue to deliver across every portfolio to help people with the cost of living. 16:51 Ms PENFOLD 248895 Lyne After nearly four years of Labor, the cold, stark reality is that Australians are paying more for everything. It doesn't matter what the Treasurer wants to believe or what he wants to spruik. He cannot hide the truth, because Australians are living it. Australia is the only developed country where interest rates are rising. Why is that? Because of Labor's out-of-control spending. While the Treasurer is desperate to shift the blame, attributing his own fiscal failures to foreign wars and other global pressures, there is no doubt that this 'Jimflation' crisis is homegrown, with ABS data revealing that inflation is being driven by government policy. Under this government, spending is growing 13 times faster than what the coalition budgeted for and has reached its highest level outside a recession in 40 years. This is not sensible governing; this is reckless maladministration. Frankly, the Treasurer's attitude, his blame shifting, his aloofness towards the situation, is an absolute affront to Australians. It's a kick in the guts. Does he not realise that he's the sole individual in charge? He has the power to change this. After all of the essential bills are paid and a small grocery shop is done—and I mean small, because just two bags is over $100—hardworking Australians have very little of their own money left. In my electorate, a constituent from Nabiac shared that, on Christmas Eve, they bought just 36 items at a cost of $199.61. Add to this the car insurance, which comes in at $277.51 a month for just two cars—that doesn't include registration or green slip, by the way—plus home and contents insurance, which comes in at $278.83 per month; private health insurance for a family of four at $498 a month; and council rates, water access and sewerage connection at $3,481.10 a year. Very little is left over. This is one of the poorest electorates in the country, where the pay cheques are neither large nor flexible enough to accommodate cost increases without sacrifice. The average mortgage holder was already paying around $21,000 more per year in interest than they were under the coalition. That burden rises again due to the latest rate hike. For most young Australians, the great Australian dream of homeownership has become exactly that—just a dream. This too, has been exacerbated by Labor and its migration policy. They brought in a million migrants in their first two years—70 per cent higher than in any previous two-year period. Someone is arriving to live in Australia every 52 seconds. Based on Labor's own population statement, a further 1.8 million people will arrive over the next five years, with no plan for where they will live. Another driver of Labor's economic crisis is their reckless pursuit of a renewables-only energy policy. Australians need affordable base-load power, not expensive, taxpayer subsidised, intermittent and unreliable energy—affordable power coupled with responsible action on climate. But, under Labor's renewables-only fiasco, factories are closing, business investment is stalling, and emissions have not moved. The government promised a $275 cut to power. Instead, Australians are paying around $1,300 more. In my own electorate, manufacturer Jamestrong Packaging have seen their energy bills increase by 65 per cent, insurance by 76 per cent and rates and taxes by 75 per cent. The cost of Labor is now showing up everywhere, in higher taxes, more debt and a budget so stretched that the government is spending $50,000 every minute on interest payments alone. Whilst the Prime Minister enjoys a day at the tennis, with the travel no doubt being billed to the taxpayer, Australians are working just to get by. They can't afford to go to the tennis. They can't afford to go out for dinner or take their kids to the movies. I've got people in my electorate who are still not back in their homes after the floods of May last year. This is not living. This is a grinding existence created by this government, a government that have completely and utterly insulated themselves from the economic hardship they are inflicting upon Australians. Australian taxpayers work hard for their money. It's absolutely galling for them to see it being spent so recklessly, so indiscriminately, by politicians that have never had a real job, that have never had to go without just to get by. This is not your money; it's the Australian taxpayers'. Start spending it accordingly—considerately, frugally, carefully. The 'Lucky Country' is now experiencing the largest decline in living standards in the developed world. Under this government, with this treasurer making the big financial calls, Australia increasingly does not feel like the lucky country. 16:56 Ms BELYEA 309484 Dunkley Deputy Speaker Scrymgour, what can I say? The assertion from those opposite that the Albanese Labor government is doing nothing to help Australians couldn't be further from the truth. It is ludicrous. If I were to ask those opposite for a list of their achievements for the people of Australia in their 10 years in government, that list would have nothing on it. They should know better. They have repeatedly voted against meaningful measures to ease pressure on households. We understand, however, that people are doing it tough, and we know that there is more for us to do. That is why in 2025 we delivered a responsible budget with the cost of living front and centre. The claim we are reckless is something that they should know a lot about because of the division and the disarray that we are seeing blow up across the aisle. Yesterday the Reserve Bank governor stated: … governments … have a job … to provide services and infrastructure … and at the same time … make sure that they contribute to bringing inflation down … The Reserve Bank governor also stated: … the government at the moment seems— very— focused on what they need to do to continue the fight against inflation … We have delivered so much. We've had a $325 energy rebate to ease power bills. We've introduced a $300 per week paid prac placement for nursing staff, midwives, teachers and social workers, recognising that essential workers deserve support, not hardship. We have wiped $3 billion from HECS debt, benefiting more than three million Australians, including 18,000 people from Dunkley. Our No. 1 focus is helping Australians with the cost of living today and tomorrow and building a stronger future. Last year we delivered tax cuts for every taxpayer, with another one coming in July. We secured pay rises for minimum and award wage workers. We expanded paid parental leave to 24 weeks and ensured superannuation is now paid while parents take government leave. We've provided an additional $150 discount on power bills for every household and around one million small businesses and introduced a 30 per cent discount on home batteries to permanently cut energy costs. I can't wait to have mine installed very soon. We expanded bulk-billing, and we froze draft beer excise indexation for two years. From 1 January we've delivered the biggest cut to PBS medicines in history. Medicines are costing $25 or less for those with a healthcare card. This is going to save Australians more than $200 million a year, making medicines the cheapest they have been in more than two decades. When it comes to health, the difference between the two sides of this chamber are stark. The opposite gutted bulk-billing when they were in government. We have spent the last three years and now this term rebuilding it. We are investing $8.5 billion to deliver 18 million additional bulk-billed GP visits a year. We are investing more than $790 million in women's health and $11.3 million in men's health. The member for Hunter is very happy about that. We are investing in mental health, and that includes $1.2 million into Headspace Frankston, recognising that 43 per cent of Australians will unfortunately experience challenges during their lifetime. We know skills and training are essential for easing cost pressures and for building our future workforce, so we have delivered the paid prac placement and free-fee TAFE with more than 355,000 fee-free places. There is no better example of Labor's delivery than in Dunkley. More than $112 million has been committed to local infrastructure, from roads and parks, mental health services, support for local artists to the $1.1 billion Peninsula University Hospital. Last year, just before Christmas, I joined Minister Rishworth to open the Brotherhood of Saint Laurence Thrive Hub, supporting young people into employment. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The discussion has concluded. COMMITTEES 82 COMMITTEES Health, Aged Care and Disability Committee 82 Report 82 17:01 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur On behalf of the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability, I present the committee's report incorporating some dissenting comments entitled No Child Left Behind: Report into Thriving Kids Initiative together with the minutes of proceedings. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). Dr FREELANDER 265979 by leave—On behalf of the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability, the committee's report on the inquiry into the Thriving Kids Initiative, I think, was a very important one. The National Disability Insurance Scheme, the NDIS, was introduced in 2013 by then prime minister Julia Gillard. It has transformed the lives of Australians living with disability and remains one of the most significant social reforms in our nation's history. As a paediatrician, I had discussed prior to Julia Gillard's ascension to the prime ministership the importance of support for families of children who have severe disabilities, and this was really the culmination of what has been a transformative social project. As a paediatrician, I saw the NDIS really change the lives of many of the families that I had looked after for a long period of time. It meant that they had certainty of support for their children when they were no longer able to care for them or had passed away, and that was the one thing that many of those families were worried about. It really was transformative. The NDIS now supports over 750,000 people, with an average plan budget of around $82,000. The NDIS, as I've said, has been absolutely life changing and something that I will support forever. As a paediatrician, I've seen firsthand how it has provided certainty for those families and it must continue. However, the scheme faces significant challenges. In a way, it's become all things to all people. It has become the only boat in the ocean or the only port in a storm. While the principles of independence, choice, dignity and equity inclusion remain vital, there have been significant structural flaws—the necessity of a diagnosis. The up diagnosis was happening so that people with relatively mild disabilities could become eligible for the NDIS. I've seen that myself in the process where kids with learning difficulties are being diagnosed with other things so that they could qualify for the scheme. Supports have not been evidence based. We've had an explosion of support organisations, many of whom are unregistered, many of whom were providing services of poor quality. I've been approached by a number of different organisations, including those in the legal profession, who are very concerned about NDIS supports being provided for people with, for example, intellectual disability ending up in the legal system inappropriately. Data collection has been very poor, so we often don't know what supports are being provided to whom and where. Transparency and accountability have not occurred, and it is really way over time for the scheme to be overhauled. We also need to make sure that children who have developmental concerns can get access to early intervention and that early intervention happens early, it's not diagnosis dependent and the families can feel supported themselves. And we need to make sure that organisations that provide those social supports for families and for kids with disabilities are appropriately funded and are appropriately available in an equitable manner around the country. In particular, rural and regional areas have really struggled to get the supports they need for kids and adults with developmental disabilities, hence the Thriving Kids initiative announced by Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Ageing. It was a really eye-opening inquiry that we did, and I would like to thank so much all my committee members—in particular, the member for Kooyong, the deputy chair, who gave us her time and her expertise as a paediatric neurologist and was incredibly supportive. But so was everyone else on the committee. I've been really overwhelmed by the support I've had from all my committee members. I thank them so much, and I hope that they will get the opportunity to talk about their experiences as well. It has really been an informative process. The chair of the Thriving Kids committee that Mark Butler put together, Frank Oberklaid, has been a doyen of paediatric developmental medicine for the last half a century in Australia and overseas as well, and his advice and his support has also been vital. I'd like to thank the secretariat for the work that they've done. It was a high-time-pressure inquiry. We did a lot of interviews and a lot of public meetings, and I really am very grateful for the expertise of the secretariat. But, most of all, I'd like to thank my committee members. I appreciated all their input from all sides of parliament, including the opposition members. They've all been highly engaged, very supportive and interested in making the lives of families and their members who have disabilities better. I commend this report to the House. 17:07 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong by leave—The NDIS is simply not sustainable in its current form and at its current rate of growth. The uncomfortable truth for those of us who care deeply about the NDIS is that it has to undergo reform or we risk losing it altogether. It wasn't designed to support all disabled Australians, but in recent years the loss of community based block funded supports has left a void for those with mild developmental delay and disability. Many participants can't find the help they need, particularly in rural and regional settings. In the absence of alternatives, everyone has had to fight for an NDIS package. We've got an unsustainable situation where 11 per cent of Australia's five- to seven-year-old boys now have individual packages. We have a demand driven scheme with no means testing and no limits on spending, which is projected to cost as much as $100 billion a year by 2032. That's a scheme for 700,000 people which will cost more than Medicare for 30 million. This is unsustainable, inefficient and inequitable, especially when we're still leaving many people with a disability without the support that they need. So it does make sense that, rather than limiting services to individual packages, we should create a system with defined packages for those people who have a more significant disability and community based programs for younger children with developmental delay and neurodivergence. Increasing community supports for children with emerging developmental delays should be more cost effective. It should increase capacity, and it should promote inclusion. The Thriving Kids initiative marks a commitment to a new system of evidence based early intervention services, which should provide equity of access for all young Australian children with emerging developmental delay and disability. We have to acknowledge that there has been very justifiable anxiety within the disability community about these changes. For Thriving Kids to be accepted by the community, it will only win social licence by demonstrating effectiveness, and that includes a real commitment from the states. It cannot be seen as a cost-cutting exercise which will decrease the scope and the quality of the services that are provided. At this point, the state and territory governments are not ready to roll out foundational supports, and so I support last week's announced delay in the launch of Thriving Kids. This was a short inquiry, and it has not been able to address all of the issues and questions around Thriving Kids, but some things remain clear. We have to make it easier for parents to navigate a system which has often proven hostile and defensive. Many parents told us in this inquiry that their caring responsibilities increased when the family member entered the NDIS. That's a fail. We have to collect better data about participants' experiences and outcomes and the quality, safety and effectiveness of their treatment. We heard repeatedly that the record keeping by the NDIS is inadequate. We have to ensure that the services are co-designed with peak bodies and with all stakeholder groups and that they reflect the needs of the child not the eloquence of their advocates. We have to determine that these services can physically be provided and we have to improve access to online health services as well. We have to improve the registration policy and compliance and funding system for the NDIS. We have to help providers to decrease red tape. We have to get them to improve their record keeping and we have to cut down on the fraud, which is unfortunately but inevitably a significant issue at this point in time. The Thriving Kids program has to be subjected to regular review when it's rolled out, and it should have an independent inspector-general. We need better workforce planning. We heard again and again about the deserts where people can't access the supports that they need, particularly in regional, rural and remote settings. It's inequitable and it's unfair. We have to have some better data about where the allied health and other healthcare professionals that we need are, and we have to support them. It's not acceptable that people are waiting years to see a paediatrician in our major cities and that they're paying a large amount of money to do that. We should help more young people join the healthcare workforce by immediately increasing financial support for practical placements for all healthcare students. The Thriving Kids program needs us to resile from the premise that disabled people should have to self-manage their care and that all should receive support individually. Some things are better done together for efficiency, for economy and even for enjoyment. Success of the Thriving Kids model demands that, as a society, we are able to and will accept our responsibility to include and support all children and to create a system responsive to their capacities and their needs and that we commit to creating and supporting the workforce and the infrastructure which are required to maximise those children's independence and inclusion. I'll finish by thanking the chair of the health committee. It's been a great privilege to work with Dr Mike Freelander on this inquiry. Mike brings decades of experience to this parliament. He worked incredibly hard with all of the committee and the secretariat, and the report that we have put together summarises very well the generous and considered contributions of almost 500 groups or individuals who made submissions or who came to the public hearings. I echo Mike in thanking our other committee members who worked hard with dedication, with interest, with maturity and with bipartisanship—a rare bipartisanship in this place. I thank the secretariat as well and commend our report to the House. 17:14 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur I move: That the House take note of the report. The DEPUTY SPEAKER F2S Under standing order 39, the debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Reference to Federation Chamber 84 17:14 Dr FREELANDER 265979 Macarthur I move: That the order of the day be referred to the Federation Chamber for debate. Question agreed to. Human Rights Joint Committee 84 Report 84 17:14 Ms MASCARENHAS 298800 Swan On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I present the following reports: Human rights scrutiny report: report 8 of 2025 and Human rights scrutiny report: report 1 of 2026. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). Ms MASCARENHAS 298800 by leave—I am pleased to present Report 8 of 2025 and Report 1 of 2026 of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. In these reports, the committee considered 22 new bills, 253 new legislative instruments and deferred consideration of two bills. It has commented on six bills and 14 legislative instruments, and concluded its examination of seven bills and 10 legislative instruments. The committee has sought additional information from the relevant minister in relation to the human rights compatibility of two bills and nine instruments. In Report 8 of 2025, the committee commented on the Administrative Review Tribunal and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. This bill seeks to expand the circumstances in which the Administrative Review Tribunal may make a decision without holding an oral hearing. This engages and may limit the right to a fair hearing. The committee also noted that questions remain as to how much time and resources will be saved by this measure. It is accordingly unclear to the committee whether this measure is rationally connected to the objective of efficient resolution of proceedings. Further, the committee noted that should the measure disproportionately impact certain applicants, it may also engage and limit other rights, including the right to equality and nondiscrimination, and the rights of people with a disability to equality before the law. This bill also expands the circumstances in which the tribunal would not be required to give certain information to an applicant regarding a reviewable migration decision. As this may impede a person's ability to challenge a decision and this measure would apply to the decisions that may result in expulsion or deportation of noncitizens or foreign nationals, it engages and limits the prohibition against expulsion of aliens without due process. The committee also considered that there is a risk that this measure may not place a proportionate limitation on this right in absence of appropriate safeguards and given the extent of interference with the right that may be significant. In Report 1 of 2026, the committee has concluded its consideration of the Customs (Place of Detention) Directions 2025. This instrument identifies places of detention that a person can be held, including a room that meets the standard specified in the instrument or otherwise an Australian Border Force vehicle. The committee considers the right to humane treatment in detention and the right to privacy may be limited where a person is detained in a place that does not meet the standards of humane treatment or where they are subjected to the search of their person. The committee considers that many of the safeguards that accompany the measures are discretionary and do not provide sufficient protections for vulnerable groups, such as children or people with disability. I would like to draw particular attention to these human rights concerns as detaining a person in a vehicle during hot weather can result in death. I recall the death of Mr Ward an Aboriginal elder in 2008 in Western Australia. Mr Ward was being transported across the Goldfields in a prison van with faulty air conditioning. This resulted in a death in custody. While this was under state jurisdiction, it is important to understand the risks of vehicle detention. In Report 1 of 2026, the committee also commented on the Migration (Disclosure of Information to Prescribed Bodies) Instrument 2025 and the Migration (Disclosure of information To Prescribed International Organisations) Instrument 2025. These legislative instruments prescribed the bodies and international organisations to which officers may disclose identifying information about individuals. The prescribed bodies include 107 state and territory police forces and agencies, federal intelligence agencies, foreign police forces, and foreign intelligence agencies. The committee notes that prescribing the bodies and international organisations to which identifying information may be disclosed for specified purposes engages and limits the right to privacy and may engage and limit further rights. The committee considers that further information is required to assess the compatibility of these measures with these rights, and, as such, has sought advice from the minister. I encourage all members to consider the committee's reports closely. With these comments. I commend the scrutiny report 8 of 2025 and scrutiny report 1 of 2026 to the House. Public Accounts and Audit Joint Committee 85 Report 85 17:20 Ms SITOU 298121 Reid On behalf of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit, I present the committee's report entitled Report 513: Annual report 2024-25. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). Ms SITOU 298121 by leave—In accordance with the Public Accounts and Audit Committee Act 1951, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit is required to report annually to the parliament on the work it has undertaken. The committee's work includes reviews of the Australian National Audit Office reports and conducting inquiries where it identifies issues requiring further examination. The committee also determines the audit priorities of the parliament and makes recommendations to the government on the budget estimates of the ANAO and the Parliamentary Budget Office. This report speaks to the work of the previous committee and highlights its role in promoting transparency, accountability and good governance across the Australian public sector. During this period, the committee held 21 meetings, including five public hearings. The committee commenced four inquiries and presented eight reports that contained a total of 42 recommendations for government. The committee also undertook a range of other non-inquiry activities in line with its legislative responsibilities, including considering and confirming the appointment of the Parliamentary Budget Officer. The committee acknowledges and thanks the former chairs of the committee, the Hon. Julian Hill MP and former MP the Hon. Linda Burney, for their leadership over the 2024-25 period, as well as the former deputy chair, former senator the Hon. Linda Reynolds CSC. The committee also extends its appreciation to all previous members of this committee and to the secretariat for their continuing diligence and expertise in supporting its work. I ask leave of the House to present executive minutes on reports of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. Leave granted. Ms SITOU 298121 I present executive minutes on report Nos 498, 502, 505, 506, 507, 509, 511 and 512 of the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit. BILLS 86 BILLS Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025 86

Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025

Report from Federation Chamber 86 17:28 The SPEAKER 53517 The question is that the amendment be agreed to.  

The House divided. [17:28]
(The Speaker—Hon. Milton Dick)

46 AYES Aldred, M. R. Batt, D. J. Bell, A. M. Birrell, S. J. Boele, N. Boyce, C. E. Buchholz, S. Caldwell, C. M. (Teller) Chaffey, J. L. Chaney, K. E. Chester, D. J. Conaghan, P. J. Gee, A. R. Haines, H. M. Hamilton, G. R. Hastie, A. W. Hawke, A. G. Hogan, K. J. Joyce, B. T. G. Kennedy, S. P. Landry, M. L. Littleproud, D. McCormack, M. F. McIntosh, M. I. McKenzie, Z. A. Pasin, A. Penfold, A. L. Pike, H. J. (Teller) Price, M. L. Rebello, L. S. Ryan, M. M. Scamps, S. A. Small, B. J. Spender, A. M. Steggall, Z. Thompson, P. Venning, T. H. Violi, A. A. Watson-Brown, E. Webster, A. E. Wilkie, A. D. Willcox, A. J. Wilson, R. J. Wilson, T. R. Wood, J. P. Young, T. J. 86 NOES Abdo, B. J. Albanese, A. N. Aly, A. Ambihaipahar, A. Belyea, J. A. Berry, C. G. Bowen, C. E. Briskey, J. L. Burke, A. S. Burnell, M. P. Butler, M. C. Byrnes, A. J. Campbell, J. P. Chalmers, J. E. Charlton, A. H. G. Chesters, L. M. Clare, J. D. Claydon, S. C. Clutterham, C. L. Coffey, R. K. Coker, E. A. Collins, J. M. Comer, E. L. Conroy, P. M. Cook, K. M. G. Cook, P. A. Doyle, M. J. J. Dreyfus, M. A. Elliot, M. J. Fernando, C. J. France, A. A. Freelander, M. R. French, T. A. Garland, C. M. L. Georganas, S. Giles, A. J. Gorman, P. P. Gosling, L. J. Gregg, M. J. Hill, J. C. Holzberger, R. A. V. Husic, E. N. Jarrett, M. L. Jordan-Baird, M. A. M. Kearney, G. M. Keogh, M. J. Khalil, P. King, C. F. Lawrence, T. N. Laxale, J. A. A. Leigh, A. K. Lim, S. B. C. Marles, R. D. Mascarenhas, Z. F. A. McBain, K. L. McBride, E. M. Miller-Frost, L. J. Mitchell, R. G. Moncrieff, D. S. Mulino, D. Ng, G. J. O'Neil, C. E. Phillips, F. E. Plibersek, T. J. Rae, S. T. Repacholi, D. P. Rishworth, A. L. Roberts, T. G. Rowland, M. A. Ryan, J. C. Scrymgour, M. R. Sitou, S. Smith, D. P. B. (Teller) Smith, M. J. H. Soon, X. Stanley, A. M. (Teller) Teesdale, J. A. Templeman, S. R. Thistlethwaite, M. J. Thwaites, K. L. Urquhart, A. E. Watts, T. G. White, R. P. Wilson, J. H. Witty, S. J. Zappia, A. 0 PAIRS

Question negatived.
Bill read a second time.
Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

 Consideration in Detail 87 17:33 Mr KEOGH 249147 Burt I present a supplementary explanation to the bill. I move the government amendment as circulated: (1) Schedule 1, item 44, page 18 (lines 10 to 20), omit the item. The amendment circulated is to remove item 44 of schedule 1, which is part 8 of the schedule from the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025. This item would provide a specific power for the Repatriation Commission to give notice to the Chief of the Defence Force of claims, decisions and treatment as part of non-liability health care for serving members under section 284A of the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004. These notifications already occur along with notifications of other types of determinations, but non-liability health care provides fully funded treatment for cancer, mental health conditions and pulmonary tuberculosis without the need to establish that these conditions were caused by service. We have determined that it's appropriate at this time to remove this item, and we will consider the best approach for any notifications in relation to non-liability health care between the Repatriation Commission and the Chief of the Defence Force in the future. I thank the interim shadow veterans' affairs minister for his engagement on this matter. Question agreed to. Bill, as amended, agreed to. Third Reading 87 17:35 Mr KEOGH 249147 Burt by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 87

Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025

Report from Federation Chamber 87 Third Reading 87 17:36 Ms McBRIDE 248353 Dobell by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 87

Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025

Second Reading 87 17:37 Ms JARRETT 298574 Brisbane Continuing, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 provides reforms allowing highly skilled nurses to work to their full scope. This helps reduce pressure on hospitals and general practitioners as well as areas where those providing these services are stretched, especially rural and remote communities. Currently, our registered nurses, who are highly skilled and highly educated, remain underutilised in primary care, and allowing them to prescribe under the PBS system will boost efficiency, strengthen care coordination and allow GPs and nurse practitioners to focus on patients with more complex needs. The legislation implements recommendations from the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the Scope of practice review, and, since 2017, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer conducted extensive research and consultation on the nurse prescribing models and what might work. The NMBA, the board, developed the standards for designated registered nurse prescribers through multiple rounds of consultations. These consultations received strong support. This was a key election commitment that implements key practice reforms for nurses and midwives. The Albanese government has already been working with state and territory health ministers to register and train the first cohort of registered nurses who, from 1 July this year, are expected to complete their training and start prescribing medicines. This is an important step to ensure that all Australians have better access to affordable medicines that they need when they need them. This bill is just another way Labor is delivering on our commitment to strengthen Medicare. Medicare and PBS are proud Labor legacies, and they have helped millions of Australians receive the quality health care they need. This bill is another part of that legacy. It expands on our commitment to make health care more affordable and accessible to residents across our communities. This bill is an important complement to our $5 billion investment in new uncapped funding into the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, ensuring faster, more affordable access to innovative medicines. As we've heard, from 1 January this year, our government delivered on our commitment to cap PBS prescriptions at $25. Reducing the cost of prescriptions was just one of the cost-of-living measures Labor took to the last election, measures that had overwhelming support not only in the Brisbane electorate but across Australia. The PBS benefits so many Australians. As of 2024, 930 different medicines were listed on the PBS across more than 5,000 brands. It's critical that all Australians can afford the medicines and medicine related services that they need. This is particularly important for people with multiple health conditions who may be taking multiple medicines, people on low incomes and individuals or their families experiencing high out-of-pocket care costs. This is a policy that really does make a difference to people's lives. When I'm out and about in my community, the cost of living and health care are often raised with me. In my early morning commuter stops, I've had countless people come up to me and describe how much the $25 PBS cap and more bulk-billing have benefited them and their daily cost of living. This is especially the case amongst many young people who live in my community in Brisbane, who had put off buying their medicines or put off seeing a doctor. I am so proud to stand here in this House and to be part of the Albanese government that really is delivering changes that are making a difference to people's lives. The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was in 2004. Shrek 2 was probably the highest-grossing film, and I think I contributed a bit to that with some young children at the time. But PBS medicines being capped at $25 is more than just a 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of medicines. It will provide immediate cost-of-living relief to Australians doing it tough. This will save Australians over $200 million a year. This bill will help make it easier for women to access their medicines, and it comes on top of our government's significant investment in women's health. For far too long, women's health had been overlooked, underfunded and frankly misunderstood. The Labor government promised more choice, lower costs and better health care for women and we are delivering. Hundreds of thousands of women are now accessing cheaper medicines and better care thanks to that investment and recognition. Since launching the package in 2025, more than 365,000 women have accessed over 715,000 subsidised prescriptions for contraception, menopause treatments and endometriosis care. Contraceptives like Yaz, Yasmin, Slinda are now less than half the previous cost around. They were around $30.80 with a concession card; now they're a lot cheaper. Menopause treatments such as Estrogel, oestradiol and Prometrium now cost $25 a script or $7.70 for concession patients, down from up to almost $670 in some cases. Over 20,000 women have had Medicare-covered menopause health assessments. From 1 November just last year, women have had access to affordable IUDs and birth control implants. From 1 July, two new Medicare Benefits Schedule items were introduced for gynaecological consultations of 45 minutes or longer. This is really helping those women facing complex conditions such as endometriosis, pelvic pain, and there'll be more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions thanks to the Albanese Labor government. Just last week I had the pleasure to announce the opening of our new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Kelvin Grove. Kelvin Grove is in the heart of the Brisbane electorate. Our new Kelvin Grove Medicare Urgent Care Clinic means more affordable, more accessible urgent care for people when they need it most. This was a key election promise I brought to the last election, and I was so proud to stand there and deliver that to the community of Brisbane. No referrals, no bills, nothing to pay. All you need is your Medicare card. I had the pleasure of walking through the new urgent care clinic with hardworking local state MPs, Grace Grace and Jonty Bush. We chatted with nurse Sammy and Dr John, who are just so passionate about what we and they are delivering for the people of Brisbane. A lot of work and a lot of care has been put into setting up this clinic, which will benefit so many people across the Brisbane electorate. I also dropped into the Kelvin Grove Pharmacy with Assistant Minister Emma McBride, who is a pharmacist herself, where we heard firsthand about the benefits of the $25 scripts and how that is really helping people in the community. I'm also proud of our government's focus on its commitment to mental health. Last year, I again joined Minister McBride to open the new Medicare health centre in Lutwyche. The Inner North Brisbane Medicare Mental Health Centre in Lutwyche is commissioned by the Brisbane North Primary Health Network and operated by Communify Qld. And I've met so many people, young people in particular, in my community—when I was on the campaign trail and since then—who are really happy that they have access to proper mental health care. These locals benefit immensely. They can just walk in and see a mental health professional, and they can do that for free and close to home. I've been in that clinic when a young man, a young woman, a family have each walked in looking for care, and that's exactly what they got. Constituents across my electorate have also been telling me how great this easy access is: walk-in, free mental health care close to home. We can't underestimate what no appointment and no referral means to people. It encourages young people especially to get the help they need when they need it. People continue to walk into that centre—some in distress, some for a chat and others with complex health needs. Regardless, they continue to get incredible care from the practitioners and people with lived experience. We all know that sometimes people facing mental health distress don't need a doctor. Sometimes they don't need a psychologist. Sometimes they just need somebody to talk to who understands and puts themselves in their shoes. The Lutwyche Medicare mental health centre is truly a professional and responsive wraparound model of care that continues to develop help for many across my electorate, as do other centres that have been set up throughout Australia. When those opposite were in government, they took any opportunity to undermine our health system. This has had big and long-lasting impacts across our communities. It has meant that people could not access health care when they needed it most. So while those opposite continue to focus on themselves, we're getting on with the job of delivering for all Australians. Labor is the only party that will invest to make health care more affordable whether that's in record investment in Medicare, opening new Medicare urgent care clinics across the country, capping PBS scripts at $25, record investments in women's health or now allowing nurses to prescribe PBS medicines to help ease the pressure on our health system. I began my working career in the health sector, and I'm really passionate about making sure people in our community and across Australia have access to quality health care. In other countries where I've lived and worked, I've seen what lack of access to affordable health care can do. It destroys lives. It can lead to bankruptcy. It leads to health neglect. We have one of the best healthcare systems in the world, and I am proud to be part of a government that continues to make it even better. And now designated registered nurses prescribing PBS medicines enables safe, timely and effective primary care as well as aged-care services. I'm proud to be part of the Labor team that delivered real cost-of-living relief, and that continues to make some basic medicines more accessible for constituents in Brisbane and across Australia. And as successive Labor governments have demonstrated, this Labor government continues to deliver the needed reforms to expand and improve world-class health care and a medicines system that we can all be proud of. This bill delivers on the government's commitment to ensure our health workforce operates at its full scope, enhancing safe and timely access to medicines as well as building a healthcare system that provides accessible and affordable health care for all. This bill is a win for nurses, a win for the people of Brisbane and a win for all Australians. It's a bill with people and care at its heart. It's a bill that delivers on a commitment to provide accessible and affordable health care to Australians no matter where they live. 17:49 Dr SCAMPS 299623 Mackellar I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill amends the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to enable registered nurses, or RNs, who meet specified criteria to prescribe certain medications under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. The bill implements reforms identified by the government's Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and Unleashing the potential of our health workforce: scope of practice review. These explored the system changes and improvements needed to support health professionals and multidisciplinary team members to work at their full scope of practice. The aim is to deliver best practice primary health care. The Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation has welcomed this bill that removes barriers and finally allows highly qualified nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to work autonomously to their full scope, providing people with better access to quality care without the need to visit their GP or a hospital emergency department. The federation has pointed to the success of nurse led clinics in Tasmania and the ACT that have empowered more nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives to work to their full skill set, thereby expanding the provision of health care in those communities. There is a clear need to enable future designated nurse prescribers to prescribe PBS medications within their scope of practice and as part of collaborative prescribing agreements. However, despite endorsing the intentions of this bill, serious concerns have been raised by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the RACGP, and the Australian Medical Association, the AMA. Both of these professional medical bodies believe this bill, in its current form, does not provide sufficient protection for patients. Specific concerns include, firstly, that designated nurse prescribers should not be able to prescribe schedule 8 medicines, otherwise known as drugs of addiction, under the PBS; secondly, that there is no requirement for an eligible nurse prescriber to undertake relevant, real-time prescription monitoring or to make contributions to the national medicines record; thirdly, that PBS prescribing reforms should not occur before nurse practitioner accreditation standards scope boundaries and professional safeguards are finalised; and, lastly, that the definition of an authorised practitioner is not limited to a medical practitioner, which poses the risk of unintended consequences, including cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps. Currently in Australia, to be able to prescribe medications, a health practitioner must meet certain criteria, including having completed accredited prescribing education and training that is consistent with their scope of practice, being registered with the national board of their speciality, being approved under the National Health Act 1953 for prescriptions of PBS or Repatriation PBS medicines, and being approved under relevant state and territory legislation and regulation. In September last year, a new registration standard for nurse practitioner prescribing came into effect under AHPRA, the Australian Health Practitioner Registration Agency. This standard, called the 'endorsement for scheduled medicines—designated registered nurse prescriber', sets out how suitably qualified RNs can qualify to prescribe scheduled medicines 2, 3, 4 and 8 in partnership with an authorised health practitioner. The Australian College of Nursing has stated that this standard aligns Australian nursing with international best practice, following successful implementation in countries such as New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the Netherlands. The intent of this bill, and the expansion of the integral role that nurse practitioners play in healthcare delivery, has also been welcomed by professional doctors' groups, including the RACGP and the AMA. However, as previously mentioned, these professional medical bodies also have several serious concerns with this bill in its current form. Neither group supports the prescription of schedule 8 medicines by designated nurse prescribers. Schedule 8 medicines are those that have a high potential for abuse, dependence, addiction and harm, including opioids like morphine, oxycodone and fentanyl. The RACGP and the AMA recommend the bill explicitly prohibit designated nurse prescribers from prescribing schedule 8 medications. With my 20 years of experience as a GP and emergency doctor, I wholly concur that there is serious risk in significantly expanding the number of prescribers of S8 drugs. There can be enormous pressure for prescribers to provide scripts for these drugs of addiction. Some people will go to extreme lengths to ensure their stories are highly convincing and backed with manufactured evidence. Increasing the number of people who can prescribe these addictive medications, paired with a possible fragmentation of patient care, will mean more opportunities for these medications to be erroneously prescribed. Another serious risk identified by the RACGP is the absence of a requirement that nurse prescribers undertake real-time prescription monitoring—a national system designed to monitor the prescribing and dispensing of controlled medicines with the aim of reducing their misuse in Australia. This should be absolutely necessary. The RACGP has also raised the concern that the definition of an 'authorised practitioner' is not limited to medical practitioners. This poses a risk of unintended consequences, including cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps. While nurse practitioners would be classified as authorised health practitioners within prescribed agreement frameworks, the RACGP points out that nurses do not undergo the same breadth or depth of training as medical practitioners, including in pharmacology, diagnosis, the interpretation of tests and medication monitoring. As such, the RACGP urge that the medicines prescribed by nurse practitioners need to be carefully selected to ensure patient safety is maintained. Because state and territory legislation defines who can prescribe what, the RACGP and the AMA warn that a vague 'authorised practitioner' label will create cross-jurisdictional inconsistency and safety gaps. They assert that the definition is too broad and ambiguous and that supervising or partner prescribers must have extensive prescribing experience. In practice, these prescribers should be medical practitioners—not a wider group that could include other, non-medical practitioners. Prescribing agreements for designated RN prescribers must clearly document the roles of the RN and the authorised practitioner. There needs to be clarity that this role is medically led and auditable by the organisations in which designated RN prescribers work and/or by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. Where RN endorsement involves mentoring, there must be certainty that the mentors are clearly qualified for broad prescribing and are accountable within robust clinical governance. While the College of GPs support strengthening the Professional Services Review to ensure consistent oversight of designated RN prescribers, they warn that proceeding with PBS prescribing reforms before nurse practitioner accreditation standards, scope boundaries and professional safeguards are finalised would risk undermining patient safety and the integrity of collaborative care models. The college also warns that reforms to nurse practitioner accreditation standards have removed some of the existing safeguards. This includes the abolition of collaborative arrangements which legally required nurse practitioners and midwives to work in structured partnership with medical practitioners. This mandatory requirement was abolished in November 2024. Admission criteria to nurse practitioner training programs have also been relaxed significantly to reduce the prerequisite total hours of clinical and advanced nursing experience as an RN. Of particular concern is the proposal for nurse practitioners to be subject to only 30 hours of continuing professional development annually. This does not align with the minimum 50 hours of continuing professional development annually that GPs must undertake. The AMA has also consistently advocated that any prescribing of schedule 2, 3 or 4 medications must only occur within medically led, delegated team environments and always under an active prescribing agreement with a medical practitioner. While the AMA notes that not all their concerns have been addressed, they acknowledge that the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has incorporated several important safeguards into the national prescribing framework introduced under the new registration standard. These include that designated RN prescribers, firstly, can only prescribe a limited range of medicines only for defined conditions and only within their scope of practice; must have at least 5,000 hours of recent clinical experience; and must complete an Australian Qualifications Framework level 8 qualification and have accredited training aligned with predetermined competencies. They must also have a six-month mentorship and a documented collaboration protocol within the prescribing agreement. The AMA also joins the RACGP in its concern that the bill does not clearly define the term 'authorised health practitioner'. They are concerned that one of the approval criteria allows prescribing agreements to be established with one or more PBS prescribers. This potentially opens the door for non-medical practitioners, including pharmacists or podiatrists, to act in this supervisory role in the future. The AMA argues strongly that only medical practitioners or nurse practitioners acting within their scope are suitably qualified to supervise prescribing. The AMA warns that permitting agreements with other professions risks undermining the collaborative model. They stress that doctors and nurses need to work together within defined protocols and safeguards. When care moves away from collaboration towards independent prescribing, risks multiply due to the fragmentation of care, gaps in clinical oversight and reduced continuity of care for patients. What is clear from the evidence presented by both the RACGP and the AMA is that prescribing is not an administrative function; it is a clinical responsibility grounded in deep training, broad diagnostic expertise and ongoing professional oversight. Australians rightly expect that the medicines they are prescribed, particularly higher-risk medications, are supported by robust safeguards and delivered within a model of care that protects continuity, safety and accountability. I agree wholeheartedly with the intent of this bill to expand access and support a more flexible and responsive primary healthcare workforce. But intent alone is not enough. It is one thing to extend access to medical care, but we must absolutely be resolute in ensuring that this greater access does not undermine patient safety and outcomes. For these reforms to succeed, the safety concerns of professional medical bodies with deep experience in the field of prescribing and patient care must be heeded, and the safeguards they urge must be implemented. 18:03 Ms TEMPLEMAN 181810 Macquarie We made a promise that we would expand the scope of practice for health professionals so we could deliver real benefits to Australians. We all know it's tough to get to a GP exactly when you need to, and this is one of many tools we're using to try and address issues that have been building up for a long time in our health system, particularly at that first interaction in primary health care. This bill, the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, is an important step to ensure that Australians have better access to the health care they need and specifically to the medicines they need—now more affordable medicines, thanks to our capping of medicines under the PBS at $25 a script and the ability to get 60-day scripts. This is all part of a much bigger picture and shouldn't be seen in isolation. The sense of this bill is that it will allow designated registered nurses to prescribe safe, timely and effective medication. It's extending what we call their scope of practice, the stuff they're allowed to do, particularly in primary care and aged care. I know for my community it's worth noting that we've got more than 1,300 registered nurses in Macquarie, and that's on top of about 1,700 midwives and nursing professionals. So there's a really large cohort of people who are highly qualified, very experienced and may well choose to take the next steps involved so that they can expand the things that they're allowed to do. It may not sound like a big change. The legislation allows registered nurses who are endorsed against the registration standard to be an authorised prescriber to enable them to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and attract Commonwealth subsidy. It changes the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses with certain provisions. But it's been described by nurses and people working in the sector as a huge change to the health system. When you think about the implications of it, who you can go to in order to get a script and have a healthcare professional talk to you, we've already made it possible for more things to be done at pharmacies because we want pharmacists working at the top of their scope, but this is now expanding it even beyond that realm. We're talking about tens of thousands of nurses around the country who are now eligible to take that pathway towards prescribing medicines to patients. It's worth remembering what the situation we're changing is. Until now, the only health practitioners allowed to prescribe were medical doctors, dentists, optometrists, some pharmacists and, with some restrictions, nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, all of whom have done the appropriate training to be able to make these really critical decisions for patients when they see them. For nurse practitioners and endorsed midwives, they have additional postgraduate training that expands their scope of practice. Registered nurses may only have a bachelor's degree as well as registration with a regulatory agency, and that has not allowed them to be prescribers. So how is it going to work? Health ministers got together, and that is one of the strengths of our government. We have the capacity to work with the states and health ministers around the country, because you do need things to be worked out, usually, at the Commonwealth and state level. And health ministers last year approved the plan to expand the role of registered nurses. I want to be really clear. This is a lot about ensuring the time of GPs is freed up, but it is not necessarily about nurses working in isolation. The idea is that they work as part of a multidisciplinary team so that we have each member of that team being as effective and efficient for patients as they can be. An example of what might fall under this came from Frances Rice, who's the chief nursing officer at the Australian College of Nursing. She said that a good example would be a person who is stable on medication that they've been for some period of time and may need a repeat script. Depending on the medication, the registered nurse could be the one to do the prescribing, instead of needing to make an appointment to see the GP. So there is one example of where this might work. There are extra requirements that registered nurses will need to do. It's a major expansion of their scope of practice, and they have to meet stringent requirements to apply for an endorsement to prescribe. They have to do postgraduate qualifications. They have to be able to demonstrate adequate clinical experience, and then they need to participate in a six-month clinical mentorship with an authorised health practitioner. They then need to establish a formal partnership with an authorised health practitioner, like a GP, and that will involve a prescribing agreement detailing the circumstances in which the nurse can prescribe drugs. It's a huge change. It has a lot of safeguards around it. It is probably worth noting that the last time new prescribers were endorsed in a similar way was when midwives and nurse practitioners were endorsed, and that was about 20 years ago. These things are done with a lot of care, a lot of planning and a lot of safeguards around them. The registration standard for endorsement has been published by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia. It paves the way for prescribing of schedule 2, 3, 4 and 8 medicines—each of those is a different type of medication—but only in partnership with an authorised health practitioner who's an independent prescriber, such as a nurse practitioner or a doctor. The way this changes things is one part of many things that we're doing. I should point out that this legislation that we are discussing today will result in the first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers likely to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing medicines from sometime around the middle of the year. So this is something that will take a little bit of time, but we're going to see it in 2026. We are really committed to supporting our health workforce, our valuable, highly skilled and hardworking health workforce, to deliver quality care to Australians. We've done it in a number of ways. We've been talking a lot today about bulk-billing practices. In Macquarie, to make it easier to access your GP, we've ensured that we already have 18 fully bulk-billing practices, and they are practices not just in one area. Remember that my electorate is 4,000 square kilometres. So they are not just in one part but from the top of the Blue Mountains all the way down to the plains where the Nepean River defines it and then up north, across through the Hawkesbury. These practices are fully bulk-billing practices. For every patient, every time, bulk-billing is available. There are 18 of them to date. I'm also very proud that our Hawkesbury Medicare urgent care clinic opened this week. It's fantastic! I got a sneak peek through it last week, and I look forward to the official opening, but it is up and operating from eight in the morning until 10 at night. Again, you just need your Medicare card, and it's at 2 Kable Street in Windsor, co-located with the Cable Street GP Myhealth practice. I'm very grateful to the doctors, nurses and staff at that facility, who have stepped up in quite a short space of time to create a place where I know on Monday morning at eight o'clock there was a queue because it's a much-needed service and will take a lot of pressure off our Hawkesbury hospital emergency department. The practice will work closely with other GPS and feed back the circumstances in which they've seen patients. There's still more to come. We still need to see radiology on site. We will continue to work on all the things as we get feedback from people as they use it. That's another example of the Albanese government doing something really practical to make access to health care not just affordable but free when and where you need it. I'm told by my local sporting groups that they don't want to have to send any of their players there, but when the season starts, they have every expectation that there will be a steady trail of limbs being examined from basketball, soccer, football—you name it. I've mentioned that this piece of legislation also plays in to our cheaper medicines. It is hard for people to remember back to the early 2000s. It is hard for any of us to remember, and there are a whole lot of people who weren't even born then who will have no idea why we hark back to it. But the last time that medicines were $25 when you went to get a script was in the early 2000s. It's really significant to see the price reduction. Not many things go down in price in this world, and it's great that we have been able to use that lever to help ease cost-of-living pressures for people. We've also made a really big effort to ensure that these new nurses who are coming on and are able to prescribe things have even more things that they may be equipped to provide. The one that we announced just this weekend was the medication for Australians with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. They now have access to a really key medicine that had not previously been available on the PBS and cost about $930 a script, and, now, it's $25 a script and even less for people with a concession card. It's just $7.70 with a concession card—a price that will remain for the next few years, because we've frozen that concession card price. The medication has a really long name and goes by the brand name Andriga-10, and those who are relying on it will absolutely appreciate the benefit that it has. It's for the treatment of castration-resistant metastatic carcinoma of the prostate—not something that's good to have—but this can absolutely slow the disease, ease the symptoms and help patients feel better for longer. These are just some of the ways in which the Albanese Labor government is looking at availability and affordability of health care. We don't pretend that it's done and dusted. There is always more to do, and I have many parts of my electorate where I want to see more fully bulk-billing GPs and where I want to see greater access to support. I think the thing I'm probably most proud of and have fought hard for for well on 15 years is the access to free and available mental health support. Not only do we now have our online service that began on 1 January, but locally we have headspace for our young people at the top of the mountains in the Hawkesbury and in Penrith. We also have Medicare mental health centres where you can just walk in and say, 'Things are not great,' and you can talk to somebody and find a pathway—all of these things. It's about your Medicare card, not your credit card. That is life changing for mums, for elderly people—all of us have competing pressures, and it's really hard to tackle all the other challenges of life if your health is letting you down. What we're focused on is making sure that health is the thing that you can get on top of. I really encourage people to support this legislation so that we can have more of our amazing Macquarie registered nurses ready, able and legally allowed to prescribe medications to help take pressure off our GPs and to help support a community that most of them not only work in but live in. I commend this bill to the House. 18:18 Ms KARA COOK 316537 Bonner I rise today to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025, a reform that goes to the heart of access, efficiency and fairness in our healthcare system. Nurses and midwives play a vital role in Australia's healthcare system. Across the country, there are more than 54,000 enrolled nurses, 345,000 registered nurses and more than 2½ thousand nurse practitioners employed. There are also more than 300,000 midwives providing vital care for more than 300,000 women each and every year. Nurses alleviate suffering and support recovery. They foster life from the start and uphold dignity at the end of life. They are highly skilled and educated. However, they are currently underutilised in primary care. This bill changes that. It delivers upon Labor's commitment to support more Australians and their health by enabling designated registered nurses to prescribe. I know many in my electorate of Bonner will benefit from this change with better access for affordable medicines when they need it most. GPs are managing rising demand, as we know, and emergency departments are overcrowded. We know that too many Australians are waiting longer than they should for the care and medicines that they need. In many cases, those delays are not caused by any lack of clinical skill but by outdated restrictions on who can be authorised to prescribe. This bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to allow a registered nurse endorsed against the registration standard to be an authorised prescriber and to enable them to prescribe certain medications that can be supplied under the PBS and attract the Commonwealth subsidy. The bill also amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses to enable review of the provision of their prescribing services by the Professional Services Review Scheme. Amendments to the National Health Act 1953 will enable prescriptions written by designated registered nurse prescribers to be subsidised under the PBS. Prescribing registered nurses will be subject to the Professional Services Review Scheme, a peer review mechanism that safeguards the PBS and other programs. The change will reduce the need for GP visits or long waits at hospital emergency departments, due to nurses being empowered to provide safe, high-quality care directly to Australians. This builds upon national progress as well. In December 2024, Australia's health ministers approved the new registration standard that allows suitably qualified registered nurses to become designated nurse prescribers. The legislation will enable nurse prescribers to prescribe PBS subsidised medication in primary, aged, disability and mental healthcare settings, including the acute hospital setting to support the discharge process and outpatient management. The Albanese Labor government has listened to the experts and is acting on their advice. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and chief nursing and midwifery officers conducted extensive research and consultation on nurse prescribing models. Through many rounds of consultation, the board developed the standards for designated registered nurse prescribers. Subsequently, all health ministers endorsed the scheduled medicine standards in 2024. This bill reflects expert advice. It reflects workplace planning and it reflects a modern health system adapting to modern needs. Nurses are essential across all health settings, from hospitals and aged care to primary care and remote areas. They are the largest clinical workforce in the country. They are crucial to ensuring every Australian can get the health care they need when they need it. That is why Labor is building the health workforce. This includes delivering $10.5 million for 400 scholarships for nurses and midwives to extend their skills. The scholarships will increase the number of qualified nurse practitioners to support nurse led clinics and increase the number of endorsed midwives. Labor is also fast-tracking registration for record numbers of nurses from comparable countries to join Australia's workforce. To back the health workforce, we need to recognise the expertise of our nurses. That is why the Albanese Labor government delivered a $2.6 billion pay rise for nurses in aged care. Registered and enrolled nurses have seen their award wage increase by an average of around 12 per cent. These increases have been provided across three instalments, with the final instalment coming into play this year in August. Under a decade of neglect from those opposite, aged-care workers were underpaid and undervalued. I'm proud to be part of a government that is righting that wrong. Registered nurses working in aged care on an award wage are around $430 a week better off, and enrolled nurses are $370 a week better off, under the Albanese Labor government. This will also boost recruitment and retention of nurses, easing the pressure on the existing nurse workforce. The Albanese Labor government has made health a priority. These reforms are alongside policies to make health care more accessible and affordable for a growing population. We all know that the costs of seeing a doctor or filling a script are placing many families under financial pressure. Bonner families shouldn't have to make a choice between their health, groceries or paying a bill. That is why Labor has made medicines cheaper. From 1 January this year, we have seen the cost of PBS medications drop to just $25 per script. In Bonner alone, families have saved more than $14.2 million across more than two million scripts. Since coming into government, the Albanese Labor government has also added over 300 new and amended listings to the PBS scheme. For example, 300,000 women will save up $400 a year in Medicare rebates for IUDs, and 365,000 women have already accessed 715,000 cheaper scripts for contraceptives and menopausal hormone therapies through changes to the PBS. Now, authorised nurses can prescribe medications. New PBS listings are saving families potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in treatment costs for rare and complex diseases as well as other very rare and complex health conditions. Australian families are relying on medications being listed on the PBS so they can make ends meet. That is exactly what we are doing. We know that seeing a doctor has become a challenge when it shouldn't be. That is why the Albanese Labor government has tripled the bulk-billing incentive. This is the single biggest in Medicare's history. It means more Australians are seeing the doctor for free and fewer families are putting off the care that they need. Over the next four years, 4,800 clinics across the nation are expected to convert to fully bulk-billed practices, and it's already started in Bonner. In our electorate, we now have around a third of our practices bulk-billing, including: Doctors on Manly Road; Yulu-Burri-Ba in Wynnum; Archer Medical Centre in upper Mount Gravatt; Garden City Family Doctors; Good Health Medical Centres in Garden City, Mount Gravatt and Carindale; Mansfield Family Practice; Mount Gravatt Family Practice; Realcare Medical Centre in upper Mount Gravatt; and Tingalpa Family Health Care Centre, and there will be more on the way. These clinics help more families see the doctor, and it won't cost them a cent. All they need is their Medicare card, not their credit card. Nurses are also playing a crucial role in our urgent care clinics. Our community called for an urgent care clinic, and I'm thrilled that in the last couple of months we've opened not one but two urgent care clinics. Carina-Carindale and the Capalaba urgent care clinics are now open. They are providing urgent care for many in Bonner with no out-of-pocket costs every day of the year. Already 1,121 locals have been treated at the Carina-Carindale clinic. The Capalaba clinic alone has reported an average of 40 people walking in each and every day. Over 2.1 million patients have walked through the door of a Medicare urgent care clinic in Australia, and that includes 360,000 Queenslanders who have received free, urgent, non-life-threatening care through these clinics, seven days a week, close to home. With cheaper medicines, bulk-billed GP clinics and urgent care clinics, families in my community of Bonner can get the health care they need when they need it. Now, nurses will play a greater role in supporting families accessing the treatment they need. In Bonner, I know many people are in the healthcare and aged-care sector as well. In Bonner, 8.7 per cent of the working population are in the healthcare and social assistance sector. There are 3½ thousand people in Bonner completing a health related VET course, and there is a nurse led clinic in Mount Gravatt within my electorate. I know these reforms will support more opportunities for our nurses. Importantly, it will enable my community to seek treatment they need faster. Allowing nurses to prescribe under the PBS will ensure the health system is responsive and better coordinated and ensure GPs and nurse practitioners can focus on patients with more complex needs. The bill is about making better use of the skills we already have in our health workforce. It is about improving access to medicines and ensuring that Australians can receive the care they need when they need it without any unnecessary delay. The Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting our nurses and values the work that they do. I commend the bill to the House. 18:29 Ms BELYEA 309484 Dunkley Across the 47th parliament and, now, the 48th parliament, this government has been bringing back to life our health system after a decade of neglect, investing in Medicare urgent care clinics, like the one in Dunkley, and in bulk-billing, capping the costs of PBS medicines and a range of other initiatives like prac placement support for midwives and nurses. Today, I support another initiative—the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. It's another additional step to ensuring we improve and provide holistic and efficient access to health care in this country. This bill is a practical, sensible and forward-looking reform, one that puts patients first, strengthens Medicare and recognises the vital role nurses play in delivering high-quality care across the country. At its heart, the legislation is about access—access to care, access to medicines and access to a health system that works for people when and where they need it. This bill amends two key pieces of Commonwealth legislation—the National Health Act of 1953 and the Health Insurance Act of 1973—to allow suitably qualified and endorsed registered nurses to become authorised prescribers under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and to ensure their prescribing services are appropriately overseen under the Professional Services Review Scheme. These are measured and necessary changes, and they are long overdue. Australians know that our healthcare system is under pressure. Demand is increasing, the population is ageing and too many people, particularly in primary care, aged care and fast-growing outer metropolitan and regional communities like Dunkley, are struggling to access timely treatment and affordable medicines. The Albanese Labor government was re-elected with a clear mandate to act, and at the 2025 election we committed to prioritising scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives so health professionals can work to their full potential and patients can get the care they need without unnecessary delay. This bill is a direct delivery on that commitment. It recognises what nurses have long demonstrated in practice—that with the right education, endorsement and safeguards registered nurses can safely, effectively and appropriately prescribe certain medicines as part of a collaborative healthcare team. Importantly, this legislation does not lower standards. It does not cut corners, and it does not compromise patient safety and care. Instead, it builds on rigorous national regulation and professional oversight. In December 2024, Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers approved a new registration standard under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act 2009: the Endorsement for scheduled medicines—designated registered nurse prescriber. This nationally consistent standard ensures that only suitably qualified registered nurses who have completed approved education and met strict professional requirements can become designated registered nurse prescribers. The first cohort of these nurses is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing medicines from July this year. This bill ensures that the Commonwealth legislative framework is ready to support that transition. Without these amendments, prescriptions written by designated registered nurse prescribers could not be subsidised under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. That would create unnecessary barriers for patients and undermine the very purpose of the reform. By amending the National Health Act 1953, this bill allows registered nurses who are endorsed against the new registration standard to be recognised as authorised prescribers for certain PBS medicines, ensuring patients can access affordable, subsidised treatments in a timely manner. And, by amending the Health Insurance Act 1973, this bill appropriately includes registered nurses within the Professional Services Review Scheme, providing the same accountability and oversight that already applies to other healthcare professionals who prescribe under Medicare. This is good governance, it is responsible reform and it ensures public confidence in the system. Designated registered nurse prescribers align squarely with the intent of Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce Review. That landmark review made it clear that Australia must better utilise the skills and expertise of its health workforce if we are to meet current and future demand. It called for reforms that enable health professionals to work to their full scope of practice, reduce duplication and improve access for patients. This bill does exactly that. It enables safe, timely and effective prescribing by registered nurses, particularly in settings where access to medical practitioners can be limited, such as regional settings, primary care clinics, aged-care services and community health settings. For patients, this can mean fewer delays, fewer appointments and more streamlined care. It can mean getting a prescription at the point of care rather than waiting days or weeks for another consultation—helping people to get better sooner. It can mean better continuity of care, especially for people with chronic conditions who are already receiving ongoing support from nursing professionals they know and trust. This reform is not about replacing doctors. It's about complementing and strengthening a multidisciplinary approach to care at a time when there are workforce shortages. It's about making the best use of all health professionals—working together, each within their competence and scope—to deliver better outcomes for patients. It is also important to note that this reform is being progressed in partnership with states and territories. Health ministers across jurisdictions have already approved the national registration standard, and states and territories are now amending their own legislation to enable designated registered nurse prescribing within their health systems. This cooperative approach reflects the seriousness of the reform and the shared commitment across governments to modernise our health workforce. The Albanese Labor government understands that a strong Medicare system depends on a strong workforce. That is why we are backing nurses not just with words but with real reforms that recognise their skills, expand their opportunities and support them to deliver quality care. This bill is another way we are delivering on our commitment to strengthen Medicare and improve access to affordable health care for all Australians. For the community of Dunkley, the benefits of this reform are very real and very local. Dunkley is a growing and diverse community with increasing demand for health services across primary care, aged care and community health. Too many people in the community know what it's like to wait for too long for an appointment, travel further than they should or delay treatment because local services are stretched. By enabling designated nurse practitioner prescribers to work to their full scope of practice, this bill will help ease pressure on local health services and doctors and improve access to timely care right here in Dunkley. It means nurses already providing care in general practice, community clinics and aged-care facilities can help patients access the medicines they need more quickly and more efficiently. This reform builds on the Albanese Labor government's broader health package—our comprehensive plan to strengthen Medicare, invest in our health workforce and deliver better access to care for communities like mine. It sits alongside our record investments in Medicare, primary care and hospitals, and alongside our commitment to modernise the way health care is delivered to meet the growing needs of the population. The broader healthcare package includes the opening of the new Peninsula University Hospital, a transformational investment in health care for the Dunkley community and the broader Melbourne south-east. This world-class facility will expand capacity, improve emergency and specialist care, and support a growing workforce of skilled healthcare professionals. Ensuring nurses at Peninsula University Hospital and across the Dunkley community are supported by contemporary scope-of-practice reforms is essential to making the investment deliver to its full potential. Modern infrastructure must be matched with modern workforce settings. This bill helps ensure our local health infrastructure, workforce and policy settings work together so the people of Dunkley get the accessible, high-quality health care they deserve. More broadly, this legislation ensures that, when designated nurse prescribers begin practising from July 2026, the Commonwealth framework will be ready to support them and, more importantly, to support their patients. Australians should be able to get the medicines they need when they need them without unnecessary hurdles or extra costs. They should be able to rely on a health system that is modern, flexible and responsive to their needs, and they should know that their government is willing to reform outdated systems to deliver better outcomes for the population. This bill does exactly that. It is sensible, it is evidence based and it is focused squarely on patients. I commend the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 to the House and urge all members to support this important step in strengthening our health system for all Australians. 18:41 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter I rise today to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. I do so as the member for Hunter but also in my role as the Special Envoy for Men's Health. And I want to be very clear from the outset: this bill is not just about workforce reform, it's not just about scope of practice and it's not just about legislation. This bill is about access, it's about prevention and it's about saving lives—particularly the lives of men who too often fall through the cracks of our health system. When we talk about men's health in this place, we have to start with the uncomfortable truth: men are less likely to seek help. Men are more likely to delay care. Men are more likely to put things off until something becomes serious or, sometimes, until it's, unfortunately, too late. We see it in all the statistics. Men die younger than women. Men have higher rates of suicide. Men are more likely to present late with chronic diseases. And men in regional and outer metropolitan areas like the Hunter face even greater barriers to timely care. That is the context in which this bill matters. The legislation enables appropriately trained and endorsed registered nurses to prescribe certain medications under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, or the PBS. It allows those prescriptions to attract a Commonwealth subsidy and it ensures appropriate oversight through the Professional Services Review scheme. That might sound technical, but, in the real world, the impacts are very simple. It means people can get the medicines they need when they need them and without unnecessary delays. From a men's health perspective, this is critical. I cannot tell you how many blokes I've spoken to that say the same thing to me. They know something is wrong, they know they need help but they can't get in to see a GP for a couple of weeks. Or they live in a town where there is no access to a GP and they're not taking new patients. Or they're juggling shift work, caring responsibilities and cost pressures, and they, unfortunately, are putting themselves last. So they wait and they wait, and their condition gets worse. This bill helps break that cycle. By allowing designated registered nurse prescribers to work their full scope of practice, we expand the front door to the health system. We reduce the bottlenecks. We get people treated earlier and we keep them out of hospital. This is good health policy and it's good for men's health policy as well. Men are more likely to present to a health service in crisis rather than earlier. That is true for mental health, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and many other conditions. Early access to treatment and medication can be the difference between management and emergency. In communities like mine, nurses are often the first point of contact in primary care clinics, in aged care, in mental health settings, in Aboriginal community controlled health services and in hospitals supporting discharge and following up with care. Giving those nurses the ability to prescribe within a structured, regulated and collaborative framework means patients are not left waiting. It means continual care of these patients and it means better outcomes. This bill gives and delivers on an election commitment by the Albanese Labor government to implement scope-of-practice reforms for nurses and midwives. It aligns with unleashing the potential of our health workforce review, and it reflects years of consultation and careful planning. This certainly is not rushed reform; this is considered reform. Health ministers approved a new national registration standard in December 2024. The Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia has set clear education and endorsement requirements. The first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers is expected to begin prescribing from July 2026—only a few months away. This is a staged, safe and sensible approach, and I want to be very clear about something else: this reform does not replace doctors, it does not undermine GPs and it does not compromise anybody's safety. Designated registered nurse prescribers will practice in partnership with authorised health practitioners under active prescribing arrangements. There is oversight, there is accountability and there are clear boundaries around what medicines can be prescribed. This is about team based care, and it's exactly where modern health systems need to go. From a men's health perspective, multidisciplinary care is essential. Men often present with complex needs; physical health, mental health, work related injuries, substance use and chronic disease all intersect. Having nurses able to prescribe within their scope means fewer handovers, fewer appointments and fewer opportunities for men to disengage from care altogether. That matters because every extra barrier is a chance for someone to walk away. I want to speak specifically about regional and outer metropolitan Australia. In the Hunter, access to care can vary dramatically depending on where you live. Some towns have very good coverage, and others struggle. GP shortages are real, wait times are real and pressures on emergency departments are constant. This bill helps relieve that pressure. By enabling nurses to prescribe PBS subsidised medicines in primary care, aged care, disability services, mental health settings and hospitals, we make better use of the workforce we already have. This is just common sense. This bill also supports continual care for men leaving hospital. Too often, men are discharged with instructions to see their GP and follow up with prescriptions and follow-up care. Unfortunately, that follow-up care doesn't always happen—or it happens too late. Allowing nurse prescribers to support discharge planning and outpatient management reduces readmissions and improves adherence to treatment. From a men's health perspective, this is crucial and definitely needed. Men are less likely to follow up, less likely to attend multiple appointments and, unfortunately, more likely to fall out of the system. This bill helps close that gap. I also want to speak about prevention. Prevention sits at the very heart of men's health. Too often, our health system is built to respond when something has already gone wrong—when a bloke turns up in the emergency department with chest pain, when diabetes has progressed too far or when mental health distress has reached its crisis point. That is not a failure of individuals; it's a failure of access. If we want to improve men's health outcomes, we have to intervene earlier. We have to make it easier to have that first conversation, easier to get that first prescription and easier to start treatment before the problem becomes an absolute catastrophe. This bill is going to do exactly that. This bill helps that the whole way along. When a man walks into a clinic, an aged-care service, a mental health service or a community health setting and speaks to a nurse, that interaction should not end with them needing to come back later, needing to book somewhere else or needing to have a conversation with three or four other people. Every extra step increases the risk that nothing is going to happen at all. Designated registered nurse prescribers mean that, when a man finally reaches out, the system can respond in real time. That matters more often than we would like to admit. In men's health, timing is absolutely everything. We know men are more likely to delay care. We know men are more likely to minimise their symptoms and not actually tell the GP or the nurse practitioner exactly what's wrong with them. We know that men are more likely to disengage if the system feels too complicated or too slow. This bill reduces friction in the system. It also supports better management of chronic disease, which disproportionately affects men. Conditions like heart disease, diabetes, respiratory illness and musculoskeletal injuries—it's a tough word to say, that one—are more common in men, particularly in men who have worked in physically demanding industries. These are often not one-off issues. They require ongoing care, medication management and regular follow-ups. Nurses already play a crucial role in that care. Allowing them to prescribe within their scope strengthens community and also strengthens the consistency of males seeing and reaching out for this help. From a men's health perspective, having continual care matters because men are less likely to attend multiple providers. They want clear advice, clear plans and clear next steps. This reform supports that. I also want to speak directly about men working shift work and non-standard hours. In industries like mining, manufacturing, transport and construction, shift work is the norm. Accessing a GP during business hours is quite often difficult, and men are left choosing between their health and their pay. Nurses are often available outside traditional GP hours, particularly in community clinics, hospitals and residential care settings. Giving them prescribing authority ensures that working men are not disadvantaged by the hours they keep. This is an equity issue. This bill also supports older men, particularly those transitioning into aged care or receiving community based support. Older men often have complex medical needs. They may struggle with mobility or transport or have cognitive decline. Delays in prescribing or renewing medications can have serious consequences to all of these people. Designated registered nurse prescribers working in aged care and community settings will help ensure continuity, reduce medication errors and improve quality of life. From a men's health lens, dignity in ageing matters. Access to timely care matters. This reform supports both. I also want to acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander men, who experience significantly poorer health outcomes and lower life expectancies. Nurses play a crucial role in Aboriginal community controlled health services. Enabling nurse prescribing within culturally safe, community led models of care supports better access and much better trust. Men are more likely to engage in health services they trust. This reform strengthens those services. Mental health must also remain front of mind. As the Special Envoy for Men's Health, I cannot speak about access or care without speaking about suicide prevention. Men make up the overwhelming majority of suicide deaths in this country. We know that many of those men had contact with the health system in the months before they died. The problem was not that they did not seek help. The problem was that the help did not always move quickly enough for them. Designated registered nurse prescribers in mental health settings can support timely intervention, medication continuity and follow-up. They can help keep men engaged during critical periods of their lives. This saves lives. I want to be very clear. This reform is not about lowering standards. It is about modernising them. The nurses who prescribe under this framework will be highly trained, endorsed against national standards and subject to oversight and review. This is safe, evidence based reform that aligns with international best practice. Other health systems have successfully implemented similar models. The evidence shows improved access, high patient satisfaction and no compromise to safety. Australia should not lag behind. This bill is also about valuing our healthcare workforce. Nurses are highly skilled professionals. Allowing them to work their full scope is not only efficient but also respectful. From a men's health perspective, a confident, empowered workforce means better care. It means clinicians who can act decisively when a man finally asks for help. I often say that we cannot fix men's health outcomes by telling men to do better alone. We must fix the system. This bill is system reform. It recognises how men actually use health services and reduces barriers. It improves access, and it supports early intervention. It strengthens Medicare, it strengthens primary care and it strengthens outcomes for men all across this country, especially in regional and outer metropolitan communities like the Hunter. This is why reform matters, and that's why I'm proud to support this bill. I commend this bill to the House. 