COMMITTEES

2022-09-06 2 1 0 House of Reps 0 1

Tuesday, 6 September 2022

The SPEAKER ( Hon. Milton Dick ) took the chair at 12:00, made an acknowledgement of country and read prayers.

COMMITTEES 1 COMMITTEES Public Works Joint Committee 1 Report 1 12:01 Mr PERRETT HVP Moreton On behalf of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Works, I present the 85th annual report of the committee. The report reflects the work undertaken in 2021 by the committee of the 46th Parliament. Accordingly, I thank all of the members of the Public Works Committee in the 46th Parliament for their hard work and expertise, and I particularly acknowledge the work of the late, great senator Alex Gallacher from South Australia, who was a longstanding member of that committee. I had the pleasure of being on the committee with him previously. He had incredible corporate knowledge when it came to the work of government and construction materials. We will do well to work without Senator Gallagher, but I acknowledge him, pass on my condolences to his family and thank him for his great, quiet contribution to the committee. In 2021, the committee scrutinised 89 medium works with a combined value of $2.176 billion and approved a total of 15 major projects with a combined value of $1.37 billion. As the oldest continuing committee of the parliament, the deputy chair, the member for Hinkler, and I look forward to continuing the committee's important scrutiny of proposed public works in the 47th parliament. I commend the report to the House. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). BILLS 1 BILLS Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2022 1

Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2022

Second Reading 1 12:03 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer The Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2022 supports the Commonwealth's effective recovery of the costs associated with the administration of licences for Australia's medical cannabis industry, amending the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Act 2016 to bring the fees and charges framework in line with reforms introduced by the former coalition government last year. The coalition simplified the medicinal cannabis licensing framework in response to the McMillan review's recommendations to streamline the sector. The independent review conducted by Professor John McMillan was commissioned by the coalition and resulted in 26 recommendations for improving the medical cannabis licensing and permits frameworks in Australia. The coalition agreed in principle to adopt all 26 recommendations. We understood that cutting red tape and streamlining processes will strengthen the important and evolving industry in Australia and ensure the availability of medical cannabis to Australian patients under proper medical supervision. Implementing the key recommendation of the review, we introduced amendments to replace the original three-licence model under the medical cannabis regulatory scheme with a single-licence structure. The activities relating to the administration of the medicinal cannabis regulatory scheme are funded through cost-recovery arrangements consistent with the Australian government's charging framework. As a result of the introduction of the simplified licence structure, changes to the fees and charges framework have become necessary to better align these arrangements with the new licence model. These changes were flagged by the McMillan review, which stated that the introduction of a simplified licence structure meant 'the scale of fees and charges would need to be tailored to the range of activities encompassed by a particular application and licence'. This bill seeks to continue the coalition's work of streamlining the medical cannabis industry by implementing these necessary changes to the fees and charges framework. In stark contrast to the coalition's reform in this area, Labor has been unfortunately inconsistent and unclear in their policy when it comes to the safeguards around medicines and the role of regulation. We haven't forgotten that, in 2017, Labor voted in the Senate with the Greens to remove important TGA safeguards. Labor also shredded the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme when they were last in government, deferring many listings of critical medicines. Now we're already seeing a concerning pattern of behaviour in the Albanese government's decisions on health. They have ended free rapid antigen tests for concession card holders and the supply to aged-care homes, and they were forced to backflip, after a costly delay, on cutting the pandemic leave disaster payment. The Albanese government has also cut more than 70 telehealth consultations, despite rising cost-of-living pressures. This cut has meant that since 1 July 2022 vulnerable Australians have no longer been able to access important COVID related telehealth items, including phone consultations that are over 20 minutes, restricting the availability of essential healthcare advice, particularly for vulnerable and regional Australians. In doing so, the government has gone against the advice of key stakeholders and experts, including the Australian Medical Association and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. Finalising the coalition's reform to streamline Australia's medical cannabis regulatory scheme through this bill is one positive decision after a long line of concerning steps taken by the Albanese government. In this place, and in the other chamber, the coalition will ensure Labor is subject to scrutiny when it comes to the commitments that they have made on health reform and the lack of transparent decision-making they have shown when it comes to their own policies. We will hold them to account for all of the election commitments that they have promised to the Australian people, because all Australians deserve access to Australia's world-class healthcare system and the critical medicines that we all rely on. I thank the House. 12:07 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt I rise in support of the second reading of the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Amendment Bill 2022 and commend the contribution just given by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. It was a very helpful explanation of the history of this, which is indeed a coalition measure that was brought forward in the last parliament. We're now dealing with this afresh in this new parliament because of timing issues around elections et cetera. It's obviously sound policy, which we on this side of the House support. Cannabis, of course, is an industry that has happily found more valuable applications in recent times than it has in its history. This is welcome and has created the need for a new framework to differentiate between those who use it for medicinal purposes and those who use it for illegal purposes. It's a developing industry, and it's obviously understandable that, from a legislative point of view, we've been needing to move through how we regulate the industry and how we see it as an opportunity, not just because of the important emerging capability it has to provide certain medical treatment to alleviate suffering but also because the production of cannabis is an opportunity for our primary producers. There have been a number of proponents in my home state of South Australia that are in various stages of developing production capability for cannabis for medicinal purposes. As I say, apart from its medical application, it's an area that we should look at to see where, from an Australian industry point of view, we can encourage and make things as simple as possible for the production and manufacture of medical cannabis related products in this country. To digress, we've obviously had a broader recognition of the need for sovereign capability around key areas such as pharmaceuticals here in this country, recently highlighted by the experiences through the pandemic, and that things can happen that bring into stark contrast the need to have sovereign capability and to be able to produce here in this country some of the important, fundamental things that support our way of life and in pharmaceuticals and medicine in particular. I also believe that the industry can do a lot more than provide for domestic requirements here in Australia. Indeed I believe that the industry can grow to be a good export earner for those that get into the production of medicinal cannabis in Australia, which is why we want to have a simple framework for overseeing the sector and make sure it is as straightforward as possible for people to participate in the sector, whilst equally not putting them in a position where we don't have the appropriate oversight that is necessary and important when it comes to licensing narcotics and ensuring that narcotics are produced, distributed, sold and used within the legal framework that we have to protect from abuse. So it was sensible for the previous government to undertake a review, and as has been pointed out, what we're doing through this legislation is implementing changes to the licensing charges framework so we can ensure that we're keeping things simple but equally make sure we have good oversight in place and that the sector are funding the cost of the government's overseeing of this framework. I have sat a lot, and it has been a pleasure to contribute. But on the basis that no-one is indicating to me that the member for Macarthur is moments away from the chamber and of the goodwill towards this legislation from all corners of the chamber I will leave my remarks at that and commend the bill to the House. 12:12 Ms KEARNEY LTU Cooper I would like to thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition and the member for Sturt for their very constructive and helpful comments. This bill amends the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Act 2016 to clarify that the Narcotic Drugs (Licence Charges) Regulation may prescribe matters that will be the subject of multiple separate charges which may be incurred by a licence holder during a particular charging period and to enable a simpler method for working out the amount of charge prescribed. The amendments in the bill are intended to provide sufficient flexibility for the regulations to appropriately prescribe charges supporting the effective recovery of the costs associated with administering the Narcotic Drugs Act 1967. I thank members for their contributions to the debate on the bill. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Third Reading 3 12:14 Ms KEARNEY LTU Cooper by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time. Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022 3

Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022

Second Reading 3 12:14 Mr BUCHHOLZ 230531 Wright I rise to speak on the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022. This bill is critically important to the parliament and it follows a piece of legislation which came into the House last night about support in this place for defence personnel—for veterans who have served the nation. We passed a resolution last night where we provided financial packages for veterans who have returned to try to deal with their PTSD, so that they could study and be on the same level of remuneration. I believe that this bill before us has support from both sides of the House. I see that the shadow minister for defence has moved into the House; I will conclude my comments and commend the bill to the House. I'd ask the minister to add to my comments. The SPEAKER 53517 I thank the member for Wright and give the call to the member for New England. 12:16 Mr e5d New England JOYCE () (): I apologise for my tardiness, Mr Speaker, but you've been exceptionally succinct in getting through some legislation this morning! Well done! With regard to the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022, there are three acts. There is the Veterans Entitlement Act 1986, the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 1988 and the Military Compensation and Rehabilitation Act 2004. Those three acts have been cumbersome and somewhat out of order for the efficient delivery of a service. This bill mirrors one that was brought in by the coalition in March this year and the reason for it is that we need to get a greater capacity for people to have access to the services that they need. That's everything from services in support of them at home to psychological services. One of the things about this is that in the past we've had caps on certain packages for what you could get. What this actually does is allow an expansion—no doubt, the government will bring forward a cap—of the allocation amongst the services and that will be at the discretion of those who are using them. One of the other things that is important about this is that it expands the remit of who is eligible for it. In the past, it was people who had had war-like service. This is going to allow for people who have been affected but they don't necessarily need to have had war-like service. It's not a great cost to the budget—I think it's in the vicinity of $36 million or $37 million—and it really is taking forward a bipartisan position. My view is that I don't particularly want to make veterans' issues contentious issues in this place, as best we can. There should be an approach to make sure we get a full flow of these pieces of legislation through the House so that those people who can access it get access to it. I note that in this bill there is the capacity to backdate for those who were eligible but who have not yet received it. Although there was an inconvenience where they haven't had access to the money, they're going to be compensated for the period of time that they were without the service. As I said about a similar piece of legislation yesterday—another veterans' piece of legislation—we have to acknowledge that the circumstances that surround our nation, unfortunately, have changed and have changed dramatically. I remember conversations with colleagues in the Labor Party, saying that for Australia it's in our region. Unfortunately, our children and our grandchildren—and probably ourselves—are going to live in different circumstances. Of course I talk about the rise of China and its unfortunate process of being more adversarial in the South China Sea and what we're seeing in other areas such as hacking into computers. So we once more have to start making the nation vastly more resilient than it has been. Part of that resilience will be an expansion of the defence forces, which comes hand in glove with our being able to demonstrate to them not only that we respect the service they give but that we give them support post their service and also that support to those families directly affected by those who have served. The bill goes to that process in expanding the remit of those who have access to the services. What we have to do is make sure that in everything we do in this chamber one of the things at forefront is to make our nation as strong as possible as quickly as possible, because there is no other alternative. That is absolutely what we have to do, and it has to happen in myriad ways. It's not just in materials but also in personnel, care for personnel and how we deal with them. If we do that in a proficient way then we can attract further people into the Defence Force, which is absolutely essential. There are so many sides to that. I believe that in future we're going to have to go right back to square one. We're going to have to have a strong cadet unit at schools, we're going to have to have strong reserve units in regional towns, we're going to have to have the resources so they have the kit on parade and whilst training to be able to quickly slip into the regs and we're going to have to have people who enlist in the regular services. We have 360,000 people or thereabouts who are ex servicemen and women in this nation, so it is a very large cohort of people that this nation and the government are responsible for the care of. The vast majority, it goes without saying, go back into civilian street as an easy transition. However, there are people for whom that is not the case, and we must put our attention to that. Going hand in glove with this is the royal commission, and we have to make sure we are compliant with the international act, whose name eludes me now. I think it's the international standard on social economic—I can't recollect it. But there are two parts of that, and this also works in concurrence with that to make sure we have not only looked after our veterans and their families but also abided by our international agreements in the same breath. If we do this and if the attention of this House and the other place is on making our nation as strong as possible as quickly as possible in all the myriad ways that are required to do that then I think that we can go back to the Australian people as a House and say one of our greatest endeavours in this place is to make sure that their children, their way of life, their freedoms and the liberties that they take as a birthright are protected and will endure into the future. So I won't delay the House any more. I commend this bill, and I've already had discussions with the minister. I thank them for those discussions, in which I made clear that we would be supporting this. 12:23 Mr THISTLETHWAITE 182468 Kingsford Smith I am grateful to the shadow minister and glad to see that the parliament is coming together on this bill to support veterans, because we owe a debt of gratitude to our Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans, whom we have a solemn duty to look after, including their families, particularly after they retire from the ADF. We know that families play an essential role in supporting current and ex-serving members. Military life is unique, and those families can also be deeply affected by military service. For most veterans' families military service is largely a positive experience, but some of our veterans and their families need support to manage challenging life circumstances, such as mental or physical health episodes, or sudden significant events such as loss of employment. The Albanese government is listening to families and recognises that more support is needed for partners and their families. We know that support for our veterans' families is too important to wait for the final recommendations from the royal commission into veterans' suicide. They've delivered an interim report. The government is in the process of responding to that and the recommendations, but the final report won't come down until 2024 and veterans need action prior to that. An existing program for certain veterans' families provides funding for child care, counselling and, for widowed partners, household services. The government has listened to the needs of veterans' families and is establishing a new Defence Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package. It will provide support for more families by extending the eligibility under all three acts to veterans and their families who are at risk of, or are in, crisis and removing the need for veterans to have warlike service or be participating in rehabilitation. That's an important change to the provisions in these acts, that extends that to more veterans and their families. It also builds capacity to include access to skills based supports, to help families adjust to new life circumstances independently and in the future. It provides families with choice and flexibility by removing the limits on each service category, so families can choose the support that they need. It also gives families access to at least the same level of financial support available under the current package, in many cases and more, and makes the package more equitable, with all families able to access a range of supports. It improves support to widowed partners, by starting the two-year period of support from the date of acceptance into the program rather than from the date of the death of a partner. It's another example of this government getting on with the job and listening to veterans, responding to their circumstances and implementing changes that will provide more support for veterans into the future. This acute support package is delivered in accordance with recommendation 19 of the Senate inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel, and that report was entitled The constant battle: suicide by veterans. It also responds to recommendation 19.2 of the Productivity Commission report A better way to support veterans, going further than the recommendation by ensuring that veterans and their families are well supported. The existing program captures only a small segment of veterans' families, due to the restricted eligibility criteria linked to contemporary veterans, their service and participation in rehabilitation. This initiative recognises that military service can adversely affect a family at any time and extends access to more families by linking eligibility criteria to incapacity and need. The bill amends the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act and the Veterans' Entitlements Act, and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act to establish the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package. This support package will provide at-risk veterans' families with access to a range of services that meet their health and wellbeing needs up to the value of $12½ thousand over two years. Families can access support services to the value of $7½ thousand in the first year and $5,000 in the second year. In addition, families with children can access additional support to the value of $10,000 a year for a child under school age, and $5,000 a year for primary school aged children, until the child reaches that high school age. Also under this measure, widowed partners can access support services to the value of $27,835 for each of the two years, to meet the cost of help around the home, such as cleaning, gardening and other maintenance, counselling for them and their children, skill based supports such as mental health and first aid, and other practical support for families' wellbeing. They'll also have access to the additional support for children under the high school age, and those financial amounts will be specified in the legislative instruments once this bill is passed. In conclusion, again, this is more evidence of the Albanese government listening to the concerns of veterans and their families and delivering additional support, as well as ensuring that we're getting on as best possible with implementing the interim recommendations of the royal commission, as we all, as a nation, await the final outcomes of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. We are committed to supporting veterans and their families. This package is another example of how that support can be delivered flexibly and in the interests of veterans and their vulnerable families. 12:30 Dr GI 72184 Lyne LLESPIE () (): I rise in support of the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022, because it's good policy and it's what our veterans deserve. This bill unifies the intent and adds further support to the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2004, the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 and the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-related Claims) Act 1988. This unified package extends eligibility to family members of working-age veterans who are at risk or are in a situation of crisis, including, most importantly, removing the requirement for warlike service for veterans. You can have a lot of horrible things happen to you when you're serving your country without being in warlike service, because there are plenty of major incidents and events that have the threat of the end of your life, severe harm, damage, post-traumatic stress disorder et cetera. There's also expanded flexibility in choosing the services to match each veteran's individual needs. These extended supports and terms of income for the families, the partners, the ex-partners and the children are exempt from income or social security determinations, which is a great improvement. The quantity of support is quite considerable, but there are just a few things about the quality of it. There are many existing veterans who will benefit from this pretty much straight away—there's about 120 of them—but there are also, unfortunately, 430 families who have lost their father or their mother and 450 widows or widowers who will get benefit from this. We support this because it's good policy and it's good practice to support the veterans' need, but I do note that it's almost identical in scope to the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Family Support) Bill, introduced by us in March 2022, which was due to come into effect on 1 July. The best form of flattery, I suppose, is to have your legislation copied and value added. But it is really important that our veterans know that this House is united in support of them and their families and their partners. That's the most important thing. I might add that my good colleagues the member for Cowper, the member for Page and the member for New England and I have an awful lot of veterans in our electorates. A lot of them are living the dream. They've moved up the North Coast for a better retirement life. I think in my electorate I have about 3,000 veterans. That is a big slice of veterans in the North Coast. A lot of these veterans have been helped by various organisations, including the Mid North Coast Veteran Wellbeing initiative. They had worked up a proposal whereby 11 different organisations were going to be recipients of a $5 million grant that came through in the last budget to support the development of unified housing—a wellbeing unit—covering those areas. With 3,000 veterans in my electorate alone and similar numbers probably in Cowper, Page and New England, there are a lot of people who are very disappointed to hear that that money has been withdrawn by this government and has gone elsewhere. I call on the minister to review this decision quite urgently because a lot of hard work and a lot of expectation has been built up for our worthy veterans across the board and it will be money well spent. This initiative in itself will support at-risk veterans with a range of services—really important things like child care, household assistance, help with financial planning, mental health support and tutoring support for children. The financial amounts, according to the minister, are up to about $12,500 over two years for a family, but access to extra support is there, too, to the tune of $10,000 year for children under school age and $5,000 a year for primary school age children until they reach high school. This also gives quite a significant support for widowed partners who can access these support services to the tune of $27,835 for all those household duties that have to be carried out. When you are grieving, when you've lost a partner, you need that sort of practical support. All in all, it's a very good bill. I commend it in whole and in part. I commend the bill to other members of the House. 