18:55 Ms BRISKEY 263427 Maribyrnong At the last election, we made a clear commitment to the Australian people not only to strengthen Medicare but to ensure that, after almost a decade of cuts and chaos from those opposite, Australia would have a healthcare system that's accessible and responsive and truly works for the people who rely on it. At the heart of that system is our health workforce, the frontline workers who dedicate their lives to caring for us, our families and our communities when people need them the most. They are the backbone of our healthcare system, and the strength of Medicare depends on our ability to support and enable them to deliver the best possible care. Whilst the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 directly affects the work of registered nurses, it is fundamentally about everyday Australians—people who find themselves unwell, caring for a loved one or trying to navigate a system that often feels complex, slow and difficult precisely at the moment when they need support the most. This legislation is about making our health system work fairer and better where we need it to work. It is about ensuring people can access safe, affordable medicines without unnecessary delay, and it is about empowering our health workforce to work to its full potential so patients receive timely, high-quality care. The Albanese Labor government also made a clear commitment to prioritise scope-of-practice reforms for health professionals. We did so because we know our health system is under pressure, with growing demand, workforce shortages and communities rightly calling for care to be more flexible, more efficient and more centred on their needs. This bill delivers on that commitment. It is practical, sensible reform that strengthens Medicare by modernising how care is delivered and ensuring highly trained health professionals are able to contribute fully within their scope of practice. It recognises that the challenges facing our health system cannot be solved by standing still. They require thoughtful, evidence based reform focused on people, not process, and that is why this reform is so important. This bill enables designated registered nurse prescribers to prescribe certain medicines under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme once they are appropriately trained and endorsed. It does this in two ways. First, it amends the National Health Act 1953 to recognise registered nurses who are endorsed under the National Registration Standard as authorised prescribers, allowing their prescriptions to attract Commonwealth subsidy through the PBS. Second, it amends the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses within the Professional Services Review scheme, ensuring appropriate oversight, accountability and patient safety. These are careful and considered changes. They ensure that, as nurses' roles evolve, the legislative framework evolves with them, supporting quality care while maintaining the integrity of our health system. Taken together, these amendments ensure that our laws keep pace with modern clinical practice and the realities of how care is delivered on the ground. They make it clear that, when a registered nurse is appropriately trained, endorsed and practising within a collaborative framework, we recognise their clinical judgement and support these incredible healthcare professionals in our national health system. By enabling access to PBS subsidies while maintaining strong safeguards and oversight, this bill strikes the right balance between expanding access to care and upholding the high standards Australians rightly expect from their Medicare. Those of us on this side of the chamber have always recognised the incredible role nurses play in keeping our country healthy. Ms Trish Cook 312871 Hear, hear! Ms BRISKEY 263427 Indeed—and our member for Bullwinkel! Nurses are often the first clinicians people see and the ones who stay with patients throughout their care. They work in our GP clinics, hospitals, aged-care homes, community health services and mental health settings, building relationships, providing continuity and delivering care with skill and compassion. I'd like to take this opportunity to recognise some amazing nurses who looked after my daughter Gwenevieve when, in the final week of school holidays just a couple of weeks ago, she had to have her appendix taken out. The nurses at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne were incredible, keeping Gweny calm and in good spirits whilst recognising how scary this procedure was for her and helping her to take the medicine that she needed, sometimes with much protest. My heartfelt thanks to every single nurse, doctor and healthcare professional who helped to support Gwenevieve and who looked after us and our entire family when we were there a couple of weeks ago. This bill recognises that many registered nurses already have advanced training and expertise and, with the right education and safeguards, can effectively and safely take on an expanded prescribing role. The national registration standard—endorsement for scheduled medicines, designated registered nurse prescriber—was approved by the health ministers in December 2024 and came into effect in September 2025. It sets out clear, rigorous requirements that registered nurses must meet and attain to maintain endorsement. The first cohort of designated registered nurse prescribers is expected to complete their education, receive endorsement and begin prescribing by 26 July. This is reform done properly, grounded in evidence, education and professional standards. Designated registered nurse prescribing is based on partnership, with nurse prescribers practising in collaboration with authorised health practitioners under active prescribing agreements. That collaborative approach has been central to the design of this reform, and it is why it has received support from across the health sector, including through extensive consultation with organisations such as the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian Medical Association. This shared approach reflects a modern understanding of health care—one that values collaboration, respects professional expertise and keeps patients at the centre. The real impact of this bill will be felt by patients and communities, including those communities I am proud to represent across Maribyrnong. Maribyrnong is a diverse and growing electorate with families juggling work and care responsibilities, older Australians ageing in place and many people managing chronic and complex health conditions. Like many communities across Australia, we rely heavily on strong primary and community based care to keep people well and out of hospital. In primary healthcare settings across Maribyrnong, designated registered nurse prescribers will be able to support patients with more timely access to PBS subsidised medicines, particularly for ongoing and chronic conditions. That means fewer delays, fewer unnecessary appointments and a smoother experience for patients whilst also allowing general practitioners to focus their time and expertise. In aged care, in places like Wintringham in Avondale Heights, where many residents live with multiple health conditions and frequently require changes to medication, this reform supports faster clinical decision-making and better continuity of care. For older residents and their families, that means greater confidence that care is timely, coordinated and responsive. In disability and mental health settings, designated registered nurse prescribers will be able to contribute to medication management as part of a broader person centred approach to care, supporting stability, dignity and recovery and helping to ensure people receive the right care at the right time close to home. And in hospital settings, particularly at the point of discharge, this reform will help ensure patients can leave hospital safely and promptly with the medicines they need, easing pressure on hospital beds, improving patient flow and reducing the risk of people falling through the cracks as they transition back into the community. These are practical, real-world improvements that will make a meaningful difference in places like Maribyrnong. They reflect Labor's commitment to building a healthcare system that works for communities not just on paper but in practice. This reform is also being delivered in a coordinated and genuinely national way. All states and territories are currently amending their drugs and poisons legislation to enable designated registered nurse prescribers by July 2026. That level of alignment reflects a shared understanding that this reform is necessary and overdue and will deliver real benefits to patients no matter where they live. This national consistency is important. It means that, whether people are accessing care in a local GP clinic, an aged-care facility, a community health service or a hospital, the system is better equipped to respond quickly, safely and effectively to their needs. It also provides greater certainty for our health workforce. Nurses who live and work in our local communities can practise within a clear, nationally consistent framework supported by strong professional standards and shared expectations across the country. This bill is also about valuing and supporting our health workforce. By enabling designated registered nurse prescribing, we are creating clearer career pathways for nurses, improving job satisfaction and helping retain skilled clinicians within our health system. At a time when workforce pressures are one of the greatest challenges facing our healthcare system, supporting nurses to work their full scope of practice is not just sensible—it's essential. The Unleashing the Potential of our Health Workforce—Scope of Practice Review, led by Professor Mark Cormack, was unequivocal on this point. It found that barriers to working to full scope of practice prevent the most effective use of the existing workforce and undermine the sustainability of our health system over time. This reform responds directly to that finding. It empowers health professionals to contribute fully within their areas of expertise, removes unnecessary constraints on safe and effective care, and ensures our workforce is supported to deliver more for patients. It is another way that this government is strengthening Medicare—not just by investing in it but by modernising how it works for patients, providers and the workforce who sustain it. This bill is thoughtful, practical and forward-looking, but it is also something more than that. It is a clear statement of this government's values and of our belief in a strong, universal Medicare system, one that evolves with the needs of the community it serves and is built on trust in the people who deliver it every day. This legislation modernises our laws to reflect contemporary healthcare practice. It embraces evidence based reform that supports collaboration, flexibility and patient centred care. It supports our healthcare workforce, particularly our nurses, by recognising their skills, their training and their vital role across every part of our healthcare system. And, most importantly, it improves access to affordable medicines for Australians, which have now been made even cheaper because of our government's cheaper medicines policy. It's just $25 a script, like it was back in 2004. It means fewer delays in care, better continuity for patients and a health system that works more smoothly, more fairly and more humanely, especially when people are unwell, vulnerable or caring for someone that they love. That is the kind of reform Australians expect from our Labor government, and that is exactly why I commend this bill to the House. 19:08 Ms JORDAN-BAIRD 316021 Gorton I rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 brought forward by the Minister for Health and Ageing, and I commend him for doing so. This bill is about making it easier for Australians to access the prescription medicine they need. It's about lightening the load for hospital emergency departments and GPs. It's about empowering our highly skilled, highly educated workforce of registered nurses to do what they were trained to do. It's about equitable access to health care for all Australians, including those managing chronic diseases and health conditions and those living in regional, rural and remote areas, who feel issues with access to health care even more keenly. This bill is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to the Albanese Labor government delivering on our commitment to make sure that health care is affordable and accessible for every Australian and that, for Australians with a chronic health condition, looking after their health is easier and more manageable. It's a practical bill which mobilises our existing workforce of registered nurses to deliver timely, affordable and accessible prescriptions and delivers for all Australians. With this bill, we amend the National Health Act 1953 to allow a registered nurse endorsed against the registration standard to prescribe certain medicines that can be supplied under the PBS and attract Commonwealth subsidy. We also amend the Health Insurance Act 1973 to include registered nurses, enabling review of the provision of their prescribing services by the Professional Services Review Scheme. This bill will allow registered nurses to prescribe medicines under the PBS, and the medicines able to be prescribed under the PBS will be considered by the independent Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, or PBAC. With this legislation, registered nurses will be empowered to deliver high-quality care directly to people in the community. For those who receive care from RNs, it will mean less GP visits or long waits in hospital emergency departments. For others, it will mean better access to doctors and emergency care when they need it. In Australia, we have a workforce of more than 450,000 registered nurses and midwives. It's the largest clinical workforce in Australia. Registered nurses go through intensive training, often including more than 800 hours of clinical placements. And I know my friend the member for Bullwinkel is a wonderful nurse. We have many nurses in the House on our side of the chamber. There's no doubt they are highly skilled and highly educated. They work in many contexts, including hospitals, clinics, general practices, residential aged-care services, urgent care clinics and also in the House of Representatives, yet their expertise has not been fully utilised in primary care. Allowing them to prescribe under the PBS will boost efficiency, strengthen care coordination and free up GPs and nurse practitioners to focus on patients with more complex needs, as well as support the discharge and outpatient processes in hospitals so that more people can be seen quicker. And it will strengthen the health system by easing workforce pressures and building long-term capacity and sustainability. This change has been landed on after extensive research and consultation. In 2022, we announced that, if elected, we would establish a strengthening Medicare taskforce to provide advice on boosting affordability, access and support for patients with ongoing and chronic illness in primary care. This bill is the product of our continued commitment to better health outcomes for Australians with ongoing and chronic illness. It seeks to implement reforms identified by the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce and the subsequent scope-of-practice review. It's also underpinned by comprehensive research and consultation by the Nursing and Midwifery Board, who investigated the potential for registered nurses working to their full scope of practice to better health outcomes for Australians. A designated RN prescriber registration standard has been developed and came into effect in September 2025. The standard describes the necessary qualifications that a registered nurse must demonstrate when applying to the NMBA to attain and retain the endorsement of scheduled medicines. This registration standard was developed in consultation with numerous stakeholders in the industry, including the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, the Australian Medical Association, palliative care services, the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives and the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association. I'm really proud to be up here supporting this bill. This bill brings in practical, grounded change that will have real-world impacts when it comes to affordable, accessible health care for all Australians and, so importantly, support for Australians managing chronic health conditions. It's us looking at the system, recognising that there's potential for the better use of resources and effectiveness and making a change that will have an immediate impact. For everyday Australians it will mean more available appointments with your GP, with RNs helping out with long-term prescriptions, easing the pressure on GPs. And it will relieve pressure on our emergency departments so you can see a doctor faster. For older Australians, it could mean having your medicine prescribed in the comfort of your own home instead of making the trek out to the doctors. And, for nurses, it'll mean the opportunity to use the full scope of their practice. In my electorate of Gorton, access to health services is an area that's struggling to keep up with demand. According to the last census, more than 28,000 people in Gorton have a long-term health condition. In the city of Brimbank, a staggering 28 per cent of residents 18 and older have been diagnosed with two or more chronic diseases, conditions they'll need to manage for the rest of their lives. Some of these conditions might have been prevented with greater access to health services earlier on. That's why record investments we're making into bulk-billed GP clinics, cheaper PBS scripts and hospitals are so incredibly important. But these Australians need support to manage these conditions right now. For my constituents with chronic conditions, this will make a huge difference. They'll have another option to have their long-term medications prescribed to them, and it'll take pressure off the health system they rely on, meaning better access to doctors and hospitals when they need them. For older people in my electorate, such as the amazing folks at the Burnside Retirement Village, this will be a huge help too. Many retirement villages, like Burnside, have a registered nurse who make the rounds to residents. Under this new legislation, that nurse may be able to redo the resident's prescriptions, meaning no need to hike over to the GP just to get a new prescription. For those residents on pensions, it'll mean more of that money in their pocket. For GPs in the surrounding areas, it'll mean newly available appointments to service other people in the area. This will be a big change for women too. According to the NMBA annual report, women made up 87.9 per cent of nurses in 2025. In nursing as well as in other segments of the care sector, including aged care and disability supports, women are hugely overrepresented. The underpayment of workers in this female dominated sector accounts for a significant part of the persisting gender pay gap in Australia, alongside other factors, including persistent differences in pay for the same work, higher rates of part-time work due to caring responsibilities, lack of flexibility to accommodate caring and other responsibilities in higher paying roles, and more. The compensation and opportunities we afford workers in the care sector speak to how we value them. They speak to how we value women. Empowering registered nurses to prescribe on the PBS will bring financial benefit to women, and it'll also mean the chance to put the full breadth of their expertise to use. It's a commonsense change that recognises the potential of women in the care sector to bring even greater benefit to our society, and it's a recognition of their value. It'll also benefit those women needing prescriptions. Women are 10 per cent more likely than men to be dispensed medication prescriptions. That means more time at the doctor and less money in their pockets. For many women, this change will enhance their safe and timely access to medicines. It's another piece of the puzzle of addressing gender inequality and ensuring that women's time, money, health and expertise are properly valued. We're a government that recognises the value of these things, a government that's invested in landmark commitments in women's health after decades of neglect, including $573.3 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women; the first new contraceptive pills added to the PBS in 30 years, Yaz, Yasmin and Slinda; the first new menopause treatments on the PBS in 20 years, Estrogel, Estrogel Pro and Prometrium; better access to IUDs and birth control implants; and 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, with another 11 opening soon. We also brought in paid prac for nurses, teachers and social workers because we understand that doing hundreds of hours of placements without being paid and without time to work is another way that women experience disadvantage. I couldn't be happier to return to work in 2026 knowing that I'm serving alongside so many other brilliant women in our government. We know our own value, the value of the work we do and the value of our health. Because we're here representing these things on a national stage, our policy reflects the value of women too. This bill is part of our broader commitment to ensure that, when it comes to affordable and accessible health care, no Australian is left behind. Last week, National Cabinet reached a landmark agreement to deliver record funding to state and territory hospitals—$25 billion in additional funding for public hospitals, three times more additional funding for public hospitals than under the last five-year agreement. For my constituents in Gorton, that's money flowing to Sunshine Hospital, Werribee hospital and the brand new Footscray Hospital, just a hop, skip and a jump away in the inner west, which will open for patients in the next few weeks, making sure that, as we look to the next five years, access to high-quality public hospitals and health care is a certainty. We'll also keep working to take the pressure off these hospitals by opening more urgent care clinics and Medicare mental health clinics across the country. As of this week, we've now opened 120 of the 137 Medicare urgent care clinics. We've opened 50 of the 91 Medicare mental health clinics in our national network, and we're making strides towards our commitment of 90 per cent of GP visits bulk-billed before the end of the decade. Last week, I was lucky enough to visit Our Medical in the heart of Caroline Springs, a bulk-billing clinic. They have 22 bulk-billed GPs, as well as bulk-billed radiology and pathology and a bulk-billed respiratory specialist. There is no need to make an appointment; you can just walk in and see a GP until 10 o'clock at night, every night. They have a pharmacy open extended hours, a full dental clinic, physios and a dietician. Quality local care is so important to the health and wellbeing of a community. For Caroline Springs residents, having a bulk-billing clinic in the heart of the community, right across the road from Lake Caroline where locals walk, cycle and use the outdoor gym equipment, makes it easy to prioritise health. That's why it's so important to continue our investment in bulk-billing. In my electorate of Gorton, the GP bulk-billing rate was 88.8 per cent in June 2025, and an additional 17 GP practices in Gorton indicated their intent to become a Medicare bulk-billing practice. I'll keep visiting these medical centres in my electorate and talking about the benefits of bulk-billing so that as many of my constituents as possible know they can access free primary health care. Nationally, over 3,300 general practices now bulk-bill every single one of their patients—1,300 of which are new as a direct result of our tripling of the bulk-billing incentive. This is huge for Australians. It's accessible primary health care. It's not worrying about money when you get sick. It's more people going to the doctors when they feel unwell. It's about proactively looking after your health—and making that easier to do. It's taking pressure off the system down the track and making the future of our healthcare system more sustainable. It's good policy underpinned by the principle that no matter who you are or where you live you deserve access to quality health care. I'm so passionate about improving access to quality health care for my constituents and all Australians. Those opposite are fighting amongst themselves. Health care is the last thing on their minds. That's actually a good thing for Australians, given those opposite voted against cheaper medicines six times. But we're not worried about that; we're getting on with the job of delivering for Australians with the bill before us. I'm so excited to go back to Gorton and talk to my constituents about this bill. I'm excited to talk to the older Australians, like the residents of the Burnside Retirement Village, who might be able to have their prescriptions written at home instead of waiting at the doctor's office; to the nurses in my electorate, who'll have the opportunity to see more patients and use their full scope of practice; to the almost 30,000 people living with chronic conditions, who'll have more options to receive their long-term prescriptions; and to all of my constituents, who'll benefit from relieved pressure on our healthcare system. I'm really proud to support this bill, and I commend it to the House. 19:22 Mr SOON 298618 Banks It is such a pleasure to follow on from the wonderful new member for Gorton. Since the federal election last year, I've had the honour of speaking in support of legislation in this House relating to a number of measures and bills in the health portfolio. Today, I rise to support the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025 because it is yet another pillar of the health policy that this government promised at the 2020 election—and another one that is being delivered. The Labor government promised to prioritise reforms to the scope of practice for health professionals that are aimed at delivering real benefits to Australian patients by substantially improving their access to health care. As Australia's population continues to age, there is a greater strain being placed on our health and aged-care systems, alongside a greater prevalence of chronic diseases. The challenge that we face as a government is how to improve timely and affordable access to medications whilst also minimising the pressure we put on the healthcare workforce. The reforms contained in this legislation before the House are part of this Labor government's answer. The bill both allows and creates the regulatory framework for nurse prescribing. As a result of these changes, those hardworking professionals, who make up approximately half of the nation's healthcare workforce, will be able to prescribe a selection of PBS medications. Through nurse prescribing, this Labor government is moving dramatically to enhance access to medications. Importantly, this is not only a win for urban areas. Not only do registered nurses make up a majority of our healthcare professionals in this country but they are also the most geographically spread. This ensures that the benefits of this legislation will also be felt in regional, rural and remote communities where the nursing profession also enjoys a high level of trust. This includes my mum, who is now a retired registered nurse, as well as the wonderful member for Bullwinkel, who sits in the chamber with me this evening. While nurse prescribing as a practice in Australia is a novel concept, it is important to remember that these changes have come as a result of extensive research and consultation, led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian chief nursing and midwifery officers, to ensure that appropriate standards are in place and, as a result, that Australian patients continue to enjoy the highest standards of care possible. In December 2024, health ministers from Commonwealth, state and territory governments came together to approve a new registration standard, under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act, which came into effect in September of last year. Under this new standard, registered nurses must meet specified qualifications and requirements to obtain and maintain their endorsement. Importantly, designated registered nurse prescribers must prescribe in partnership with an authorised health practitioner under a prescribing agreement, which would typically be a general practitioner or other doctor. When it comes to the technical aspects of the bill, it amends the National Health Act to establish a process by which registered nurses who meet the requirements can be approved as authorised nurse prescribers as well as the mechanisms by which the department can suspend or revoke their approvals should the situation arise. The bill also lists authorised nurse prescribers as a category of PBS prescriber and enables the minister to specify the pharmaceutical benefits that they can prescribe to patients. Importantly, the bill will amend the Health Insurance Act to enable the Professional Services Review to examine the PBS prescribing of authorised nurse prescribers to ensure they are subject to the same level of oversight as every other healthcare professional. The reforms before the House are not flashy. You probably won't see them on any of the front pages of the newspapers across the country, but they will have a real and tangible impact for Australian communities. The Unleashing the potential of our health workforce: scope of practice review, led by Professor Mark Cormack, explored what was enabling or preventing health professionals from exercising their full scope of practice in primary care settings. The final report to the government in 2024 provided recommendations to support greater productivity in our healthcare system while delivering improved, safe and affordable care for all patients. That report called on government to implement reforms just like these. The bill aligns with those recommendations as well as the objectives of the National Medicines Policy, which include promoting equitable access to medicines for all Australians regardless of where they choose to live. As we make this advancement for Australia's healthcare system, I want to take the opportunity to make mention of our nursing professionals and thank them for their hard work—as well as their representatives in my state, the NSW Nursing and Midwives' Association, who have been advocating for nurses to be allowed to use all of their relevant skills and experience to the benefit of their patients for a very long time. Over two terms of parliament, this government continues to deliver on its promises to the Australian people to look after their health and the healthcare system after a decade of cuts and neglect from those opposite. We continue to expand bulk-billing, continue to make PBS medicines more accessible, continue to open more fully bulk-billed urgent care clinics and continue to make it easier for Australians to get mental health care when they need it. Enabling registered nurses to prescribe some medications is not the only PBS related reform that this government has completed. It is unacceptable to think that, in a country as fortunate as ours, a situation could persist where medications that people need are out of their reach because of cost. But, when Labor came into government in 2022— Debate interrupted. ADJOURNMENT 104 ADJOURNMENT Australian Flag, Hinkler Electorate: Industry 105 19:30 Mr BATT 315478 Hinkler It's the one symbol for mateship, freedom and a fair go for all: the Australian flag. On the recent Australia Day long weekend, I was proud to attend awards and citizenship ceremonies in my electorate of Hinkler and fly our Australian flag with pride. Australia Day 2026 was a wonderful celebration of my community, recognising the ones who go above and beyond, and a chance to welcome new Aussies who now get to call the best country in the world their home. Our flag was everywhere, and so it should be. It represents a story of service, sacrifice and the freedoms we share. It's an expression of our identity and pride. This year, I joined my parliamentary colleagues to launch a 'Proud of our flag' campaign, and many of the wonderful people in my electorate of Hinkler continue to show support for our flag as they drop into our offices in Hervey Bay and Bundaberg to collect a 'Proud of our flag' sticker and make requests for flags to fly at their homes. While I enter 2026 filled with hope and enthusiasm for my electorate of Hinkler and our great nation, there is an overwhelming sense of unrest. This is a time when we must unite as a nation. Today I join with the calls for urgent action to criminalise the burning and desecration of the Australian flag. It's something numerous people have contacted my office about, especially since the awful violation of our flag that we all witnessed on Australia Day in Brisbane. Despite repeated attempts, including an amendment during the recent sittings, the Labor government voted against making flag burning a criminal offence. This leaves the national flag, the enduring symbol of our history, freedoms and shared values, vulnerable to public desecration. The Australian flag is not just a piece of fabric. It represents our shared history, our sacrifices and the freedoms earned through generations of courage and service. Burning our Australian flag or any flag isn't bravery or activism. It's disrespectful and wrong. Protest is a democratic right, but desecrating our national flag is not. Our flag represents our shared history, the sacrifices of Australians before us and the freedoms that allow peaceful protesters to occur in the first place. It's a flag our service men and women fought under and a flag that is draped over the coffins of our heroes who died defending our treasured Aussie values and our way of life. Burning our flag doesn't advance justice or unity; it deepens division and erodes respect. I am forever immensely proud of our flag. Just before the end of 2025, I had the pleasure of welcoming the Deputy Leader of The Nationals to my electorate of Hinkler. At the time in his role as shadow minister for trade, investment and tourism, Kevin Hogan joined me in hosting two full days of roundtable meetings with leaders of local tourism and agricultural sectors. We heard directly about the great achievements, opportunities and challenges facing local businesses. I'm committed to showcasing first-class businesses who are exporting across the globe and to celebrating the tourism sector, which is also famous across Australia and the world. We met with seafood exporters, including Australian Ocean King Prawn Company; whale watching boat operators, including Whalesong; farming and hospitality representatives; and tourism providers, including Lady Elliot Island Eco Resort. We as the Nationals will always support regional Australia and promise to deliver a cheaper, better, fairer future, and that starts with supporting local business and cutting red tape. Hinkler is an economic powerhouse with an abundance of great products that bring immense opportunity. Those meetings will help guide our policy settings because we want more jobs for locals and we want to give young people a real chance to live and stay in their home region. The Nationals' energy plan was at the heart of many discussions. We heard from exporters who are battling huge diesel bills and rising energy costs. Labor's obsession with trying to lead the world in cutting emissions is unaffordable and, indeed, unattainable. Yes, we want to lower emissions—but only to the levels of other OECD countries. I thank both the Bundaberg Region tourism CEO, Katherine Reid, and the Fraser Coast tourism and events CEO, Martin Simons, for assisting with Mr Hogan's visit and for providing the opportunity for our operators to share a slice of Hinkler's beautiful backyard, all while, importantly, outlining the opportunities regarding regulatory reform and the challenges and pain points where industry needs more assistance. The biggest challenges right now are workforce shortages, the cost-of-living crisis and housing limitations for potential employees. I'm committed to working with our tourism sector leaders and all levels of government to support our tourism and export industries. As we begin a new year, I look forward to getting on with the job, serving you, serving Hinkler. Bendigo Electorate: Bushfires 105 19:35 Ms CHESTERS 249710 Bendigo On 9 January, a Friday, a grassfire started on Fogarty's Gap Road in Ravenswood South in the electorate of Bendigo. It burnt out of control for approximately a week—a fast-moving grassfire. It could have gone north. It could have gone west. It could have devastated Bendigo. It could have devastated Maldon or Castlemaine. Instead, it chose Harcourt. It devastated the town of Harcourt, dear to my heart and to those of many who live in the area. The town has about a thousand people. It is home to our apples and cider making for Victoria. It's a place of a lot of heart and community resilience, and it's being put to the test as we speak, in this difficult time. The fire burnt over 4,000 hectares, and it ended up burning out of control for a week in the state forest of Mount Alexander. On its path, it burnt over 50 homes and other buildings, including the cold stores, which housed not only the apples and pears that were harvested locally but also many types of local produce—our wine in the area, our cider and our craft beers. The cool stores had become home to so many products on their way to their destination at market. The communications tower at Mount Alexander was destroyed, so the signal for free-to-air TV services in the region were lost. Most of those have been restored, but work is still ongoing to restore the others. We lost the ABC emergency radio for a period, and I want to acknowledge Phoenix FM, who gave over their frequency to the ABC so that emergency broadcasts could continue. Many followed the advice to evacuate. It was a catastrophic fire day. We knew it was going to be tough if a fire broke out. Roads were closed, and many were not opened for at least 10 days. But what I will remember the most are the stories in the town hall meetings the days after and in the evacuation centres and in the recovery hubs—the stories of the amazing bravery of the CFA who were deployed to go fight the fire and who saved so many assets in the town, and the stories of Buzz, a local who, with a pair of thongs, went up to the school and just started batting out the embers. He helped to save the school and helped to save the kinder. The fire came so close, and he can remember the Redesdale truck rocking up and saying, 'Okay, Buzz, it's our turn now.' Everybody can remember the trucks that came to support them, whether it be Tony the local councillor remembering the Golden Square truck roll in or the people who were trying desperately to dampen down their roofs remembering the Kyneton truck arriving and so many other trucks from the region. The CFA got there as quick as they could and helped so many save their homes. Those scars are obvious when you drive through the town today. The fact that they saved so many homes needs to be remembered and acknowledged in this place. This fire could have been so much worse, but so many people got out, and the CFA, with the efforts of the local forest teams and the support that they had from the air, were able to save so many. Recovery has begun, and I need to acknowledge the extraordinary efforts of the local Harcourt Progress Association and the way in which they have rallied to really help coordinate the recovery efforts on the ground—people who have lost their own homes and businesses helping others. I must acknowledge the efforts of Michael Henry. He is the son of Drew Henry, Henry of Harcourt, who all of us know so well—one of the original cideries in the area. They lost their business, their house and their orchards, and it will take decades to replace the variety of trees. Yet there was Michael, in the days after, helping others—an inspiration for all of us. The government response has been strong, state and federal working together to fund the recovery that's needed. From the $1,000 payments that people have accessed through Services Australia to $500,000 to kickstart the redevelopment of the cool stores, the disaster allowance and so much more, Harcourt will rise again. They're planning their fundraisers, they're planning their recovery and we will stand with them every step of the way. Western Australia: Agriculture Industry, Live Animal Exports: Sheep 106 19:40 Mr RICK WILSON 198084 O'Connor Tonight I rise to give a big shout-out to the grain growers of Western Australia and also to update the House on the plight of sheep producers across Western Australia. Let's start with the good news. This year—and I had an update from Co-operative Bulk Handling today—the Western Australian farmers and grain growers produced a record crop of 27 million tonnes, roughly. That is the estimate of GIWA. The dominant grain handler in Western Australia, CBH, received 24.2 million tonnes. That is 1.3 million tonnes higher than the previous record receivable, so that is an amazing achievement by our Western Australian grain growers. It wasn't a fantastic season—the rains came just in time in most instances—but the crop production was outstanding. That is testament to the production gains that have been made by the industry, whether that be through improved machinery, sowing, seeding and harvesting techniques or whether it be through improved varieties, such as Roundup Ready or GM canola, which has allowed growers to sow early, sow dry and take advantage of every drop of rain. In the case of cereals, some of the new varieties are just phenomenal yielders. To the grain growers of WA: well done. To CBH: also well done. Two of my girls worked on the receival points. It was a big job, with 5,000 volunteers. They did a wonderful job of receiving the crop in record time. As machines get bigger, trucks and transport get bigger. But it's not all good news across the Western Australian wheat belt and the Great Southern. In the sheep industry, we are seeing dramatic declines in numbers now. Ironically, that has been good for prices. Prices in the sheep industry at the moment are actually quite good. However, we've seen a dramatic drop in the number of breeding stock, which is now leading to abattoirs and processing plants being short of numbers. Just before we came back to Canberra, I was told by my local processor that they were dropping a day a week off their work schedule because they can't get enough numbers. Now, this is very early days in the impact of the government's phase-out of the live-export policy, and the results that many of us have predicted are starting to be manifested. Confidence in the sheep industry in Western Australia collapsed in 2022, after the May 2022 election, when the current government won with a policy to phase out the live-export trade. The Western Australian sheep flock has traditionally been based on a self-replacing merino flock and the merino wether. The male progeny has traditionally been sold to the live-export trade. That self-replacing merino, as opposed to a British breed—a crossbreed, as we call them, or a shedding sheep—needs to be shorn. It needs to be crutched. There's quite a lot of animal husbandry that goes into that. That supports the shearing teams in our country towns, which in turn puts a fair bit of money through the local pub. Kids go to school in the small local schools. We predicted that this would decimate those towns, and that's exactly what it is doing. Sheep numbers have dropped in Western Australia from 12.2 million sheep in 2022. The only accurate figures we've got from DPIRD are that they dropped to 9.8 million sheep by 2023. I can tell you anecdotally—I go to the saleyards, I talk to stock agents, I talk to truckies—that sheep numbers are collapsing. People are selling breeding stock as quickly as they can get rid of them. Ironically enough, the good prices that we're seeing today are leading to growers getting out of the industry. They can get good money for the breeding stock which are going to the local abattoirs and being slaughtered. Those sheep will not be breeding a lamb next year so the processors will find it even harder to find stock next year. Now, if you can't keep a many, many multimillion dollar plant operating five days a week, then the viability of that plant becomes questionable. The two biggest abattoirs in my part of the world will find it hard to keep the 350 staff on. We are seeing the manifestation of the government's live export policy play out in front of our very eyes. Somali House, Citizenship 107 19:45 Ms CAMPBELL 312823 Moreton Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. This weekend past, you and I had the very great privilege of being able to attend the opening of Somali House, a brand new headquarters in Acacia Ridge, having moved from its previous location in Inala, where I know you have been a great supporter for many years. What I said on that day and what I say again today is that I apologise but the loss of Somali House from Inala is absolutely a gain for Acacia Ridge. Notwithstanding that, Somali House houses such an important community organisation for both our southside communities. I want to pay tribute to the President of the Somali Community Association, Aweys Hassen, and the President of the Queensland African Communities Council, Faysel, for all their work in ensuring that this continues to be a community hub for learning, that it continues to be a community hub for connection and empowerment, that it continues to be a space for sharing culture, community programs, youth activities and support services. We know that the SCAQ courses and workshops include accounting for local businesses, Australian business structures, tax and compliance. We know that they work on English language classes, and we know that they hold important cultural events and sporting events such as junior soccer and the much anticipated annual Ramadan Cup. They promote cultural identity and belonging. When I was in attendance at the event, I got to try a few really special things. Firstly, I got to try bun, a type of traditional coffee which I am reliably informed is best served with popcorn. I got to learn about traditional Somali houses and how they're built, and I got to go inside a traditional house myself. Most importantly, I got to see and look at a very large community space that's on that site in Acacia Ridge. Can I say, when I spoke to the volunteers and to the leaders at Somali House, they said what they were most excited about, what they were really pumped about, was inviting members from across our southside community into that space to enjoy, to share, to celebrate and to dance. The member for Hinkler talked earlier in his adjournment speech about patriotism. Can I tell you, on that day and on every day, those leaders, our community and the volunteers involved at Somali House and so many other community organisations showed great patriotism. They're proud to be Australian. They were proud of their heritage. They were proud of our community, and they wanted to share that with everyone. Recently, I've been incredibly fortunate to attend citizenship ceremonies across the southside held by some of Moreton's wonderful community organisations who also show that same commitment to our communities and to our nation. Universal Education and Multicultural Exchange Association in Sunnybank, Rotary Archerfield, Macgregor Lions, the Indian Council of Australia and many more in places like Yeronga with the local Lions honoured our newest Australians, welcoming them to our country and celebrating the community that brings them together. We've heard about many, many different journeys to Australian citizenship, and our communities are stronger, more vibrant and more connected because of those new Australians. We see this every single day in Moreton with cultural and faith celebrations. Recently there was a celebration of India's Republic Day. We have Lunar New Year coming up very shortly. All of them play an incredibly vital role in bringing people together and fostering cohesion. Somali House is unique, but it's not alone, because so many different community organisations come together from across the south side to build something bigger than the sum of its parts—to build our community. I congratulate the community leaders who made Somali House happen, and I welcome them to Acacia Ridge. Interest Rates 108 19:50 Mr CALDWELL 306489 Fadden It's always a great privilege to rise in this place. One of the things about this place is, of course, tradition and the honour that we give to the democracy of Australia. But there are so many trends out there that defy those niceties of the old days. Some of them are these online trends, like the one that happened recently, the 2016 flashback. I couldn't help but notice that the Treasurer didn't participate in that social media trend, which got me to wondering why that would be. He seems like a hip kind of guy. I reckon the reason he doesn't want to think about 2016 isn't that it was Trump's first election and isn't that it was the year of Brexit. It is because in that year of 2016 the cash rate set by the RBA in its February meeting 10 years ago was—you guessed it—two per cent. I don't think that's something that the Treasurer enjoys getting a flashback to. And, in 2016, interest rates continued to drop. By the end of that year, the Reserve Bank rate was just 1.5 per cent. And here's the broader point: interest rates are always lower under a coalition government because we believe in fiscal discipline and this new generation of Labor governments simply do not. Our view on this side of the House is simple: live within our means, restore some budget rules and get inflation down so that rates can come down and families can breathe again. Just yesterday, I received an email from my constituent Leigh from Pacific Pines, and I want the House to hear what Labor's cost-of-living crisis looks like in plain English and lived experience. Leigh wrote to me: 'If there is an interest rate hike today, it will kill me. My stress levels are already out of control. I cannot remember the last time I had a holiday, and I just worked on my days off on the weekend to try and earn extra money.' Leigh's message to government was direct but very fair: 'It is not my fault the government spending is out of control.' That's a hard email to receive because you can hear the stress in between the lines of writing, a person who's doing everything right. I know he's got a well-paying job, working extra shifts, sacrificing time with family, trying to stay afloat and yet still worried about the next movement of interest rates and how much further that will push him over the edge. The more confronting thing about his email was the screenshot attached from his bank with the default message. And of course, just an hour after I spoke to him on the phone, Leigh and every Australian with a mortgage were delivered a crushing blow when the Reserve Bank raised interest rates for the 13th time under this Labor government. The rate rise was no accident. It's a direct consequence of Labor's addiction to spending, which has kept inflation higher for longer and left the RBA with no choice but to keep tightening. And so, while the Treasurer preens at the dispatch box using his two- and three-word groupings, families on the Gold Coast and across Australia are doing some really difficult sums at the kitchen table. The average mortgage is up by around $1,800 a month since Labor took office in 2022. That's about $22,000 a year. Electricity prices have surged, and we've all seen what happens when the rebates run out. The false economy ends, and the prices hit the households. For many families this isn't a cost-of-living crisis anymore; it's simply a cost-of-survival crisis. In the current financial year alone, Labor has added an additional $50 billion of new and discretionary spending decisions—almost the value of the entire national defence budget. But being loose with the national budget means that it's getting tighter for Australian households. Last week we saw the CPI data go up to 3.8 per cent. That means milk, bread, back-to-school basics, insurance—all those costs of living—are all higher under this Labor government, and that is why Australians feel poorer every payday under Labor. Bullwinkel Electorate: Health Care, Australia Day Awards and Honours 108 19:55 Ms TRISH COOK 312871 Bullwinkel It's an honour to stand here today and speak about the incredible community that I represent in the electorate of Bullwinkel. As many of you know, my journey to this place began as a nurse and a midwife. Those decades on the front lines of our healthcare system shaped my view of the world, one rooted in pragmatism, compassion and a simple belief that everyone deserves access to quality care when they need it most. This past month, I've been out and about in my electorate talking to nurses and healthcare workers on the front line. I had the pleasure of touring with WA state health minister, Meredith Hammat, in our region. We visited Northam Regional Hospital, which is in the western Wheatbelt, and Kalamunda Hospital, which is a specialist palliative care hospital in the Perth hills. For me, these visits are more than just formalities; they're an opportunity to listen to my former colleagues—the nurses, the doctors and the support staff—who are the backbone of our healthcare community. We spent some time discussing the unique pressures facing our hospitals, our workforces and the needs of our ageing population in the hills and beyond. Hearing their firsthand accounts is vital for the work that we do here in Canberra. Knowing their challenges ensures that our federal health policy translates into real-world relief for those on the ground. I'm also incredibly proud to update the House on a project very close to my heart. I recently visited the site of the future Mundaring Medicare urgent care clinic, and I can confirm it will be fully operational by the end of this month. For the people of Bullwinkel this is a massive win. We know that too often families end up in the emergency department at Northam or Midland hospitals for things like minor fractures, infections and stitches when they could attend an urgent care clinic. Families will now have a dedicated place to go for urgent care, free of hip-pocket pressures, under Medicare. This doesn't just help the patients; it takes the pressure off busy emergency departments and also busy general practitioners. Our community is defined by more than its services; it's defined by our people. On 26 January we celebrated Australia Day honours, and Bullwinkel was exceptionally well represented. I want to make special mention of someone who is not only a constituent and recipient of an award, but someone I'm lucky enough to call a neighbour as she lives just up the road, Professor Shirley Jansen AM. Shirley was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her monumental service to vascular surgery. As a clinician and researcher, she is doing truly groundbreaking work. She currently leads research into the world-first pharmaceutical therapeutic trials aimed at treating atherosclerosis by infusions. Effectively, she's looking for a way to clear the plaque from the artery walls—potentially a cure for peripheral artery disease. Her work at Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital is a testament to the world-class innovation that is happening right here in our own Australian backyard. Shirley, congratulations on this well-deserved honour. Your dedication to saving lives and preventing disability through your medical research and practice is an inspiration to us all. I would also like to formally congratulate Major Don Cruden OAM, for his services to our veterans; the Hon. Raymond Halligan OAM, for his service to parliament and the people; Mrs Kathleen Lovelock OAM, for her leadership in the beef cattle industry; and Mr Barry Nicholls OAM, for his tireless work in community sport. I also want to acknowledge meritorious award winners Daryl Clohessy AFSM, Senior Constable Emma Wright APM and Mark Geary ESM. They represent the very best of our emergency and police services. From the consultation rooms in our hospitals to the high-tech labs of our researchers, Bullwinkel is a community that cares and is leading the way. I'm proud to be its voice in this place, and I look forward to seeing our new Medicare urgent care clinic open its doors to help our residents very soon. House adjourned at 20:00 NOTICES 109 NOTICES Presentation 109