12:36 Mr ZAPPIA HWB Makin Like most members of this place, I regularly attend defence commemoration services. It is, in my view, a very dignified way of saying thank you and showing our gratitude for defence personnel who, since Federation, have served Australia. Those services also provide a public recognition of the significance of critical military events and of how they may have changed the course of history and are often examples of extraordinary sacrifice and courage. I believe Australia does that well, and military commemoration services have become a regular feature of Australian life, with some services being very unique to individual communities. However, what we haven't done so well, as a nation, is to support our defence personnel during and after their military service. That has culminated in the shocking statistics on defence suicides and the royal commission that is currently underway. The Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022 seeks to improve services for present and past defence members and their families. The bill establishes the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package. The existing family support package provides support to families of veterans with warlike service who are participating in rehabilitation to adjust to new or challenging life circumstances. The program provides short-term targeted support and complements Department of Veterans' Affairs services and other government services. Under this bill, eligibility for support is extended to family members of working-age veterans who are at risk or are in crisis, irrespective of whether the veteran is participating in a rehabilitation program or has rendered warlike service, and it expands the range of support to family members under the existing program. The extended range of supports available includes child care, household assistance such as garden maintenance and meal preparation, and capacity-building support in relation to financial literacy, relationship skills and mental health first aid. The bill also amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 so that family support payments for veterans and their families are exempt from income tax, and it amends the Social Security Act 1991 so that family support payments for veterans and their families are not income for the purposes of the social security income test. I understand that around 430 families and 450 widowed partners are expected to benefit in the first year. Families do play an essential role in supporting current and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members. The government recognises that more support is needed for partners and families and recognises that support for veterans' families is too important to wait for the outcome of the royal commission, as other speakers have, quite rightly, said. The support package responds to recommendation 19 of the report of the August 2017 senate inquiry into suicide by veterans and ex-service personnel titled The constant battle: suicide by veterans. It also responds to recommendation 19.2 of the June 2019 Productivity Commission report A better way to support veterans, going further than the recommendation to ensure veterans and their families are indeed well supported. The defence, veterans' and families' acute support package will provide at-risk veteran families with access to a range of services up to the value of $12,500 over two years. Families can access support services to the value of $7,500 in the first year and $5,000 in the second year. In addition, families with children can access additional support to the value of $10,000 a year for children under school age and $5,000 a year for primary-school-age children until the child reaches high school age. Also, under this measure, widowed partners can access support services to the value of $27,835 each year for two years to meet the cost of help around the home such as cleaning, gardening and other maintenance, counselling for them and their children, skills based support such as mental health and first aid, and other practical support for the family's wellbeing. The existing program is targeted at working-age families in recognition of the unique challenges they face transitioning to civilian life. With respect to that, I want to quote fairly extensively from some of the key points from the Productivity Commission report A better way to support veterans: Despite some recent improvements to the veterans' compensation and rehabilitation system, it is not fit-for-purpose—it requires fundamental reform. It is out-of-date and is not working in the best interest of veterans and their families, or the Australian community. In 2017-18, the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) spent $13.2 billion supporting about 166 000 veterans and 117 000 dependants (about $47 000 per client). And while the veteran support system is more generous overall than other workers' compensation schemes, this does not mean it is an effective system. … … … The institutional and policy split between Defence and DVA also embeds perverse incentives, inefficient administration and poor accountability, and results in policy and implementation gaps. … … … … a new Veteran Mental Health Strategy that takes a lifetime approach is urgently needed. Suicide prevention should be a focus of the Strategy, informed by ongoing research and evaluation. The issue of suicide will be better addressed by the royal commission. Importantly, the report also says: An implicit principle underpinning the current veterans' compensation and rehabilitation system is that military service is a unique occupation. There are a number of features that distinguish military service from other occupations, including that members: are required to follow orders—members are subject to military law and discipline and are not as free as other Australians to make independent decisions or to choose to avoid personal injury in armed conflict have authority to apply lethal force against enemy forces are frequently placed in high-risk environments, including in war or operational service and while in training or on peacetime service. … … … The key message of this report is that despite recent improvements to the system, the current veterans' compensation and rehabilitation system requires fundamental reform. It is not working in the best interests of veterans and their families or the Australian community. It is not set up in a way that minimises harm from service-related injury and illness. It is not meeting the needs of contemporary veterans and will struggle to meet the needs of future generations of veterans. Those comments from the Productivity Commission report, I believe, accurately sum up the situation with respect to veterans right now. They couldn't be more clear and more direct. It is time that changes are made and additional compensation be provided. The member for Lyne, the speaker before me, quite rightly pointed out that this legislation mirrors legislation brought in by the last coalition government, I think, in March this year. My response to that is simply this: the legislation responds to two reports, the Senate report of 2017 and the Productivity Commission report of 2019. They're from three and five years ago. It took the coalition government some three years after the Productivity Commission report to even bring legislation before the House when it knew that there was an election pending and the legislation would not be dealt with. Furthermore, we subsequently learned that the coalition government cut $430 million from the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Again, that was money that was urgently required to address many of the issues that have been raised by the Productivity Commission report and which are being addressed by this legislation. Yes, it is well overdue, but it is good to see that this government, as one of its priorities, has come into this place and brought this legislation before the parliament so we can get on with providing the support services that veterans need. 12:45 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher In my six years in this place, I've had the privilege of holding the responsibility of being Chair of the Defence Subcommittee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. Now that the government has changed hands, I find myself in the position of deputy chair. It's a role that I relish. It's probably one of the ones I've enjoyed the most of the numerous committees I've served on in this place. I've never served in uniform. I remember as a young lad, I say to the school students who are in the chamber at the moment, fronting up to the St Kilda Road recruitment centre for the ADF. I wanted to be a fighter pilot, like many other young people—yes, a top gun. We'd shifted from F-111s to the F/A-18 'Classic' Hornet and I wanted a piece of the action. So I went down to the St Kilda Road recruiting centre and they said, 'Come back when you have high distinctions in maths I, maths II, English, physics and your choice of subject.' Guess what? I never went back! But, whilst I have never served in uniform, particularly in my role as chair and now deputy chair of the Defence Subcommittee I have developed an enduring respect for those that have. I have had the privilege of working alongside many of our men and women in uniform in that role. Also I've tried to do at least one or two ADF parliamentary program trips throughout my six years in this place. I can honestly say that the men and women of our ADF are absolutely remarkable human beings. If any of the young students in this chamber want to take up a life of service in this country, they could do no better than to serve in the ADF for a period of time. It's often said that men and women who go into politics are volunteers and their families are conscripts. Exactly the same could be said for men and women who join the ADF. Our men and women in the ADF put themselves at risk. They know that, at any point in time, they could be called upon to make the ultimate sacrifice. But their families don't make those commitments—at least not firsthand. But we know, out of all of the inquiries that have been done over many years, that our men and women in the ADF sometimes, not always, are impacted upon by their service. Sometimes it's physically; sometimes it's mentally. And, of course, that has an impact upon their families. What I have learned in my time in these various roles is that, when men and women join the ADF, they join with great ideals of doing great things and enjoying great comradeship. One moment they're flying, driving or sailing multimillion dollar—or in some cases multibillion dollar—equipment. Their camaraderie is sky high. They have a sense of mission. They have a sense of purpose. But when they leave the ADF, particularly those who leave the ADF involuntarily because of either ill health or disciplinary reasons, those involuntary departures can have very, very significant impacts on our ex-serving ADF members. Of course, many of those ADF members, those veterans, will return to families, and there are impacts that family members watch and see their loved one go through: feelings of helplessness and the loss of mission and purpose. Like any family, they share that pain, and it has impacts on those families. The care of our veterans and their families is an issue that should be absolutely beyond politics. I don't care whether you're Labor, Liberal, National, Teal or Independent—those men and women who served this country with great distinction deserve the honour to be respected and looked after not only when they are in uniform but also when they leave. Back in 2017, I think, I had the privilege of travelling overseas to look at the world's best practice for the care of our veterans who are suffering from PTSD. I had the privilege of travelling to England, Sweden, the Netherlands and Canada to look at what those countries do to look after their veterans. And what I saw in those four countries, beyond a shadow of a doubt, was that the provisions that we have in this country are far better than in those other countries. That's not to suggest that the $11½-odd billion that we spend each year in the care of our veterans, through the Department of Veterans' Affairs, is perfect. It is not. The care of our veterans cannot just be gauged by a dollar sign. There have been many stories, and the current royal commission is working through those, about people not receiving the care that they need. I'm not suggesting for a second that it is a perfect system—it is not—but I don't want Australians to have a misperception that their governments of any persuasion do not hold veterans in the highest esteem and do not do everything they can to look after them. Can we do better? Yes, we can. Must we do better? Yes, we must. The Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022 will provide greater care and protections to the family members of our veterans. Families are the conscripts—the people who didn't sign up as their family members did. I want to acknowledge all members in this place who have served as veterans affairs minister, certainly in the 45th and 46th parliaments. The former Deputy Prime Minister, who's in the chamber today, was one of them. Every single one of those men who have held that position—I think they have all been men since I've been in this place—has absolutely undertaken their responsibilities with great diligence, care and, dare I say, love. I want to acknowledge the current veterans' affairs minister. I want to acknowledge him for taking my call recently about a veteran who I was very concerned about and who's a constituent of mine. As sometimes happens, we were getting a bit of a run-around from the DVA. I rang and I said: 'Mate, we've got problems. I'm quite concerned about this constituent.' And, to his credit, he fixed it in 24 hours. Credit to you. This is beyond politics. The care of our veterans should never descend into a political game of argy-bargy. I hope that does not happen. I'm not going to stand up here and say, 'We've done this; you guys have done that.' There's no place in this debate for that, not when speaking of the men and women who've served our country with distinction. I can tell you now, from all my dealings with them, they are not interested in that sort of conduct. They just want to know, if they're going to pull on the uniform, if they're going to put themselves in harm's way, that they're going to be looked after and, importantly—probably even more important in their eyes—that their families are going to be looked after. That's what this bill will do. This bill, in effect, mirrors a bill that the previous government put into the parliament prior to the election, but I'm very, very pleased that the current government has picked it up and run with it. I thank the House. 12:56 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina I concur with the former speaker's fine words, and, in the spirit of bipartisanship, I too want to thank the member for Burt, the current veterans' affairs minister, for being in the House to listen to these important speeches. It's not always that a minister is able to be present for all the speeches on a particular bill, but he has made himself available, and I thank him. I also, like the former speaker, want to thank him for addressing the matters I've raised with him and being prompt to take my calls and respond to the conversations that we've engaged in. If this is going to be a measure of his tenure as the veterans' affairs minister, then I'd like to think our veterans are going to be well served, as they always have been. Veterans' affairs has to be, as the previous speaker mentioned, beyond the partisan argy-bargy of politics. The position of veteran affairs minister is an old one. It's been around since it was called the Minister for Repatriation. Edward Miller first served in that role, from 1917, when the position was inaugurated. He served in that position until 1923. The current veterans' affairs minister is, in fact, the 46th person to serve in that role. It is an important position—and I say that is a fine former veterans' affairs minister, the member for Gippsland, enters the chamber. He knows all too well the importance of our veterans. Yesterday we heard a fine address-in-reply, an inaugural speech, by the member for Menzies, who, in his concluding remarks, said: And if we ever lose our map— he was referring to the building that we are in, the wonderful House of Representatives— let us stand at the main entrance. At that point you will see a road that draws a long line to names on a wall. These are the names of Australians who traded all their tomorrows so that we may have today. Of course, he's right. Having just looked at the Australian War Memorial's website, there are 103,000 names on those walls that he mentioned, and they are the bronze roll of honour. They are the names etched into history, etched into immortality. They are the names of those who served and lost their lives in the duty of our nation. Some of them volunteered; some of them were sent, but all of them had that obligation to our nation, to our freedom, to our democracy. We owe them a debt of gratitude, just like we owe a debt of gratitude to those veterans who return from conflict, those veterans who return from peacekeeping missions and those veterans who may never even leave our nation. Many of their names, too, are on the wall of remembrance, the roll of honour, for having made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation. The bill before us, the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022, is an important piece of legislation which is agreed upon by both sides of the chamber. That is so very important. I am a former Minister for Veterans' Affairs as well as a former Minister for Defence Personnel. I served in the role from 20 December 2017 to 5 March 2018, so a hundred years from the time when the position was created. I was not a long time in that role. I was then called upon to do other duties, including the Deputy Prime Minister's role. But, indeed, I knew how important it was, having also been Assistant Minister for Defence and being someone who proudly came from the only inland regional centre in which there were all three arms of defence. I say that because we've got the home of the soldier at Kapooka, the Army Recruit Training Centre, where every recruit does their 13 weeks of basic training. We have march-out parades just about every other Friday, and people—families—come from all over the nation to proudly watch that long line of khaki. It stretches around the parade ground at Kapooka and all the way back to Gallipoli—even before that—and that is not lost on the families and friends of those brave men and women who are Australia's newest Army recruits. Of course, if you spend any time in the Royal Australian Air Force you will end up at Forest Hill, RAAF Base Wagga Wagga. That is fantastic. It has been in place for many, many decades, and long may it continue. And, of course, we've got a Navy base connected, attached and working alongside Forest Hill. It's also connected, attached and working alongside HMAS Albatross at Nowra, making sure naval officers get an inland experience, Mr Deputy Speaker. We're a long way from the nearest drop of sea water, but at Wagga Wagga we're very proud that we are a garrison city, a tri-service city. That will continue because of the fact that we are spending nearly a billion dollars of infrastructure money on upgrading those two important bases to serve the three important military traditions, navy, air force and army. In February 2018, when I was the veterans' affairs minister, I introduced the Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Veteran-centric Reforms No. 1) Bill 2018. I know how much of a role the member for Gippsland had to play in that particular legislation. It implemented several new initiatives to deliver better services to veterans and their families. It was groundbreaking work that needed to be done and was done, and the benefits are now flowing through our defence communities and through the general community. The bill created a new veteran payment to assist financially vulnerable veterans who have lodged a compensation claim for a mental health condition and are unable to work while their claim is determined. I note the member for Solomon is here too and I thank him for his service to our nation in uniform. Thank you. But I digress. As I was saying, if you spend a minute in defence, in uniform, you will get free mental health care for life, as you should. Partners of veterans may be eligible for the veteran payment, and veterans with dependant children may be entitled to the maximum rates of family tax benefit part A without being subject to the family tax benefit means test while they receive the veteran payment. At the time, I said that veterans and their families are at the heart of communities around Australia. That has rung true since 1917, when World War I was still being waged in Europe and Africa, and it's just as important today. Our veterans have supported us. This government, and all governments, are committed to ensuring they receive and have access to the support services they need. Family plays a central role in the veteran's health and wellbeing, and this bill, a veteran-centric bill, will ensure that vital services such as income support and health care help veterans and their families who are transitioning into civilian life. I know that prime ministers past—Prime Minister Turnbull, Prime Minister Morrison and, indeed, Prime Minister Abbott, and others too—put in place policies to ensure that veterans were looked after when it came to being absorbed back into civilian life and, most importantly, getting jobs. Not every veteran is broken; not every veteran requires the help that other veterans may well need. Veterans are contributing mightily to the nation's workforce and to the nation beyond their uniform lives. That is also very well commended. I thank prime ministers of all political persuasions for making sure that veterans can transition back into civilian life—that they can, after their time of duty is over, make sure that they can contribute for their own wellbeing and, obviously, for the community's wellbeing. The purpose of this bill before the House is to provide better tailored short-term and targeted support for veterans and their families. It has four key components: it ensures that support payments are exempt from income tax or social security determinations; it ensures that there is expanded flexibility in choosing services to match a veteran's individual needs; it extends eligibility to family members of working-age veterans who are at risk or are in crisis, including the removal of a veteran's requirement for war-like service to have been undertaken; and it continues the harmonisation of veterans' entitlements across the three veteran related acts. These are all important provisions, all vital components and all part of this bill. The bill is almost identical in scope and cost to the coalition's Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Enhanced Family Support) Bill 2022, which was introduced in March and which was to have taken effect from 1 July 2022. So I commend the member for Burt, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, for picking this up and running with it. As I said, this is bipartisan and is across the chamber, and I certainly acknowledge that. The bill establishes a wider group of people who will be eligible for assistance under the Department of Veterans' Affairs' Family Support Package. The $11½ billion that the Commonwealth spends on veterans is a cost—yes. It's a cost to the bottom line, but it's an investment. It is an investment in those people who have served this nation and who deserve every bit of help, every bit of support and every bit of respect that is justifiable, that they are entitled to and that we give. And it's largely uncapped, as it should be, because those veterans who have fallen through the cracks, who may not have previously engaged with the Department of Veterans' Affairs, who may not have sought help and who may not be receiving help, but have suddenly found themselves requiring assistance, should contact the DVA. And if they don't get the help or support that they need in that first phone call then try, try again. I urge and encourage them to do that. Go through one of the wellbeing centres. I appreciate that Wagga Wagga, my home town, is currently in the throes of trying to establish two, one called Pro Patria, a community driven centre, and another one called the Riverina Veteran Wellbeing Centre. That had an opening of sorts last October. It is modelled on the federally funded veterans' wellbeing centres, such as the recently opened facility in Nowra. The Wagga Wagga centre aims to deliver a range of support services, including physical and mental health, advocacy, education, employment, housing and financial assistance, and I commend Charlotte Webb for her work in ensuring the progress of that. But I really want to promote the Pro Patria Centre. The Carmelite nuns have offered up their site in North Ashmont to further that particular facility. There are many good community board members on that—David Bardos, Anne Delaney, Paul Fernon, Alan Lean, Brad Maynard, Helen Wheeler, Jason Frost—making sure that they can make a difference for veterans and for first responders as well. Colonel James Hammett, the former commandant of ARTC Kapooka, was an honorary committee member. He was pushing it as well during his time there. He has since moved on, and we thank him for his service to Kapooka. As I said, there are many other community members as well. Lyle Salmon is the chair. There are Jane Barnes, Lachlan Feeny, Dr Jim Read, Angelo Strano, Colin Taggart, and Jackie Van de Velde, all of whom are making a difference, trying to progress that and hoping to get funding. I have had a good, long chat or chats not just with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs but, indeed, with the Deputy Prime Minister, who is also the Minister for Defence. In relation to that, the former coalition government promising $5 million for a wellbeing centre in Wagga Wagga. It just makes good sense. We've got so many veterans in Wagga Wagga, home of the soldier. Spend any given time in the Air Force and you will end up at Wagga Wagga. It is an important Navy strategic base as well even though we don't generally have a lot of water around the area unless it's flooding, and I'm not sure that HMAS Adelaide will be down the Murrumbidgee River any time soon! I commend this bill. I again thank the minister for having the foresight, the dedication and the commitment to attend the chamber while people are speaking about this bill. I commend him for the work that he is doing in this space at the present time and wish them all the very best for the future. It's a big role. I also commend the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Sometimes they get a bad rap. By and large they do a very good job, and I know they'll continue to do that on behalf of our veterans. 