Wednesday, 4 February 2026

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Lawrence ) took the chair at 09:30.

 

CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS 110 CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS Disability Support Pension 110 09:30 Ms CHANEY 300006 Curtin Australians living with disability deserve dignity, independence and fairness. The current partner income test for the disability support pension undermines these fundamental human rights. The DSP exists to recognise that disability can limit a person's capacity to work and earn an income. Yet, for tens of thousands of Australians, that support is reduced or removed altogether simply because they're in a relationship. This policy punishes people for having a supportive relationship and actively discourages autonomy. According to Department of Social Services data from August 2025, about 155,000 Australians receiving the DSP are partnered. Of these, 18 per cent report that their partner has an income. In many cases, these earnings are modest yet still significantly reduce or entirely cancel a person's pension. The same doesn't apply to parents' income when an adult with disability receives the DSP while living in their parents' home. Under current eligibility rules, a couple living together can earn just $380 in combined income per fortnight before the DSP begins to be reduced. Every additional dollar reduces the DSP further. This policy assumes that couples can simply pool their resources and that a partner can and should financially support a person with disability who cannot access the workforce. My constituents have told me about the impact of this policy on their ability to live with dignity and autonomy. I recently met Taylor and her partner, who were flatmates before beginning a de facto relationship. When they began their relationship, Taylor reported the change to Centrelink. As a result, her DSP was reduced to a nominal amount while Taylor's partner completed his PhD and undertook part-time work. Taylor no longer receives any DSP now that her partner has started working full time. Taylor and her partner would like to save for a home and start a family, but they say these goals are unachievable in their current financial circumstances. Another woman in my electorate told me her husband is an early career researcher whose income reduces her DSP to just $160 a fortnight. She has no financial autonomy. Her husband pays for everything, and she described feeling 'expensive to maintain'. She told me the experience is humiliating and deeply disempowering. Another constituent explained that qualifying for the DSP was an already exhausting and degrading process that results in a woefully inadequate payment once a partner's income is assessed. The Parliamentary Budget Office estimates the cost of removing the partner income test would be approximately $250 million per year. This reform would benefit about 34,000 partnered DSP recipients who currently receive only a partial payment or none at all. In the context of the federal budget, this would be a reasonable and just investment. It would restore autonomy, reduce financial stress and recognise people with disability as individuals, not dependants. Kyneton Women's Football Club 110 09:33 Ms CHESTERS 249710 Bendigo I rise to support the Kyneton Women's Football Club and call on the AFL to let them play. The Kyneton women's football team broke away from the Kyneton Tigers at the start of 2025. They formed a standalone club but were knocked back by several leagues and weren't able to play. Last year, the Kyneton women's football team merged with Gisborne for the 2025 season, but it was only a short-term decision. What they really want to do is play on their own. The club is player led. They've formed a strong governance support structure. They've organised grants and have facility access. The local council have said that, if they have a league, they will accept them; they will make playing grounds available. They are organised. The Kyneton Wedge-Tailed Eagles are campaigning to get into a league—any league. There are several that they could play in in central Victoria, but so far the AFL has said no. The club has been knocked back from competing with any affiliated leagues in the region and is unable to appeal the decision, which we all find quite shocking. In the Central Victoria Football League there are already two standalone women's football clubs, the Bendigo Thunder and the Mount Alexander Falcons, so it is not unusual for women to come together to organise their own club. If we want to encourage women to play, it should be on their own terms. We already have a strong track record in central Victoria of having standalone women's clubs that are financially sound and able to field teams. It is staggering that the AFL are refusing to hear from the club and allow them to play. As we speak, players are staging training sessions outside AFL House in the hope of getting the attention of the AFL CEO. To date, they have not been successful. We are still unsure why they've been refused and are not allowed to play. They don't want special treatment. They just want to be treated as equals and play the game they love, like so many other women in our region. There are leagues ready to take the 'Wedgies' for the 2026 season, yet they are still being refused and overruled by the AFL. They've done the work. They've built the club. They are ground led. Let them play. I call upon the AFL to let them play. Empower more women in our region to play their way. If we genuinely want to see participation in grassroots women's sport grow, then let the Kyneton Women's Football Club team play. Gun Control, Freedom of Speech, Australian Society, Renewable Energy 111 09:36 Mr JOYCE e5d New England This is my first constituency statement since coming back after the Christmas break, and there are a range of important issues that I want to convey to my electorate and to the Australian parliament. Overwhelmingly, people are very angry about the changes to firearms legislation. They can't understand why their freedoms have yet again been intruded upon when they have never committed a crime. No farmer, no sports shooter, no recreational shooter was part of the outrageous massacre at Bondi Beach, yet we are the people they've come to as they try to placate those who require something to be done. People say, 'Why do you need more than four firearms if you're a recreational shooter?' Well, why do you need more than one bathroom? You've only got one neck—why do you need 12 ties? You have only yourself—why do you need three cars? We have our right. It's a private right. It's a right of ownership. It's been intruded upon. People really have a problem with the censorship laws, which are masquerading as hate laws, because they see it as the creep of censorship. We know that what would end up being censored is, basically, right-wing views against a left-wing socialist government. We could see this coming, and we didn't want to have these censorship laws placed on us. We will back antisemitic policy 100 per cent. We'll be at the forefront, but we've got to be focused on the antisemitic issues of fundamental Islamic terrorists against Jewish people and not draw in this net of other things. We've had an enormous requirement in our office for new flags, because people believe that we should have an Australian culture. It's not a multicultural nation; it's an Australian culture. Many cultures may be part of it, but overwhelmingly the guardrails are for the Australian culture. The rollout of intermittent power—the wind turbines, the solar panels—continues to be at the forefront. One Nation has come forward and said, 'Let's build the coal-fired power stations and go back to what actually works.' We now have the BESSs, the battery energy storage systems, and there are fire risks and problems associated with them. Once more, these have been placed in regional areas, not in urban areas, so we do the penance for an urban desire for climate policy, and that is completely unfair. Telecommunications also remains at the forefront. I'd also like to say that this weekend I'll be going to Victoria. We'll have a packed-out room full of farmers, and we're going to make sure that these issues and others are covered with the people of Victoria. I look forward to getting down there and making sure that we take their message back to Canberra and fight for them. Education 111 09:39 Ms SITOU 298121 Reid School is back for 2026, much to the joy and relief of parents everywhere, including my own colleagues here. Now is a great time to reflect on what Labor governments have been delivering for public education and local public schools across Australia. Under the Albanese Labor government, we are delivering the biggest investment in public education under the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement—an investment of $16.5 billion over 10 years. We are finally on a path to full and fair funding for every public school, including in my electorate. It ends years of underinvestment by former coalition governments. We are backing public education, and this commitment to public education is being matched by the Minns New South Wales Labor government. There's no better example of that than the major upgrade to Concord High School in my electorate. The school was bursting at the seams, with almost 30 per cent of Concord High School students learning out of demountable temporary classrooms. The first time I met the P&C in 2022, they spoke to me about the challenges at the school, including the fact that the toilets were of such an awful standard that the children were choosing not to drink water or were going across to the park to use the toilets there. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 09:41 to 09:53 Ms SITOU 298121 I'm so excited by the upgrade at Concord High School. It is now fit for purpose for the ambitions of those students. The new upgrade includes 40 new permanent classrooms, including specialist learning spaces for visual arts, performing arts and PDHPE; new support learning units; a brand-new hall and canteen; and upgraded facilities all across the school. It's fantastic. Last week, I had the opportunity to join the Acting Minister for Education and Early Learning, Courtney Houssos; Principal Mr Victor Newby; President of Concord High School P&C Amber Hooker; and the school captains to have a tour of the new facilities, and it was fantastic. Mr Newby said that it was an upgrade that had been some time coming, after having to use spaces across the school that were not designed to be teaching spaces, and all the students were really excited to be starting there. I want to thank all the teachers of the Concord P&C for their work in advocating for these changes, all the staff who have worked so hard over years to push for better facilities, and, of course, I want to thank the New South Wales Minns Labor government. Parkes Electorate: Australia Day 112 09:54 Mr CHAFFEY 316312 Parkes I was born and raised in Australia, and, alongside millions of other Australians, I'm proud to call Australia home. Australians have many beginnings. Some journeys began with a dream of finding a better life for their families in Australia, and, many years later, that dream was rewarded with Australian citizenship. The mighty electorate of Parkes covers more than 400,000 square kilometres and, across this vast space, there are hundreds of celebrations on January 26. Australia Day should be a reminder to us all of how precious our freedom and our values are in this country. I was honoured to attend the Australia Day events in both Dubbo and Coonamble this year, where people came together to show not only their love for our country but their appreciation for the people who make it a great place to live. In Dubbo, I joined the community in celebrating our heritage and welcoming new citizens in beautiful Victoria Park on the eve of Australia Day. I attended Coonamble's Australia Day awards nominee dinner that night and the Australia Day breakfast awards the following day. I congratulate all of the recipients of the local government Australia Day awards across the Parkes electorate, including the wonderful Pauline McAllister, Dubbo's Senior Citizen of the Year, and Michael Brockman, Gunnedah Shire's Citizen of the Year—just two of the outstanding examples of our champions for regional Australia. We are also honoured to announce that Forbes man, Nedd Brockmann, has been awarded the Young Australian of the Year. This tradie from Forbes is an extremely inspirational young person. In 2022, Nedd ran 3,952 kilometres, from Perth to Bondi Beach, breaking records and raising more than $2.6 million to find solutions for homelessness. He started Nedd's Uncomfortable Challenge, which has now raised more than $8 million to help the homeless. Congratulations to Nedd on his incredible work and his title as the Young Australian of the Year 2026. I also congratulate members of the Parkes electorate who have been named in the 2026 Australia Day Honours List. Medal of the Order of Australia recipients are Laurience Ashcroft, for service to the community of Parkes; John Elliott, for service to the community of Wilcannia; Alister Ferguson, for service to the Indigenous community of Bourke; Colleen Fuller of Gunnedah, for service to the community through a range of organisations; Raymond Hughston, for service to the community of Wanaaring; Richard Blackman, for service to the community of Coonabarabran; and, posthumously, to Janice Kettle, for service to the community of West Wyalong. David Welch of Gunnedah has been awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal for distinguished service as a member of the Australian fire service and Anne Dennis of Walgett has been awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to the Indigenous community of New South Wales. We are fortunate to have such amazing achievers in the electorate of Parkes. I congratulate each and every one of them for their great contribution to their communities and our nation. Bean Electorate: Community Events, Canberra: Bhutanese Community 112 09:57 Mr DAVID SMITH 276714 Bean Congratulations to Probus on recently celebrating its 50th anniversary. It's a fantastic milestone, and I wish to extend my congratulations to members who have helped build this community across the country. Today, Probus is a not-for-profit network of more than 90,000 members across over 1,300 clubs around Australia, all managed by dedicated volunteers. At its heart, Probus has always been about connection, bringing people together and creating opportunities for retirees and semi-retirees to share interests, build friendships and stay active in their communities. We all know how important social connection is for mental health and physical wellbeing and for reducing loneliness. In my electorate of Bean, I want to recognise the outstanding contribution of our local clubs: Greenway, Tuggeranong, Wanniassa, Farrer, Lake Tuggeranong, Weston Creek ladies and Weston Probus clubs. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 09:58 to 10:08 Mr DAVID SMITH 276714 Today I rise to express my condolences to a local family who tragically lost their four-year-old on the morning of 18 January. It serves as a painful reminder that tragedy can strike suddenly and to treasure every moment that we have with those we hold dear. It also serves as a strong reminder about the strength in community. This family is part of our Bhutanese community here in Canberra, here on temporary residence visas, and were left facing the most heartbreaking challenge, with support from extended family far away. However, the Bhutanese community has come together in strength, raising over $130,000 to support the family. This was through the combined effort of the Royal Bhutanese Embassy, the Australia Bhutan Association of Canberra and families and individuals right across the community. I wish to extend my gratitude to them for the supports that they have provided the family. In Bhutanese culture, the funeral marks the beginning of a series of sacred rites and prayers to guide the soul towards peace and swift rebirth. Here, locally in Dickson, a 49-day Buddhist ritual is ongoing at the Bhutanese Buddhist & Cultural Centre in conjunction with Hindu rites being conducted in Gelephu, Bhutan. I wish to echo the words of the Australia-Bhutan Association of Canberra: together, let us stand with them in their darkest hour. Gippsland Electorate: Roads, Cycling Without Age 113 10:10 Mr CHESTER IPZ Gippsland 'Just fix our bloody roads.' That is the constant message I'm receiving from Gippslanders. Whether it's from families, truck drivers or holidaymakers, they are coming to my office and they are complaining that our road network is falling apart. It's falling apart because the Labor Party, at state level and at federal level, is starving regional Victorians of road funding for maintenance and improvements to their road network. We are all expected to drive cars that are roadworthy. Surely, then, it's reasonable to expect our governments to give us roads that are car-worthy. The worst example is the Princes Highway, which is the main arterial route through Gippsland and which links our community right through to the New South Wales border. Would you believe the Albanese government has not provided a single cent in new funding for the Princes Highway in more than four years in government? This is a disgrace—not one dollar in new funding for the major highway that runs through Gippsland in four years. No wonder we are dodging potholes and the road shoulders are falling apart. It's endangering people's lives and adding to the cost-of-living pressures as people have to fix their cars because the government won't fix the roads. It gets worse. Would you believe there's unallocated funding available for the highway? Last year, Senate estimates confirmed there's $133.8 million in unallocated funding still available for use on the Princes Highway, which is money that was left in the highway fund from the previous coalition government. The work's not getting done, because the state government won't pay its share. The message is clear. Just fix the bloody roads. Cycling Without Age is a worldwide phenomenon. There are more than 3,000 chapters right around the world and 46 chapters in Australia. It was first established in 2012 in Denmark. Cycling Without Age, I'm proud to say, has been established in Gippsland through a committee that I have organised with some local volunteers. It is a social and community enterprise which is bringing people of all ages together. In particular, it's giving older Australians a chance to reduce their loneliness and social isolation. We are giving older Gippslanders the opportunity to feel the wind in their hair again, to get on a bike or on a trishaw and be treated to a ride through the streets of their towns right across Gippsland. I think it's a fantastic initiative that I'm determined to grow across the Gippsland region in the years ahead. Congratulations to Cycling Without Age Gippsland and to the volunteers who are helping us already. I look forward to many more rides as we continue to support our older members of our community. Laverty, Mr Declan 113 10:13 Mr MATT SMITH 312393 Leichhardt One of the great privileges of this role is speaking with community and getting in and amongst your constituents. Recently, though, I had a meeting with one of my constituents, Samara Laverty. It was a meeting that I frankly wish never had to happen, but it is a speech that I now have to make. Some in this place might know the name of her son, Declan Laverty. Declan was a bright 20-year-old who was living in Darwin. He worked at the local BWS, doing his best. On the night of 19 March 2023, while at work, Declan was stabbed. He bled out within a minute, and he was gone. Samara told me in our meeting that the last act that Declan made as he lay bleeding was to text his mother one last time: 'I love you. I've been stabbed.' It was an attack the judge described as 'a random and violent attack on an innocent member of the public', both 'targeted' and 'unprovoked'. I sat with Samara for a bit over an hour. What do you say? How do you show any kind of thought or understanding for the pain that she must go through and the pain that she goes through again every day while explaining what happened? It was incredibly confronting, but it was also really appropriate. More people need to know this story. People should know how much damage can be done in 55 seconds. That's less time than I've been speaking in this chamber right now. Through her loss, Samara has become a dedicated advocate to stop knife crime. Her work helped deliver Declan's law in the Northern Territory, and now she is home in Cairns. Samara wants to speak with young people. She wants them to know what the consequences are of choosing to have a knife on you, what that might look like, what grief and anguish and pain can happen due to a split-second decision and how it can all happen in under a minute. She doesn't want young people to throw away their futures. Under her program, 55 Seconds, she wants to go into schools, meet with sporting clubs and make sure young people know that their actions have consequences. Samara isn't asking for funding but for an opportunity to speak directly to young people. The courage and love that that woman shows in reliving that moment to stop and save other people's children are truly incredible. If you want to help, the answer is simple. If you're involved in a school, sporting club or any other community group where there are teenagers, reach out to my office and we will put you in touch with Samara. Help us end knife crime. This is something that we all need to do together. I want to thank Samara for her courage and for bringing this to us all. I wish that we can all stop knife crime together. Thank you. Riverina Electorate: Australia Day 114 10:16 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina We all have them in our electorates—those selfless volunteers who are the very glue that binds our communities together. On Australia Day we recognise them, acknowledge them and honour them. Here is a roll call of community champions for the Riverina electorate. They are citizens of the year—volunteers who have done so much to make our towns and Wagga Wagga a better place in which to live. In Coolamon there was Guy Purcell. In the Cootamundra-Gundagai local government area, there were Maureen Simpfendorfer and Sister Kathy Hodge in Cootamundra and Wendy Anderson in Gundagai. In Cowra, there was Jenny Friend. In the Hilltops local government area there were: in Boorowa, Angus Clements, who won Citizen of the Year; in Harden-Murrumburrah, Sarah and Andrew Jones; in Wombat, the Wombatian Citizen of the Year Cathy Simpson; and in Young, Ted Webber. In Junee, it was Natalie Phillips. In Lockhart, it was Keith Fraser. In the Snowy Valleys there were Shane Walsh in Adelong, Glenn Lavis in Tumbarumba, and Jane Dean and Adam Farquharson in Tumut. In Temora, there was Frances Dwyer. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 10:17 to 10:26 Mr McCORMACK 219646 The Upper Lachlan Shire's Shire Citizen of the Year was Melinda Medway. In Crookwell it was Louise Gibbs. In Taralga it was Robert Handley. In Wagga Wagga Aunty Mary Atkinson deservedly was honoured with Citizen of the Year. In Weddin which is Grenfell, John Gorman got the gong. In Yass Valley it was Phil Gaden. We thank each and every one of them. Congratulations to past and present Riverina constituents who were awarded an Order of Australia for their contributions: John Killick OAM of Galong; Thomas Moss OAM of Khancoban; Stephen Sullivan OAM of Taralga; and Brett Murray, with whom I worked at the Daily Advertiser in the 1980s, who received an OAM for services to motor sports and journalism. I'm also very pleased that Gerard Kearns, the Kapooka commandant, the leader of 1st Recruit Training Battalion, Blamey Barracks, also was honoured in the Australia Day list. Nedd Brockmann of Forbes is the Young Australian of the Year. Now, he's not in my electorate anymore—Forbes is now in the division of Parkes—but his inspirational regional work and national work is something to behold. I eagerly look forward to seeing where Nedd's efforts take him into the future. To each and every one of those community champions, I say thank you. I say thank you on behalf of your communities, because your communities are better places in which to live, work and play because of the selflessness that you have shown not just in the past 12 months but for many years besides. Without those sorts of people, we couldn't have a nation that is as great as Australia is. So well done. Happy Australia Day to each and every one of them. Thank you for your efforts. Education, Banks Electorate: Australia Day 114 10:28 Mr SOON 298618 Banks As members of this place, we all have the pleasure of attending end-of-year presentations at local schools. It has been one of my favourite things to do since being elected to this parliament. In December, I was able to make it to end-of-year presentations and graduation events at 27 schools across my electorate of Banks, from Panania in the west to Blakehurst in the east. It was fantastic to celebrate the achievements of so many students who excelled in 2025. I was so pleased to sponsor awards at each school, as well as a number of schools whose ceremonies I was unable to attend, to recognise things like student leadership and high achievement. Congratulations to all the students who were recognised for their successes. Congratulations for all the work that you put in. Our local schools are the incubators of the transformational power of education. Thanks to the Albanese Labor government's Better and Fairer Schools Agreement, every public school in Australia will finally be fully funded. In my electorate, the federal government will be increasing the share of funding it provides to every single public school, making sure local students have everything they need to succeed. On Australia Day I had the privilege of attending a number of local celebrations. The citizenship ceremonies held by the Georges River and Canterbury Bankstown councils were great celebrations of national pride. Seeing the joy on the faces of hundreds of new Australians from all over the world who have decided to make our nation their home was fantastic. I was also able to spend some time at the Picnic Point Bowling Club's family day. The club is a great local institution that has branched out with clubs playing darts, golf and also organised fishing. The club put a great celebration on for Australia Day, including things like thong-throwing and many other activities for families across the area. Congratulations to the whole team, particularly the club president Bill Brown, who has done an amazing job leading that club. I finished off the day with a visit to Canterbury-Bankstown Council's Australia Day party in the park at Padstow. This gave a platform for local artists and included a variety of family activities, culminating in an amazing fireworks display. I take this opportunity to say congratulations to Mayor Bilal El-Hayek and the whole team at Canterbury-Bankstown Council for putting together a fantastic celebration. It was one where many families enjoyed some fascinating food, some singing and dancing, and the appearance of Dorothy the Dinosaur. It was great to be able to celebrate Australia Day with so many people in our community. Congratulations to Canterbury-Bankstown Council. Australia Day Awards and Honours 115 10:31 Mr LEESER 109556 Berowra I want to acknowledge the local recipients from the Berowra electorate in the Australia Day Honours List. Jan Childs was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for her contribution to the community of Berowra. Her contribution showed sustained, hands-on work for many years, particularly through the Berowra Rotary Club—which she led in the annual arts and crafts exhibition that celebrates local creativity and raises funds for good causes—and amazing contributions through girl-guiding through the Trefoil Guild and Girl Guides in Berowra, leaving a lasting mark on our community. Tony Morgan, whom I know through his work with the church communities in Hornsby, was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service in insurance. His career is a rare combination of technical excellence, professional leadership and a commitment to developing the next generation. He spent decades helping individuals and businesses recover after some of the worst days they'll face. Within the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance he made an extraordinary contribution to professional standards and education, including long-term development of the diploma of loss adjusting. Tom Parker is a legendary greenskeeper. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for services to sport. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Mr LEESER 109556 The legendary Tom Parker is not a household name, but he is someone from whose work we have all benefited. Tom Parker was, for 20 years, the head curator at the Sydney Cricket Ground. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for helping maintain one of the most iconic sporting venues in the world. That stewardship requires knowledge, judgement and an uncompromising commitment to standards, and that's what Tom always provides. I know his family, especially his wife, Teresa, and his son, Jack, would be taking a full measure of pride in his award. The late Stuart Pittendrigh was recognised for service to horticulture and landscape architecture. He was a leader in his field for decades, combining his contributions to the Institute of Landscape Architects and the Institute of Horticulture, and was widely respected for the authority he brought to projects, professional standards and education. His work also touched major public spaces, including Barangaroo. Marilyn Chilvers was awarded the Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to New South Wales in data research and analysis. Ms Chilvers's careers shows what it looks like when public service combines rigour with purpose, using evidence to provide outcomes and improve those outcomes, strengthen evaluation and help government better understand what works. Her work in human services outcomes and data linkage has helped inform investment decisions and improve service delivery for vulnerable people across our state. Finally, RAAF Air Commodore Kaarin Kooij gets the CSC and Bar for her outstanding devotion to duty as Director General of the Joint Transition Authority. Transitioning from military service is a major life change, affecting not only the veteran but the family as well, and Air Commodore Kooij's work is focused on building a more responsive and integrated transition system. I want to congratulate all these people who were honoured in the Australia Day honours list and encourage Australians to nominate their fellow Australians for similar recognition. Werriwa Electorate: Community Events 116 10:47 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa Representing a multicultural electorate like Werriwa is a privilege. It means that I receive so many generous invites to community, religious and other celebrations. These events highlight what is best about having people from all around the globe choose Australia, and, more importantly, Werriwa, as their home. New Year celebrations in Werriwa start on 1 January and continue till August, cycling through Chinese New Year, the Tet festival, Cambodian celebrations, Assyrian New Year and Mandaean New Year late in July. The commemorations continue for Australia Day. And I'm looking forward to the many iftars during Ramadan, which starts in the middle of February. While this makes the days very busy, it is humbling to be part of a community and join with their observances. It proves to me that we are more alike than we are different and what is important to all of us are our family, our friends and faith. In the last month, I've attended the Iraqi graduates forum's celebration of success on Australia Day. The event has been held for more than 15 years and celebrates the academic achievements of those with Iraqi heritage in our community, and it's those students who do well in their HSC, in TAFE and in university. The results are always inspiring, with more than 20 students recognised for HSC results over 90 and one getting over 99. Degrees in all areas of study are also recognised. Congratulations to Dr Bushra and the volunteers of the board, who work so hard to make this event a success. In a couple of weeks, New Year celebrations will be in full swing for Chinese New Year, and I look forward to our celebrations at the Mingyue temple in Bonnyrigg. James Chan OAM and Vincent Kong and all the volunteers make the event a colourful celebration, with fireworks, lion dances and musical numbers. I was privileged to speak at the 2026 Australia Day and Lunar New Year event organised by the Chinese Associations of Greater Western Sydney. This event has also been held for over a decade, bringing together so many of our wider, diverse community. And, in the coming weeks, there will be iftars and Easter celebrations. I thank all of the volunteers and our community organisations for ensuring these events highlight the best of what we have to offer—great food and entertainment but, more importantly, great company. I'd also like to congratulate the OAM recipients in the electorate of Werriwa, including Mr Anthony Keating for his contributions to community, which were recognised on Australia Day. But I want to give a huge shout-out to David Millott of Prestons Hornets Cricket Club for his recognition and his award. He has spent almost 50 years volunteering with Prestons Cricket, and he made a difference in my children's life and so many others—congratulations. Economy 116 10:50 Ms McKENZIE 124514 Flinders Yesterday, the Labor government's economic mismanagement again reached into the homes of the Morning Peninsula and landed with bigger bills on the kitchen table. Over the past four years, they've handed bigger bills to my constituents for electricity, for gas, for rent, for school supplies, for eggs, for bread, for ice cream, for insurance, for travel, and, yesterday, we saw the 13th interest rate rise on this government's watch. In June 2022, interest rates went up. In July 2022, interest rates went up. In August 2022, interest rates went up. In September 2022, interest rates went up. In October 2022, interest rates went up. In November, December and February 2023, interest rates went up. In March 2023, interest rates went up. In May 2023, interest rates went up. In June 2023, interest rates went up. In November 2023, interest rates went up. Finally, there was a moment of stability, with a year of no change. Then, with enormous relief, there were small cuts in February, May and August of 2025. Again, yesterday, interest rates went up with pump primed public spending and a bloated budget, keeping inflation well above the RBA's preferred target of two-to-three per cent. My constituents keep doing it tough. The average mortgage holder in this country is now paying $23,000 more a year in interest compared with when this government first came into office. That's a whole second job needed in a household to cover those interest payments. The impact of yesterday's interest rise on a $1 million home loan will be about 150 bucks a month. That's like another tank of fuel, a school excursion or a big grocery shop that somehow families have got to find. The economists' verdict is clear. AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, has said: The best thing that Australian governments can do to help bring down inflation would be to cut government spending back to more normal levels, which would free up space for private sector growth without higher inflation. Yet, in this financial year alone, Labor has added $50 billion in new spending; many more interest rate hikes are likely to come. High interest rates do not just mean tighter times around the kitchen table. They mean higher rents, which have gone from an average of around $500 to around $600 a week in my electorate, since this government came to power. Labor's financial mismanagement at the federal level is matched by equal incompetence at the state level. State levies like the metropolitan planning levy, cladding rectification levies and the Victorian government's recent 'holiday tax' in terms of a short-stay levy are all disproportionate, sitting on the shoulders of my constituents. In the last financial year, there were only 650 residential building approvals; 25 years ago, there were over 2,000—that's a 71 per cent decrease in 25 years—and what it means is higher rents from here. Inflation will continue to go up, and it becomes a vicious circle. (Time has expired) A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 10 : 53 to 11 : 17 Barton Electorate: Hurstville Public School 117 11:17 Ms AMBIHAIPAHAR 315618 Barton I rise today to celebrate one of the many examples of community collaboration and inclusivity that define my electorate of Barton. In December last year, Hurstville Public School opened the first dedicated sensory play area within the Georges River LGA—a wonderful playground designed to support childhood development through the engagement and exploration of their senses. Through the sensory playground, the lucky kids of Hurstville Public School are encouraged to meander along footpaths varying in texture from asphalt to sand to grass, and to spin totem poles and abacuses. It invites hands-on engagement with their environments. In another zone, the smell of scent infused playdough wafts around the air. A special auditory zone allows the kids to experiment with outdoor musical instruments including drums and xylophones—something I'm sure many parents in the local area are happy for their kids to get out of their system before coming back home. These types of spaces have been shown to enrich cognitive, emotional and social development for all students, particularly neurodivergent children, and they redefine how we think about childhood development and inclusion. Never has it been more important to foster reaching out into our environment, into our communities and to our neighbours with an attitude of curiosity, open-mindedness and willingness to grow together. These are not only values that are important for the younger generation but values that we must continuously remind ourselves to embody as well. In addition to vital funding support from the Community Building Partnership grant program, I pay special thanks to Mark Steed, the principal of Hurstville Public School, without whom the idea for the sensory playground would not have been sparked, as well as the Hurstville P&C; St George's Hurstville Anglican Church; Kingsgrove Community Aid Centre; and X-Life running group, headed by a wonderful councillor, Councillor Ben Wang of Georges River Council. These Barton community groups have shown us what community collaboration across education, politics and faith can achieve for the development of our kids and society at large, and I thank these groups for their indispensable consultation and fundraising efforts in bringing this vision to life. Being a former student of Hurstville Public School myself, I am incredibly proud of the direction the school is taking in promoting inclusivity and celebrating diversity within the electorate of Barton. It's something that was brought home even stronger by the brilliant Arabic drumming performance held by a small group of Hurstville Public School students to commemorate the opening of the sensory playground. In the words of Principal Mark Steed, we hope to see more of these initiatives implemented by the wider community in the future, to continue supporting our young people and especially our neurodivergent young people in the local area. Lindsay Electorate: Australia Day Honours and Awards 117 11:20 Mrs McINTOSH 281513 Lindsay People in my community of Lindsay love Australia Day. They celebrate it. We have a great time making sure that we acknowledge our neighbours and celebrate loving our country. Part of that is, of course, celebrating the Australians that are on the Australia Day Honours List. It is really wonderful that this year there were two Lindsay locals who received the Medal of the Order of Australia. This is a deeply respected national honour that recognises, as we know, Australians who have demonstrated outstanding service and commitment to their communities. Being awarded the OAM is a significant tribute, reflecting values Australians hold dear: service, generosity and making a meaningful impact on the lives of others. The award highlights and acknowledges selflessness and a deep commitment to our community. Michael Allen, a respected resident of Regentville, has been awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in recognition of his outstanding service to the community through a lifetime of voluntary and charitable work. Michael has dedicated most of his life to helping others and ensuring there is support available to our most vulnerable. Currently, he is the chair of our local community housing provider, Link Wentworth, an organisation I worked for prior to entering politics. He also spent many years serving on boards and committees, working in our community on literacy at a foundation for people that have a disability and working with some of our Aboriginal communities across the electorate. Most notably, Michael was a handyman at The Haven, which is a local charity that provides crisis accommodation for women and children escaping domestic violence. John Lackey was also one of the incredible Lindsay locals to receive this prestigious award. He was recognised for his service to the community of Penrith, including his longstanding involvement with local arts and cultural organisations. Formerly, he was the director of Penrith Performing and Visual Arts, from 2006 to 2022 and the director and treasurer of Penrith Regional Gallery. His work has helped strengthen Penrith's cultural landscape by ensuring arts experiences are accessible and vibrant. This award is an acknowledgement from the entire nation that the service of these two individuals this year is noticed and it matters. On behalf of the Lindsay community, I wish to offer our sincere appreciation and congratulations. Thank you both for your years of service, volunteer work, countless hours of dedication and unwavering commitment to bettering the lives of the Lindsay community. Your achievements are a source of inspiration to many across our community, and we are profoundly grateful for the lasting impact you've made. Bass Electorate: Laurel House 118 11:23 Ms TEESDALE 314526 Bass I'd like to begin by acknowledging the essential role Laurel House plays in supporting our community, providing critical and compassionate services to individuals, families and communities across Northern Tasmania. I recently had the pleasure of visiting Laurel House and meeting with the CEO, Kathryn, spending time learning more about the vital work that they do every day. It was an invaluable opportunity to see firsthand the care, the professionalism and the empathy that underpin their services and to better understand both the impact Laurel House has within our community and the challenges that they continue to navigate. Laurel House provides specialist support services for people affected by sexual harm, delivering trauma informed counselling, therapeutic services and support, education and prevention programs. Their work supports people of all ages, helping individuals and families navigate recovery while also working proactively to prevent harm and to build safer communities. What stood out to me during my visit was Laurel House's unwavering commitment to dignity, choice and safety. Their approach recognises that healing looks different for everyone and that people deserve to be met with understanding, respect and compassion at every step. Laurel House creates spaces where people feel heard, supported and empowered to move forward at their own pace. Beyond direct service delivery, Laurel House also plays a vital role in education and community engagement. By working with schools, organisations and the broader community, they help to raise awareness, challenge stigma and strengthen our collective response to sexual harm. This work is essential in ensuring people feel safe, seek help and know that they are not alone. I want to acknowledge the dedicated staff who carry out this work. Supporting people who've experienced trauma requires exceptional skill, resilience and care. The professionalism and compassion shown by the Laurel House team make a profound difference in the lives of those they support and strengthen our community as a whole. Unfortunately, organisations like Laurel House are an essential part of our social infrastructure at this time, but I am pleased that the federal Labor government has recently awarded $551,000 in federal government funding. This funding will expand their crucial work of responding to victims and survivors of child sexual abuse. We are committed to safeguarding Australia's children and supporting the critical services that will deliver this early intervention, this response and these healing and recovery services to stop the intergenerational cycle of violence. I thank Laurel House. I thank Kathryn and her team for their leadership, their professionalism and their ongoing commitment to supporting our community when that support is needed most. Barker Electorate: Australia Day Honours and Awards 118 11:25 Mr PASIN 240756 Barker I rise today to recognise and congratulate the outstanding Australians from the electorate of Barker who have been honoured as part of the Australia Day honours and awards. Australia Day honours provide an opportunity for our nation to acknowledge individuals who have made an outstanding and enduring contribution to Australia. These honours recognise service, leadership and dedication that enrich our communities and strengthen our country. They reflect the very best of the Australian spirit—service above self. This year Barker was proudly represented by a number of exceptional recipients. I congratulate Neville Bonney OAM, who was recognised for his service to conservation, the environment and the community. Mr Bonney has been a longstanding advocate for environmental stewardship and has contributed significantly to local conservation initiatives and community organisations. I also wish to congratulate Stephen Day OAM, whose award acknowledges his service to charitable organisations and to the finance sector. Mr Day has dedicated many years to supporting community and charitable causes through leadership roles and professional expertise within the financial sector. Ms Gerlinde Trappe OAM is recognised for her service to the community of the Barossa and to the arts. Her contribution has played an important role in supporting local cultural initiatives and strengthening community engagement through the arts. I also wish to acknowledge Dr William Gransbury OAM, who has been honoured for his service to the community of Angaston. Dr Gransbury has made a sustained contribution to civic life in Angaston through long-term community involvement and service in areas as diverse as mental health, heritage, community and sport. I also congratulate Mr Harold Long OAM, who is recognised for his service to the communities of Mannum, Salt Creek and Padthaway and, in particular, for his work supporting young people. Mr Long's commitment to youth development and to community participation has a long-lasting impact across multiple regional communities. He was, coincidentally, the year 3 teacher of two of my electorate office staff, who have many fond memories of Mr Long, including learning and performing the national anthem to their peers. Under Mr Long's tutelage, students were required to be able to recite both verses of the national anthem before they completed year 3. Barker is home to recipients of distinguished service medals. I congratulate Mr John Probert, awarded the Australian Fire Service Medal, and Mr Kieran Johnson, awarded the Ambulance Service Medal, for distinguished service for their respective organisations. Their commitment to protecting lives and community deserves our deepest thanks. To all those recognised this Australia Day, I want to say thank you. Thank you for everything you do. You strengthen our communities and you make Barker an even better place to live, work and raise a family. Macquarie Electorate: Australia Day Honours and Awards 119 11:28 Ms TEMPLEMAN 181810 Macquarie I'm so proud to recognise the 13 recipients of Australia Day honours from Macquarie. Carol Edds and Farah Madon have each become a member of the Order of Australia, an AM. Carol has been recognised for her work in the construction industry and on heritage conservation, including as the founder of the Hawkesbury branch of the National Trust. Architect Farah Madon from Emu Plains, with her approach to supporting dignity, inclusion and independence for all, is recognised for significant service to architecture and to people with a disability. Eight people from Macquarie have each received a medal of the Order of Australia, an OAM. Ann Caro was on her first day of the school year at Mount Druitt's Chifley College Senior Campus when I rang to congratulate her for services to education. Among other things, she played a key role in establishing Nepean Creative and Performing Arts High School at Emu Plains. Bronwyn Howes is honoured for her service to primary education, including guiding students at Oakville Public School for more than 20 years. Also from the Hawkesbury, Adrian Peter Read is honoured for his service to gymnastics and the community, which included being the director of Gymnastics Australia and serving on the YMCA. Cathy Gault, who contracted polio as a child but refused to let her wheelchair limit her, is recognised for her extensive disability work, including at the Thorndale Foundation and as a chaplain at Nepean Hospital for 17 years. For his service to conservation and the environment, Dr John Merson receives an OAM. He is a driving force behind the Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute, and it's been a privilege to work with him. For her many different contributions to outdoor recreation, Caro Ryan has been honoured. Two OAMs are presented posthumously—one to the late Graham Price, who was deeply involved in the Australian Mushroom Growers Association, Rotary and the Secret Garden and Nursery in Richmond, and one to the late Walter Sutcliffe for services to music as a conductor and organist, including at St Alban's, Leura, and as a founder of the Blackheath Choir Festival. For his decades of extraordinary service to the New South Wales RFS, Greg Frullani receives the Australian Fire Service Medal. Greg is a real hero of Hazelbrook. An Australian Police Medal was awarded to Detective Superintendent Darren Beeche for decades of operations involving fighting high-profile criminal activity and supporting victims of crime. The Public Service Medal was received by Kathryn Tidd for disability advocacy in the New South Wales public sector, and, in the military division, the Conspicuous Service Medal has been awarded to Flight Lieutenant Scott McNichol for his leadership as the commander of the air task unit for Operation Beech. Every recipient deserves this recognition, and we thank you for your work. Bowman Electorate: Australia Day 119 11:31 Mr PIKE 300120 Bowman Australia Day holds a special place in the heart of the people of my electorate. In the Redlands, we celebrate our national day unashamedly and with immense pride. This year was no exception. Across the Redlands, families came together to mark what it means to live in the greatest country on earth. In Cleveland I had the privilege of being part of a wonderful citizenship ceremony where around 150 new Australians formally joined our national family. At Raby Bay I hosted a massive community barbecue. We had so many turn out that we had to send out multiple times for more sausages, and we couldn't keep up with the demand from local patriots celebrating with family and friends. It was Australian flags everywhere along the bayside beaches and kids running around in green and gold. It was relaxed and joyful. It was Redlands on Australia Day, unmistakably. But Australia Day is also a time to recognise service. Redland City Council did exactly that through the 2026 Redlands Coast Australia Day Awards, which honoured locals who give freely of their time, energy and expertise to make our community even stronger. Sixteen individuals and organisations were recognised across eight categories. Together, they represent the very best of my community. Senior Citizen of the Year Tony Christinson has been instrumental in the growth and success of the Donald Simpson Centre in Cleveland over many years. Tony has given countless volunteer hours as a board member and former chair, strengthening governance, improving facilities and expanding programs that combat social isolation amongst older Redlanders. Young Citizen of the Year Malakai Keen is an outstanding example of the next generation of community leaders coming through. With more than 1,500 hours of service in the Redlands SES, Malakai has demonstrated an extraordinary commitment to service, responsibility and community safety well beyond his years. Community organisations acknowledged include Redlands Coast Museum, the Rotary clubs of Capalaba and Wellington Point, Play It Forward and the Mt Cotton Riders Alliance. They each, in their own way, strengthen our community and reflect the values we celebrate on Australia Day. Finally, I want to pay tribute to the Redlands Citizen of the Year, Col Sutcliffe OAM. Col's service spans decades and touches almost every part of community life in the Redlands. Through his leadership with Rotary, STAR Community Services and Mangrove Housing, Col has championed literacy, inclusion, aged-care services and affordable housing for some of our most vulnerable residents. He also did a wonderful job last year helping to organise our Victory in the Pacific celebrations, which hold very large local significance for the Redlands as the place where the first messages of Japanese surrender came to Australia and were passed on to Allied headquarters. Australia Day in the Redlands is about celebrating service and belonging, and this year, once again, Redlanders showed exactly that. Perth: Attack 120 11:34 Ms LAWRENCE 299150 Hasluck 'They can do whatever they want, but they'll never stop the voices of our people, because we are warriors.' These are the measured words of Uncle Herbert Bropho following the direct attack on First Nations people at Forrest Place in Boorloo, in Perth, on 26 January. Forrest Place is a historic meeting place. Protests occur there every month. Whitlam spoke there; Menzies spoke there. The attack, which was unsuccessful but potentially deadly, was an attack on people engaged in their democratic right of protest. As Minister Gorman said, an attack on our people is an attack on our democracy. Mainstream media have not given enough attention to this or the attention it deserves. Where's the outrage? It was an attempt to kill innocent people—children, grandchildren, parents and people in wheelchairs. I thank the member for Curtin for introducing the motion to the House. As she said, it was just luck that this did not become a mass casualty event. I stand with my community in their outrage and disbelief, and I am so glad that I'm not standing here reading a condolence motion. Many of the attendees at the rally were in fact my constituents—from Lockridge, Midland and further afield. I thank the WA police, for working with the Noongar representatives, and leaders, like Minister McCarthy and Senator Dorinda Cox, for their commitment to keeping this matter exactly where it should be: at the forefront of our minds when dealing with policy directed at preventing this from happening again. The matter is, of course, under investigation, but it's under investigation as a potential terrorist attack. I'd also like to call attention to the online forums that are promoting hate speech, creating racial vilification and fuelling the type of behaviour that we saw carried out on 26 January. This issue extends to public-facing figures who continue to promote racial vilification for their own advancement—even members of this parliament. The member for New England, earlier this morning, said in this place: 'Antisemitic policy—we will back it 100 per cent. We'll be at the forefront. But we've got to be focused on antisemitic issues from radical—from fundamentalist Islamic terrorists against Jewish people and not draw this net of other things.' So, for the member of New England, racism against other minority groups is just a 'net of other things'. The words do not promote unity. Rather, his words echo the hostility that is behind the Australia Day attack. The events of 26 January were an attack on our community and on all Australians, and I stand—as we all must—against this kind of hatred. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 298800 Thank you for those important words, Member for Hasluck. In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded. BILLS 121 BILLS Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025 121

Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025

Second Reading 121 11:38 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina When addressing the graduating class of the Australian Defence Force Academy last year, Governor-General Sam Mostyn AC said: You have prepared yourselves to live ADFA's motto: to lead, to excel. You have learned to be leaders who will work for peace and stability, who will make ethical and helpful decisions, who will prioritise human life and dignity and always act with compassion and care. You embody the ADF values of service, courage, respect, integrity and excellence. I believe these values will guide you throughout your careers—not as abstract ideals, but as the foundation of trust, teamwork, service, loyalty and duty. I attended this particularly wonderful function at Duntroon to see Inigo Bardos, son of David and Jane from Wagga Wagga, graduate. Those who graduated on that day will one day be veterans. Those who graduated on that day will one day need our help. Those who graduated will look to the Department of Veterans Affairs. They will come through their military careers. There will be ups and downs, but we wish them every success. We know that they will uphold that bond of courage, unity and teamwork. So we must ensure that, when they do finish their military careers, we are there for them. That's why this veterans legislation is important. 11:40 Ms PRICE 249308 Durack I rise to speak on the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025. At the outset, the opposition supports the passage of this bill. We do so because these amendments are necessary to ensure the successful implementation of the veterans reform framework and to allow the transition to a single, simplified compensation and rehabilitation system to operate effectively from 1 July 2026. For too long, veterans and their families have been forced to navigate a fragmented system spread across multiple acts of parliament, each with different rules, thresholds and processes. The coalition supported the royal commission's interim recommendation to simplify and harmonise these arrangements precisely because complexity creates stress, confusion and, all too often, injustice. That is why we supported the primary reform legislation and why we continue to support the objective of a single ongoing framework under the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act. A unified scheme has the potential to reduce duplication, improve consistency in decision-making and make entitlements, claims and review pathways easier—not harder but easier—for veterans and their families to understand and access. This bill is largely technical and consequential in nature, but these amendments—well, they matter. They go to how the system functions in practice, how fairness is preserved, and how confidence is maintained during what is a significant transition. The bill clarifies review and appeal rights under the new framework, ensuring veterans retain access to internal reconsideration and external merits review through the Veterans' Review Board, with onward appeal pathways preserved. It establishes clearer rules for claims and decisions that straddle the transition date, reducing legal uncertainty and the risk of inconsistent outcomes. The bill also addresses important practical matters, including dependent compensation where death occurs after the transition date but relates to earlier service; the application of funeral benefits; education assistance for students and dependants; impairment and additional disablement payments; and the preservation of allowances and decoration payments so that recognition based support continues uninterrupted. These are precisely the kinds of details that matter deeply to veterans and families, particularly at times of illness, loss or transition. However, it must be said that this is now the second miscellaneous measurements bill required to complete or correct the government's original reform package. Quite simply, it's just not good enough. These provisions are not new or unexpected. They are core implementation details that should have been resolved in the primary legislation. Veterans, their advocates and their families deserve certainty and stability in the law, not rolling fix-up bills. Legislative patchwork risks undermining confidence in a system that reform was meant to simplify. While the opposition will not stand in the way of amendments that protect entitlements and ensure the framework works as intended, we will continue to hold the government to account for incomplete legislative delivery. The opposition has moved an amendment to remove the mandatory legislative requirement to notify the Chief of the Defence Force when a serving member lodges a Veterans' Review Board application or accesses non-liability healthcare. We strongly believe that decision should rest with the serving member, not be hardwired into legislation. Automatic notification to the Chief of the Defence Force risks reinforcing perceptions of career risk and stigma, particularly around mental health. Evidence before the royal commission made clear that some ADF members delay or avoid seeking care because they fear the impact on deployability or career progression. Simply from a wellbeing and suicide prevention perspective, encouraging early, trusted access to care must be paramount. Legislative settings should reduce barriers, not create new perceived risks. Defence will still be able to access operationally necessary information through existing mechanisms or with the member's consent where required. On Monday, many of us in this place attended the Last Post Ceremony at the Australian War Memorial. During the ceremony, it was noted just how important it is that this parliament maintains a direct line of sight to the War Memorial. We in this place have the power to send our men and women in uniform into harm's way, and with that power comes an enduring responsibility to use our authority to properly support our defence personnel and to really care for our veterans. It was a really deeply moving reminder that our obligations to those who serve do not end when the uniform comes off. They continue in the systems that we build, the laws that we pass and the way we treat veterans and defence personnel throughout their lives, particularly when they are at their most vulnerable. The coalition record reflects that commitment, from establishing the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide to delivering non-liability mental healthcare, strengthening Open Arms, recognising service through the Veterans' Covenant, investing in wellbeing centres and important transition support and, I'd say, the creation of the Australian War Memorial itself. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the men and women in uniform who I recently had the pleasure of meeting at RAAF Base Pearce and HMAS Stirling, which I'm sure the deputy chair is quite interested in. It indeed was a privilege to speak with so many people on that day, particularly the young personnel who are just starting out on their careers and are enjoying their careers in the ADF, a career which offers incredible opportunities, skills and pathways for those who choose to serve. So, to our sailors, our soldiers and our Air Force personnel: we hear you, we see you, and you matter. Our ADF men and women do an extraordinary job, often away from their families, and they deserve our respect and our support—real support, not tricky legislation but real support that helps them when they are in need. That is the lens through which we approach this bill. We support it because it is necessary, but we will continue to push for legislation that puts veterans and defence personnel first, not just in principle but in practice. I thank the House. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 298800 I will suspend the chamber until the chair is resumed. Sitting suspended from 11:49 to 11:52 11:52 Mr KEOGH 249147 Burt The rate of veteran suicide is a national tragedy, and that is why the Albanese government has been working at pace to implement our response to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. I thank members across the House for their contributions and for their support of the government's work so far to improve the lives of current and former serving veterans. The passage of the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025—the VETS act—early last year was in response to the royal commission's interim report. The bill before us, the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025, furthers the implementation of this simpler veterans entitlement system. The VETS act will simplify veterans legislation from 1 July this year and do away with the current tri-act system to make it easier for veterans and families of veterans to know what they are entitled to and make it faster for the Department of Veterans' Affairs to process their claims. From 1 July, all veterans' rehabilitation and compensation claims will be dealt with under a single piece of legislation, the new and improved Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, also known as the MRCA. This includes a commitment that no veteran or family member will experience a reduction in the payments that they're already receiving. To be ready for this date, there are some technical amendments that are required. This bill proposes a number of minor technical amendments to veterans legislation. These amendments will help to ensure the smooth implementation of these reforms and the transition from the complicated tri-act arrangements to the single ongoing act. As with any new act, there are some amendments required, aimed at correcting minor administrative issues and removing ambiguity in line with the policy intention of the VETS act. The Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 2) Bill 2025 has 16 technical amendments that will ensure a smooth transition from 1 July 2026. This bill deals with the following matters: the review pathway; compensation for dependants and deceased veterans; funeral compensation; access to MRCA education scheme; additional disablement amount; Victoria Cross allowance and decoration allowance; service injuries, diseases and deaths arising from treatment; treatment of serving members; direct deductions; and application and transitional provisions. These technical amendments will make sure there are no interruptions to providing critical benefits or payments to veterans and their families. I would like to thank the interim shadow minister for his contribution to the debate, and I want to emphasise the continued need to work across the parliament to make sure we're achieving the best outcomes for veterans and families of veterans. I thank the interim shadow minister for his support for a minor government amendment to this bill, to follow. The VETS act is the most significant reform to how we support veterans in a century, making it easier for veterans, and families of veterans, to know what they are entitled to, and making it faster for DVA to process their claims. This bill supports the implementation of the VETS act. Whilst the amendments contained in the bill are minor, they are critical to ensuring the intent of the VETS act, and the smooth delivery of services, continues and is ready for 1 July 2026. These amendments are evidence we want to get this right, and we're keen to continue to work across the parliament to ensure the best outcomes for veterans and families of veterans. I commend the bill to the House. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The original question that the bill be now read a second time. To this, the honourable member for Hume has moved an amendment that all the words after 'that' be omitted with a view to substituting other words. The immediate question is that the amendment be agreed to. Question unresolved. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 As it is necessary to resolve this question to enable further questions to be considered in relation to the bill, in accordance with standing order 195, the bill will be returned to the House for further consideration. Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 123

Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025

Second Reading 123 11:57 Ms CAMPBELL 312823 Moreton When I was a little girl, I used to be incredibly excited to get my pocket money—like many other children across the breadth of this nation. For me, that was $5, and I would pop it into a little pouch. My grade 1 teacher would hold out a sack and we'd put it inside, and when it would come back, the money would be gone but I'd have a purple stamp. That purple stamp meant that those $5 were now in my bank account. That was how I was taught to save. That was how I was taught to make sure that my money was in a place that I knew was safe. That was how I was taught to protect myself when it came to money and finances. I had that confidence that my money was safe. The world has changed. It's different now, and the way that we deal with money is different too. Long gone are those days of piggy banks and cash deposits being the only way that young people invest their money. Today's young Australians aren't just saving pocket money; they are navigating NFTs, bitcoin and digital wallets. They're doing exactly what we tell young Australians to do. We tell them to adapt, we tell them to innovate, we tell them to try to get ahead, but they're exposed to a market without proper protections in that new landscape. What happens when digital currency platforms collapse overnight? Not to the executives, not just to the investors—what happens to the university student who put their part-time wages into what they thought was going to be a legitimate investment? Importantly, what happens to the small-business owner trying to keep up with how their customers want to pay? If these digital platforms fail, it's not the big corporations who hurt the most—it's our small businesses and the everyday Australians who are just trying to get ahead. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 is about closing that gap. It's about ensuring that, as our financial system evolves and changes, the safeguards that protect hardworking people evolve with it too. I have the great privilege of living in the very best part of Australia, on Brisbane's south side in the seat of Moreton. My office there is in a suburb called Sunnybank. If I took a rock and threw it as far as I possibly could and then drew a circle from that rock's placement around the office, it would encompass scores and scores of businesses—everything from services businesses to hospitality to retail to manufacturing. These businesses are important to the economy. In many ways for my local community these are lifeblood to the economy, and they employ people who live locally. We need to make sure that they too are protected when it comes to digital assets. The Albanese Labor government is updating Australia's financial laws to match the pace of technological change and international standards. Digital assets have moved from the margins into everyday finance and commerce. Australians use them. Businesses build with them. And the underlying technology, like blockchain, opens real opportunities to transform how our financial systems work. We're talking about faster payments, more efficient settlements and new ways for businesses to raise capital and for consumers to transact. This is the future of finance, and Australians deserve to participate in that future with confidence. We want to be at the forefront of technology. We want to be at the forefront of productivity. We want to be at the forefront of service delivery, and we want to be at the forefront of innovation. But, when the rulebook is unclear, consumers face risks that we as a country simply cannot accept. We've already seen what happens when there aren't sufficient protections. Tens of thousands of Australians were affected by the collapse of FTX. Families across this country put their trust in a platform that collapsed overnight before their eyes. Billions were lost globally. Consumer trust was shattered, and innovation was undermined. When exchanges like FTX crumble, we see the cost of platform failure in real terms to real people, to real life savings, to real families and to real Australians. The caretaker described it as 'real, old-fashioned embezzlement'. But, if it uses new tech, we must make sure that people still have protection, because the people who hurt the most every day are Australians who trusted the system. It's students, young workers, families and small-business owners trying to stay competitive. This bill amends the Corporations Act 2001 and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 to recognise two new financial products: digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms. These amendments integrate these platforms into our existing, trusted framework rather than creating a parallel system, extending the protections Australians already rely on. It's about making sure that the tech you use isn't an out, isn't an excuse and isn't a reason for accountability and regulation to not keep you safe. This is not regulation for regulation's sake. We're building smarter safeguards on top of financial laws. Australians already know how this works. We're not starting from scratch; we're building on what already works, applying the same principles that have kept Australians safe over many years in the financial system—for decades. And we're giving businesses the certainty that they need to invest and innovate in Australia, knowing the rules are clear and globally aligned. That's what we want. We want small businesses to innovate. We want them to be more productive so that they can drive the economy. We want them to be successful so that they can employ more Australians, who can have a decent job and decent pay. And the principle is simple: if you hold assets for clients, you meet the same standards. It doesn't matter if those assets are in dollars or digital. The risks of digital assets are ones we have heard before—fraud, mismanagement and cyberattacks. These are the same risks we already regulate in banks and in finance, and this bill simply enshrines clearer rules, fair standards and proper oversight. We know how to regulate financial risk because we've been doing it for a really long time. The key risks of digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms are ones that we already regulate in traditional finance: credit risk, liquidity risk, counterparty risk, operational risk, fraud and cyber risks. What changes is the technology. What doesn't change, what should never change and what will never change under this government is our responsibility to protect Australians. Operators of these platforms will be required to meet new minimum standards for how client assets are held and how transactions are processed as well as to comply with disclosure obligations designed specifically for digital asset businesses. And that means clear rules on custody. Your assets must be held securely and separately from the platform's own assets. It also means clear rules on reconciliation. Platforms must know, at all times, exactly what they're holding and when they're holding it. It also means clear rules on disclosure. Consumers deserve to know the risks before they invest. Australians deserve to know the risks before they invest. By extending Australia's financial services laws to better cover digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms, we're giving consumers and industry the certainty that the same consumer protections and licensing obligations apply to comparable custodial activities. If you're holding someone's assets, you're subject to the same standards—no excuses, no exceptions, no shortcuts, just accountability. These measures ensure that operators of digital asset businesses are held to those same high standards of fairness, transparency and integrity as other financial service providers are. This government believes that Australians deserve those same protections, whether they're investing in shares, whether they're investing in property or whether they're holding those digital assets, and this bill delivers that. This bill requires operators to hold an Australian financial services licence, meaning they're obliged to act efficiently, honestly and fairly; handle conflicts of interest properly; and maintain dispute resolution processes. These aren't new concepts. These are the same requirements we place on every financial service provider in this country, because operating in Australia's financial system means a commitment to Australian consumers, a commitment to the values we hold so dear that mean Australians are protected. Beyond that, they'll meet obligations designed specifically for digital assets with baseline standards for custody, segregation, reconciliation and how transactions settle. These requirements acknowledge what makes digital assets different: no central issuer in some cases and peer-to-peer movement in others. The old rulebook doesn't always fit the new technology, but the protections must. That's why this bill is flexible, equipping the minister and ASIC with powers to update requirements as technology shifts, addressing new risks and keeping the framework relevant. This bill is not just about protecting consumers from today's technology, from what is happening right now; it reaches out to make sure that we are safeguarding against technologies that could be abused in the future. It reaches into the future to make sure that the tech of tomorrow doesn't mean Australians will be left stranded. Technology moves fast—we know that—and regulation needs to keep up. This bill gives us the tools to do that without needing to come back to this parliament every time technology changes. This adaptive approach lets us safeguard consumers without crushing innovation, positioning Australia to set the pace in digital finance, not to chase it. The government backs innovation, but innovation without protection is a recipe for disaster. This bill gets the balance right. The bill allows an 18-month adjustment window. Businesses already operating responsibly get time to meet those new requirements, and ASIC can grant temporary relief where it's needed. This measured reform builds confidence in our financial system—confidence that Australians deserve—while establishing Australia as a credible centre for digital innovation. ASIC will oversee these platforms under clearer rules, bringing digital platforms under the same trusted oversight Australians already rely on for every other part of our financial system. This bill aligns us with those global standards set by the Financial Stability Board and the International Organization of Securities Commissions, keeping us competitive with jurisdictions like the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom and Singapore. The government proposes to provide a clear regulatory framework that is fit for purpose and considers these international standards, protecting consumers while supporting that innovation and providing a clear and consistent framework for businesses operating in Australia's growing digital sector. This reform will help attract investment. This reform will help create jobs. This reform will help us grow our digital economy. When businesses know the rules are clear, we know that they invest. When consumers know they're protected, we know that they participate. This bill creates the preconditions for both of those things, ensuring Australians can participate safely in the digital asset sector knowing the rules are clear and in force. Australia has long been a global leader in financial services. Our superannuation system, a proud Labor legacy, is internationally respected. Our banks weathered global financial crisis better than most, and our regulatory framework has driven innovation while maintaining stability. I grew up knowing the system had my back. Every dollar I saved was protected. Today's Australians deserve that same certainty, no matter how they choose to save, no matter how they choose to invest their hard earned money. Whether they're putting money in a piggy bank or investing in digital assets, they deserve to know that the system protects them. 12:12 Mr TIM WILSON IMW Goldstein Of course I welcome the pathway to be able to make sure that the financial instruments that Australians use on a day-to-day basis operate with the compliance and framework of law. So in seeking, in the loose terms of the spirit of this law, to support it, I welcome the fact that the government is finally taking steps to bring about a legal framework to include cryptocurrencies and the sorts of digital assets that we need to be part of not just a modern economy but the global economy. It has taken the government an incredibly long period of time to get here, and I know their agenda has been incredibly detailed and complicated in so many different areas, of which not a single one I can name. But that's probably a reflection of the busy work and fights that go on between the Prime Minister and the Treasurer. We nonetheless welcome the pathway that they're providing for a framework for cryptocurrencies. Fair enough too. When I look at cryptocurrencies—I've always been a bit of a sceptic not from a sense of opposition but from a sense of, 'What's the underlying value?' I'm in the Warren Buffett camp at the end of the day, if it's productive capacity in use. But one thing I have always given credit to cryptocurrencies for is that I think that they're a hedge against inflation and expansive monetary policy from central banks—entities that I am not very trusting of because they have successively and consistently got decisions wrong, which has led to what we now have to acknowledge is the Chalmers rate-rise cycle. We had, of course, one interest rate rise yesterday off the back of shocking inflation data. But we know this is not going to be the end. So long as you have expansive fiscal policy—borrowing from the future for debt spending for today to cover up on the economic mismanagement of this government—Australians will be at risk of higher inflation and higher interest rates. We're a stand-out, but for all the wrong reasons, on a global scale around interest rates. It's directly connected to decisions by state and federal governments who simply want to cover up for their economic mismanagement by borrowing more money so that they don't have to acknowledge that they're strangling the private sector of the economy. So the one thing I will say at the moment is that I'm afraid crypto probably is—and this is general advice, not financial advice—good value in hedging against the economic tyranny of the Albanese government, because the Chalmers rate-rise cycle has only just begun and there will be much more of it yet to come. I say that with sadness, because there's nothing Australians can afford less right now, after they've paid their Christmas credit-card-debt bill and are paying for school fees, uniforms and all the other costs that come with the new school year. The worst thing they could have had yesterday was an interest rate rise, and unfortunately, under the Chalmers rate-rise cycle, you should fully accept that that's not going to be the end of the matter. But that's not what this bill, the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, addresses. What it does do, though, is to give a legal framework, a pathway, for Australians—young, old and everything in between—to invest, as they see fit, complying with law. We welcome that, because there are a lot of issues that a lot of people who invested in crypto earlier, before this legislative framework, had. There were big grey areas around the property rights underlying their investments, the legality of them, the transferability of them and their capacity to seek redress, and there are lots of the more complicated things that flow on, for instance, from capital gains tax. We, on this side of the chamber, have always understood how important it is to get this framework right. That's why Senator Bragg did an outstanding job leading a parliamentary inquiry to look at how we take the grey into the light. The government has picked up significant parts of Senator Bragg's efforts and passed them off as their own homework. We still, ultimately, welcome the effort—even if there isn't the acknowledgement and we're seeing the government trying to pretend that they have somehow invented this work. But we can understand why the Labor Party took so long to introduce this legislation, because, at every point, we know, the cartel relationships that operate between the Labor Party, the trade unions and the industry super funds are a giant money-laundering operation, and of course one of the problems with crypto is that it sits outside of the frames of legality. So I imagine that a large part of the reason why it's taken so long is that they've been desperately trying to figure out how they can extract, from crypto, cartel kickbacks to the CFMEU, to go into the slush funds of the Labor Party and the trade union movement and perhaps other funds as well. It continues to be a criminal activity, but, unfortunately, when we know that Australian taxpayers' money has flown into organised crime and bikie gangs, courtesy of state and federal Labor governments, there is a moral evil here that must be expunged. And, until we remove this government, crypto, traditional assets and your tax dollars will not be safe. No Australians' assets will be safe until we remove this government. We're supportive of the principle of this bill and what it's seeking to achieve. But the government, in their way, can't help but go off and refer things to different agencies like ASIC. As to ASIC and having oversight of ASIC, let's be polite and say that, at times, calamity follows and there's their complete incapacity or unwillingness to regulate certain sections of the market—let alone the absence of the knowledge, capacity or skill. We have recommended that this bill go off to a committee because we believe that it is deficient, we're not convinced ASIC can do the job that's been charged to them and there's a serious need for further work to be done. But we'll see on that. There's the spirit of the bill, but the practical application of it is something we're going to have to not just revisit through the committee process but continue to revisit into the future, because the cost of getting this wrong is serious. We know full well that, if we have crypto in a legal framework that encourages investment, it could be part of capital flows that can invest in the future of this country, and we can increase the economic opportunity that every Australian enjoys. The failure is what is happening right now, where people are investing offshore and Australians are disconnected from the opportunities of crypto. Now, I understand why a lot of Australians are—and only the other day I had a constituent say that they are—moving their capital offshore, because of the approach of this Labor government, and moving it to foreign jurisdictions, in a legal way. And this is now a very common story. We're seeing the same thing in the UK, where Labor governments think they can somehow tax people into prosperity, where they can tax people to the point they'll look for foreign jurisdictions, where they're taxed out of their patriotism. That is exactly what is happening under this government—that we're all becoming poorer as a nation. And, of course, crypto provides a very fast pathway to do that, and that is what we're now staring down—the risk of capital outflows from this country because Labor can't manage the budget. They're exposing Australians to inflation. That means higher interest rates. That means that, as part of the Chalmers' rate-rise cycle, Australians will get poorer and will be taxed out of their patriotism. This is a time when we need laws that design and protect people's assets and Australians are encouraged to keep their money onshore, investing in the future of this nation—not part of the cartel kickback corruption cycle that has so fanned under this government and state Labor governments and is core to the corrupt system that sits at the heart of the modern Labor Party. 12:20 Mr HOLZBERGER 88411 Forde Tim—I think the honourable member for Goldstein, having come into the same class as me in 2025, showed the experience of having been in a previous class as well. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 298800 Members will be referred to by their correct titles, which did happen. Mr HOLZBERGER 88411 I'm sorry—the honourable member for Goldstein. I appreciate that there was a bit of a lesson there. That's what happens when you run out of something to say in a 15-minute speech. I thought, 'Well, this is good; he's clearly run out of things to say, so we're going to get an insight into how you handle a speech when you don't have anything more to say.' But, unfortunately, we went on a bit of a kaleidoscopic journey into the honourable member's mind. Looking at the point in his speech at which I'd refer people to in the future, if they ever wanted to get a bit of an insight into what happens when somebody panics, go to the 10-minute mark and you'll be completely entertained. I'm not sure there's anything of substance to respond to in his contribution as part of this debate, but I would very much like to support the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. At first glance, it may not stir immediate passion. It is an uncontroversial bill. It enjoys broad support across the parliament, including from the opposition parties—all of them—and other members in the parliament. I think this bill is a reflection of the calm and methodical approach to economic and financial reform that this government undertakes. Just as this government has approached superannuation reform through the changes to the payday super, and just as we're addressing failures like First Guardian and Shield, this bill approaches digital assets with the same careful consideration and pragmatism that shows that this government is about governing responsibly and ensuring that Australians are protected while the Australian financial system can innovate and grow. The name Sam Bankman-Fried will bring to the minds of tens of thousands of Australians the idea of pain and loss. When the platform FTX collapsed in 2022, many ordinary Australians—not sophisticated investors—lost life savings. In fact, the collapse of a financial product or something financial that someone believed in has a devastating impact on someone's life. I received a letter from a constituent about the collapse of First Guardian. It illustrates why we need to undertake this sort of essential reform. It will take a bit of time, but I'd appreciate it if the chamber would bear with me. It read: 'I'm writing to you as an ordinary Australian, a low-income earner, a layperson. I'm not writing with fancy words or legal knowledge. That's not who I am. Please don't just read my letter and then move on. Please use your position to speak up for the people who are in these situations through no fault of their own. Below are two superannuation scenarios I have personally experienced. My son worked for a company for about five years. That company chose not to contribute to his superannuation account. So, when my son resigned and moved on to another position, he realised that his guaranteed superannuation contributions from his employer had not been paid. He then had to put the hard work in to try to recover what is rightfully his for his future. To date, none of those contributions have reached my son's superannuation account. Scenario 2: my partner and I have lost a portion of our superannuation due to the First Guardian Master Fund collapse. We now have to do the hard work to try and get it back. In 2022 we paid an adviser to look after our superannuation accounts. That appears to have been a very costly exercise—fees, a big mistake and loss. We are the ones now paying for the actions and inactions of others. We have lost years of savings and security, and we continue to lose. We are being punished for trusting the system that's supposed to protect us. We are not wealthy people. We don't pretend to be. We live by our means, and every dollar in our superannuation accounts means a lot to our future. As small as it may seem to others, it is all we have for our future. I'm tired, angry, frustrated, sad, broken, and genuinely don't understand how these scenarios can take place. I live with ongoing mental health struggles and have done for years. I've had two hospital admissions this year and, yes, our superannuation losses have certainly added to my struggles. My partner worked for Woolworths for 25 years in warehousing, and he has to face every day knowing that a portion of his superannuation is gone. This is also unfair and genuinely cruel. The innocent parties need to be compensated and the governing body needs to go after those responsible to recover what's owed. Instead, it looks like we are heading into the festive season with a big, dark cloud hanging over our heads. Thank you for taking the time to read my letter.' Her words tell us better than anybody else's in this chamber why consumer protection and trust is central to this bill. This is not abstract policy. It affects real people's livelihoods and retirement savings, and it affects confidence in the financial system. Collapses of digital asset platforms such as FTX and of superannuation funds like First Guardian and Shield demonstrate that we are now operating in a new and evolving financial world where technology changes faster than the law. Innovative financial products carry risks that ordinary Australians may not fully understand, and this bill is designed to respond to that reality. It provides the minister with powers to adapt quickly to technological change, ensuring that rules remain fit for purpose. Reflecting on my own journey in entrepreneurialism gives me some insight into what is happening here. My first business was as a contract musterer. 'Business' is a very fancy way of describing it, because, really, it was a ute and a bike and a couple of dogs and the will to win. But it taught me something essential about entrepreneurialism. I say sometimes that it's about creating something out of nothing. But it's not nothing; it's many things—many disparate things—which are put together so that the whole becomes greater than the sum of the parts. It is about as far removed from the financial world as you can get. It was only later, when I became really interested in small business and entrepreneurialism in sales, that I really started to learn about what the financial system meant. I set up a little business. I never purported to be a genius or an expert, but I wanted to learn how to sell, so I set up a little sales training business, under the maxim that the best way to learn is to teach. We moved to the Gold Coast, and I ended up doorknocking along Scarborough Street and Ferry Road in Southport. I got a real estate agent, a hairdresser, a telemarketer, a second-hand store owner, an aquarium owner and a mechanic, and through that process I learned a great deal about business and entrepreneurialism. Another client I got was a mortgage broker. That was in about 2005, just a couple of years before the global financial crisis. The financial system had become increasingly complex. Mortgages were sliced and diced and bundled into products that were so opaque, but the ratings agencies deemed them safe. In Australia, we had things like low-doc loans, but they were better described in the United States as NINJA loans—no income, no job or assets. When that system collapsed, it destroyed the livelihoods of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of people, and it brought the world to the edge of financial ruin. Some historians like to say that capitalism began with tulips—but not literally, of course. The Dutch tulip mania of the 1630s was one of the first times that people bought and sold assets purely for speculative profit. Single bulbs were sometimes traded for more than the price of a house, and, when the market collapsed, fortunes were lost. That lesson is timeless. Markets can be exciting and innovative, but, without clear rules and protections, consumers are exposed to unacceptable risks. This bill ensures that Australians participating in asset markets have safeguards against such catastrophic outcomes. That experience also provided a lesson about how money works and how the economy functions. Working with a mortgage broker at the time, I got really interested in the financial system and I learned a little bit about how it all works. The most fascinating illustration was the story of goldsmiths and how they would be safe keepers for people's gold. They would take in the gold. They soon worked out that not everybody was coming back to take all of the gold out at the same time, so they could lend that gold out and earn interest on it. By lending that gold out, they were able to provide loans to merchants, farmers and entrepreneurs, and they fuelled trade, business growth and investment, creating more credit, leading to more economic activity, and creating jobs and wealth. Businesses with credit could expand, improve goods, services and infrastructure, and benefit people. But, if too many deposits were demanded at once, the system collapsed—just like the GFC and FTX—and ordinary people got hurt. So, without clear rules, customer assets can be exposed and customers can be left devastated. This bill addresses that risk, setting clear rules, custodial standards and licensing obligations so that Australians' assets are protected while also allowing innovation to thrive. Crypto is a bit of a mystery. I am no crypto bro. It is not easily understood by many Australians. Despite its glamour and appeal, I don't believe it is quite as revolutionary as what the goldsmiths were able to create with the beginning of the creation of credit. But it does represent a further evolution of the financial system. It's got the potential to make business cheaper and improve productivity and efficiency by lowering the costs of financial transactions. The benefits are significant. The Tech Council of Australia previously estimated in 2022 that supporting a responsible digital asset sector could add up to $60 billion a year to GDP by 2030. It suggested that digital assets could reduce retail payment costs by up to 80 per cent by 2050 and save consumers around $4 billion annually in transaction fees. So, while this does not rival the original development of credit in its impact, it has got the potential to further enhance the way financial systems operate. That's why clarity is essential not only for consumers but also for operators. At present, that clarity is lacking. ASIC's taken a number of enforcement actions, but the outcomes of those actions have been varied and, according to legal analysis, they have provided only limited guidance to the industry. The Australian crypto sector has raised concerns that an apparent regulation-by-enforcement approach has not been a fair or efficient way to resolve uncertainty. Fragmented regulation has increased compliance costs, created barriers to market entry and in some cases inhibited investment and innovation, and it also makes it hard to work out what a business has to do, while leaving gaps for ordinary consumers. This work fits within the government's statement on an innovative Australian digital asset industry. One of the other things raised in that statement is the problems around debanking, which occurs when a bank declines to provide banking services or withdraw those services from existing customers not because of wrongdoing but because of perceived risk. Businesses have accounts closed with little notice, and digital asset businesses are commonly debanked due to regulatory uncertainty. This digital asset bill addresses all of these risks. It requires digital asset platforms to hold proper licences to segregate customer assets to meet minimum custody standards so that Australians can innovate and invest in crypto without gambling their savings. Digital assets are no longer a fringe curiosity, and so I recommend and support this bill. 12:35 Ms ALDRED 11788 Monash It's always a pleasure to follow my colleague and my 2025 classmate, the member for Forde. I rise to speak on the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill, which on face value is presented as a technical amendment but in reality also exposes a serious failure of legislative drafting, regulatory oversight and accountability that's gone unchecked for 14 years. This bill seeks to correct a drafting error, made under a Labor government in 2011, relating to the indexation of ASIC company review fees. The opposition will not oppose the bill in the House; however, we will not give it a free pass either. We will be seeking to refer this bill to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee, and we will reserve our final position until that scrutiny has occurred. On behalf of a lot of small businesses that I represent in Monash and have engaged with across the country in different roles prior to coming to this place, I think that is a good thing. The approach here is not obstructionist; it's responsible—because, while drafting errors can occur, the scale, duration and impact of this mistake demand serious examination. In 2011, Labor introduced indexation for ASIC company review fees. The policy intent was clear. This is where unintended consequences can arise. Fees would rise over time in line with inflation. However, due to a drafting error, only the main annual review fee was properly captured in the legislation. Several other fees were not. These included late annual review fees, 10-year review fees and special-purpose company fees paid by charities, not-for-profits and superannuation trustees. Despite this, ASIC continued to apply indexation across all of these fees for the next 14 years. I'll repeat that: 14 years. There couldn't be a better example of 'set and forget' than what has occurred here. As a result, ASIC collected an estimated $150 to $200 million in fees that were not technically authorised in law. Those fees were paid in good faith by Australian businesses and organisations that had absolutely no reason to believe the charges were unlawful. They paid them in good faith. This issue was not uncovered by whistleblower. It was not uncovered by a court case. It was not uncovered by a parliamentary review. It was only identified in late 2024 during an internal ASIC legal audit, more than a decade after the regulation first took effect. This is not good enough. That fact alone should have given all of us in this place pause. ASIC fees are not incidental charges. They're not, in effect, a tax on doing business. Every company in Australia must pay them in order to exist in our regulatory system. When those fees are unlawfully charged, that matters. It matters not just legally but morally. This error may well represent the largest retrospective tax validation exercise in Australia's history. ASIC currently collects around $1.8 billion each year in fees and levies. That's more than a billion dollars from registry fees paid by Australian businesses, many of them small businesses, many of them mum-and-dad operators who work really hard to be able to afford those fees and levies. ASIC is known for its strict enforcement; it issues penalties for late payments, cancels registrations and applies late fees without hesitation. Small businesses know that missing a payment, sometimes as small as a few hundred dollars, has serious consequences. ASIC don't muck around. I've previously sat as a member of ASIC's small business and industry roundtable. I've raised the plight of small-business people directly with ASIC, with its most senior executive members, and on occasion they've listened. But, on the whole, ASIC are not Robinson Crusoe here. Government bureaucracies are well behind the benchmark of where they should be when it comes to treating small-business people with respect, fairness and understanding. You can uphold the law and act with decency at the same time. When the shoe is on the other foot, there are a number of instances where ASIC is slow out of the gates in seriously considering the complaints of small business, and I'll raise a few examples. A 2024 parliamentary report by the Senate Economics References Committee suggested that ASIC had often failed to protect small businesses by dismissing reports of corporate misconduct too quickly or by focusing only on minor enforcement measures. Key findings from the report regarding ASIC's failures include the dismissal of misconduct reports, with ASIC having taken no further action on approximately 66 per cent of reports of alleged misconduct received from the public; automated no-action emails, with the report highlighting that most statutory reports submitted by liquidators regarding insolvent companies are met with an automated no-further-action email, sometimes within 40 seconds of a submission; underenforcement and inadequate penalties, with the committee finding that, for matters where ASIC does take action, civil penalties are often at odds with the scale of offending and few criminal sanctions are achieved; the failure to use its full powers, with ASIC accused of not using the full extent of its powers to tackle serious misconduct such as illegal phoenix activity, which, as we all know, heavily impacts small-business owners; and its 'lighter' approach, with the committee noting that the express investigation approach adopted during the pandemic, which prioritised cooperation, resulted in insufficient enforcement. I've had a little bit to say previously about the officiousness of regulatory bodies recently in their treatment of small businesses, and I'll give one example. Last year I wrote to Treasurer Jim Chalmers on behalf of drought impacted farmers in my electorate of Monash. They had had a very dry winter, which had been preceded by further dry conditions. So financially stretched were a number of these farmers that they were forced to sell off stock early, and, of course, that was going to affect their tax bill at the end of the financial year. I asked the Treasurer, on behalf of those farmers, to request that the ATO show fairness and leniency when those drought impacted farmers put their hand up and say, 'I'm struggling here.' I got a pro forma fact sheet back not addressing the issue, which demonstrated what I think is an enshrined contempt for, and sometimes wilful ignorance of, the plight of everyday regional Australians trying to keep their head above water right now. It's a good example of how bodies like ASIC and the ATO employ a double standard of expectation on these issues. It's why it is extraordinary that the same regulator that fines a business for missing a $310 payment has been charging unlawful fees for more than a decade. This arose from an honest drafting error, but fairness demands the same legal standards apply to government agencies as those that apply, in my view, to small-business owners. The rule of law cannot operate in only one direction. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 retrospectively validates 14 years of fees that ASIC had no legal authority to charge. In practical terms, it retrospectively legitimises more than $150 million in revenue. Retrospective legislation is something the Liberal Party would ordinarily oppose. We are intrinsically wary about it as a general legislative principle, particularly where it shields government from legal exposure. Retrospective laws undermine certainty and trust in the system. They change the rules after the fact. Now, there are some special cases in instances of national security where retrospective legislation is required. However, we also recognise the serious budget implications if refund claims were allowed to proceed unchecked. This is a difficult balance that this parliament must now confront, and that is precisely why scrutiny matters. This bill cannot simply be waved through on the basis that it's just a technical issue. It's not a technical issue. There are some profound principles at play here that demand scrutiny. It's not a minor error, and it's not narrow. It affects millions of entities across the Australian economy. Around 1.56 million currently registered entities have paid the affected fees. Approximately 795,000 deregistered entities were also charged. A further 440,000 active entities have been invoiced but have not yet paid. The sheer scale underscores why this issue cannot be dismissed as a footnote. The Senate committee process must examine how this drafting error went undetected for 14 years. It must examine whether concerns were raised earlier by ASIC or Treasury legal teams, and, if so, why were they not acted upon? It must also consider whether affected businesses should be entitled to refunds, credits or offsets. It must look squarely at which accountability mechanisms failed and how they can be strengthened to ensure this never happens again. Australians expect government to get the basics right. To understand the real-world impact, it is worth looking at how these fees increased over time. The late annual review fee rose from $70 to $93 for payments 28 days late, and from $292 to $387 for payments more than three months late. The 10-year upfront review fee for small proprietary companies increased from $2,200 to $3,100. Special purpose company fees rose from $43 to $60. These are not abstract numbers for small businesses and for not-for-profits that survive on the smell of an oily rag; these dollars are consequential. They represent hard work, risk, blood, sweat and tears. They represent real costs borne by businesses and organisations who assumed, quite rightly, quite reasonably, that the law was sound. Regulations made on 11 March 2025 have fixed the problem prospectively. This bill is required to apply that fix retrospectively, back to 1 July 2011. Without it, ASIC could face refund claims worth hundreds of millions of dollars, despite the fact that these fees reflected longstanding policy intent, relied upon by both government and business. But intent is not the law. This issue began under Labor. It remained hidden for 14 years, and it reflects a broader pattern of poor drafting and weak quality control that undermines confidence in our regulatory systems. The Liberal Party's position is clear. We will not oppose this bill in the House, but we will not support it without proper scrutiny. We will push for a Senate inquiry to examine the full scope of the mistake and ASIC's accountability. This is about fairness, integrity and consistency. It's about doing what is right, because Australians expect and deserve better. If small businesses are expected to comply with every letter of the law—and they are—then government and regulators must be held to the same standard. My drought-stricken farmers in Monash have not been given fairness, leniency or understanding by the ATO or indeed through my representations to this government. They deserve better. All Australians deserve better. 