13:11 Dr SCAMPS 299623 Mackellar I would like to talk briefly to the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022. We've lost more of our defence forces and veterans to suicide than we've lost in the past 20 years in conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. This is not a battle of armies on a field; it is a silent battle amongst us at home, and we are losing it. Each death sweeps through families and communities, leaving profound grief and sadness. After endless reports—50 at the current count—and 750 recommendations later, how is it possible we could fail so many who were brave enough to defend our country? Vulnerable defence personnel and veterans are experiencing isolation, poor mental health, despair, bullying, relationship breakdown and unemployment. One soldier said: When I did return to civilian life, my mental health eventually caught up to me and it was extremely overwhelming at times. I think it's because I had been so hypervigilant for such a long time, the emotions inside of me built up and pushed me over the edge. This bill is important to the 1,800 veterans and their families who live in Mackellar, my electorate. With the passage of this bill, vulnerable veterans and their families will have more flexible support, including extending that support to a wider and more eligible group. We must understand that, to support veterans, we have to support their families as well, with services including things such as household help, relationship skills training, mental health first aid and financial literacy. This bill will also provide support whether or not a veteran has rendered warlike service. I am shocked that it is only with this bill that we are now acknowledging that not just Australian defence forces who have fought on the front lines but also those who are in supporting roles will get the support that they need. It's no wonder that our veterans struggle if, after being educated on the importance of discipline, duty and dedication to their unit and their country, they find that, when they enter or re-enter civilian life, that loyalty doesn't go both ways, that they weren't actually enough of the team to be eligible for the DVA support. As a doctor I understand that acute problems need to be addressed as quickly as possible or they become chronic. When a problem becomes chronic, it is harder to fix and takes more time, more money and more effort. The greatest challenge of this extended support act is that, right now, claims are taking up to 30 months to process—up to 30 months. The backlog of claims is massive: 43,000 people with around 60,000 claims are waiting to be processed. Clearing the backlog is the No. 1 recommendation that will save lives immediately. I commend the member for Burt for bringing this bill forward. 13:15 Mrs ARCHER 282237 Bass I'm pleased to stand here today in support of this bill, the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022, which will make a tangible difference in the lives of veterans and their families. Supporting our veterans is a bipartisan effort, and—with the federal government putting forward this legislation, which is almost identical to a bill introduced by the coalition in March—this will only benefit those in need. The legislation has arisen as a response to recommendations from the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee report The constant battle: suicide by veterans. It laid bare just where we have fallen short in supporting veterans and their families, inflicting further trauma on those who have served our country—stories which have been further heard with the current royal commission into veteran suicide. Over the past few years, I've met with many veterans and their family members who have felt let down by the lack of support provided to them and their families while in service and after leaving. We have a responsibility to ensure veterans can live their most productive life post service and to support family members of veterans who are at risk or in crisis, along with working-age widowed partners of deceased veterans and former partners. This bill goes a long way towards filling these service gaps, while ensuring support payments for veterans and their families are exempt from income tax and are not included as income for the purpose of social security determinations. While the government plays a critical role in supporting veterans, generations of dedicated staff and volunteers have also provided mateship, advocacy and welfare services to veterans of all conflicts and defence service families since 1917. This valuable support continues to this day, with 2022 marking 105 years of service provision to Tasmanian veterans and their families—support from veterans' groups like the Vietnam Veterans Association of Australia Launceston sub-branch. Since its inception in 1995, members have voluntarily provided gardening and yard maintenance to veterans and their families. Every Tuesday the volunteers converge at the Launceston RSL, ready for a day of providing their time to any war widows or ex-serviceperson who needs assistance in taking care of their lawn or yard. Also based out of the Launceston RSL is the Launceston veterans hub, whose work is worthy of being in the spotlight, thanks to a group of passionate and dedicated veterans. The Launceston veterans hub in my electorate is now underway and operating, spearheaded by the ever-dedicated retired Major Peter Williams. With a combined effort of lobbying from Peter, and advocacy from me to former coalition minister for veterans' affairs Darren Chester, I was able to secure and deliver $250,000 towards the end of last year, providing the necessary funds for the Launceston RSL to upgrade their facilities, which has allowed for an expansion of services. The hub, located in the RSL, now has the capacity to house compensation and wellbeing advocates, including a full-time wellbeing advocate, who commenced work in Launceston recently. A full-time compensation advocate will be employed soon. The local veterans hub also has Mates4Mates advocates operating out of Launceston and covering the north-west of the state. With the Launceston hub now operational, Peter and the rest of his team are well on their way to establishing their vision of a Tasmanian veterans hub. With more than 17,000 veterans in Tasmania, the goal is to support the wellbeing and betterment of the Tasmanian RSL members, former and serving members of the ADF and their dependents with the provision of welfare and commemorative services, and, where appropriate, to contribute to worthy needs within the community. On-the-ground and personal experience has led to key learnings for the hub, including that services must be evidence based and provide tangible outcomes to veterans, to lead the way in veteran recovery and family support. Additionally, their learnings have found: that welfare and support teams can best support veterans and their families when we have a cross-section of staff and volunteers with ADF lived experience; that veterans and their families do not easily seek help, and therefore social connection activities are crucial to providing the first step to extend a helping hand without the fear of stigma; the importance of early intervention by staff trained to identify and respond to risk factors associated with suicidal ideation; that regional and local communities are different, and the design of hub-and-spoke locations should be based on data, local knowledge and local needs of veterans and families; and that service needs can change, and therefore the establishment of a continuous quality-improvement process is critical to ensuring services respond to changing needs. The team has also identified the importance of reducing barriers to improve access to services by veterans and their families, including services through a variety of service delivery models that this bill seeks to address. Peter tells me we have a long and proud history of providing valued welfare support and service delivery to the veteran community within Tasmania. The aim is to encompass the full life cycle of veteran support from the point of Defence Force entry through to transitioning into future civilian life. We continue to work closely with all levels of government and other ex-service organisations to provide ongoing support to the veterans and their families. The establishment of the veteran hub model specifically aims to address the needs identified in recent studies in Tasmania. The model of service delivery plans to coordinate and co-locate a range of veterans' services to reach as many veterans and their families as possible across Tasmania. They include establishing two regional veterans hubs using existing infrastructure that will be community based and veteran-centric. Having wellness hubs in these locations would also mean that over 98 per cent of current DVA clients would be within 150 kilometres of a veterans hub, which is key to ensuring that veterans have access to services. Additionally, there are plans to implement a network of community development services that would reach into other regional and rural areas. Other plans include establishing a lead agency to coordinate services and standards for both hubs, and provide the case management and navigational assistance to veterans plus integrating online and telephone services as an extension of the veterans hub. The Tasmanian hub would also seek to ensure that there is coordinated case management that proactively engages with veterans before the transition from active service. The new service would work actively to improve access to physical and mental health services by providing case management for complex conditions, education and incentives, to increase the number of veteran-friendly service providers and speed access to any relevant compensation. If the work of this team sounds impressive, it's because it truly is, and the approach taken by Peter and his team is one other states across Australia are looking to emulate. Their model for providing mental health assistance for veterans and their families is one that I believe will see better outcomes for those who are seeking its services. Central to the model is an intake assessment and support plan to veterans and family members accessing services. Once triaged, care coordinators will co-design with veterans a plan to meet their goals, working together to select the right services to facilitate optimal outcomes. Importantly, this model facilitates coordinated delivery of veterans' support services and consistent case management, offering both core support and ancillary services to veterans and their families. The hub will work with both support officers and the Department of Veterans' Affairs to incorporate a model of care for high-intensity and acute specialist mental health services to achieve this important third objective of the wellbeing centre program. A wellbeing or compensation advocate will be allocated to guide the veteran or family member through their journey, ensuring they have support to access services, engagement with clinical treatment and beneficial social and recreational liberties. Critically, the support services being provided will be measured with a quality-of-life measurement tool upon commencement and at regular intervals throughout the veteran's support journey. Those working to develop this know firsthand that the time frames for veterans' or family members' health and wellbeing recovery plans vary depending on needs, individual progress and life complexities. This approach will also allow for care, coordination and service planning, which will include an opt in or opt out for veterans and/or family members that don't want to access care coordination or a service plan. However, the advocates cannot do this work alone, and a major problem faced by veterans seeking an official diagnosis is the lack of available psychiatrists. DVA accepts psychologists to perform the permanent impairment assessment but insists on a psychiatrist to do the initial diagnosis, and this presents a number of challenges. The department has recommended using a videoconferencing psychiatrist organisation out of Sydney that will provide a diagnosis on the first visit but no treatment. Veteran advocates have raised with me that if the department would accept a diagnosis from a psychologist, bearing in mind that they can request a second opinion, it would greatly assist in the progress and passage of their impending claim. I'm committed to working with the current minister to find a path forward for Tasmanian veterans who are being unfairly impacted by this current situation. The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare's Final report to theIndependent Review ofPast Defence andVeteran Suicides found that the rate of suicide for ex-serving male veterans was 22 per cent higher than for the general population and for ex-serving female veterans it was 127 per cent higher compared to the general population. We're also aware of the statistics on the impact military life can have on partners and children long after a loved one has left the Defence Force. With the support of services provided through the veteran hubs in Tasmania, combined with the extra support and services outlined in this bill, I'm hopeful of seeing a tangible difference in outcomes for veterans in my state and across the country. The DEPUTY SPEAKER E0D I call the honourable member for Menzies and congratulate him on his recent elevation to the 47th parliament. 13:26 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Can I begin by thanking the Minister for Veterans' Affairs, the member for Burt, for being here and introduce myself as the co-chairman of the Parliamentary Friends of Veterans, along with the member for Spence. The member for Spence and I recently found out that we initially served as army reservists together, and it's wonderful to gather here again. I also served with the member for Solomon—we did commando selection together—and I'd like to commit to you and this place that, when it comes to serving veterans, I'd like us to work together for their interests over ours. I am a veteran and I was a lawyer, but I will admit that I find the current legislative regime confusing. It's really hard to understand. If I'm struggling after 12 years as a barrister and many years as a solicitor, then veterans and their families are struggling. If you go to the Law Council of Australia website, they have principles of the rule of law. One of them is this: The law must be both readily known and available, and certain and clear; … In this area, we can do a lot better, and the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022 seeks to improve that. In the House last night, I was honoured to give my first speech. Sitting up there in the gallery were the parents of Greg Sher, a Victorian who was killed in Afghanistan. Also watching online were the parents of Marcus Case. They are friends of mine and have links to Menzies. But we should also remember those who suffered and were wounded, not in Afghanistan but in training and in courses and back here at home in Australia. It's right that we remember those who paid the ultimate sacrifice, but there are many names on many memorials of people who paid the same sacrifice but here at home. There are particular aspects of this bill that I commend. I will single out three. The exemption from income tax is important. Whenever I meet veterans, I see that the dignity that comes from work is important to everyone and it's important to veterans. I have seen some veterans who are maybe pushed down a path where they could be working and they're not, and they suffer for that. Sometimes we kill people with kindness, and we shouldn't. In this place, on many other areas and issues, we talk about the dignity of work, and that applies equally to veterans. We should always encourage that wherever we can, and this exemption is important for that. I also note that it has other services that have been extended to families, including child care and household assistance. If I could give an example: a good friend of mine Marco De Vincentis, who deployed to Iraq but didn't deploy to Afghanistan, passed away too young, here at home. I met his partner, Natalie, at an event, and I felt a sense of guilt that I didn't get in touch during COVID. I found out that she needed help with simple things, like her roof was leaking—that was something Marco used to do. I didn't know what to do, but luckily I remembered my dad's a roof plumber and I sent him down to fix it. But not everyone has a dad who's a roof plumber or who knows one, so to have that sort of assistance in the bill is really important as well. Finally, I think not making this link to warlike service is very important. I remember, before deploying to Afghanistan, meeting many former commandos or former members of the ADF who hadn't deployed, and you could tell they had a sense of guilt about not doing that. They didn't need to have that guilt, because they'd made the same contract that all of us had. They'd put on a uniform not knowing where they would be sent— The DEPUTY SPEAKER E0D Order! The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour. If the member's speech is interrupted, the member will have leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed. STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS 14 STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS Gippsland Electorate: Bushfires 14 BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha 14 13:32 Ms ROBERTS 157125 Pearce Today I rise to acknowledge one of the largest cultural groups in my home electorate of Pearce, the BAPS community, a global sociospiritual organisation with centres in all state capitals and many regional centres across Australia. This year is remarkable for the entire BAPS community worldwide, as it is the hundred-year celebration of the birth of His Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj. The BAPS community emulates the values and attitudes of His Holiness, who is described as a rare soul who always lived for others, a peaceful, humble, spiritual personality. The community believe that in the joy of others lies our own by building better individuals, better families and better communities. In 2020, the Yanchep Two Rocks area experienced the worst bushfires in history, and the BAPS community provided daily meals for the career and volunteer firefighters. They also support the community with their annual can collection program and often participate in local neighbourhood clean-ups and tree planting. What a magnificent ethos to live by! Building better communities and providing support to others truly creates strong roots for any community to thrive. We are a proud multicultural electorate in Pearce, and we congratulate the BAPS community and wish them well in continuing the legacy of His Holiness. Chinese Fellowship of Victoria 14 13:33 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies I rise to congratulate the Chinese Fellowship of Victoria on its 50th anniversary. The Chinese story is intertwined with the fabric of Australian history. As the member for Menzies, I know this deeply. Twenty-seven per cent of my electorate have Chinese heritage. Their influence is to be felt in small businesses, schools and community organisations across our electorate. Our suburban centres of Box Hill, Doncaster and Templestowe would not be the same without them. For 50 years the Chinese Fellowship of Victoria has been at the heart of this story—the story of finding a new home without losing an old one. In crises for both of our nations, whether it was the Black Saturday bushfires or the Chinese earthquake, the fellowship has been there to help. In opening the first language schools and the first recreational centres for the Chinese community, it was the fellowship that brought these things to pass. Performative arts also matter. I've been lucky to witness many displays of tai chi, line dancing and martial arts. It's wonderful to see the effort that has been put into those. I want to congratulate the secretary, Michael Li, as well as the president, Patrick Wu, for their formidable leadership of this organisation. It was wonderful to be invited to celebrate with them the other night. Palmerston Young Writers Festival 15 13:35 Mr GOSLING 245392 Solomon I want to celebrate our Territory kids, our teachers and our whole school community that work together to support the next generation of young Territorians. Every year I sponsor the Palmerston Young Writers Festival, which showcases this wealth of young Territory talent. This year it was facilitated by Driver Primary School and was supported by the City of Palmerston, the council, and the library. The winner of the Paint a Poem category for grade 2 students was Ella McCulloch, who wrote 'A Bee': There once was a bee Who lived in a tree He loved his hive So gave his friends a high five And they all went to get honey The poem itself was accompanied by this beautiful, well-coloured drawing of a plump bee and its friend. Ella has clearly shown her skill in painting and poem writing. Another noteworthy submission was by Patrick Warby, who achieved first place in the category of digital media. Patrick made this colourful pizza menu using animation software, and his pizza shop's hook is: 'Do you love mouth-watering, succulent, freshly baked pizza? Then this pizza is for you!' Well done, Patrick. Well done, Ella. Thanks to all our wonderful teachers who do such an excellent job in bringing up the next generation of young Territorians. Locke, Ms Sophie, Australian Football League Women's 15 13:36 Mr BIRRELL 288713 Nicholls I want to acknowledge Seymour's Sophie Locke, a player for the Hawthorn Football Club in the AFLW competition. I was fortunate enough during my campaign to have a kick-to-kick with Sophie. I can safely say it was more likely for her skills to rub off on me than for her to take anything meaningful from my skill set! The first week of the AFLW season was an emotional one for Sophie. She was named for her first game, Hawthorn's inaugural game, but her mother, Sarah, would not be there to see it after losing her battle with cancer just two weeks earlier. For the record, Sophie kicked Hawthorn's first ever AFLW goal, and immediately kissed the black armband she wore in honour of her mum and looked to the heavens. It was a great day for Sophie and her family. It was also a great day for the AFLW, as Hawthorn and Essendon fielded teams for the first time. This year, for the first time, every AFL team is represented in the AFLW. The season is longer, the pay is better and the crowds are gathering. Young girls now have a clear pathway to semi-professional and, hopefully, in the not-too-distant future, professional ranks in our national game. This year, 2022, is a landmark year for the women's game, but it will be hard to beat the joy and tears of Sophie's debut as the highlight of the season. Higgins Electorate: Year 12 Students 15 13:37 Dr ANANDA-RAJAH 290544 Higgins In a few months, our year 12 students will be taking their final exams. It's hard to believe this milestone represents the culmination of 13 years of schooling. To our year 12 students in Higgins: you belong to a special club. Not only are you transitioning to adulthood; you are a part of a generation that has been buffeted by a pandemic, the last of which was seen nearly 100 years ago and is only remembered by a few of our elders. You have weathered a loss of autonomy over the past two years, a loss of connection with your friends and, in some cases, the loss of loved ones. Yet you are here. It speaks volumes that you have shown up every morning to the kitchen table, to your school desks and to each other. You have already passed—no, sailed through—several tests; you just don't know it. As you prepare for another volley of tests, understand the exams you take will not define you. Life is a series of chapters, from your chubby years to the formative ones and thence on to adulthood. You are closing one chapter but have many more to author. Go well, young ones, with purpose, knowing you have way more options than you think. Qantas 16 13:39 Ms WATSON-BROWN 300127 Ryan The privatisation of Qantas back in the 1990s, Labor's decision under Keating, was meant to deliver more innovative and more efficient service. Cheaper flights for customers, better outcomes for everyone—that was the mantra. And it was nonsense. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. Many people would have experienced Qantas's delays, lost baggage and cancellations lately. In June only 60 per cent of Qantas flights arrived on time. Could it have something to do with the fact that during the pandemic, and despite receiving JobKeeper and other public funds to the tune of $2 billion, Qantas laid off about 8½ thousand staff? Many of these were rehired only as outsourced contractors, leading to a drop in wages and conditions, and, with that, work quality and safety. So despite inflation spiking, engineers haven't had a pay rise in four years. When Alan Joyce regularly takes home pay and bonuses of up to $24 million a year, how is a Qantas worker supposed to feel? It seems to me that privatisation has been very good for the execs and very bad for Australians, so it's only right that the workers, both the engineers and now the ground staff, are going on strike to demand better pay and conditions. And it's high time that this government admits that the privatisation of Qantas was a mistake and considers bringing it back into public ownership. Diabetes 16 13:40 Mr DAVID SMIT 276714 Bean H (—) (): Type 1 diabetes is a life-changing chronic illness, one that affects some 1.8 million Australians. The impacts of this illness can be felt in every aspect of a person's life and requires 24/7 monitoring, including extensive blood glucose monitoring and insulin administration. Those with diabetes are required to pay attention to the food they eat, the exercise they do, the stress they're under and myriad factors that can impact their blood sugars. The government's introduction of the continuous glucose monitoring subsidy takes a lot of the guesswork out of the illness, and has the potential to save type 1 diabetics up to $5,000 per year. There are approximately 830 people living in Bean with type 1 diabetes. Following the rollout of the CGM subsidy every person will now have access to the technology, at a maximum cost of $32.50. Previously, over 450 type 1 diabetics would have missed out. The CGM allows blood glucose levels to be measured consistently and alerts the patient to high and low blood sugars before they have even occurred. Such technology provides diabetics with a degree of comfort, knowing that they have a little bit more freedom to go on with their lives and removing the fear of competing everyday activities. The impact of this subsidy cannot be underestimated. Fowler Electorate: Health Care 16 13:42 Ms LE 295676 Fowler I would like to acknowledge that this week is Women's Health Week and Multicultural Health Week. As such, I want to highlight the important work of Fairfield Women's Health Service and Liverpool Women's Health Service. I met with them recently and heard of the amazing support they give to over 3,000 women every year, with trauma counselling, reproductive health and community outreach amongst many other services that help women's overall wellbeing. Last year alone they helped more than 400 women suffering from domestic violence and abuse, and provided over 1,200 women with emotional and mental health counselling. And not only this: they also provide care in Arabic, Chinese and Vietnamese. The electorate of Fowler was one of the worst affected areas by last year's unjust and discriminatory COVID lockdowns. As a result, there has been an increase in both mental health issues and domestic violence reports. But, due to funding cuts, both branches have had to reduce their hours for their on-site nurse and their counselling services. I welcome the government's commitment to the 10 days of domestic violence leave. However, I ask that it also goes into providing funding for more bilingual and culturally-aware counsellors for women in Fowler. I thank Elly Dang and Kate Meyers from the women's health services for their hard work and dedication to the women of Fowler. I will work with them to ensure we get the necessary resources to help those in need. South Australian Women's Health Research Translation Network 16 13:43 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby Last week I had the honour of launching the South Australian Women's Health Research Translation Network at SAHMRI. The network is a body that seeks to empower and improve equity, health and quality of life for Australian women by integrating prevention, health care, research and translation for the benefit of all women. This organisation seeks to address the challenges in accessing equitable funding for conditions that are specific to women's health care and women's experience. This can lead to women having their symptoms minimised and hence diagnoses missed or delayed—for instance: endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome and even ovarian cancer. Or symptoms can be modelled on a male model—for instance, the classic cardiac symptoms of crushing chest pain may not be the experience of a woman having a heart attack and she may have delayed treatment as a result. The network also looks at the challenges facing women researchers in accessing grants and funding. It is well documented that academics and those in the higher education sector are often operating in a gig-economy-like situation, operating contract to contract and grant to grant. This is particularly pronounced among the more junior researchers, who are disproportionately woman. It was great to be there. It was a really great reminder that, when it comes to gender equality, our work remains unfinished. I would like to recognise that this is National Women's Health Week and that this is a really important topic for us. Flynn Electorate: Local Sporting Champions 17 13:45 Mr BOYCE 299498 Flynn Successful applicants for round 1 of the federal government's Local Sporting Champions and Local Para Champions programs have been announced. The Local Sporting Champions program provides financial assistance for coaches, officials and competitors aged 12 to 18 participating in state, national or international championships. Successful applicants will receive $500 to $750 towards the cost of attending their championships. The Local Para Champions program provides financial assistance for coaches, officials and competitors aged 12 to 24 participating in state, national or international championships for athletes with a disability. Successful applicants will receive $750 to $1,000 towards the cost of attending their championships. Forty-five local champions and two local para champions were successful all over the Flynn electorate, including in Emerald, Gracemere, Gladstone, Benaraby, Dixalea, Avondale, Gooburrum, the Gemfields, Gindie, Eidsvold, Welcome Creek, Biloela, Gayndah, Sharon and Comet. Events included the state basketball championships, the Queensland country championships, the state age championships and the Special Olympics Australia national games. I recently held an afternoon tea in Emerald to congratulate some of these athletes and hear their excitement about competing in the big smoke, representing their region. Congratulations to all successful applicants. I am sure you will do Flynn proud. Biosecurity: Foot-and-Mouth Disease 17 13:46 Ms SCRYMGOUR F2S Lingiari Cattle men and women in the electorate of Lingiari are calling the risk of foot-and-mouth disease one of the biggest threats to the cattle industry they've seen. I cannot understand why the previous government did not act on it before the election. This put the Northern Territory at risk. Indonesia is the second closest country to Australia. Diseases in Indonesia can jump to Australia so quickly. That's why the Labor government is taking this matter seriously. We must be prepared. On this latter point, I wish to make a big callout to the Northern Territory Cattlemen 's Association and Territory pastoralists. The staff at the Northern Territory Cattlemen 's Association are working hard to support pastoralists and provide information and training to ensure they know exactly what they can do to mitigate risk. There are 230 pastoral properties in the Northern Territory. The people who run them are super savvy. They are not the rough-and-ready blokes of the old movie stereotypes. These are men and women who are first and foremost business managers. They have farm biosecurity plans in place, and they have all the technology. I want to make a big callout to all the vets involved. They are critical in testing and are ready to do a mass vaccination campaign if needed. I also thank officers of the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry for their important work with everyone in the pastoral industry in the Northern Territory. Aged Care 17 13:48 Mr BROADBENT MT4 Monash The phone goes in the office. There's another family in crisis. This time, a mum and dad sold their house to move into a nursing home and they are both in need. The nursing home rang the day before and said: 'We can't take you today. We have no staff.' It wasn't, 'We're not ready for you.' It was, 'We have no staff.' So mum and dad are living with their sister-in-law. The other sister-in-law rings up, saying: 'The sister-in-law can't cope. Mum has great needs and Dad also has needs. They have to go into a nursing home now. What can you do for us? The federal member can get them into another place, but that's 40 kilometres away from where the family is.' They were asked, 'Could you last another week?' What are the knock-on effects affecting all of our nursing homes, especially the not-for-profits and the for-profits in smaller communities? You can't get another nurse down the street. You can't get another staff member down the street. You can't just ring up and get someone from down the road who does not need to take a tram to get to you. This is happening in every regional seat across Australia. There are no staff and few doctors because of damaging changes that the government made with regard to doctor ratios in country Victoria, regional Victoria and around Australia. There are knock-on consequences for every decision a government makes. We need to address our own local community aged-care facilities now. Health Care: Women 17 13:49 Ms MURPHY 133646 Dunkley This morning, as co-chair of Parliamentary Friends of Women's Health, I hosted the Jean Hailes for Women's Health organisation, led by the indomitable Janet Michelmore, to launch this year's National Women's Health Survey. It must be said that the results of that survey ring alarm bells. Half of all Australian women have reported a decline in their physical and mental health and wellbeing since COVID. As Janet said to us this morning, at the start of the pandemic Damian Barr wrote a poem, lamenting: 'We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat.' And that sums up this year's findings. Younger women, women with disabilities, women from non-English-speaking backgrounds and the LGBTQI+ communities have been disproportionately affected. The results ring alarm bells, but they also give us an opportunity to better respond to the health needs of Australian women. I'm really proud to be part of a government that has that high on its agenda. The Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, the wonderful Ged Kearney, announced $1 million worth of funding this morning—this week is Women's Health Week, themed 'Menopause matters'—to do research to improve GPs' ability to provide health advice to women going through menopause. Great work, Minister. Agriculture Industry 18 13:51 Mr BUCHHOLZ 230531 Wright Agriculture has underpinned the advancement of civilisations, allowing cultures to develop and thrive. Why? Because, when agriculture is produced en masse, it then allows those that would spend their days hunting and gathering to specialise in other industries. As a result, we see the advancement of civilisations. In my electorate, from a GDP perspective, agriculture is the largest contributor. We export to 120 countries all around the world and distribute to every capital city in this nation to put food on the table of those people in the gallery. When we were in government, we had a plan, the ag visa, to bring unskilled labour into the country to help our agricultural sector pick the product that they need to get onto the shelves. We had a plan. Recently we had a jobs summit, and there's no plan for unskilled labour to be brought into this country to help those in my electorate get the product from the paddock to the plate. We are a sophisticated industry; we've had self-driving tractors for the last 15 years. But there are products that we need to have hand-picked. We need those labour forces in our electorate to help deliver it. Those opposite don't have a plan, and you're going to continue to pay $10 for a lettuce. Child Care 18 13:53 Ms CHESTERS 249710 Bendigo Tomorrow, early childhood educators from across the country are taking strike action. As a parent with two young children in early childhood education, I understand why they're taking this drastic step and why they are taking action. We've made arrangements in my family to make sure that our kids won't be at child care tomorrow. We will honour what these educators are doing, and they're doing it because the sector is in crisis. The previous government did not do enough to secure jobs and conditions in the sector. One of the first things that they did when they came to office in 2013 was scrap the national quality fund, the fund that would help address the wages crisis that we have in the sector. The other thing that the previous government did during the pandemic, which really hurt us in Victoria, was to not extend JobKeeper to casuals working in early childhood education. What it meant was that skilled educators who worked as casuals left the sector. I found out last week, when I was visiting centres in my electorate that will be taking action tomorrow, that these casual workers have not come back. There are centres like Goodstart Early Learning Strathfieldsaye—which is a good centre and has a waitlist—that are only open to 65 per cent capacity because they can't get educators to work. The sector is in crisis, and we will work with it to turn this around. Cost of Living 18 13:54 Mr COLEMAN 241067 Banks Yesterday the government showed their incredible weakness on the cost-of-living issue by claiming credit for automatic pension increases. The government, of course, have nothing to do with those increases, which