12:50 Ms JARRETT 298574 Brisbane I rise to speak to the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. As our world continues to change, so too do our financial markets, and so does the way people are holding and exchanging value. That's why the Albanese government has introduced this legislation. We are helping to unlock innovation and protect Australian consumers investing in digital assets. Across the world, digital assets are reshaping finance. Blockchain technology and tokenisation are unlocking new ways to invest and new ways to trade and transfer wealth. Millions of Australians are using or investing in digital assets every year, and this law is about making that as safe and secure as possible while also encouraging innovation. But what are digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms? They're a bit obscure to many people. So, to start with, let's define what we mean by 'digital asset platforms'. In plain English, these are businesses that let customers interact with things like cryptocurrency—such as bitcoin and stablecoins—tokenised assets, non-fungible tokens and other blockchain-based financial products. These platforms include exchanges, broker services, custody providers, yield or staking platforms, wallet providers and marketplaces. Tokenisation is the process of representing something valuable as a digital token on a blockchain. A blockchain is a distributed ledger using cryptographics—I know this sounds a bit complicated—to enable digital assets to be created, stored and transferred. The token represents something valuable. It might be real estate, shares in a company or commodities like gold. It could be artwork, carbon credits or invoices. Tokenisation, basically, answers a simple question: what if we could own, trade and transfer real-world value like we transfer digital information? The phrase 'tokenised custody platforms' refers to a new wave of businesses that go beyond trading. Instead of being a general exchange, they build purpose-specific systems, such as tokenised property investment platforms, tokenised private markets, medical credential tokens, supply chain token platforms, tokenised rewards or creator economies. These platforms are customised to specific industries, but the key point is that they still involve money, they still involve an asset of value, they still involve investment-like behaviour and they still expose consumers to financial risk. Our government takes Australia's crypto industry very seriously, and we know that blockchain and digital assets present big opportunities for our economy, our financial sector and our businesses. Digital assets are also reshaping global finance, and they include cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin and stablecoins, as well as real-world assets like bonds, property and commodities—things I spoke about earlier. They can be represented as digital tokens. I remember when I first heard the words 'bitcoin' and 'cryptocurrency'. It sounded to me a bit like these were out of TheMatrix movie. And, for quite a while, it was a system that was on the fringe and people didn't know a lot about it. It was more of an alternative payment system, but it has now become a lot more mainstream and is providing an alternative payment system. This is not a distant future. This is happening now. Global institutions are experimenting with tokenised securities, central banks are exploring digital currencies and investors are demanding safe, regulated ways to participate. These innovations promise faster payments, lower costs and broader access to markets. In fact, new research from the Digital Finance Cooperative Research Centre indicates that Australia could capture as much as $24 billion a year in productivity and cost savings thanks to unlocking digital finance innovation. But, as with all value creation and transfer, there are risks. These laws are designed to deal with both the opportunity and the risk. They will boost confidence, attract investment and support jobs and wages by providing clear, trusted rules for emerging digital markets, helping to make Australia a global leader in financial technology. They will also help reduce the risks to Australians. Currently, businesses can hold unlimited client digital assets without financial law safeguards. The Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill introduces clear, enforceable rules for businesses that hold digital assets on behalf of consumers, ensuring that they meet the same standards of transparency, integrity and protection that apply across the financial system. If we get this right, we can attract investment, we can create jobs, and we can position our financial system as a leader in innovation. But, as I said, with opportunity comes risk. It is currently possible for a business to hold an unlimited value of client digital assets without any financial law safeguards. The collapse of FTX and other failures show what happens when digital asset businesses operate without proper oversight. Billions were misappropriated. Consumers lost a lot of value. Consumers were devastated. Confidence was lost. And we all know that cryptocurrency remains a vector in scams and frauds. Australians have lost millions to schemes that exploit gaps in regulation and consumer knowledge. These reforms will increase integrity in the digital asset ecosystem. Together with the world-first Scams Prevention Framework and our proposed reforms to Australia's Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing regime, this bill will help remove bad actors and restore trust in the digital asset markets. It will make it harder for criminals to operate and easier for consumers to participate safely. By introducing digital assets and tokenised custody platforms into the Corporations Act, it ensures that businesses holding and dealing in client digital assets are subject to the same consumer protections and licensing requirements that apply across the financial system. These include prohibitions on misleading and deceptive conduct, unfair contract terms, design and distribution obligations and supervision and enforcement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the regulator. Anyone providing services in relation to digital assets or tokenised custody platforms, such as advising on them, dealing in them or arranging for others to deal with them, will be treated as providing a financial service. Protecting consumers and businesses has to be at the heart of this legislation. This bill does respond to the risks and challenges by reducing loopholes and ensuring comparable activities face comparable obligations, but it's tailored to the digital asset ecosystem. The digital asset and tokenised custody platforms will now need to hold an Australian financial services licence, ensuring that they are subject to the same core obligations as the more traditional players. These include the requirement to act efficiently, honestly and fairly; prohibitions on misleading and deceptive conduct and unfair contract terms; a requirement to give customers clear information about how assets are held and what their rights are; providing information to consumers; maintaining strong governance and risk controls; and providing accessible dispute resolution and compensation if things go wrong. While digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms will be regulated under the existing Australian financial services licence framework, their obligations will be tailored to reflect the unique structure and risk profile of these types of platforms. Small-scale operators with less than $10 million in transaction value across a rolling 12-month period will be exempt from licensing, as will businesses that deal in or advise on platforms only incidental to their main non-financial activity. Flexible powers are provided to the minister and to the regulator, ASIC, to respond to emerging risks and technologies. The minister may designate certain facilities as financial markets or clearing settlement facilities or exempt them when their treatment would be inappropriate. The minister may also prohibit particular products or activities that represent systemic or consumer risks. ASIC's existing product intervention powers—that is, the powers of the regulator—and the government's existing regulation-making powers will extend to cover these new financial products. There will be an 18-month transition period, and this will help businesses and the regulator get familiar with navigating the reforms in practice. The bill aims to ensure a smooth pathway to the new regime, including providing temporary relief for businesses trying to do the right thing. Together, these features create a pathway to a clear, consistent and enforceable framework that protects consumers, provides regulatory certainty for industry and maintains flexibility as technology and markets innovate and evolve. Stakeholders have long called for this bill, engaging in four rounds of public consultation on the policy and legislative approach. These reforms strengthen consumer protections and modernise Australia's regulatory system. They will boost confidence, attract investment and support jobs by providing trusted rules for emerging digital assets. Labor's economic plan is all about modernising Australia's economy to boost wages and growth, to encourage innovation and to increase living standards, and this legislation is an important part of that strategy. Digital assets are a growing part of our financial system. We cannot ignore that. They offer new ways to trade, invest and build businesses, unlocking capital and strengthening Australia's competitiveness as a financial centre. Australia must keep pace. This bill delivers on the government's commitment to modernise Australia's regulatory framework and prepare it for an ever digitising economy. It ensures digital assets and tokenised custody platforms are subject to the same standards of consumer protection, transparency and integrity that apply across our financial system. This is about foolproofing Australia's regulatory settings. The bill supports innovation and competition while giving regulators the tools to act swiftly when new risks arise—and, at the current rate of innovation, that is greatly needed. It extends longstanding, well-understood financial services obligations that can be applied across a wide, diverse and rapidly developing industry. It's another step to making Australia's economy more dynamic, more resilient and more productive. It advances our commitment to smarter regulation that gets more investment flowing more efficiently and more effectively across our economy. As a government, we have listened, improving regulatory clarity and ensuring seamless interaction with existing laws. The government is committed to strengthening Australia's position as a global leader in financial innovation—one where technology supports productivity, competition and long-term economic resilience. This bill is good for consumers, it's good for businesses, it's good for the economy and it's good for Australia's reputation as a leader in financial regulation and financial services. I support this bill. 13:03 Ms WATSON-BROWN 300127 Ryan The Greens will be supporting the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 to regulate digital assets under Australia's financial services laws. Under the current laws, there are major gaps in the regulation of these digital assets. We must ensure strong consumer protections and fair regulations that align with other equivalent financial products. It's incredibly important that ASIC has the power to regulate these platforms and that our laws are tailored to actually apply to these new technologies. We need to make sure, though, that people are not left vulnerable to scams and exploitation—something that's happening far too often in this space—while also ensuring an innovative and competitive market. We also need to ensure that these new technologies and services don't displace traditional banking services for those that still use them. We've seen far too many closures of local bank branches in this country, including the impending closure of the local Commonwealth Bank branch in Kenmore in my electorate of Ryan. The closure of the Kenmore branch will have a devastating effect on the community, particularly older and more vulnerable residents who are reliant on in-person banking services. The Commonwealth Bank made a $10 billion profit last year—$10 billion; that's more than the other major banks—and yet they just can't seem to manage to actually service the community. They can't bring themselves to do that. Instead, they'll just keep reaping profits off mortgage holders and small-business owners, which will increase especially now thanks to yesterday's rate rise announcement. It's not too much to ask that they continue to provide basic, accessible service to the community. The Commonwealth Bank was privatised by the Keating Labor government in the nineties, and the Howard coalition government then finished the job when they were elected in 1996. It was a bipartisan affair. They sold it off without any guarantee of service levels to the public, and now we're in an absolute crisis of bank closures in regional, remote and outer suburban areas. That crisis led to the Senate inquiry into bank closures conducted in 2024, which made a number of recommendations, good recommendations, that could likely have prevented this Kenmore branch closure and other branch closures around the country, like looking at a public banking option and a mandatory code of conduct for branch closures. These recommendations, made by a multipartisan committee, were handed down in May 2024. Since then—utter radio silence from the government. They were meant to respond within three months. Instead, their response is almost two years overdue. It's frankly disgraceful, and it's hugely disrespectful to the countless Australians affected by this issue. I have written about this to the minister responsible, the Assistant Treasurer, and I know my constituents in Ryan are expecting a timely response. 13:06 Ms JORDAN-BAIRD 316021 Gorton I rise to speak in support of the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025, brought forward by the Minister for Financial Services, and I commend him for doing so. We live in a digitised world. We've seen these developments, and we've lived them. I remember getting my sister's hand-me-down LG flip phone. My first experiences on the internet and social media were ranking my top friends on Myspace, joining Facebook in early secondary school and my first smartphone. Right now, we're experiencing the AI revolution. We've seen technology develop leaps and bounds over the last few decades. In financial markets, it's no different. Digital assets are reshaping finance right across the globe. We've seen the digitisation of assets—cryptocurrencies, virtual currencies and central bank digital currencies. We're interacting with blockchain technology, the decentralisation of banks as intermediaries and tokens that represent real-world assets such as property and bonds being traded instantaneously. It has picked up globally, and we're seeing it in Australia too. Last year, the Independent Reserve's cryptocurrency index report reported that approximately 6.2 million Australian adults now own or have owned cryptocurrency. That's 31 per cent of the adult Australian population. Digital finance is unlocking new ways to invest, trade and transfer wealth, with faster settlement and lower costs. Right across the world, central banks are exploring digital currencies, and global institutions are experimenting with tokenised securities. This is all great. It's unlocking capital market and bringing new investments. But the problem here—and there is a problem—is that the digitisation of assets and currency has emerged without regulation. Put simply, financial markets and the way people hold and exchange value have changed, but our laws have not. The legislation has not kept up, and we need it to because without clear rules there are risks. We're talking about a high volatility in markets, concerns about privacy and risks of cyberattacks. And this all comes alongside a lack of regulation or oversight. People are accumulating digital assets without financial law safeguards. We need this now more than ever because, as more people interact with unregulated digital assets, more people are exposed to these risks. And this has real world impacts. Take the collapse of the FTX exchange, the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time. FTX collapsed over 10 days in November 2022, which exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts. This was a colossal fraud. Consumers were devastated and confidence was shattered. There was a massive loss for customers as their funds were misappropriated and mismanaged by the company. Take this as a cautionary tale, because one of the most devastating parts is that regulation could've provided the oversight needed to prevent such fraud and mismanagement. We need our legislation to adapt to the emerging facets of society. As a Labor government, we're not new to this. Where social media created challenges, we legislated a minimum age ban to protect Australian children. Where gambling online became too easily accessible, we introduced the self-exclusion register BetStop to mitigate harms on individuals. Where digital connectivity blurred work-life boundaries, we legislated the right to disconnect, and the digitisation of assets and currency is no different. Right here, right now, we will legislate to introduce regulations to protect people's assets and livelihoods. This bill is about trust. It's about transparency; it's about accountability. We're futureproofing our financial system so it remains strong, fair and competitive in this rapidly changing world. We're also reducing and closing loopholes in the digital assets system. Again, there are benefits to digitised assets. When you're trading online, you're getting more efficient and faster transactions and there are reduced costs for you on those transactions. It also allows for increased financial inclusion. Online assets are readily available and accessible, and provide individuals and businesses with equal measures of opportunities to use financial services. To fully reap these benefits, now and into the future, we need to build trust in the system, and the system needs to be held accountable. To do that, we need to introduce regulations. If you want to regulate something that is not currently properly regulated, the first step is to define what that thing is. That's why we're introducing two new types of financial products into Australia's financial services laws: digital asset platforms, DAPs, and tokenised custody platforms, TCPs. This will ensure that businesses holding and dealing in clinical digital assets are subject to the same consumer protections and licensing requirements that apply across the financial system, including prohibitions on misleading and deceptive conduct and unfair contract terms, design and distribution obligations and supervision and enforcement by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. We use this kind of regulation to prevent businesses from gaining an unfair advantage and exploiting consumers by making misleading claims about their products or services. It means that consumers are more aware of the risks that they are taking when they interact with digital assets as well as their own rights they have under the financial services laws. This bill also accounts for licensing, which is another measure for accountability and transparency that does not currently exist in the industry. Operators will need an Australian financial services licence. This ensures that they manage conflicts of interest and have dispute-resolution systems in place. We're using the existing licensing framework, which avoids the need for a new regime and which reduces complexity and compliance costs for businesses. We're also expanding who these licences should be held by to anyone providing services in relation to digital assets or tokenised custody platforms. That means if they're advising on, dealing in or arranging for others to deal in digital assets they will be treated as providing a financial service. This means that, just as all other financial service providers do, they'll also need to hold an Australian financial services licence and they'll be subject to those same measures of accountability. Operators and service providers should be acting efficiently, honestly and fairly, and this legislation is ensuring that those expectations are met. On top of that, they'll meet tailored obligations for digital assets. This includes minimum standards for custody, segregation, reconciliation and transaction settlement. This is good for consumers. At its core, this legislation is about protecting consumers by mitigating risk. It's worth noting that digital investments—all investments—do inherently involve risk, but involvement of risk does not negate the need for adequate consumer protections, and it does not absolve the service providers from the responsibility to conduct their businesses fairly and with a degree of transparency. That's why in Australia we have minimum standards in place to protect consumers, and it's why this bill is extending those consumer protections to the realm of digital finance. This is the reason it's so important that we're legislating the two new types of financial products into Australia's financial services laws, DAPs and TCPs. DAPs and TCPs are where operators hold client digital assets to facilitate trading, lending or other transactions. The key risks associated with these custody focused arrangements—credit liquidity, counterparty, operational fraud and cyber risks—are the same types of risks already mitigated by Australia's financial services laws. By extending Australia's financial services laws to better cover these, we're giving consumers and industry the certainty that the same consumer protections and licensing obligations apply to comparable custodial activities. This includes prohibitions on misleading or deceptive conduct, unfair contract terms, and requiring providers to hold an Australian Financial Services licence. These measures ensure that operators of digital asset businesses are held to the same high standards of fairness, transparency and integrity as other financial service providers. While we're ensuring digital trading is matching those same high standards which already exist for financial service providers, we're also ensuring it matches the standards which protect Australians deposits in banks and investments in the stock market. These are the standards Australians expect, and we are matching those standards in the digital trading economy. We will not rest on our laurels when we see these new technological innovations come through. This is a change that the sector has been asking for, for a long time. We're giving Australians confidence that when they use a regulated platform their assets are protected by strong standards—the same standards that protect their deposits in banks and their investments in the stock market. We're giving businesses certainty to invest and innovate in Australia, knowing the rules are clear and globally aligned. This is not regulation for regulation's sake. It is smarter regulation building on proven financial services laws that Australians trust—and trust matters. Trust means increased trading. It means attracting investment, creating jobs and growing our digital economy. Without this sector gaining the trust of consumers and businesses, we can't reap these benefits. That trust is born from regulations that are there to protect consumers and businesses. That's what we're introducing. We're not alone in this legislation. This bill is aligning Australia with global standards set by the Financial Security Board and IOSCO. It's here to keep us competitive with jurisdictions like the US, EU, UK and Singapore. The EU has already legislated the markets in the cryptocurrency regulation. This mandates that crypto asset service providers must be authorised to meet transparency and consumer protection standards. It protects consumers by introducing rules around transparency and information, asset safeguarding, marketing and advertising, complaints, and more. These rules seek to ensure that in the crypto space consumers are: properly informed of risks; not misled by marketing and advertising; won't lose their assets if insolvency occurs; and have a pathway to raise issues with providers when they arise. The UK is also looking to regulate this space by 2027. And, do you know what? The UK is getting it right. We should be meeting the regulation standards set by overseas jurisdictions. If we also get this right, which this bill intends to do, we'll be attracting investment, creating jobs and positioning Australia's financial system as a leader in innovation. Global institutions are experimenting with tokenised securities, central banks are exploring digital currencies, and investors are demanding safe, regulated ways to participate. It's unlocking capital markets, and when we do it too it'll be strengthening Australia's competitiveness as a financial sector. Unfortunately, a factor that we're dealing with is that cryptocurrency remains a vector for scams and fraud, and it's a serious risk. Australians have lost millions to schemes that exploit gaps in regulation and consumer understanding. These Australians have invested their hard-earned money, hoping that a new technology would lead to beneficial outcomes, advancements and efficiencies in digital payment systems. However, what we know is that many consumers have experienced immense volatility and risk not found in traditional investment opportunities. Take 72-year-old pensioner Dorothy. In November last year, the ABC reported that Dorothy had lost $12,500 to a crypto ATM scam. Dorothy was instructed by a scammer over the phone to withdraw all of her savings and deposit the cash into a bitcoin ATM machine. For Dorothy, this has had really real impacts. These scams put Australians in an incredibly vulnerable position. Dorothy did not deserve to lose that financial security, and she certainly deserved better from our legal systems. Dorothy should have had stronger regulations in place to prevent the scam in the first place. She's not the only one. Scammers have also impersonated exchanges, informing users that their accounts have been breached and directing them to transfer their cryptocurrency to a 'trust wallet' belonging to a scammer. Scammers have even created fake crypto trading apps, targeting potential investors and then leaving them with significant losses. We've got to do better for Australians. So that's what we're doing now. This bill is good for consumers, it's good for business and it's good for Australia's reputation as a leader in financial regulation. And it's an overdue change—one that the sector has been calling for, for some time now. This bill is mitigating significant consumer losses by addressing regulatory gaps, because digital asset consumers should have the same protections as are available to traditional finance. This bill will provide a clear, consistent framework for businesses operating in Australia's growing digital asset sector, and it's telling foreign powers that, in a world where technology and our finance systems are evolving so fast, Australia supports technologically-driven productivity, competition and long-term economic resilience. We're giving businesses certainty to invest and innovate in Australia, knowing the rules are clear and globally aligned. I commend this bill to the House. 13:22 Ms SPENDER 286042 Wentworth I rise in support of the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. Millions of Australians interact with digital assets in some form, as developers, as investors and as users. As this form of payment technology becomes more ubiquitous, it will become part of the lives of many more of us. But, until now, anyone buying or selling digital assets in Australia has done so in a regulatory grey zone that has offered little protection for users and a lack of certainty for legitimate digital asset platforms. This bill is a critical step towards addressing this lack of regulatory clarity, and it comes not a moment too soon. Actually, one of the major criticisms—probably the biggest criticism—I have of this bill is the time that it has taken us to get here, because I think the need for this bill has been urgent and one that I've been pushing for since the previous parliament. This bill amends the Corporations Act and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act to create a regulatory framework for digital asset platforms and cryptocurrency exchanges. It defines digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms as financial products and ensures these platforms are regulated according to Australian financial services law. This regulatory clarity will be a significant enabler of Australia's burgeoning digital assets industry. The Tech Council of Australia estimates that, with the right regulatory and policy settings, digital assets could contribute $60 billion per year to Australia's GDP. The digital assets sector is also paving the way to modernising our financial infrastructure, and it has the potential to strengthen Australia's competitiveness as a technological and financial hub in the region. As technology changes, our regulation needs to be nimble to keep up. Our regulation should not get in the way of progress but, rather, create the appropriate guardrails to seize new opportunities. Credible firms, and firms that are trying to do the right thing, just want to know the rules they play by. Investors want confidence in the platforms on which they are buying and selling cryptocurrencies. Consumers want to be confident that they are reasonably protected from harm, regardless of whether the financial product they invest in is traditional or digital. I support this bill because I think it is an important forward step on all these fronts. Digital innovation is also a critical driver of productivity growth. This is a puzzle that Australia is struggling to solve, but it is essential if we are to ensure our economy continues to grow and our living standards continue to rise. Bringing digital asset platforms under the existing Australian financial services licence, AFSL, framework is a sensible way to regulate this emerging industry in a way that fosters growth without government getting in the way. This framework is well regarded and is well understood, and it allows us to apply the principle of 'same risk, same regulation' to new technologies and products like digital currencies. My electorate of Wentworth is home to many of these firms and the business leaders who are spearheading the growth of Australia's digital asset sector. These are legitimate and innovative financial firms who want the industry to be properly regulated so that Australian businesses like them can clearly distinguish themselves from less scrupulous operators who risk undermining public confidence in the industry. In a time when many of our tech entrepreneurs and innovators are looking overseas for better growth opportunities, we need to give them every reason to stay. Giving regulatory certainty is an important step in the right direction. That said, there are opportunities for the government to do more to foster the innovation and growth of our digital asset sector. One way would be to grant ASIC the power to recognise digital currency regulatory arrangements of foreign countries, like the UK and US, as being equivalent to ours. This would open a huge door to those markets for Australian digital currency exchanges and coin issuers. It will also significantly improve the efficiency and reduce the cost of digital currency transactions in and out of Australia. Finally, while I acknowledge it is outside the scope of this piece of legislation, I also urge the government to continue to focus closely on how it can best protect Australians from the potential harms of digital currencies. Specifically, it is critical to consider schemes that will fall outside the financial services regulatory framework that this bill provides. For example, operators that directly issue speculative tokens to the public as part of so-called 'pump and dump' schemes do not hold client assets, so they would not be covered by this regulation, while still posing a risk to the unassuming buyer. I encourage the government not to set and forget this legislation but rather to continue to work to foster the growth of the digital assets sector in Australia while mitigating potential harms to consumers. These will evolve and our regulatory environment should evolve with it. Industry stakeholders I've spoken with welcome the much-needed regulatory certainty this bill will give and interpret it as an important signal that the government is shifting its posture to being pro-industry and pro-innovation. Digital assets have the potential to become a valuable and innovative sector of the Australian economy, and I'm glad to see the groundwork laid for its continued growth. For these reasons, I support the bill. Sitting suspended from 13:27 to 16 : 11 16:11 Mr FRENCH 316550 Moore I rise to support the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025. This is a significant piece of legislation. It's not flashy and it doesn't chase headlines, but it does something far more important. It brings clarity, accountability and confidence to a part of our economy that has grown rapidly, often noisily and, until now, too often without the protections Australians rightly expect. Digital assets are no longer a fringe interest. They are not the preserve of early adopters, hobbyists or speculative traders operating on the margins of the financial system. Digital assets and the platforms that support them are now firmly embedded in the global economy. Australians are using them to invest, to transact, to build businesses and to experiment with new models of value creation. With that growth comes opportunity. Blockchain technology and tokenisation have the potential to reduce transaction costs, speed up settlement, expand access to capital markets and enable new forms of innovation across the economy. If Australia gets this right, we can be a serious player in the digital economy. But with opportunity comes risk, and for too long those risks have fallen disproportionately on consumers. We do not need to speculate about what happens when fast-growing financial activity is allowed to operate without clear rules; we've already seen it. Consumers have experienced frozen withdrawals, lost access to assets they believed were held in trust and discovered, often too late, that their assets were co-mingled or inadequately protected. In some cases, digital asset platforms failed not because of market volatility but because of basic governance failures that would not be tolerated anywhere else in the financial system. These events have had real consequences for people. Australians have lost savings set aside for first homes, retirement or small business investment. Confidence has been shaken not only in individual platforms but in the broader promise of digital finance itself. That erosion of trust does not hurt just consumers; it hurts legitimate Australian businesses that are trying to innovate responsibly and to compete globally. The absence of clear standards has allowed poor practices to persist and bad actors to hide in plain sight. This bill is a direct response to those failures. It recognises that, while technology evolves quickly, the fundamentals of consumer protection do not. Australians should not face a lower standard of care simply because an asset is digital rather than physical. This bill addresses those problems directly. Australia's existing financial service laws were never designed to deal comprehensively with large-scale custodial holdings of non-financial digital assets. While parts of the current framework apply in some circumstances, significant gaps remain. In practice, this has meant that businesses could hold large volumes of client digital assets without licensing, custody or disclosure obligations that would apply in more traditional financial arrangements. That gap has created uncertainty for regulators and confusion for consumers, and risk for the system as a whole is encouraged—a form of regulation-by-enforcement where businesses only discover they are compliant after legal action has commenced. This bill replaces ambiguity with clarity by making it clear which activities are captured, which obligations apply and where responsibility lies. The bill introduces two new categories of financial products into our existing framework: digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms. By doing so, it ensures businesses performing functions that look and feel like traditional financial services are subject to comparable obligations tailored to reflect the unique features of digital assets. This is the principle of 'same activity, same risk, same regulation' in action. Under the bill, operators of digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms will be required to hold an Australian financial services licence unless a targeted exemption applies. Requiring an Australian financial services licence is not a punishment; it is a signal of legitimacy. It ensures operators meet baseline standards of competence, financial capacity and governance. It means they are accountable to ASIC and that consumers have clear avenues for redress. ASIC's supervisory and enforcement role under this framework is not about micromanaging innovation; it is about ensuring minimum standards are set, risks are managed responsibly and consumer assets are handled with the care Australians expect elsewhere in the financial system. In addition, the bill introduces specific, bespoke obligations designed to address real-world risks that have emerged in digital asset markets. These include minimum standards for asset holding, requirements around transaction and settlement, and tailored disclosures to help consumers understand how platforms operate and the risks that are involved. Importantly, these disclosures are not about burying consumers in technical jargon or dense legal documents. The bill replaces the need for multiple product disclosure statements with a clear, platform-specific guide. This is about transparency that is meaningful, not performative. I want to address directly a concern that is sometimes raised in debates like this: that regulation will stifle innovation. A well-designed regulatory framework is not the enemy of innovation; it is its foundation. Businesses invest where the rules are clear, stable and predictable. Capital flows to jurisdictions that combine openness to new ideas with confidence in the rule of law. By providing regulatory certainty, this bill supports productivity growth across the economy. Tokenisation and digital infrastructure have the potential to reduce costs, speed up settlement and unlock new forms of economic activity, but only where trust in the system exists. This is how Australia positions itself as a serious and competitive digital economy, open to innovation but clear eyed about the risk. This bill provides regulatory certainty. It tells businesses what is expected of them, tells investors and consumers what protections they can rely on, and gives regulators the tools they need to intervene early rather than cleaning up the wreckage after the harm has occurred. That certainty is not a barrier to innovation; it is a precondition for it. The framework recognises the importance of startups and small operators in driving innovation. Exemptions for genuinely small and lower-risk providers ensure that early-stage businesses are not burdened with obligations that are disproportionate to the risks they pose. Rather than attempting to define every possible digital asset—a task that would be obsolete almost as soon as it was completed—the bill takes a more sensible, future focused approach. It targets the source of the greatest risk the platforms and the custodial arrangements that hold digital assets on behalf of consumers. Under this framework, those platforms will be subject to the general obligations that underpin trust in our financial system, including obligations to act efficiently, honestly and fairly, as well as prohibitions on misleading conduct and oversight by ASIC. The bill demonstrates a strong commitment to proportionality. It includes exemptions for genuinely small operators, including a low-value threshold that ensures startups and early-stage innovators are not crushed under compliance costs before they have a chance to scale. It also provides an exemption to businesses where digital asset services are incidental to a broader non-financial activity. These are sensible carve-outs. They recognise that innovation often begins small and that regulation should be targeted when the risk is greatest. This bill further includes an 18-month transition period. This is not an afterthought. It is an acknowledgement that both industry and regulators need time to adapt. Businesses that are trying to do the right thing will have a clear pathway into compliance, and ASIC will have the opportunity to engage constructively with the sector as the regime comes into force. This legislation does not exist in isolation. It sits alongside other reforms to strengthen the integrity of our financial system and protect Australians from harm, including reforms to our anti-money-laundering and counterterrorism financing regime, as broader efforts to combat scams and financial crime. Digital assets have increasingly been used by criminals to obscure transactions, move funds across borders and exploit regulatory blind spots. This bill closes one of those blind spots. Bringing digital asset intermediaries within the financial services framework makes it harder for bad actors to operate and easier for law-abiding businesses to distinguish themselves. I also want to acknowledge the extensive consultation that underpins this bill. This framework did not happen overnight. It is the product of multiple rounds of public consultation, of engagement with industry, legal experts and consumer advocates and of careful consideration of international developments. The government has listened. It has refined its approach, and it has delivered legislation that aligns Australia with comparable jurisdictions while remaining grounded in its own legal and regulatory traditions. We are already seeing what responsible digital innovation looks like when talent, investment and clear rules come together. Western Australia has become an international epicentre for cybersecurity experts, businesses and leaders, with Perth emerging as a nationally significant hub for cybercapability and innovation. A major reason for that strength is the depth of skills and training being developed in Perth's north. Edith Cowan University, based in my electorate of Moore, is the second largest cybersecurity training facility in the Southern Hemisphere and was the first Australian institution admitted to the International Cyber Security Center of Excellence following its establishment in 2019. ECU alone produces more than 20 per cent of Australia's cybersecurity graduates, contributing to the more than 66,000 cyberworkers now employed nationally. It's a workforce that continues to grow rapidly. In my electorate of Moore, this growth is not abstract. Local businesses, startups and skilled workers are contributing to this ecosystem by developing secure platforms, compliance technologies and digital services that rely on strong regulatory foundations. This includes local cybersecurity firms, such as Simformatica, which is led by Peter Stagg, who is a local business owner with whom I have met to discuss the opportunities and challenges facing the sector. I had the pleasure of attending the Joondalup Business Association's breakfast in August last year, alongside the Minister for Small Business the Hon. Dr Anne Aly, where I heard from local business leaders about the strengths and ambitions of our region's innovators. Those ambitions depend on certainty, integrity and clear rules, and from a constituency perspective this matters deeply. In communities like mine, people are curious about new technologies, but they are also cautious. They want to know that if they engage with digital assets—whether directly, through investment products or via emerging local businesses—the rules are clear and the protections are real. This bill gives them that confidence. Looking ahead, the growing scale and interconnectedness of digital asset markets means that risks which are currently contained could, if left unmanaged, become systemic. Large custodial failures, operational outages or cyber incidents have the potential to spill over into the broader financial system. This bill lays the groundwork for managing those risks before they crystallise rather than reacting after the damage is done. It also supports Australian innovation. Clear rules attract investment. They support job creation in fintech, cybersecurity, compliance, software development and advanced manufacturing. They position Australia as a jurisdiction that is open to new ideas, but isn't naive about the risk. The question before the House is not whether digital assets will continue to grow. They will. The question is whether we allow that growth to occur in a regulatory vacuum or whether we put in place a framework that protects consumers, supports responsible innovation and safeguards the integrity of our financial system. This bill chooses the latter. It modernises our law without discarding what works, it adapts existing financial services principles to new technology, and it strikes a careful balance between flexibility and accountability. For those reasons, I commend the bill to the House. 16:25 Dr MULINO 132880 Fraser Firstly, I would like to thank those members who have contributed to this debate. In particular, I acknowledge the excellent contribution by the member for Moore, who I think very clearly explained the rationale for the Corporations Amendment (Digital Assets Framework) Bill 2025 and the benefits that will arise from the passage of this bill in relation to innovation in our economy. In line with his comments, I would start by saying that digital assets are no longer a niche technology. They are reshaping global finance and transforming how people trade, invest and hold value. Tokenisation in particular is creating new opportunities by turning real-world assets into digital forms that can be exchanged instantly and securely. Australia must keep pace if we want to remain a competitive and innovative financial centre. But the opportunities come with real risks. We have seen internationally what happens when digital asset businesses operate without appropriate safeguards: customer funds misused, systems breached and confidence damaged. Australians have also lost significant savings to scams and fraudulent schemes that exploit gaps in regulation. These risks cannot be ignored. This bill responds directly to those challenges. It amends the Corporations Act and the ASIC Act to introduce two new types of financial products: digital asset platforms and tokenised custody platforms. These are the businesses that hold assets on behalf of Australians, and they sit at the centre of the risks we must manage. By bringing these platforms into our existing financial services framework, this bill applies proven, well-understood obligations. It avoids the complexity of designing a bespoke regime while ensuring that comparable activities face comparable regulation—same activity, same risk, same rules. Operators will need to meet minimum standards for how client assets are held, how transactions are managed and how risks are controlled. A single modern platform guide will replace multiple disclosure documents, giving consumers clear information about fees, custody arrangements, risks and rights. An 18-month transition period will give industry and regulators time to adapt, ensuring that implementation is smooth and practical. Ultimately, this bill strengthens trust in Australia's financial system. It protects consumers, supports innovation and helps secure Australia's position as a leader in responsible digital finance. It forms part of the government's broader agenda to lift integrity across the financial system, including reforms to scam prevention and anti-money-laundering laws. I commend this bill to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment. Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 139

Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025

Second Reading 139 16:29 Ms CAMPBELL 312823 Moreton What do Shona, Pulaar, Sinhalese, Dinka and Zo all have in common? These are languages from southern Africa, West Africa, Sri Lanka, South Sudan and Burma. All are offered by the TIS, the Translating and Interpreting Service. They are part of the 155 different languages and dialects supported. The list also includes Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Korean, Vietnamese, Arabic, Hindi, Spanish and Urdu—all of which, among many, many others, are commonly spoken in homes, businesses and community groups in my electorate of Moreton in Brisbane's southside. In 2021, there were 5.6 million people in Australia—that's 22 per cent—who reported using a language other than English in the home. Those 5.6 million people are our families. They're our friends. They're our neighbours. They're our work colleagues. They're our doctors. They're our support workers. They're our teachers. They're our bus drivers. And there are so many more across our nation! Providing translating and interpreting services is part of the government's commitment to our multicultural nation, ensuring access and equity and promoting social cohesion. Official translating and interpreting services have operated for more than 75 years. They began when the Australian government provided translation services for postwar migrants in 1947 and were enhanced when interpreting services were added in the 1950s. In 1973, Australia led the world with the establishment of a telephone interpreting service, and the translating and interpreting services have continued to evolve ever since. Times have changed since back then. In a few short weeks we will mark International Mother Language Day. It's a celebration of diversity. It's a celebration of multilingualism. For me, it's a time to reflect and contrast the difference between what it was like back then. My family immigrated to this country in the late 1800s. We emigrated from China, and my family is of Hakka ancestry. At that time, once the White Australia policy was put in place, people who looked like them, people who looked like me, people who looked like my mum and myPoh Poh and my Gung Gung weren't invited back to this country for some time. What happened in that period was that they lost their language, and, whether it was Hakka, Cantonese or any of the other languages spoken, they did not have the opportunity to maintain their multilingual presence within our family. So it is a good time to reflect on the importance of multilingualism and on the importance of translating in that context from where we have come. TIS National provides over 1.3 million translating and interpreting services annually to a wide clientele, including local, state, territory and federal government agencies, the private sector and individuals. Telephone interpreting services are provided around the clock, ensuring support for emergency services access and for crucial matters such as hospitalisation and legal proceedings. TIS National also offers face-to-face and video remote interpreting, bringing the service back from the original pioneering telephone service in the seventies all the way through to now. There are also free-of-charge interpreting and translating services provided for non-government entities such as doctors and other medical professionals, trade unions, real estate agents and for us parliamentarians. TIS National further supports people new to Australia with free-of-charge translation of their personal documentation, which helps them in their new community with work, education and community participation. Another key focus for TIS is investing in workforce training to equip translators and interpreters to upskill in emerging community languages. There is also training for working in complex environments such as medical and legal settings. I'm incredibly proud to represent the most multicultural electorate in all of Queensland. In my electorate, these services are important. They're not just important on this day; they are important every day. The purpose of this bill is to establish express legislative authority within the Department of Home Affairs for the services TIS National provides. This will create a statutory framework and ongoing support for TIS National. This measure was recommended by the Australian Government Solicitor and is a responsible and proactive measure. The Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 will shore up constitutional support for TIS National's functions and establish clear legislative authority. This will remove any ambiguity and also significantly reduce the legislative authority risk. In short, it is about confirming comprehensive support for the vital services TIS National provides to millions of Australians. It will not change how TIS National currently operates and does not involve additional expenses. Specifically, the bill will enable the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs to provide or arrange the provision of translating and interpreting services to the Commonwealth or a Commonwealth agency, authority, body, organisation or office holder. This covers all the services I outlined, through the agencies and associated bodies and office holders of different government agencies across the country. It also covers the additional activities of TIS National, such as training and support for translators and interpreters. This is crucial to meet the needs of different phases of migration and humanitarian intakes. The government's Multicultural Access and Equity Policy outlines the obligation that Australian government departments and agencies have to ensure accessibility, responsiveness and equitable outcomes regardless of cultural and linguistic backgrounds. It is necessary because, as of the end of June 2024, there were 8.6 million Australians who were born overseas. This diversity enriches our society through a wide range of cultural backgrounds, traditions, foods and languages, and many tens of thousands of those 8.6 million Australians live on the south side in the seat of Moreton. Access means that barriers of culture and language should not impede the delivery of programs and services, and equity means that these programs should deliver outcomes for culturally and linguistically diverse Australians on par with those for all Australians. Achieving this bolsters social cohesion and allows people to engage with government agencies and institutions in a way that offers safety and in a way that offers confidence. If English is your first language, you don't worry about how you will explain your symptoms to your GP. If English is your first language, you can seek legal advice easily on a hotline. If English is your first language, you can navigate government systems like Services Australia more easily. TIS National enables those with limited proficiency in English to have those conversations and to seek that advice. They can have those interactions freely in their preferred language, confident that the interpreter is understanding and expressing nuance and complexity. When you're sick, this is important. In fact, it could be life saving. When it's about your finances, this is important because it might mean the difference in how your family lives into the future. When it's about the law, this is important because it has a big impact on people's families. Research tells us that TIS National has had a positive impact in enabling people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds to access mental health supports. TIS National supports NDIS participants to find providers. It supports them to have a plan. It supports them to undertake a review, to have meetings and to access required supports. In many of these cases, having an interpreter takes the pressure off a family member to interpret as well as fulfil their caring responsibilities. This bill supports the aim of the Multicultural Access and Equity Policy, which is to ensure that all Australians have the opportunity to achieve their potential and to participate in the social, economic and cultural life of our nation, helping to drive our future prosperity and build stronger and more cohesive communities. The Albanese Labor government stands proudly with our migrant community. This is why the Minister for Multicultural Affairs was elevated to cabinet and it is why the Office for Multicultural Affairs was established in the first place. These measures, this bill and TIS National's vital role in all aspects of our community all contribute to Labor's commitment to our modern multicultural society. I spoke this morning about where my office is in Sunnybank. I spoke about being able to throw a rock, draw a line around it and see many, many small businesses. I can tell you that those small businesses are run by so many different people from diverse backgrounds. When it comes to small business and to our multicultural community, what is clear about Moreton is that our multicultural community drives the economy. It's an important driver of our community. It's an important driver not only of making sure that we have social cohesion but also of making sure that people have jobs. Whether it is economic or social, or whether it is community, it is all about making sure that every single person, regardless of their skin colour or their faith, is included in our society. This is something that we must practise every day. As Minister Aly pointed out just a few short months ago, when we talk about multiculturalism in this country, we need to make sure that we go beyond food. We need to make sure that we go beyond colour and dance and movement. These things are incredibly important. They enrich who we are as Australians and they absolutely are part of the bedrock of our Australian culture of mateship, of a fair go, of looking after each other and of having each other's backs. But it is also important to go beyond that. It is important to go beyond the food and the colour. It is important to go beyond that vibrancy, because in this country what we value is making sure that everyone gets a guernsey and that everyone gets a go—and that everyone gets a fair go at that. When we talk about translating, making sure that services across the breadth and depth of our Commonwealth service system are available and accessible to everyone is important. Accessibility and availability of all services for all Australians is not just about equity; it's about who we are as a country. I'm so proud to represent a multicultural community that is backed by an Albanese Labor government that understands that, an Albanese Labor government that is not just talking about it but is putting its money—and its services and its legislation—where its mouth is, because we need to celebrate our multicultural community, but we also need to make sure that, as a country, we provide everyone, every Australian, with the support that they deserve. 16:43 Mr JOYCE e5d New England There is one strong point of difference I have with the previous speaker, and that is that I don't believe in multiculturalism. I believe that there overwhelmingly is an Australian culture and that the Australian culture itself provides guardrails that temper what, in some instances, might be alternative views that work at angles to what is acceptable in Australia. I think that, if you believe all cultures have an equivalence, then, of course, you condone a whole range of things that I and many would find completely and utterly noxious. Being part of the Australian community means that you have to comply with the mores and edicts of what we see as acceptable behaviour. So I come at this from a slightly different position. Part of complying with the Australian culture is the necessity to understand English. It is essential. There are no problems with being bilingual. There are no problems with your faith, your creed or your colour. They're absolutely and utterly part and parcel of the egalitarian nature of Australia. But, to maintain that egalitarian nature of Australia and to give people the greatest opportunities, it is essential that they are able to speak English. So many people isolate themselves from all the protections that are warranted in the Australian system because of their inability to speak English. I won't refer to who they are, but there are people who have worked especially on trying to deal with sex slaves in Sydney, and one of the greatest problems they had was that they couldn't speak English and so they couldn't convey the issues that were before them. So, although we must have a mechanism to assist people who struggle with English, the absolute emphasis must be on speaking English. You must get to a point where you can speak English. If I'm to go to France, I must get to a point where I can speak French. If I'm to go to Thailand, I must get to a point where I can speak Thai. And if you come to Australia, you must get to a point where you can speak English. Sometimes people have romantic views about people in remote Indigenous communities where it's essential that they keep their language, but they think there's something good if they can't speak English. That is terrible, because you've completely ostracised them from the opportunities of Australia. Without the capacity to speak English, there are such limitations. Also, in Australia, we have to ask the question on this: regardless of the attributes of a person, they must have the capacity to come to Australia and to become part of it—to be an effective, taxpaying member of this nation. We have two things that we must rely on, as we get ourselves into more debt and as we have more problems in regard to supply constraints on things such as housing: a person who becomes part of the Australian community cannot be in the crime pages and cannot be on social security. We must focus on that. Otherwise, rather than an asset, they become a burden. To become an effective part of the Australian community, it's essential that they have the capacity to communicate with the Australian community. Therefore, English becomes a part of that. Madam Deputy Speaker Haines, I also want to bring to your attention something that has been brought to mine, and those are the requirements under the Public Service Regulations. I want to go to the Public Service Act 1999 in the Federal Register of Legislation. There is nothing in this that says that you have to speak English. You have to be polite, but you don't have to speak English. This means that, in certain areas where people, taxpayers, have to rely on or be serviced by people who represent the government, there is actually no requirement in the act for them to speak English. Now, I thought that that was bunkum when it was brought to my attention, but I've now found out that it's not. I think that this issue that was brought to my attention is a valid issue that needs to be resolved. It has also been brought to my attention that the wording of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 in the Federal Registration of Legislation leaves out the requirement to speak English. So imagine if you're in a position where you are in need of a service and the person who you are dealing with—even though they are paid by the taxpayer—cannot communicate with you. There's something wrong about that. So what do we have to do if we want to eliminate this? It goes both ways, in the provision of service. We need, in Australia, doctors. We need, in Australia, builders. We need, in Australia, teachers. But we need, in Australia, people who have the capacity to come here and immediately segue into the requirements of the services we wish them to be part of. There is definitely a strong correlation between a key person's inability to speak English and sections who have been exploited, because they can't avail themselves of the protections that are required. Yes, for that you need a translation service, and that's essential, and I'm not saying that, for one section, we don't. But I'm saying that the impetus has always got to be that, in Australia, there has to be a drive for a common language that everybody has. It also has to be part of delivering a unity of purpose in Australia around what we are doing. If we go to an authentic multiculturalism, that, in its authenticity, will also state that you don't have to speak English, because culturally in some areas it's not appropriate. If you want to hold fast to a purist form of your culture, then it doesn't require you to speak English. What this leads to is enclaves. It also leads to Balkanisation. It leads to misunderstanding. It can lead to friction. Friction can lead to hate, and hate leads to hurt. In Australia, more and more we have to have these discussions, because we can go on this train of saying marvellous things—of saying things that we believe will warrant accolades in this building. But I'll tell you about one commonality between everybody in this building, in this chamber and in the red one across the road, downstairs, is that they all speak English. Every attendant speaks English. Our communication to Australia is in English, and we know that it would be pointless and irrelevant if you couldn't. So if that's what we think is essential for us to do our job, why don't we believe that's essential for anybody else? I think there's a real sense of conceit where we say we'll basically look after you forevermore speaking another language because that's nice. No; that's actually hurting them. What you've got to do is say, yes, you have an issue, and we've got to help you. But the goal is not for you to stay in the language of where you came from. It's absolutely essential that you get to the language of the country that you now live in. A fascinating thing and one of the great gifts of so many people is people who are multilingual and bilingual. I can say not so much now, because people pass on. At my Christmas dinner in the past, when the family got together, 10 languages were spoken around the table when everybody was there. And that is marvellous. But when you have other relatives turning up from other parts of South-East Asia, being part of the community and the family just doesn't work if you can't communicate with them. I saw this bill, and it was something that had been brought to my attention by a constituent that said, 'When you get the opportunity, you must bring to the Australian public's attention that in sections of the public service—and I've quoted to you to the act—there is no requirement to speak English.' They said, 'I have been in that position where I've had a requirement for the person who's serving the government to speak the language of the nation, and they couldn't.' And when the person followed this through, they said, 'Surely there must be a requirement for them to speak English.' And they said: 'No, there's not. They just have to be polite. They have to be courteous.' This person said: 'How would I know? I can't understand what they're saying.' That this is something that needs to be brought. When I saw this piece of legislation come up, I couldn't help it, but I thought, well, now I'm going to have to ventilate that issue and make sure that, in further requirements in both state and federal acts, if you serve the government and you're paid for by the taxpayer, it is absolutely explicit that you must be able to speak in a form of English that is understandable and that gives you the capacity to do your job and serve others. I don't want to delay the chamber, but I'll close where I started. Australia has to more and more realise that multiculturalism is a great idea, but an Australian culture is essential. Australian culture by its very nature does not ask what religion you are, what creed you are or what colour you are. But it asks that you comply within guardrails of how people act in this nation, and the things that are outside the guardrail you cannot make excuses for on the premise of your religion, your previous culture or filial lines. If you're outside the guardrails, you're outside the guardrails. We don't have to go into the graphic side of it, but I think we can all relate to sections of alternative cultures throughout Australia where things are completely and utterly applicable, completely and utterly acceptable and completely and utterly anathema to what this nation represents. I have to comply with certain things I might disagree with, but I must comply. I must be tempered. I must accept what might be not my views, but it is part of that egalitarian nature of Australia that I leave other people alone to live their lives. I live mine. There's also the expectation that people who come here have to comply with that as well. You cannot say, 'Well, what I want in Australia is a culture that reflects where I came from.' No. If you come to Australia, you must have a culture that reflects where you are not where you came from. It is swayed by different views. It is accepted. It is moved by different ingredients, but it cannot be holistically changed into something that's entirely different. I put that before the chamber. It is an item, a sort of caveat on this, that we have to take on board, because the last thing we want in Australia is the Balkanisation, the friction and the heat that come where people, by basically the language aspect of what they want, end up in an enclave. It remains in an enclave. It does not have the capacity to engage in a wider form with the Australian culture. Therefore those people within that enclave are sort of diminished in the rights that they have. For the Australian view in public, the nation is diminished in the reward that they can give back to us. 16:56 Mr HILL 86256 Bruce I'll just respond to a couple of points made there. All Australians are equal under the law, whatever language they speak and whatever culture they have. I don't think there'd be anyone here who would disagree with that. I'll point you towards—you've probably read it but not recently—the Hawke government's 1989 statement on multicultural Australia. In my view, it's probably the best articulation and expression we've had since Al Grassby's work in 1973, taken up by the Fraser government in 1978 and then the Hawke government's seminal statement in 1989. I think after that there was Turnbull and then there was the Gillard government, or Gillard then the Turnbull government. The 1989 statement had a really good definition of multiculturalism. It talked about individual and communal rights to cultural expression. We've always been a multicultural continent. We've had First Nations Australians speak more than 250 languages; 167 of them are still spoken today. British settlement and then the expansion of European settlement changed the face of the continent. It's complex history, but we can have empathy in hearing different perspectives. Then our democratic system of government flowed from that—our institutions that I'm proud of and I think most people here sign up to. But then, of course, there was the miracle of modern Australia, where for 50 years overwhelmingly we've been peaceful. We've been the most successful multicultural country. I do think, though, that a lot of what you expressed there, Member for New England—put aside some of the fears and anxieties, and we can argue about how policy is applied—has already been the traditional expression of multiculturalism. It's the rights that come from individual and communal cultural expression. That includes speaking your first language when and where you want to. English is our common language, and I'll touch on that in a moment. But the rights have always been within defined limits. It's not just in the law but is, as people say, in values. There have always been defined limits. To the extent that some in our society may have lost focus on that and think that these rights are untrammelled, that's a problem. We would do well to remember this: the other bit is that coming to Australia also comes with obligations—and the Prime Minister has talked about that extensively in recent times and before then—one of which is that you leave your ancient prejudices and hatreds at the door. My definition of an Australian—it's a working definition and always open to feedback—is 'anyone committed to our country, to our democracy and our institutions and our values'. There are values set in the Home Affairs migration stuff. I don't think they're heavily contested. Add to that the principle of mutual respect for their fellow Australians. Hate and violence don't stem from diversity; they spread from polarisation and social distance and misinformation. I know from the conversations we've had about many issues that many—I won't say all, but many—of your intentions are good. But I do worry deeply about the utter meltdown that we're seeing with the so-called alternative government, and I refer you to my Sky News interview this morning. I've encouraged some of my opponents to get their act together for the good of the country because, frankly, I think the opening it's provided to the party you've now joined is a disgrace, and it's causing fear and a spike in racism and hostility in my community. I don't believe that the conflation with issues of race and migration is accidental with the so-called Nazis, those who are more extremist. People have every right to be concerned about migration, but the conflation with issues of culture and race then does a lot of active harm to people who I represent. Anyway, there you go—something resembling a genuine exchange. The Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 does put TIS National on a sound constitutional and legal footing, and that's critical to the functioning of modern Australia. English is—say it clearly and proudly—our official and common language. It is important these days, and increasingly important, to have a good command of English. We want as many people in our country as possible to speak English. You have better opportunities in the labour market, you can better connect and you can better understand what's going on in society and fulfil your human potential in our country. We provide a lot of support for that. For 77 years we've had the Translating and Interpreting Service in our country. We have the Adult Migrant English Program, we have community based classes and we have the state and secondary classes to welcome new kids who don't speak English. That's really important. But you don't have to have perfect English to be a good Australian. You don't have to speak English to university standard or without an accent—or with whatever accent the previous member seems to think is acceptable; I don't know. You don't have to have perfect English to be a good Australian. The reality also, for some people who come to our country later in life on parent migration or humanitarian pathways or others—or for people with cognitive disabilities in family groups, who we see through the community—is that, try as hard as they might, they're not capable of getting to the standard of English that allows them to function and participate in society. It doesn't make them stupid and it doesn't make them bad Australians; it's just the reality. There are also many people in my community and across the country who have a reasonable command of English, but it's not sufficient for really complicated things—serious health issues, financial issues, insurance, legal proceedings, justice proceedings and so on. The work that TIS National has done over many years is absolutely critical to the functioning of our society and economy. Although English is our official and common language, we are proudly multilingual. We have over 300 languages regularly spoken in Australia—hundreds in my electorate alone—and the language ability of our people, of our citizens, is a bridge to the world. It's a bridge to human understanding. It's a bridge between families and generations, and it also facilitates trade and economic opportunities. People in Australia can speak pretty much every language in the world, and most of the dialects. There are a few from the Pacific islands and others—and PNG and others—that we've struggled with at times because they're particularly rare, but overwhelmingly the breadth of languages and the multilingualism are enormous national assets. It's something that the government values. It's been part of modern Australia for decades. You know, you couldn't play with your Greek friends on Saturday mornings because they'd be off at Greek school. Now, in my electorate, it's 60 or 70 languages that I've counted that kids are studying on weeknights or weekends, whilst English is also their main language. I was really proud to be part of a government that, at the election, committed another $25 million to the community language schools across Australia. Language also brings new ideas and concepts into our country, in that translation is only ever an approximation of meaning. There are some things—natural phenomena, feelings, ideas, events, people, emotions, concepts—which only exist in their first language. There are words that, when any professional translator looks at them, will make their head explode because there's no actual word that's equivalent in another language, and they have to try and explain around that. People come to Australia with other languages as their first language. It might be the language they want to speak when they shut their front door at home or speak with their friends—who honestly cares? I've said clearly that a good command of English is really important to participate in society, but we're enriched by this linguistic diversity. It's something we should treasure. I see firsthand, though, the importance of the work day in, day out in my electorate of translators and interpreters. My office in Dandenong literally could not function without the work of professional translators and interpreters and the six, seven or eight languages, depending on who's in on a given day, that my staff speak and use regularly throughout their work. The same is true for our businesses and for our economic sector. Smart insurance companies and smart finance companies are getting this. I made the point before that people can speak perfectly good English, but they think, 'Hang on a minute—I don't want to sign that document without making sure I really understand every word, because there are some really big funny legal words there.' You need a professional translator and interpreter. They might pass an IELTS test to a certain level, but they're still not professional in legal or medico-legal language. Who is, really? It's jargon—hospitals, schools, police, lawyers, emergency services, Centrelink, government agencies—at every level. Large swathes of the government and the private sector in this multilingual country could simply not function without the work of TIS National and the broader translation and interpreting profession. We've seen in natural disasters, and we saw during COVID, the importance of having language ability that could quickly be used to get messages out to communities. We see it in emergency services and in hospitals. We see it, as I said, in prosecutions, and we see it with some of the most vulnerable people in society. Some of them, as I referred to earlier, are good human beings and good Australians who love this country. But for whatever reason—their family circumstances, their cognitive abilities, their opportunities—they've just never managed to master English. They might have gone—and we see it, sadly—to English classes for years. It reminds me of trying to learn to swim as a kid. Mum took me every Saturday; I still couldn't really swim. There you go. I want to give a shout-out, though, to a group of informal interpreters who are often overlooked: the kids of refugee families. A very traditional pattern is that the refugee kids come to this country with families that are hungry and that are entrepreneurial. They're more likely to start a business than any other Australian and to have a crack. In the year 2000, six of our country's eight billionaires had come here as refugees. That defies the silly stereotype we hear too often that they all come to get on welfare. It's kind of offensive when you look at the data. But the kids of refugee families grow up very quickly. Almost always, those kids learn English. They get it in primary school, they speak it, they understand society and they understand the systems. But their mothers in particular are often stuck at home with caring responsibilities for some years before they can even get out of the house to get to the English classes. It's just the nature and reality of life. The kids are often put in situations, from a very young age, where they're being asked to interpret in really inappropriate situations, whether it be family violence, medical emergencies or diagnoses, police or other community organisations, or businesses coming to the door. So I give a shout-out to the kids involved, but there are many occasions when those families really should be accessing professional translation and interpreting services. The bill is a comprehensive legislative framework. It gives TIS National a clear statutory basis. Robodebt was an absolute disgrace of the former government, but the royal commission exposed the malfeasance. The most vulnerable in society were sent fake debt notices by the Commonwealth for money they didn't owe. Robodebt has impacted all areas of government post the royal commission—and sometimes, frankly, in a ministerial role it's a pain because the Public Service has taken a recommendation, and taken it seriously, to review the constitutionality and legality of a whole range of things that the Commonwealth has done for years. This is one of them. They've said: 'You know, when we have another look at this, we're not so sure about the legal basis on which everything's been done, so we're taking it seriously. We're methodically going through all areas of government and making sure that they are on a sound constitutional and legal footing.' So I commend the Minister for Multicultural Affairs for doing the proper work of government and bringing this legislation forward so that TIS National can continue to operate. It provides services for all three levels of government as well as the private sector and individuals: 24/7 telephone interpreting supporting triple zero emergency services, hospitals, courts and other urgent needs; remote video interpreting; onsite interpreting; document translation services; and so on. Last term, I had ministerial responsibility, and it was really fabulous to go and see firsthand the staff doing the work—their passion and their commitment. Workforce issues we can deal with another day. They've got a bit of an ageing workforce and a workforce structure problem, largely because of how governments have chosen to procure for many decades. The gig economy doesn't work that well with younger people, so we need to have a look at that with the states and territories. But I really commend the work of translators and interpreters right across the country, and I'm pleased that this legislation has been brought to the House. 17:10 Mr TIM WILSON IMW Goldstein I'd like to follow on from the previous speaker by saying it's 100 per cent right that you do not need to speak full English to be a patriotic, committed, invested Australian. But, when it comes down to providing pathways so that people can be full participants in the Australian way of life, we know the foundations of people's language and capacity to communicate with their fellow citizens are not just something that is, frankly, desirable; they are also the pathway by which people can not just become citizens and full economic participants but, of course, also socially integrate into the rest of the country. We don't want to be a nation of enclaves. We want to be a nation of big citizens enlivened by their full participation in the rest of the community. That's the basis on which we're supporting the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025, because we see the capacity for new Australians to become full participants in the Australian way of life as central to their success. We want them to succeed. That is why, of course, we had the Fraser government establish SBS many years ago. It made an investment in the future broadcasting potential of this country so that it didn't matter where you were, where you landed from and where, of course, you built a life in this country. You had not just a pathway to connect back to the knowledge and information that was available from your traditional homeland but, in addition to that, a clear pathway to English education and to becoming a full participant in the Australian way of life. That is liberalism lived large, and we want to see that at every point, because it's in the best interest of investing in our people. The legislation we're talking about here is nowhere near as grand as the great Liberal achievement of broadcasting for multicultural Australia. This is a much more technical one. But it still is part of making sure that, no matter how you came to this nation and whatever the cause, there's a pathway for you to have that sense of full citizenship. The previous speaker spoke particularly about those who go on the pathways of resettlement through migration programs, including refugees. These are often people who were displaced because of intolerable acts and prejudice and persecution in their homeland. What they are seeking when they seek a pathway for resettlement here in Australia is not just safety—although that is, of course, absolutely true—or avoiding refoulement—although that is also true. It is to then go on and build the foundations of a life where they can build and invest in their family, become economic participants and do things like establish small businesses. I know, Deputy Speaker Aldred, that with your past history at the Franchise Council you understand that new Australians are some of the biggest investors in small businesses, because they understand that that's the pathway for wealth and opportunity. That, of course, is why so many of them become horrified at how Labor seeks to demonise the self-employed, the small businesses and those who stand on their own two feet and why they see such common ground with the spirit of the speech which I give today, which I know that you and other members on the Liberal side, such as the member for Longman, share with me. The member for Longman fundamentally understands that full economic participation and small businesses are the foundation of our economic success—not just as individuals or families but as communities—and therefore also the pathway for our shared success as a nation. We know that TIS National has operated since the 1970s, and we know the important role that it plays. We know that it is an essential part of making sure that translation services through telephone operations can be central to every Australian being able to participate. Of course, this in itself is one of those great achievements that we have supported along the way for many years. What we want to do is continue to expand those services to make sure that they're contemporary and meet the challenges of the 21st century. We want to make sure that, if you make this nation your home, you have the resources and the capacity to live out your best life for yourself and your family. This is an important step. It's a central step because it speaks not just to the type of nation that we are, but, more importantly, to the type of nation that we want to be—a cohesive and connected one where people have a sense of equal dignity and understanding about who they are and what they want to achieve together. That's the basis on which I support this bill. 17:15 Mr LIM 300130 Tangney I'm pleased to speak to the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025. This bill is about providing a clear statutory framework for the essential services that TIS National has provided for more than 75 years. Their services have benefited so many Australians. This bill is important because it is another way that the Albanese government is delivering for Australians with limited English proficiency by ensuring they have the resources to get the help they need. The Australian government began providing translating services in 1947 and interpreting services in the 1950s to support postwar migrants. In 1973, Australia became the first country in the world to provide a telephone interpreting service. This is a service that so many people, including those in my electorate of Tangney, continue to use today. TIS National provides some really important services for our communities, with translating and interpreting services for government agencies, for the private sector and for individuals. Telephone interpreting services are provided 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to ensure these services are always available for triple zero emergency calls and other urgent matters. TIS National also provides remote interpreting, video and onsite interpreting, and translation services. TIS National also provides free services including free interpreting services for doctors, pharmacists and other medical professionals, as well as trade unions, real estate agencies and parliamentarians. The free translation services provide new arrivals with translations of their key personal documents into English to help support migrants' participation in employment, education and community life. I want to speak about my electorate of Tangney, which is one of the most diverse electorates in Western Australia. I also want to touch on my own story as someone who migrated to Australia with my wife and three children back in 2002, when I was in my early 40s. When my wife and I first arrived in Perth, we did not speak much English. Navigating a new country with different systems is not easy for any migrants. For those with limited English proficiency, it can be even more challenging. Learning terms like 'Medicare', '100-point ID check' or 'bulk-billing' can be confusing. Documents that prove your qualifications or show your children's progress at school can also be challenging when they are all in English. TIS National services can make all the difference to all migrants, especially the new arrivals. I enrolled in English classes when I arrived in Australia, first at a local library, then at TAFE, before I joined the WA police force. I think my English has improved in the many years that I have called Australia home, but I will never forget what it was like to be a new migrant with limited English trying to navigate my way in my new home. I will also never forget how difficult it can be to try to access these services in English when you have limited English skills. I acknowledge not only the friends, neighbours and communities that helped me become more Aussie but also the important services like TIS National that help make it easier for all new migrants. As the federal member for Tangney, I have had many constituents with limited English skill come to my office for support. The TIS National service has been so helpful in assisting them to connect with the services they need. One of my constituents migrated to Australia as an adult with very limited English skill. He spent long days and years on his feet working in a hot and busy kitchen and doing manual labour. It is tiring, backbreaking work. After he was involved in a car accident and was without any family to assist him, TIS National helped by providing interpretation services when he contacted my office. TIS National helped him to access services such as the ATO and the hospital that treated him. TIS National provided him with trusted interpretation and ensured he could access and communicate with these government services in a safe manner. All Australians must be able to access government programs and services, regardless of their culture or language background. When I was a police officer in Western Australia during the COVID-19 pandemic, I saw firsthand the critical nature of this access. As someone who speaks many languages, I have over the years developed close and trusting relationships with many different multicultural communities in Western Australia. During the COVID-19 pandemic, multicultural communities were concerned, in part due to the rumours and misinformation that were everywhere. These rumours and misinformation contributed to the low vaccination rates that we saw in all the multicultural communities, especially in Western Australia. Many of the families and communities with limited English skill were unable to access the accurate information being provided in English by the government. Instead, they saw the misinformation in their home and community languages. Some communities believed this misinformation and refused to get themselves vaccinated. I saw that we needed to provide all Australians, regardless of their culture or linguistic background, with access to the correct information. As part of my role with the WA police force, I helped to translate the correct information into different languages. Many of my colleagues helped as well, and all of us worked every day to get the translations of the correct information out into the multicultural communities. We had medical professionals go out into the community and we helped translate their words so that communities with limited English could access these experts and professionals. They could ask questions and understand the correct information, and once they were able to access the program and services, I saw how they began to trust information that was based on evidence, not rumours. This ultimately led to increased vaccination rates in our communities. The WA police force, the health department and all governments and community leaders worked together to make sure communities and people understood the health advice about vaccinations. We made sure people were fully informed about COVID-19 and about vaccination. Key to their understanding was translating and interpreting. This bill— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 17:25 to 17:3 7 Mr LIM 300130 This bill reflects our government's commitment to a united, cohesive and multicultural Australia. By passing this legislation, we can continue to build a stronger Australian community for the benefit of all Australians. TIS National's services are essential services for social cohesion. Language support is fundamental to safety, participation, fairness and equality. All Australians must be able to access important services. I speak in support of this bill, which will help ensure these services remain strong, accessible and future ready. If enacted, the proposed legislation will ensure clear and enduring statutory support for TIS National's services. The bill sets out the functions provided by TIS National, which operates as part of the Department of Home Affairs. The proposed legislation would provide for the performance of these functions. It would enable the Secretary of the Department to provide or arrange for the provision of translating and interpreting services to support communication involving the Commonwealth and its agencies, as well as state and territory and their agencies, by people interacting with the Commonwealth and its agencies as well as with states and territories and their agencies. It would also, in coordination with states and territories, address national needs that would not otherwise be met. The legislation will also expressly provide for other services provided by TIS National, including developing, training and supporting translators and interpreters to provide services for the purposes of TIS National's core functions. The functions provided for in the proposed legislation support the ongoing provision of these existing services, which are crucial to facilitate communication and engagement with people with limited English language proficiency. This bill provides a clear statutory framework for TIS National's essential services, and I commend it to the House. 17:39 Ms KARA COOK 316537 Bonner I rise to speak in support of the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025, legislation that goes to the core of access, fairness and social cohesion in our country. Australia is proudly a multicultural nation. One in three Australians were born overseas, in all corners of the earth—all contributing to our rich and vibrant country. Hundreds of languages are spoken in homes, workplaces and communities across Australia. But multiculturalism cannot exist in name alone. It must be backed by practical systems that ensure people can engage with government, health care, education and the justice system in a language that they understand. This bill does exactly that. Under the Whitlam Labor government in 1973, Australia became the first country in the world to provide a telephone interpreting service to ensure that new Australians with limited English proficiency could navigate our government systems and programs and participate fully in our society. This service laid the foundation for what we now know as the Translating and Interpreting Service, or TIS National, within the Department of Home Affairs. This bill continues our commitment, as the Albanese Labor government, to give legislative authority for TIS National to continue its vital work in delivering translating and interpreting services that Australians rely upon. Currently, TIS National provides translating and interpreting services to agencies across all levels of government, to the private sector and for individuals, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The telephone service ensures that emergency services, hospitals, health services, courts, police and frontline government agencies can communicate with people with limited English proficiency at any time, in any circumstance. Alongside telephone services, TIS National provides remote interpreting services via video, and also on-site interpreting services. It operates the Free Interpreting Service, which supports doctors, pharmacists, unions, real estate agents and parliamentarians to communicate with Australians. It also delivers the Free Translating Service, to help new arrivals translate critical documents into English and support their contribution in employment, education and society. With each wave of migration, TIS National has evolved and met demand. The service has developed and trained translators and interpreters who play a vital role in ensuring that translation of government information in health and legal settings reaches those who need it most. These services are not niche or marginal; they are central to the functioning of government, and the numbers show it. Right across Australia in the last six months, 777,000 people have used the service nationally, including 77,000 in Queensland alone. While TIS National has operated for decades, legal advice from the Australian Government Solicitor makes clear that its functions require express legislative authority, particularly in relation to services provided beyond government agencies. This bill provides that certainty. It establishes a clear statutory basis for TIS National in the new act, empowering the Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs to provide or arrange translating and interpreting services for Commonwealth government agencies; for migrants; to facilitate communication by government officers; for state and territory governments; by telephone or other means; and under national arrangements addressing shared needs. Importantly, the bill does not change how services are delivered. It strengthens their legal foundation. Australians trace their heritage from almost every country. This diversity enriches us. It also creates a responsibility—a responsibility to ensure that people can understand their rights and obligations, seek help when they are unsafe or unwell and access services they pay for and are entitled to. It means a patient can understand medical advice, a victim can seek help, a worker can assert their rights and a parent can engage with a school community. That is why we have introduced this legislation, which expressly authorises TIS National to develop, train and support translators and interpreters for our multicultural country. The robodebt royal commission laid bare the consequences of government programs operating without clear legal authority, transparency or accountability. Since introducing the Racial Discrimination Act in 1973, Labor has championed multicultural policy as a foundation of Australian values and social cohesion. Strengthening translating and interpreting services is just one part of the Albanese Labor government's broader commitment to multicultural Australia. Before coming to government, Labor established the Multicultural Engagement Taskforce, which consulted widely with culturally and linguistically diverse communities across Australia. The taskforce listened to multicultural Australia to help inform Labor government policies that would affect them. It consulted with culturally and linguistically diverse community leaders, local councillors, service providers, community organisations, business networks and ethnic peak bodies from the cities, suburbs and regions. The taskforce investigated the quality of access to Commonwealth government agencies; current support provided in the areas of small business, entrepreneurship and innovation; barriers and needs regarding access to Commonwealth government services; and networking and partnership opportunities that help link community groups to Commonwealth government services. The taskforce heard consistently that multicultural and CALD communities were unaware of government services, with language barriers limiting access and communication failures undermining trust. Language was not a peripheral issue; it was a structural barrier. Further, there was significant but underutilised potential for partnership between all levels of government to support grassroots multicultural organisations. When those opposite were in power, they failed to make government services accessible to multicultural and CALD communities. COVID-19 amplified multicultural communities' vulnerabilities and exposed failures under the then coalition. Under the Liberals, NDIS applications were not tailored to the needs of multicultural and CALD communities, and reporting on the equity of access to government services was not mandated. The cuts to the Public Service further undermined the ability of frontline staff to support our multicultural and CALD communities. We are judged on our commitment to a multicultural Australia not by what we say but by what we do. That is why the Albanese government is investing $190 million over two years to provide direct support through the Supporting Multicultural Communities Program. It will deliver competitive grant funding to support infrastructure, amenities, events and programs for multicultural communities. Young Australians should be connected to the language of their parents, grandparents and communities and take part in the global job market. The government is delivering the Community Language Schools Grants Program, which is enabling schools to deliver professional language programs, and it will play a part in preserving languages in multicultural communities. We know that community organisations can make significant decisions, plan for the future and better support their membership if they have long-term funding certainty. That is why Labor is investing in the Modernised Multicultural Grants Program. It will deliver longer term funding to support multicultural organisations to hold local events, improve facilities and deliver language programs. Labor also recognises the role of multicultural independent media and their place in sharing important information. The $10 million independent multicultural media grants for transformation and sustainability will support eligible Australian independent media organisations to transition to sustainable new media practices. This program will back their future. These are just some of the Albanese Labor government's programs to strengthen our multicultural nation. Through this bill, we take another step towards making government and services more accessible for multicultural Australia. It is another step towards making Australia more inclusive and a stronger nation. In Bonner we are fortunate to have a vibrant and multicultural community, where different cultures and traditions come together and shine. There are 48,883 Australians from 167 countries right across the world who call Bonner home. That includes more than 3½ thousand Australians who were born in India and more than 5½ thousand from China. We have people from Kazakhstan, Uruguay and Mozambique. Each and every one of these new Australians can receive translation and interpreting support if they need it to navigate our complex government systems and contribute to our community. In Bonner, there are currently 164 people registered to use the telephone interpreting service. They are being supported to receive the support they need. This is more than a bill. It speaks to the idea of who we are as Australians. It reflects how we value fairness. It reflects our belief that language should never stand between a person and their rights. It is about ensuring that every Australian, regardless of where they were born, the language they speak at home or how they recently arrived can understand government, access essential services and participate fully in Australian life. We know that those who have benefited from this service in our country have played a huge part as well in building it—as workers, carers, entrepreneurs, business owners and community leaders. It was a Labor government that established the first form of a government funded translation and interpreting service. I'm proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which is strengthening the service and enshrining it in the law. Labor stands for an inclusive, multicultural Australia. This bill reinforces that commitment today. 17:50 Mr GEORGANAS DZY Adelaide I rise to speak on and support the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill today because translating and interpreting services have always held a special place in Australia's story. When you look at Australia's story, we look at our wonderful multicultural story. We have people that live here, that settle here, from all over the world. Language is more than words. Language carries with it its identity, dignity and the ability to feel seen and understood. It's very important. When someone arrives newly to this country or someone has perhaps been here for many years but has never been able to learn the language because of their basic education—perhaps they didn't go to school when they were very young in a war torn country, perhaps they've been here for years and have been isolated because the husband's been at work and the wife has been home or the other way round or whatever the reason—there are many circumstances that bring them to the point where they do not speak the language within the place that they live. With Australia being Australia, with such a high migrant and multicultural community, this is fundamental to what we do and who we are and a basic right that everyone deserves. There are moments when an interpreter does so much more than just translate. They open the door, they provide hope, and they are someone to listen. They are who someone can actually tell what they feel, who someone can be listened to by and who can then go on and convey that particular message to whoever it may be. We don't always get it right, and maybe sometimes we don't give translating and interpreting the importance that they deserve. I know that we regularly use translating and interpreting services in our electorate office. When we have constituents that can't speak English and speak a different language, we will engage the interpreting services for translating over the phone during a constituent meeting. The issue of translating and interpreting services is that, without that particular service, great disasters can be brought to a person's life. And I can think of two stories that I'm aware of of two people who went through a particular issue not knowing the ins and outs of it because of the language difficulties. The first one is a woman who has now passed away. When she was conveying this story to me, she was in her late 80s. She migrated from Greece in 1921. Her husband brought her out from a little island in the Aegean Sea. She spoke no English, he was at work all day, and she was having great difficulties having a baby. She couldn't conceive for whatever reason. After many, many difficulties she fell pregnant and had the child. But in childbirth she nearly died. That's all she could tell me. I asked her the question about why she didn't have any other children, and she said to me, 'Because I had a very difficult childbirth, extremely difficult, and I nearly died, I never went on to have other children.' And I said to her, 'Did you speak to doctors et cetera?' She said, 'Yes, after many years, after giving birth to my first child and thinking that it was just God's will that I wasn't having a second child, we decided to go and see a doctor 10 years after.' The question from the doctor was, 'When did you have your hysterectomy?' She had no idea because of the language barrier. Her husband couldn't speak English. There were no interpreting services in those days. And there she was for 10 years trying to have a baby, not knowing that they had performed a hysterectomy. Now they most probably saved her life. They saved her life, no doubt, at that point when she was having difficulties. But what a sad story. What a really sad story when you think about it. Now, not going back that far, only five years ago I had a particular constituent that contacted me. He would deal with our office regularly. His English was quite capable—not perfect but capable. He had been airlifted from mid-north South Australia after a horrific accident and taken to hospital to have an operation. I went to see him, because his family rang me—they were interstate—to try and find out what was happening. The nurse was explaining to me that he needed an operation immediately the next day and that it was a fairly major operation to do with his stomach and spleen et cetera. It was even technical for me, being competent in English, to understand what the actual ins and outs of this operation were. So I suggested to the head nurse in the ward at the Royal Adelaide Hospital that they arrange an interpreter for the next day, when the doctor was going to come. The interpreter obviously didn't turn up for whatever reason. He was operated on, and I went to see him after the operation because, apart from just being a constituent, he had become a very good friend. He couldn't tell me what sort of operation he'd had. They just operated on him. He said to me that he didn't know. The operation was the removal of part of his spleen and a few other things. But, again, it's another sad story. The operation most probably saved his life, but he deserved interpreting services. People in those situations need to know exactly what's happening to them, especially in health. Then we go to the courts. That's a different matter again. Your legal rights, your rights under the law—you should know and understand what your rights are. This bill before the House will strengthen interpreting services. It will streamline them and give more access to people. But it is important in a country like Australia that we ensure that people have the ability to understand. When they're going through government agencies for health care and legal matters, and even going to see the school teacher, it's sometimes a burden and there needs to be an understanding of what is said. Three weeks ago, I was in Athens, and I went to a shopping centre just to buy something—I can't remember what it was—in a supermarket. I saw a little Chinese boy. He would have been about 10. His mother obviously couldn't speak the local language at all. They were migrants. I was watching him run up to the shop attendant to tell her something in Greek, because he obviously went to school there. He would then run back to his mother and explain it to her. She would then tell him what product they were after. Finally, they got the product they wanted. It reminded me of many migrant stories here in Australia, with kids as young as 10, 11 and 12 interpreting for neighbours who couldn't speak English—and even me for my parents on many occasions, even though their English was fairly competent, and for friends. I still do it today. I still get people coming into the electorate office with letters saying, 'What does this say?' So it's not just an extra service that we throw on top just to make it look good. It is important. It is absolutely critical to a country like Australia. We want people to be part of our community and to participate in everything we offer that is fantastic in this country. We want people to feel like they are part of the community. We don't want to see horror stories, where people are having hysterectomies and not knowing that they've had one because there was no-one to interpret or to explain to them at that point what was happening, or like in Bill's case at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he had half his spleen taken out and a whole range of other things through that operation and had no idea what was being done. I'm not saying that he would have said no, but it would have been good to know. It's good to know what you're doing. We accept it as part of our everyday life. Translating and interpreting services are absolutely vital. This bill introduces a dedicated legal framework that actually outlines how the Department of Home Affairs will administer and deliver translating and interpreting services through the translating and interpreting service system. But, beyond the legal language, what it really does is protect something deeply human and something deeply important to people—and that is having the information that involves their actions, whether they say yes or no. We all know that we have a right to say yes or no to things that are being offered to us. This is one of those areas where issues that relate to health, to legal matters, to a whole range of things are so important. It's been part of Australia's fabric for generations. The interpreting service started in '47, when we agreed on the Migration Act to bring over many migrants in a planned manner. We decided back then in 1947, as a nation, as a result of the post-World War II migration program, that we needed interpreting services for those people. Over the decades, the interpreter services have grown alongside Australia's multicultural communities. And we want them to grow. We want them to be strong, and we want to ensure that every single person has access to an interpreting service if required. 18:00 Ms BRISKEY 263427 Maribyrnong Following the horrific terrorist attack in Bondi, the Prime Minister observed that we take pride in the fact our country is enriched by both the world's oldest continuous culture and people of every background and tradition, who have enriched our nation with their hard work and their aspiration. That statement speaks to the enduring strength of Australia as a multicultural nation. But pride in our diversity must be matched by the systems that ensure inclusion in practice, not just in principle. This legislation gives effect to that responsibility. It affirms that linguistic background does not diminish a person's belonging, their contribution or their place in Australian society. By providing clear statutory support for translating and interpreting services, the bill ensures multicultural communities can access government essential services and civic life on an equitable basis, reinforcing social cohesion and enabling continued contribution to our nation's prosperity and unity. The Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025 goes to the heart of who we are as a nation. It's about fairness. It's about dignity. Australia is one of the most successful multicultural nations on the planet, and that success has never been accidental. It is the result of deliberate choices made generation after generation to ensure people are not locked out of opportunity simply because English is not their first language. This bill provides a clear and enduring statutory framework for the essential services delivered by TIS National—services that have quietly but profoundly supported Australians for more than 75 years. While the legislation is technical in parts, its purpose is deeply human. It is about ensuring a grandmother can understand her doctor, a new arrival can speak to Centrelink without fear or confusion, a parent can engage with their child's school and someone calling triple zero in a moment of crisis can be understood and helped without delay. This bill sends a clear and unequivocal message: language support is not discretionary. It is fundamental to safety, participation, fairness and equality. As we heard from our previous speaker, Australia first began providing translating services in 1947 and interpreting services in the fifties in response to the arrival of postwar migrants rebuilding their lives in a new country. I'm proud to represent an electorate that is home to many Italian and Greek Australians, who made those journeys after the war and who went on to contribute so deeply to the social, cultural and economic fabric of our nation. In 1973, under the Whitlam Labor government, Australia became the first country in the world to offer a national telephone interpreting service. That decision recognised something profoundly important: that, while English is the predominant language in Australia, it has never been the only language spoken in Australian homes. Since that time, translating and interpreting services have continued to grow and evolve, adapting to new technologies, new communities and new forms of service delivery while remaining a cornerstone of Australia's multicultural settlement framework. This bill strengthens that proud legacy, but it also firmly looks to the future. It ensures that the services provided by TIS National are not merely preserved but strengthened, supported by clear legislative authority, modern governance arrangements and a mandate that reflects the realities of modern Australia and the needs of an increasingly diverse community. At its core, this legislation establishes a statutory framework for translating interpreting services provided by TIS National within the Department of Home Affairs. It sets out clearly and transparently the functions of TIS National, including the ability of the secretary to provide or arrange for the provision of translating and interpreting services to Commonwealth agencies and officeholders, to facilitate communication between individuals and government, including states and territories, under formal arrangements via telephone, via video, on site or via other communication technologies and to meet national needs that would otherwise go unmet. The bill also recognises the broader role TIS National plays—not just delivering services but building capability across the sector by supporting, training and developing interpreters and translators, particularly in new and emerging community languages and specialist settings like health and law. In doing so, the legislation gives statutory backing to what communities already know to be true: these services are essential infrastructure in a modern, multicultural nation. The community I represent in Melbourne's north-west is one that truly highlights Australia's migration story throughout the generations. In suburbs like Avondale Heights, Keilor East and Niddrie, many older postwar Italian and Greek Australians still speak English as a second language. These are the people who helped build our country, who worked in factories, on construction sites and in small businesses, and who raised families and strengthened our communities. Yet, even after decades in Australia, navigating complex systems like health care, aged care, housing and legal services can be daunting without language support. For them, TIS National is a lifeline. It is the difference between understanding a diagnosis and leaving confused and anxious, or between asserting their rights and quietly stepping back. The same is true for newer Australians in Flemington, Kensington and Moonee Ponds—communities from Somalia, Ethiopia, Vietnam, China and beyond. These are families who are rebuilding their lives after conflict and hardship; young people balancing school, work and family responsibilities; and parents engaging with schools, early childhood centres and medical services for the first time. For these communities, access to interpreting services builds confidence. It builds trust and it builds connection, not just to government but to the broader Australian community. Our prime minister and our government are steadfastly focused on social cohesion and unity strengthened through statements and values. But we know cohesion is not built on rhetoric alone; it is built through action, through trust and through everyday interactions between people and the institutions that serve them. For multicultural communities, language access is the foundation of that trust. When people can communicate clearly with government—with government agencies, health services, schools, courts and emergency responders—they feel included, they feel respected and they feel that the system is working for them, not against them. Without language support, people can feel isolated even while living in the middle of a vibrant community. They may avoid seeking help, misunderstand critical information or disengage altogether, not because they don't want to participate but because the barriers feel insurmountable. That disengagement does not just affect individuals. It affects families, it affects communities and, ultimately, it affects social cohesion itself. Services like those provided by TIS National are therefore not just transactional; they are relational. They are about building a sense of belonging and about ensuring people feel safe to ask questions, seek help and engage with institutions in moments that matter most. This is particularly important in moments of vulnerability: when someone is receiving medical care, when they are dealing with the justice system, when they are navigating aged care, housing or family services, or when they are calling for help in an emergency. In these moments, clear communication is not a luxury; it is essential to dignity, fairness and safety. Social cohesion depends on people believing that our institutions are accessible and fair, regardless of background, accent or language spoken at home. By embedding translating and interpreting services in legislation, this bill strengthens that belief. It sends a powerful message that participation in Australian society is conditional not on perfect English but on shared commitment to one another and the values of fairness and inclusion. This legislation gives effect to our government's multicultural access and equity policy. It affirms that access to government programs and services should not depend on cultural and linguistic background. It reflects the Albanese Labor government's commitment to a united, cohesive and multicultural Australia—one where diversity is not merely tolerated but valued and supported—and it recognises that language support underpins participation across every domain of life, from health care and education to employment, housing and civic engagement. By placing TIS National on a clear statutory footing, we are providing certainty to service users, interpreters and translators and to the agencies that rely on these services every day. Australia's multicultural story is forever evolving, as are the needs of the communities we serve. Every generation of migration—from postwar European migration and migration from South-East Asian communities to more recent arrivals from Africa, the Middle East and beyond—brings new languages, new settlement patterns and new cultural practices. Our interpreting and translating services have had to evolve alongside our nation, and this bill recognises that reality. By placing TIS National on a clear statutory footing, the legislation ensures that these services are not only protected but positioned to grow, adapt and modernise in step with Australia's changing demographic and technological landscape. Being future ready means investing in workforce capability, supporting the training and development of interpreters and translators, particularly, as I said, in new and emerging community languages. It means ensuring that there is capacity when new communities arrive—not years later, but from the outset—so people can engage safely and confidently as they settle into Australian life. It also means embracing modern service delivery. Telephone interpreting remains a cornerstone, especially for emergency and urgent services that operate 24 hours a day. But video interpreting, onsite services and remote technologies are increasingly critical, particularly for regional access, complex appointments and situations where visual communication matters. This bill ensures that the legislative framework keeps pace with those realities, enabling services to be delivered flexibly, securely and efficiently wherever and however they are needed. Future-ready services are not just about technology; they are also about resilience. They ensure that during times of crisis, whether they be public health emergencies, natural disasters or sudden surges in humanitarian arrivals, Australia has the language infrastructure needed to respond quickly, clearly and compassionately. They ensure that language services are not an afterthought but a core part of national preparedness. And they ensure that Australia continues to grow and diversify its systems so they grow with us, rather than leaving communities to catch up on their own. This bill is concerned with the practical operation of fairness in our multicultural country. It recognises that meaningful participation in Australian society depends on the ability to communicate with government and essential services and that linguistic background must not be a barrier to safety, access or inclusion. This legislation acknowledges and repeats the enduring contribution of multicultural communities to Australia's social, cultural and economic life and affirms that those contributions are not diminished by the language spoken at home. In electorates such as Maribyrnong, this reality is evident across generations—as I said, from postwar migrants who helped build modern Australia to those newer migrants from Africa and Asia who continue that legacy today. For these communities, these services, supported by this bill, are essential. It is about building public confidence in accessibility and fairness of government systems. It supports social cohesion by ensuring that individuals can engage with institutions in a safe, informed and equitable manner. This bill, as I said, also positions these services to remain responsive to future needs, recognising the evolving linguistic diversity of Australia and the importance of maintaining capacity, professionalism and reliability in service delivery. For these reasons, and because a cohesive and inclusive society depends on systems that work effectively for all Australians, I commend the bill to the House. 18:13 Ms STANLEY 265990 Werriwa Dealing with the complexities of life is difficult at the best of times. Paperwork, red tape, rules, regulations and just paying bills take up an incredible amount of time, not to mention patience. Then, of course, there's the issue of computers. If the connection isn't down, then the printer can almost certainly be jammed. For those of us whose first language is English, what I've described is manageable—if only just, at times. But it is so much more isolating if English is not your first language. My electorate is home to 152 discrete language groups. The data in the 2021 census is revealing in this regard. Sixty-six per cent of households in the electorate of Werriwa use a language other than English at home. Of these, Arabic, Vietnamese, Hindi, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic and Spanish are the most common. With regard to parenting, just over 68 per cent of Werriwa residents state that both parents were born overseas compared to the national average of 36 per cent. The diversity in my electorate is one of the things that I love about it, but it still can present challenges—especially when helping constituents with their matters. One of the most important tools for me and my staff is the national Translating and Interpreting Service, TIS National. Using TIS is often a game changer. When language barriers emerge, either over the counter or more likely on the phone, a quick call to TIS National can make all of the difference. It's not an exaggeration to say you can hear the barriers fall away as constituents speak to an interpreter in their own language. It means the constituent can properly express themselves and be guaranteed that any confusion or misunderstanding can be dealt with promptly, and it adds another benefit. A number of times in my electorate office the children of constituents have acted as interpreters for their parents. I thoroughly understand why this is the case, but it can be far from ideal for any number of reasons. Using TIS means the use of children as an intermediary isn't necessary, and, if nothing else, it frees them to go back to school and allows them to still be children. The Australian government began providing translation services in 1947 and interpreting services in the 1950s. The original aim was to support and help post-World-War-II migrants, and the services provided by TIS are fundamental to full participation in our society. The funding of the service for all three levels of government, plus the private sector and individuals, underscores that language is important and is not an optional or discretionary service. Rather, it's fundamental to safety, participation, fairness and equality. The services provided by TIS National are exceptional and world class. It provides translation and interpreting services to government agencies across all three tiers of government. Telephone interpreting services are key here, but there is also remote interpreting via video and onsite interpreting and translating services. It provides 24/7 telephone interpreting—supporting triple zero services, hospitals, courts and other urgent needs. Then, there's the free interpreting service and the free translation service for key non-government entities, including doctors, pharmacists, trade unions, real estate agencies and parliamentarians. The FTS also provides new arrivals with free translation into English of key personal documents to support their participation in education, employment and community life. Finally, TIS National also supports the training and development of translators and interpreters. In 2024, advice provided by the Australian Government Solicitor, the AGS, advised that TIS National required express legislative authority, in particular, in relation to services provided to private-sector bodies. This bill, then, is vital in addressing the risks identified by the AGS in its legal advice. Specifically, the bill establishes a statutory framework for the services provided by TIS National within the Department of Home Affairs. The proposed legislation sets out the functions provided by TIS National and will ensure clear and enduring statutory support for these functions. It's particularly noteworthy that the legislation will enable the Secretary of the Department to provide or arrange the provision of translating services to the Commonwealth or agencies and to the states and territories or agencies. It will allow for the facilitation of communication by a person with these Commonwealth, state or territory agencies, authorities, bodies, organisations or office holders. The legislation will also expressly provide for other services provided by TIS National, including development, training and supporting translators and interpreters for the purposes of TIS National's core functions. I can only begin to imagine the difficulties constituents face when English is not their first language. Thank goodness that, when it's needed, TIS National is available. I know firsthand the wonderful work it does. It's a terrific investment in ensuring that everyone can fully participate in our society. Such a service requires our support not only in a budgetary sense but also for a legislative framework that ensures it can carry out its vital functions and service without worry or concern. I commend the bill to the House, but I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank all the staff and interpreters at TIS National. They are a great support for my office when we need them for our constituents. 18:20 Mr NG 316052 Menzies I rise today in support of the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025. The Translating and Interpreting Service, or TIS National, is an absolutely essential service that ensures that all Australians can fully participate in our civil life, our communities and our economy. It allows Australians from diverse backgrounds equal access to public institutions and services, and it allows the private sector to reach new domestic markets. TIS is an indispensable piece of infrastructure for modern, multicultural Australia. The last census showed that over 5.5 million Australians speak a language other than English at home. In my electorate of Menzies, we're fortunate enough to have the proportionally largest Chinese Australian population of any electorate across the country. We have the largest Iranian population. We have established Greek and Italian communities and emerging Indian communities—people from almost every country on earth. It's an incredibly diverse community, and I'm honoured to represent it. I have had extensive experience with TIS, particularly when I worked with the then Department of Immigration and Citizenship and later the Department of Home Affairs. In some roles, it was a service I used almost every day. For those who haven't used it, you can call TIS on 131450, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to request an interpreter. You can also book interpreters in advance. Hopefully, everyone in this place knows that our offices have access to TIS client numbers, and we can use them to make sure that we are reaching out to all members of the communities we represent. Of course, government departments and other public institutions are major clients but so are other essential services. When I worked in refugee and migrant settlement services, we ensured that new arrivals were aware that they could request an interpreter. Let me give you a couple of examples of how vital this is. Imagine going to a hospital or GP and being unable to communicate what your symptoms are. Imagine if a doctor was giving you advice, advice that might preserve your health or even save your life, and you could not understand them. Thankfully, the TIS Doctors Priority Line is available to GPs, specialists, nurse practitioners, endorsed midwives, pharmacy staff and approved health practitioners. This means they can provide all Australians with the care they need when they need it. Without this, people would suffer and illnesses and diseases would worsen. Where health professionals did not offer or accede to requests to use an interpreter, sometimes the children of clients would have to act as interpreters—sometimes for very sensitive matters. I believe we've had a few members of the chamber talk about how this becomes a necessity sometimes, but, thankfully, TIS is there and is a much better service in terms of being able to preserve the privacy and dignity of people, particularly when they're accessing health services. I also saw the essential work of TIS when I was working as a judge's associate at the County Court. Imagine if you were a victim of crime and had to give evidence before a court but could not understand, let alone respond to, the questions that were put to you. Imagine if you were accused of a crime but had no way of understanding the proceedings. Imagine if you were pursuing civil relief but were unable to understand the complex legal procedures that were happening and that would determine whether or not you get compensation for, say, a personal injury matter or damage to your property. I saw firsthand the work of highly skilled TIS interpreters who were able to provide professional and accurate interpretation so that all of those involved in the legal process—judges, lawyers, plaintiffs, defendants, victims and the accused—could participate equally. I also saw the work of TIS when I was volunteering at community legal centres. We had many clients from migrant and refugee backgrounds come in seeking free legal advice when I volunteered at the Fitzroy Legal Service. A large number of those clients came seeking support for family violence issues and property issues, and the only way they were able to communicate their problems and receive advice from the lawyers there was through TIS. There might be some people who say that people immigrating to Australia should learn English. Of course, this is something that we not only encourage but also support people to do. Most skilled and student visas have a requirement that people pass a test demonstrating a high level of English, and we have the Adult Migrant English Program, which provides free English language tuition to people with migrant and refugee backgrounds. But you don't need to speak perfect English in order to be a proud and fully participating Australian. We're talking about highly technical areas sometimes—health, law, government services—that people who even speak English as a first language struggle with and that can be very difficult to understand if your native tongue is not English. TIS ensures that all Australians can communicate with each other and provides equal access and participation. TIS has existed in one form or another since World War II. It fosters understanding, community and engagement. It is an essential pillar of social cohesion. Our tabling of this bill reflects this government's commitment to social cohesion. We are one of the most successful multicultural countries in the world. Nowhere is this more evident than at our local citizenship ceremonies, at which many of us have the honour to represent the parliament in our elected roles. Like many of us here, I attended a citizenship ceremony on Australia Day, at Manningham Council. As always, it was one of the most uplifting parts of the job, seeing the happiness and the pride of all the new citizens fully joining our great nation and being able to share that special day with them. On Australia Day, I also attended an event in my electorate, in Box Hill, held by the Federation of Chinese Associations (Vic). It was a wonderful reflection of modern multicultural Australia, a celebration of both our national day and Chinese New Year. Those in attendance enjoyed a traditional welcome to country and musical performances from Indigenous Australians as well as traditional Chinese performances, such as a face-changing performance. In my electorate of Menzies, we are demonstrating our commitment to multiculturalism and social cohesion with a $200,000 commitment to multicultural festivals run by the very hardworking Asian Business Association of Whitehorse, who represent a number of small businesses as well as medium-sized businesses in my electorate. This includes the Manningham Chinese New Year Festival, which will take place this Saturday, 7 February, at Doncaster Reserve. This is the second year the festival will be held, and our support means more people in our community can celebrate and experience Chinese culture. There will be food stalls, rides and cultural performances. Then on 21 February we'll have the Box Hill Chinese New Year Festival. This has become a real highlight not just of our local cultural calendar but of Melbourne's cultural calendar, and it now attracts over 100,000 people per year. Growing up in Melbourne's east, we always had to go into the city to celebrate Chinese New Year, so it means a lot to me that we can have these cultural celebrations in our local area and with our local community. The sharing of culture and fostering of understanding is so important to maintaining social cohesion. I contrast this approach of bringing people together, which we are committed to, with the divisive approach of those opposite. We have not forgotten that, during the election campaign, one of their senators—the campaign spokesperson no less—accused Chinese Australians who were getting involved in the democratic process of being Chinese spies. After the election, their former attorney-general George Brandis said that they were 'running out of people to offend'. Well, they found some more. Another one of their senators accused Indian Australians of voting as a monolith and used her platform to spread disinformation about our migration system. More recently, at a time when we have been focused on eliminating antisemitism and maintaining social cohesion, former prime minister Scott Morrison, backed in by Liberal frontbencher Andrew Bragg, called for all Muslim religious leaders to have to register and be accredited by the government—this, from the party that apparently stands for individual rights and small government. Now, of course, we know that the evidence points to the two men who carried out the horrific antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi being motivated by an adherence to Islamic State, a perverted form of Islam. But the idea that the 813,000 Australian Muslims should be held collectively responsible for the actions of two men who perverted their faith is, to be frank, offensive. It would be like saying: 'All Australians should be held collectively responsible for the actions of the person who carried out the Christchurch massacre.' They should not be, and they are not. Islam is a religion of peace. It was put to me perfectly by one of our local Muslim leaders: the actions of Ahmed Al Ahmed, one of the heroes of Bondi, better represent the values of Islam than the actions of the two men who carried out the atrocity at Bondi. This weekend, our local mosque, the United Muslim Migrants Association, will be having an open day for all members of the community to come and learn about Islam. I attended last year, when our local religious leaders welcomed people in and gave as much of their time as was needed to answer any questions people might have had. Sometimes these questions would have been challenging for them. Sometimes the questions relied on very outdated stereotypes and misinformation. But the Muslim leaders answered them with perfect graciousness and patience. That is what we need in our communities—not division, but building understanding, dispelling misinformation and reaching over cultural divides. We stand with all Australians, embracing people of all faiths and backgrounds—Chinese, Indian, Jewish, Muslim. We want to bring Australians together and maintain social cohesion, and that is exactly what we are doing with this bill. This bill creates a strong legislative framework to underpin TIS. It follows advice from the Australian Government Solicitor that says TIS National requires express legislative authority. It also considers the findings of the robodebt royal commission. We understand the importance of having proper legal foundations for government action. We also respect the advice of our independent public servants and legal counsel, unlike those opposite. TIS is staffed by dedicated public servants who connect people who need interpreting services with the language experts they need—accurately, quickly and professionally. It is also staffed by highly skilled interpreters, accredited at different levels, who are able to interpret a wide range of areas, from the everyday to the highly technical health and legal areas. When I was a public servant with the Department of Home Affairs, I was proud to be a CPSU union delegate. Towards the end of my time there, after the Albanese Labor government came to power, the then minister for home affairs, Clare O'Neil, came to announce that jobs in TIS that had been outsourced—jobs where people were working on insecure contracts—would be brought in-house. Dozens of people were given secure public service jobs, giving them certainty about their future and the ability to have a career path within the department. It's so important that we recognise their hard work and the vital role that TIS plays in providing these services, because, without them, many people would be disenfranchised from the economic and cultural opportunities that come from being able to fully understand the language and the matters that they need to, to engage with government, engage with health care and engage with legal services. I commend this bill to the House. 18:34 Ms JORDAN-BAIRD 316021 Gorton I rise today to speak in support of the Translating and Interpreting Services Bill 2025. This bill is about supporting our multicultural community. It's about making sure that members of our multicultural community are looked after. It's about strengthening an important and successful service, and ensuring that, when we look to the future, we see one where every single member of our multicultural community is taken care of. Australia's multicultural diversity is so important to who we are; it's so important to my community, where cultural festivals and local establishments bring people together; and it's so important to our country. We're living in a time when social cohesion is more important than ever—social cohesion or having respect and care for each other or celebrating both the things that make us different and the things that make us the same. This bill is about continuing our care for multicultural communities. It's about meeting them where they're at, ensuring that they can always access key services and supporting them to participate fully in the economic and social life of our country. This bill will establish a statutory framework for the translating and interpreting services provided by TIS National within the Department of Home Affairs. If enacted, the proposed legislation will ensure clear and enduring statutory support for TIS National. It won't change the way in which the services of TIS National are provided or funded. Rather, it will simply provide a clear legislative framework for the services, providing certainty and ensuring their continued availability to support our community into the future. With this bill, we're protecting the important services that TIS National provide to people with limited English language proficiency and ensuring that, no matter their level of English proficiency, every member of our community can access key services and support. TIS National is a translation and interpreting service operated within the Department of Home Affairs for the purpose of promoting equitable access to key services for people in our community with limited or no English language proficiency. It's a key mechanism by which we ensure that these members of our community aren't left behind. Many Australians may not have heard of TIS National, but it's a service we use regularly in our electorate office and in the wider community. It dates back to the late 1940s, when we welcomed a new wave of postwar migrants to settle in Australia. For many of us in this place, as well as many of my constituents, these migrants were our parents or our grandparents. It was actually the first time the Australian government opened its doors to migrants from beyond the British Isles, who spoke a mother tongue other than English. In that way, TIS National is one of the foundational services of modern multicultural Australia. Since the forties, these services have grown and evolved to meet the needs of the Australian community. In 1973, they included the world's first telephone interpreting services—still a core component of the TIS National services today. Today, TIS National's free interpreting services allow the government and other service providers to engage an interpreter or translator to assist in communicating with clients. Through TIS National, service providers can book a telephone, online or in-person appointment with a translator and can be connected directly to a phone interpreter within a few minutes of calling. Service providers that use TIS National include medical practitioners, allied health professionals, pharmacies, NGOs providing casework and emergency services, legal services, trade unions and real estate agencies. Indeed, TIS National performs a key function in ensuring good health outcomes for our multicultural communities. TIS National also accepts calls from people with limited proficiency themselves, giving them the option of arranging a translator themselves before engaging with the government or another service provider. It's actually the only interpretive service in Australia to offer this option. In 2026, TIS National has access to more than 2,700 language practitioners in over 150 languages. It operates 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and provides over 1.3 million interpreting services each year. It is the strong foundation on which all of our work to ensure that members of our multicultural communities have equitable access is built. Of course, when it comes to participating fully in Australian society, nothing can substitute for the ability to understand and speak English. TIS National is not a substitute for becoming proficient in English. Rather, it's an acknowledgement that learning a new language is no easy feat. For some people in our community, like women who are raising children and older first-generation migrants, learning English often means years of intentional effort and study, requiring them to seek out opportunities to learn and practise and find time to work on their English every single day. To support migrants to improve their English, the Adult Migrant English Program, provided by the Department of Home Affairs, offers free English tuition provided by a volunteer tutor to all migrants and humanitarian entrants. The AMEP has been teaching migrants English for over 75 years, and it assists around 50,000 to 60,000 eligible migrants and humanitarian entrants each year. Over these 75 years, the program has supported countless members of our community to improve their English and to gain the confidence to participate more fully in Australian society. It also facilitates all important bonds between new migrants and established members of the community, providing new migrants with a point of contact—someone to ask when they have questions about how the public transport system works or what the rules of AFL are. It's a service that provides real, personal support to new migrants and makes their integration into the economic and social life of our country that little bit easier. In recent times, the AMEP has actually been expanded so that more migrants can access free English tuition for longer until they reach a higher level of proficiency. That said, we must continue to provide a bridge—a service that supports and gives grace to new migrants new migrants while they're building their language skills and gaining confidence. Acknowledging that learning a language is a process ensures that, no matter what stage they're at with their English learning journey, they are never left behind. My electorate of Gorton in Melbourne's western suburbs is incredibly diverse. There are tens of thousands of families across the electorate, and amongst those families we have one of the highest proportions of first- and second-generation migrants in Australia. More than 33 per cent of my electorate was born overseas, and more than 30,000 of my constituents speak a language other than English at home. In my electorate office, we're regularly visited by constituents who speak English as a second language or, for many of my constituents, even a third or a fourth language. We have the number for TIS National blu-tacked next to the reception in our electorate office so we can make a quick call for an interpreter whenever we need. The importance of protecting and strengthening a service like this in a multicultural country really can't be understated. Most of my constituents with migrant backgrounds are proficient in English or speak enough to get around day to day without too much trouble. But anyone who has lived or travelled in a country that speaks a different language knows that, when it comes to administration, complex issues and situations of high stress or emotion, the holes in your language skills become apparent very quickly. At that point, having the option to speak a language you're comfortable in is so important. If the person supporting you isn't proficient in your language, you need help from someone else. Recently, my electorate office was visited by two constituents, a young girl and her mother, seeking an update on a humanitarian visa application for a close relative. This young girl and her mother were both refugees from Afghanistan themselves. When they visited my office, our young constituent spoke on behalf of her mother. Her mother was distressed, and this young girl was caught in the middle, translating back and forth as we tried to ensure both sides were on the same page. The children of migrant families are loved and cherished, and their parents have often been through incredible hardship to give them the opportunities for a better life. However, we know they often face a heavy burden. They're usually more proficient in the language of their new home than their parents, so they have to step up and help out. They become the translator—the one that helps with the paperwork, reads the bills, makes the phone calls and goes to every appointment. They're adultified long before they become actual adults. For their parents, who are faced with adapting to a new country, a new language and a new life, these experiences can be incredibly disempowering. They find themselves unable to advocate for themselves or for their families in the same way they have their entire lives—often the same way that got them and their families to Australia in the first place. When we received the update on the visa application, we provided it to our young constituent. But we made it clear that, if her mother needed an opportunity to hear this information directly, we'd be happy to see her back in the office for an in-person meeting with a translator. Two months later, there was a message in the inbox asking to set up a meeting. The opportunity to have this meeting with a translator from TIS National on the phone took the pressure off our young constituent to speak on behalf of her mother. It gave her mother an opportunity to be heard, to hear the information she needed from the source and to ask questions she still had directly and hear the answers herself. That's the power of free translation services in our electorate offices. But it's not just about complex visa matters or issues that might bring you to an electorate office. It's much more basic than that. Language barriers prevent migrants from accessing and receiving a whole lot of important information and services. They can prevent migrants from calling triple zero; understanding information from emergency services, like the SES, when natural disasters occur; reporting crimes; or going to the doctor. Many studies have highlighted the negative impact of language barriers on migrants' access to health care, and the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare even reported that low English proficiency, and more than 10 years in Australia, is actually linked to a higher prevalence of chronic conditions, including diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke and lung conditions, even though people born overseas generally have fewer long-term health conditions than those born in Australia. That's a finding which speaks to the seriousness of this issue and the crucially important part of making sure that a language barrier does not prevent migrants from looking after their own health. It's so important that we produce materials in language and proactively reach out to migrants, to provide in-language and culturally-appropriate education and support. A service like TIS National is the foundation of all of this because, for migrants and service providers alike, when communicating directly is not possible, it's so important that the option to call an interpreter is there to fall back on. The Albanese Labor government is bringing in this bill because we know the importance of multicultural and social cohesion in our country. We're one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world. We've been an example for other countries. But we're living in a moment when our social cohesion, the thread that joins us all together, is under threat. And make no mistake: it's under threat from hate and extremism that seek to divide and want to make us believe that we cannot live harmoniously alongside one another. Our government doesn't buy this story, and we will not let it divide us. That's why the government established an office for multicultural affairs and elevated to cabinet, for the very first time, the standalone position of Minister for Multicultural Affairs. That's why we brought in the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Criminal and Migration Laws) Act 2026 and it's why we're strengthening our existing legislation to ensure that every member of our multicultural community has equitable access to services. The decision to pack up your life and move to a different country is one of the biggest you can make. Our government recognises that and is committed to supporting migrants every step of the way. I commend this bill to the House. 18:47 Ms FERNANDO 299964 Holt Australia is one of the most successful multicultural nations in the world. Our story is one of migration—of people arriving on this continent from every corner of the globe, bringing with them skills, traditions, faiths, languages and hopes for a better future. Australians come from all walks of life and from almost every country on earth. Some arrive with English skills better than many members of this chamber. Others, particularly those reuniting with family, arrive with limited or no English skills at all. That diversity is not a weakness; it is one of our greatest strengths. But it also brings with it a responsibility to ensure that language is never a barrier to dignity, safety, opportunity or participation in Australian society. That is why government funded translating and interpreting services are not a luxury; they are essential nation-building infrastructure. Australia first established government translation services in 1947, in response to the large influx of postwar migrants from Europe. At that time, we recognised a simple truth: people cannot integrate, work, access health care or comply with the law if they cannot understand it. That system was built upon in 1973, when Australia became the first country in the world to introduce a national telephone interpreting service. Today, TIS National supports more than 2,700 interpreters across over 150 languages. Those interpreters work across metropolitan suburbs, regional towns, courts, hospitals, police stations, medical facilities, workplaces and homes. They are vital to improving quality of life, ensuring fairness and allowing residents to access services they would otherwise be completely locked out of. Access to language is also essential to a healthy democracy, because informed citizens must first be able to understand the systems that serve them and the processes that enable their participation. I know personally just how impactful programs like this can be. When I arrived in Australia as a young girl, I could not read English. I struggled to speak it properly. Even when I could manage a casual conversation, I certainly could not understand complex processes, legal language or government forms. Like many migrant families, the Fernando family relied heavily on family friends and community members to translate for us—a reality that thousands of my constituents in Holt continue to rely on every day. I learned English by reading classical novels such as Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. It was hard work. When I first started, it would take me more than three months to finish a single novel. Through the hard work, perseverance and support of incredible teachers, including Ms Tassle, Mrs Rainsford, Mr Hall and Mr Jappie, those months to finish a novel turned into weeks and those weeks turned into days. Learning a language is hard at any age. Learning a new language is far easier when you are younger. For older migrants, parents, and grandparents who move here to join their children, learning English is a much more difficult task. That is why translating and interpreting services are so crucial in electorates like mine. In Holt, 47 per cent of residents speak a language other than English at home. Most speak English at an extremely high standard. We are also home to one of the largest refugee populations in the country. This diaspora from Afghanistan, Cambodia and Sri Lanka has escaped conflict. It represents families, small-business owners, carers, factory workers, cleaners, nurses and grandparents—people who contribute every day to our community but who struggle to access services without support. Language access is not merely a matter of convenience for these people. It is fundamental to participation and economic opportunity. When people understand their rights, their employment conditions and their responsibilities, they are able to enter the workforce sooner, contribute more quickly and help drive Australia's economic growth. One of the best services delivered by TIS National is the free translating service. If a person has been granted a long-term visa within the last two years, they are entitled to have up to 10 personal documents translated free of charge. That includes birth, death and marriage certificates, school certificates, academic transcripts, letters of reference, bank statements, employment records and medical documents. These translations would otherwise cost hundreds, and sometimes thousands, of dollars. By removing that cost, the government removes barriers to employment, education, housing, health care and settlement. It helps new arrivals find work, enrol their children in schools, secure rental property, open a bank account and access Medicare and other essential services. This is why TIS National is so vital—because a modern multicultural Australia only succeeds when residents are able to integrate and engage fully with Australian society. TIS National not only supports engagement with government agencies; interpreting services are also available for non-government interactions, including with doctors and other healthcare providers, ensuring patients understand diagnosis, consent to treatment and receive safe care. These services are also used by trade unions to help workers understand their rights and protect themselves from exploitation and by real estate agents and housing providers to help families find secure accommodation. In times of crisis—whether they be bushfires, as we've recently had in Victoria, floods or public health emergencies—clear communication saves lives, and these services ensure that no-one is left behind when urgent information must be understood. Crucially, these services are used by women escaping domestic and family violence. Language barriers can trap women in violent relationships. It can isolate them from society and limit their knowledge of where they can reach out to. It can prevent victims from seeking help, reporting abuse, understanding intervention orders or accessing crisis accommodation. For women who do not speak English fluently, an interpreter can be the difference between safety and continued harm. That is why this bill matters. Whether it's a woman escaping domestic violence, a new mum trying to access the parenting payment or an older Australian trying to access health care, this service provides great benefits. Up till now, these translating and interpreting services have been delivered by successive Australian governments without explicit legislative authority. While such arrangements are not uncommon in government, they carry risk. They rely on administrative practices rather than statutory certainty. This bill fixes that. It provides a clear legislative framework that formally empowers the secretary of the Department of Home Affairs to continue delivering translating and interpreting services. It ensures transparency, accountability and continuity. We know the demand is real. The most recent census showed that 3.4 per cent of Australians have low English skills, meaning they do not speak English well or at all. Some of the highest demand for interpreting services comes from communities with heritage in Vietnam, Greece, Korea, Italy and Spain—communities that have helped shape and build modern Australia. These services are relied upon daily by police, courts, aged-care providers, GPs, hospitals, the ATO, the Administrative Review Tribunal and the Federal Court. Without interpreters, justice cannot be delivered fairly, health care cannot be delivered safely, government cannot be accessed equally. Labor understands this. It was a Labor government, led by Gough Whitlam, that dismantled the White Australia policy. It was Labor that laid the foundations of modern multicultural Australia, recognising that diversity strengthens our nation, but only when people are supported to participate fully. This bill continues that proud tradition. It recognises that language should never be a barrier to opportunity. It recognises that government services must be accessible to everyone, not just those fluent in English, and it recognises that a strong, cohesive Australia is one that everyone can understand, engage in and belong to. TIS National is not just a service; it's a lifeline—a bridge between systems and people. This bill ensures that that bridge remains strong. I want to take a moment to acknowledge the interpreters themselves. They are highly skilled professionals who step into complex and often emotionally charged situations to ensure accuracy, dignity and fairness. The work you do every day is so vital, and it supports thousands of members in our community. In closing, I want to thank the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Dr Anne Aly, and the Minister for Home Affairs, Tony Burke, for ensuring that the government's translating and interpreting services remain strong into the future. For that reason, I commend the bill to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment. CONDOLENCES 159 CONDOLENCES Bolkus, Hon. Nick 159 18:59 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh It's with a lot of sadness but also a great deal of affection and pride that I want to make a contribution on the motion that was moved by the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition's address to it about the passing of Nick Bolkus. Nick was a huge figure in this parliament for a quarter of a century, but he was an even bigger figure in the South Australian community, in the western suburbs that I have the privilege of representing, and particularly in the Labor Party and the left of the Labor Party, which I want to talk about a little bit. He was an enormously important figure to me and to many of my colleagues, like Penny Wong, Jay Weatherill and so many others, and I'll talk about that a little bit. Nick was born in 1950. He tragically passed away on Christmas Day, at the age of 75, and he lived an enormously rich life—albeit one that, in the last six or seven years, was very seriously hampered by illness, and I'll talk a bit about that. His family didn't follow the path that is typical of Greek Australians who came to Australia mainly in the postwar period and, to a degree, a little bit during the Depression in the 1930s, when we opened up our immigration channels to continental Europe. His family was from the very, very small island of Kastellorizo, which is a very short distance—a Kazi, as the Minister for Multicultural Affairs says. This is a small island, very close to the coast of Turkiye. In the early part of World War I, it was very seriously impacted by the Ottoman Empire and some thousands of Kazis fled their homes and crossed the ocean and built a new life either in Canada or in the US—happily, for many of them. I think there were only 8,000 or so at the time in Australia. Nick's grandfather was one of those who left his island home in about 1915. So his family had been well established in Adelaide for a long period of time, before Nick was born in the city, in the West End of Adelaide. He went to Sturt Street Primary School. After it closed, he was a leading figure in lobbying the then Wran government to reopen the Sturt Street Primary School that is still again going strong. Nick, from a very early age, was drawn to the Labor Party. In his teens, he campaigned for Don Dunstan in the seat of Norwood in the 1960s. He was an unsuccessful candidate for state parliament in the mid-1970s in his 20s. He'd worked as a staffer in the Whitlam government before the age of 25, and he was an unsuccessful candidate on what we generally call an unwinnable position on the Senate ticket at the '77 election. But he was allocated a winnable spot by the party in 1980. He was only 30. He was a Greek Australian at a time when it was unusual to obtain pre-selection support, and, most suspiciously in the eyes of the powerbrokers of the South Australian branch of the Labor Party at the time, he had a university degree—a law degree, for that matter—that made him an egghead, and many other names that are not able to be repeated in this chamber because of standing orders and the decorum of the parliament. But he won at the age of 30, and that was the beginning of an extraordinary parliamentary career, extending a quarter of a century. I know the Minister for Multicultural Affairs and the Minister for Skills and Training, who had that portfolio before Dr Aly, will talk about Nick's extraordinary contribution to multicultural affairs, to the immigration portfolio, which he held, to changing, through some extraordinary stories, the lives of tens of thousands of people. It's well known the story that he had responsibility for implementing the promise that Bob Hawke, as Prime Minister, made to people from China in Australia, at the time of the Tiananmen Square massacre, that they could stay here. Nick implemented that and changed the lives of so many besides that. At the state memorial service that I had the privilege of being at a little while ago, a Vietnamese Australian woman told the story of Nick and Gareth Evans helping her father, who had been in prison in Vietnam for years and years, be released and come and join the family: the mother and the children, who had then grown up and still live in Australia—just some of those little pearls, the stories that immigration ministers are able to reflect upon as their time in this place concludes. So he made an extraordinary contribution. He had the privilege of serving as a minister in some extraordinary governments, led by two extraordinary prime ministers. He was the first Greek Australian to be appointed to cabinet, and that was something he was deeply proud of, because he was so proud of his culture and he was so widely respected in what is a large Greek Australian community in Adelaide, particularly in the western suburbs of Adelaide that Nick called home for many, many decades. I first met Nick in my teens—in my late teens, when Nick was a junior minister, not yet appointed to cabinet—in the late 1980s at a famous, or to some degree infamous, restaurant in Adelaide's Rundle Street called Da Clemente. What struck me then about Nick was his willingness to listen to a young lad who was probably a complete pain in the backside, and that was what people talk about when they reflect on their time with Nick or observing Nick. He was the most active listener, I think, I've ever encountered. When people sat down with Nick, he wasn't one of those people whose eyes were darting all around the room to see who they could talk to next. People went away from a conversation with Nick feeling like they had been listened to—actively listened to—and that was really one of the enduring things that I think people take from Nick. It's something I see so deeply in his daughter Aria, particularly, who has worked with me for the last couple of years and is campaigning now for the state parliament as well. When I got to know Nick a little bit better in my early 20s and into my 20s, he had the privilege of having a faction named after him. The Bolkus Left was one of the insurgent factions at the time in South Australian Labor Party politics and ultimately won the tussle between warring subfactions of the Left, and the Bolkus Left just became the Left. Although that sounds sort of funny and tongue in cheek, it was actually a really important thing for the South Australian branch, because what came out of Nick using his networks, his experience and his wisdom to seek change in the Labor Party and re-establish what had been a long consensus culture in the branch of the Labor Party in Adelaide has set the party up—as Peter Malinauskas, the Premier, said at the state memorial service—for three decades of real success. This is the best branch in our party. I think it's the most stable. It's had four leaders in 35 years, and our current leader, Peter Malinauskas, is likely to be there for a long time to come. It's been electorally very successful and has made real change in a state and a jurisdiction that's not easy. It doesn't have a lot of the natural advantages that other states have, whether it's the resources you see in Western Australia and Queensland or the big population centres of the two big states. And so Nick's contribution—largely in partnership with now Senator Farrell and also with Pat Conlon, a dear friend of Nick's who worked for him for some time and then became a minister in the Rann government—has set up that branch—which had had a patchy history, I think it's fair to say, before the mid-nineties—for real success and a real contribution to the interests of South Australians. And I think we're all very grateful to him for that. But, while being a busy cabinet minister and then a busy shadow cabinet minister who paid a really leading role after we lost government in 1996 in this place, he always had the time to mentor younger members of the party. I know what an influence he was on Penny Wong. I've witnessed it. I know what an enormous supporter he was of her potential and the need for us as a party to get her into parliament and to use that potential for, in part, our party's interests but, more importantly, the nation's benefit. And he used to have us round the barbecues. He used to talk to us respectfully—with much more respect than I think sometimes we deserved, as precocious pains in the backside, as I said. But it was something that characterised Nick right through his time as a minister, as a shadow minister and then after he left the parliament in the mid-2000s. It reflected the way he'd come up. It really was something for Nick—as I said, a 30-year-old legally qualified Greek Australian—to come into the Australian Senate. It's not so unusual now, which is a terrific thing, but it was. It really was, 45 years ago. That reflected the vision and the support that he got. As I'm sure my friend the member for Makin remembers—he worked in the Whitlam government as a staffer with Nick—it was the support of two giants of the Labor movement, real giants of South Australia, Mick Young, the then member for Port Adelaide, and Clyde Cameron. Clyde was such an important part of the modernisation of our party but really the leader of our branch for three decades or more. He recognised what Nick could bring to the parliament and to our party and the need for us to start making real connections to communities like the Greek Australian community. Nick passed that on. He learned that from Clyde and from Mick and from Reg Bishop and others. He passed it on to Jim Toohey and he passed it on to the next generation, and I for one am so enormously grateful. These things are sometimes tense. The master-apprentice relationship is not always easy and is sometimes a little tense. And John Rau frankly said that Nick might have wanted to spend more time in the parliament and would have made an enormous contribution. But, after leaving the parliament after 25 years, he made every day count. He continued to support the party. He continued to mentor young people. He built an extraordinary career in business. It's not always that people make that transition from being a successful minister to being a successful businessman. Nick undoubtedly did. He had a lot more to contribute and a lot more to give when he was very cruelly struck with an illness 6½ years ago. I was due to have lunch with him and Mel Mansell, the editor-at-large of the Advertiser, and Nick, unusually, was late. After making a call, he had been taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and never really recovered. He spent time at Hampstead and then some years at Westminster, a nursing home just near his house and around the corner from my house as well, and was cared for wonderfully, according to his family, by the staff who were there. He rang the bell a lot, agitated a lot for better conditions, as you'd expect. I think we all missed the contributions that Nick otherwise would have made over those last six or seven years. Thank you for the indulgence to say a few words about someone who had such a big impact on my life. In conclusion, I want to say how much the South Australian community, the Greek Australian community in Adelaide and the Labor family have tried to wrap their arms around Nick's family: Nick's wife Mary; his older son Nick, who has built an extraordinary legal career himself—and I know how proud Nick was of the younger Nick—and his two younger daughters, who are now in their 20s, Mikayla and Aria. I've talked about Aria. Mikayla, who I think is only 23, gave an extraordinary address to the memorial service. I know she found it difficult, but it was reflective, it was wise, it had an extraordinary amount of analysis, and it was just so loving of her father. Aria, who I know much better and is, as I said, the candidate for the state seat that I live in—I would love to see her be my local member—was typically strong and forthright and, as her dad would have insisted, used the opportunity to advocate for better policy in aged care and stroke care in particular. Mary said, with tongue in cheek, that the fact that all three are now lawyers showed a real failure of parenthood, and maybe to a degree she was right. They really are apples that didn't fall far from the tree. There's a lot of Nick in all three of them and a lot of their mum as well. I know how proud Nick would have been about the way in which—it's very confronting, I imagine—the community has taken notice of Nick's passing. It's a high-profile passing, and it was a very big funeral at the church, a very big state memorial service. Talking about your dad, who was such a high-profile figure, can't be easy while you're grieving yourself, and they did it with such dignity, warmth and pride of what their father did for their family and did for their community. I couldn't have more respect for all of them than what I have for the way in which they've handled this period of real grief. To Nick I say thank you for the advice and the mentoring that you gave to me. It's meant an enormous amount to me. Thank you for the hospitality you showed us over many years. It was not just instructive; it was fun. It was fun to spend time with you on so many occasions with your family and your friends down at Henley Beach. May you rest in peace. 19:15 Dr ALY 13050 Cowan I too want to record my deep sadness on the death of the Hon. Nick Bolkus and honour his outstanding service to our nation. Senator Bolkus was a pillar of the Australian Labor Party, as the minister outlined in his speech just then, and he was also a pioneer of multicultural Australia. As the first federal cabinet member of Greek heritage, he demonstrated to many of us who were watching from the outside that representation is not just symbolic; representation matters. Senator Bolkus didn't simply inherit the story of migration; he lived it. And he lived that story through his longstanding career advocating for people from every background. He was a minister in the Hawke and Keating governments, and in 1993 he was appointed Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Multicultural Affairs. In both of those positions he worked relentlessly to ensure that the immigration system of this country was fairer and more inclusive. He understood what many in the labour movement understand: inclusiveness is not just an abstract exercise; it has a profound impact on the day-to-day lives of ordinary Australians in their ability to secure employment, in their ability to access services, in having their views heard and in their sense of belonging to this nation. Senator Bolkus was the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs at a time when the Keating government asked Australians to look outward to Asia and inward to our own social cohesion. He understood that multiculturalism had to be about inclusion and participation, not just about food and festivals, and that we recognise a community not just because their food tastes like chicken but because of the many contributions that they bring to Australia. One of his greatest legacies was his stewardship of the Racial Hatred Act 1995. He was the early architect of the legislation that protects Australians from hateful attacks based on their heritage, the colour of their skin or their place of birth. It's unsurprising that this was, of course, a hotly contested ideological battleground back then, but sadly that is still the case today. Senator Bolkus at that time had to navigate some contentious debates within the other place, and he had to build cross-party agreement in order to get the bill passed. He did that by championing the argument that, in a successful multicultural democracy, freedom of speech does not include the right to destroy another person's dignity because of the colour of their skin or their heritage, and his speeches from that period reflect a clarity of purpose that continues to inspire us today. He said then that Australia's future lies not in assimilation but in the rich tapestry of cultures that weave our national identity, and indeed those words are true today. In that same sense, we acknowledge that Senator Bolkus was behind the formation of the Multicultural Advisory Council, a standing body of coordination and advice to government, ensuring that our most diverse communities had input into how multiculturalism was shaped, and it formed the foundation of today's Australian Multicultural Council, which continues to do that important work. Prior to Senator Bolkus, the then ethnic affairs portfolio was responsible for delivering government services to non-English speakers. He took the portfolio in a different direction, a direction that would have been perceived as being groundbreaking at that time, rightly arguing that our diversity is in fact an economic asset. He recognised that our diaspora communities are not just people in need of assistance but, rather, bridges to the global economy. He advocated the view that Australians who speak Greek or Mandarin or Vietnamese or Arabic are our competitive advantage in a globalised world. He, in fact, moved multiculturalism from being at the periphery of social policy to the centre of economic policy. Every time we refer today to cultural capability in business or in government, or when we refer to the trade links created through people-to-people relationships, we are drawing upon the same arguments that he advanced 30 years ago. That is some legacy. When I was a child, we didn't practise our cultural heritage or traditions publicly. We listened to Umm Kulthum and Abdel Wahab in the quiet of our living room. We fasted for Ramadan by politely refusing food and drink so we were not having to answer questions about why we didn't drink water during the day, and we broke fast quietly over home cooked meals in our dining rooms. We didn't practise publicly. Something changed that, and one of the most profound things that changed that for my family was SBS. SBS gave us leave to speak our language publicly, to eat our food publicly and to celebrate our cultural traditions publicly. Under Senator Bolkus's leadership, SBS grew. He really championed it and advocated for expanding SBS. It developed from this specialised broadcaster into what it is today: a national organisation that reaches millions of Australians with news and programs in over 60 languages—a broadcaster that truly reflects the diversity of our nation. He also made significant advancements in Australia's refugee policy—as if all of that wasn't enough, there's more. In response to humanitarian crises around the world, he streamlined visa processing for those fleeing persecution, and, as many before me have noted, in 1993 he played a critical role in granting permanent residence to tens of thousands of Chinese students and their family members—those who had come prior to the Tiananmen Square incident, which is recalled quite vividly by those of us who can. That decision garnered international recognition, and in his valedictory speech many, many years later, he referred back to that moment with great pride, stating: 'The sky didn't fall in and the hordes didn't invade.' Sadly, though, those same expressions of border anxiety exist today. The passage of time proved that Australia, when tested, rises to the challenge and holds firm on our values of equality and humanity—values that Senator Bolkus put into practice all those years ago in 1993. Today, we also draw inspiration from his steadfastness in holding these values, even while other political and social forces seek to exploit division, appeal to fear and undermine our democracy. Arguably, his most lasting legacy is in relation to the status of citizenship itself. Senator Bolkus believed that Australian citizenship should be a celebratory occasion, not just an administrative requirement. I've heard this described variously as moving beyond formal citizenship to citizenship actually being something that we feel, that we celebrate and that we that we take in, in the way in which we practice our lives. He worked to enhance the significance of the pledge of commitment. He wanted the experience of becoming Australian to be a moment of profound inclusion. Like many members in this House, I attend citizenship ceremonies quite regularly. At the most recent one, there were about 200 people taking the citizenship pledge, and I reflected with them on that part in the citizenship pledge where we pledge allegiance not just to Australia but to Australia and her people. I asked the people in the room to look around and take in the environment and the atmosphere of that citizenship ceremony and to recognise that they were about to stand up and pledge their loyalty to the people in that room with them today, as well. I watched the faces of the people who were getting their citizenship as I spoke this and watched them again as they spoke those words when they took the citizenship pledge. I saw the intense pride when they spoke those words, the intense pride and the recognition that becoming Australian meant that you were pledging your allegiance to a people—to sharing their values and their democratic beliefs, as well as their rights and responsibilities. Indeed, every time I'm fortunate enough to attend a citizenship ceremony, I reflect on just how significant Nick Bolkus's impact was in making sure that they are celebratory moments, as is that very significant part of the citizenship pledge. I've spoken a lot about Senator Bolkus's contributions to multiculturalism and to modern Australia because they matter to me. They mattered to me as a young woman growing up in Australia, being able to look at somebody in the parliament who reflected my own feelings, my own voice, my own desires and my own sense of what it means to be Australian and what it means to belong in this nation. I think that gives you all a sense of just how significant and just how impactful Senator Bolkus was as a minister in the government here in this place. I never knew him. I never got to meet him, and I never got to shake hands. I would have loved to have had the kinds of experiences that the minister for health was speaking about. I would have loved to have sat with him and garnered some of his wise words and just drunk all of that in. But I am living proof that what he did mattered. I am living proof that what he did had an impact and will continue to have a lasting impact on this nation. In closing, I just want to also extend my sincerest condolences to Senator Bolkus's wife, Mary, and his children. We mourn the loss of a great advocate for migrants and a distinguished parliamentarian. I hope that his family finds comfort in the knowledge that his contribution to Australia in opening the hearts and the minds of successive generations will never be forgotten. Rest in peace, Senator Nick Bolkus, and may we continue to build the inclusive Australia that he spent his life striving for. Debate adjourned. Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:29