have been set in legislation for decades. It's kind of like the government announcing, 'The sun will come up today,' 'The day will consist of 24 hours equally divided into 60 minutes,' or, 'The laws of gravity will continue to apply,' and then claiming credit for it. It is just extraordinary, and it shows their extreme insecurity on the cost-of-living issue. You don't claim credit for something if you have a catalogue of things to point to, but the government have nothing to point to because the government have achieved absolutely nothing on the cost-of-living issue. Before the election, they were going to cut power prices by $275 per family, and they were going to put downward pressure on inflation and put downward pressure on interest rates. None of those things have happened. None of those things are happening. If you go through the so-called 36 outcomes of the jobs summit, which I had the misfortune of doing yesterday, the only one which actually relates to cost of living is the one that the opposition proposed back in June—which is to give pensioners the opportunity to work more whilst still claiming their pension. That's actually practical. It will have an impact. There is a deep, deep insecurity on this issue because of a complete lack of action, and they're claiming credit for things which they had absolutely nothing to do with. Manufacturing 19 13:56 Mr KHALIL 101351 Wills Making things here—manufacturing in Australia—that is what the Albanese Labor government is about, unlike that mob opposite. Recently, I met with a local fabric manufacturer in the northern suburbs of Melbourne, HMA Fabrics, which has been operating since 1985. The managing director, Ismail Ali, took over the operation and the family business from his uncle and his father. They migrated from Lebanon in the early eighties to escape conflict. Like many migrants, they worked hard. They built up a business in Australia and established it. I talked to Ismail about the Albanese government's $15 billion reconstruction fund, which will support manufacturing businesses and create secure and well-paid jobs. Ismail faces a lot of these challenges in the apparel industry in Australia, including with the recent closure of the few remaining apparel dye houses in Australia at the end of 2021. This has caused delays and it's caused shortages. As a result, a lot of clothing manufacturers, like those producing school wear, are going to overseas producers to secure stock. Local businesses like Ismail Ali's do not want this. They want to support Australian business and jobs and buy Australian made. Rather than business leaving Australia, we're all about making things here, and everyone in the Albanese Labor government, on this side, is going to bring manufacturing back home. Bathurst Youth Council 19 13:57 Mr GEE 261393 Calare Today, our parliament recognises the outstanding young leaders of the Bathurst area who serve as Bathurst youth councillors. The Bathurst Youth Council is a wonderful initiative of Bathurst Regional Council. It was established in 1999 and has made an invaluable contribution to the lives of young people in Bathurst and its surrounding districts. In April, I saw firsthand the terrific work of the youth council when I attended the Youth Week Chase The Rainbow colour run in Bathurst. It was a resounding success enjoyed by people of all ages. On Thursday, the council is supporting and promoting R U OK? Day. Mental health is a key youth council priority. The Bathurst Youth Council for 2022-23 is: Mayor Harvey Lew; Deputy Mayor Ella Kay; Councillors Heidi Twohill and Kirilee Scott, who are also the media officers; and Councillors Olivia Brabham, Jasmyn Nankervis, Ruby Morris, Isaac Barrett, Drew Wade, Blake Kreuzberger, Chloe Tayler, Kiana Lowry, Wil Crossland-Hamer and Jasmine Houston. I also acknowledge the significant achievements of the previous youth council, led by Youth Mayor Ashley Maalouf. I congratulate Bathurst Regional Council and Mayor Robert Taylor for their unwavering support of the youth council, along with the regional council's dynamic community services team. With very impressive young leaders like those on Bathurst Youth Council, our future is in great hands. The SPEAKER 53517 In accordance with standing order 43, the time for members' statements has concluded. STATEMENTS ON INDULGENCE 19 STATEMENTS ON INDULGENCE United Kingdom 19 13:59 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler On behalf of the government and the people of Australia, I congratulate Liz Truss on her election as the new leader of the UK Conservative Party. Shortly, she will be commissioned as the 56 Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She will be the third woman to hold that historic office. It is a special privilege to be chosen to lead your party, and it's an extraordinary honour to have the chance to lead your country. I can imagine—indeed, I can recall from not so long ago—the powerful mixture of emotions that comes with being elected to such high office. In June, at the NATO summit in Spain, I had the chance to meet with Ms Truss in her capacity as foreign secretary. We shared a platform as the guest speakers at the NATO summit, convened by the Prime Minister of Spain, to talk about the global challenges which we face, including, of course, the Russian intervention in Ukraine, the strategic competition in our region and the need to uphold the international rule of law. I look forward to having a further discussion with the new Prime Minister shortly. Ms Truss will walk through that famous black door of 10 Downing Street at a time when the people of Britain are facing very serious challenges. Out of the deep and abiding affection that Australians have for our oldest ally and oldest friend, we wish her well in the service of her country. 14:01 Mr DUTTON 00AKI Dickson I join the Prime Minister in his words of congratulations to the incoming British Prime Minister. We congratulate Liz Truss on her elevation, her election as the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. I had the great pleasure of meeting with Liz during the Australian-UK ministerial consultations in January when I was defence minister and she was foreign secretary. As I wrote in my statement last night, Liz is an incredibly intelligent, pragmatic and, indeed, courageous leader. She'll not only make a fine Prime Minister but also lead Britain through challenges both domestic and international. In her victory speech, Liz promised to deliver on the energy crisis. We're watching with interest Britain's response to the energy crisis, and, indeed, their great, enduring interest in nuclear technology and small modular reactors. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom also understands that the resurgence of authoritarianism poses one of the greatest threats of our times, hence her priorities outlined in a speech last December to build a network of liberty and advance the frontiers of freedom. In these testing times, Liz will be the strongest of leaders to advance our two nations in mutual security and economic objectives, including, most importantly, through AUKUS. I also wish to acknowledge the legacy and achievements of Boris Johnson, a true friend to our country. Today, as we welcome a new British Prime Minister and farewell another, Australia and the United Kingdom remain the best of partners and the dearest of friends. MINISTRY 20 MINISTRY Temporary Arrangements 20 14:02 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I inform the House that the member for Sydney is on leave today, and questions relating to the environment and water portfolio will be answered by the member for McMahon. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE 20 QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories 20 14:03 Mr DUTTON 00AKI Dickson My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, was the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories ever in breach of the Prime Minister's code of conduct? 14:03 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I'm very surprised by the opposition's newfound interest in portfolios. I'm very surprised by their newfound interest in portfolios because those opposite weren't aware of who held the energy portfolio or who held the health portfolio or who held the Treasury portfolio or who held the finance portfolio. We responded to these questions yesterday, and I stand by those answers. The minister responded yesterday, as was appropriate. Vocational Education and Training 20 14:04 Mr REPACHOLI 298840 Hunter My question is to the minister for skills and training. Today is National TAFE Day, a day to celebrate the achievements of Australia's public TAFE system. Minister, how is the Albanese Labor government restoring TAFE to be the heart of Australia's vocational education and training system? 14:04 Mr O'CONNOR 00AN3 Gorton I thank the member for Hunter for his very important question. Today is National TAFE Day. I wish all the teachers, the trainers and the workforce of all the campuses across the country a very happy day because they do a great job looking after the many students. TAFE is by far the largest post-secondary education provider of education and training in the country. It provides the skills needed, whether it is operative, trade or paraprofessional. These are the skills our economy requires, our labour market demands and employers are crying out for. They are the sorts of skills that workers need so that they can have secure work too. It is absolutely critical. These TAFE trainers and teachers are heroes in some ways because they provide opportunities for young people and others—existing workers who are accessing training. Most TAFE students combine work with study. That means they have to work sometimes in a very flexible way. We have been visiting TAFE centres across the country. As I said yesterday, the Prime Minister in his first visit to Victoria after the election visited Holmesglen TAFE. In fact, the members for Chisholm and Higgins accompanied us. I was recently in the member for Bendigo's electorate when Bendigo TAFE convened a jobs and skills summit. I was with the member for Reid at TAFE Digital New South Wales in Strathfield. It really showed how critical it is to have online learning for regional New South Wales students. Without this, they would not get those skills. That was also a great opportunity. I was also accompanied by the member for Bennelong at Ryde TAFE, which is the largest hospitality training centre in the state—if not the country—providing the chefs and cooks that our economy needs. I finish by saying I was with the member for Fraser at Victoria University, which is a dual sector provider, providing TAFE training and in this case cybersecurity training. We had a great visit there and saw students accessing the skills that are in huge demand in that area. TAFE is absolutely vital for this country. We don't just attend TAFEs. I understand there weren't too many visits by the previous government's members. The reality is that we don't just attend TAFE; we invest in TAFE. That's why we've invested in 180,000 fee-free TAFE places for 2023. That is going to provide the skills that our labour market needs. It's going to make sure that the skill shortages are responded to so that our employers have the skill sets they need to be successful and of course what we need to grow the economy and improve productivity, which will mean a better country overall. Ministerial Conduct 21 14:07 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer My question is to the Prime Minister. Is the Prime Minister aware of any other ministers who have breached the ministerial code of conduct? 14:08 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler It must have been an interesting tactics committee meeting. Can you imagine it? 'I shouldn't ask that question. Maybe you should ask that question.' 'No. Go ahead.' Is there anyone in their tactics committee who doesn't have an issue? That was the question. My government has been transparent. We have a code of conduct. When there have been any issues they have been— Mr Dutton 00AKI Mr Speaker— Mr ALBANESE R36 Oh, come on! The SPEAKER 53517 I ask the Prime Minister to pause. I call the Leader of the Opposition. Mr Dutton 00AKI Mr Speaker, the point of order is relevance. The Prime Minister has been asked two tight questions and he cannot give a straight answer. The SPEAKER 53517 Has the Prime Minister concluded his answer? Mr ALBANESE R36 No. The SPEAKER 53517 I call the Prime Minister to return to the question. Mr ALBANESE R36 I'm happy to say more. Mr Dutton 00AKI You cannot give a straight answer. Answer the question Mr ALBANESE R36 If you stop, then I'll answer the question. That's the way it works. If you interject, I'll sit down. That's the way it works. For those opposite: what we're already seeing on that side is people being set up. Mr Hamilton 291387 Answer the question! The Speaker said answer the question. The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Groom will cease interjecting. Mr ALBANESE R36 My advice to those opposite is when someone hands you a question you don't have to answer it. Do you want me to sit down? Mr Dutton 00AKI He's committed to answering the question; he should answer it. The SPEAKER 53517 I call the Prime Minister to return to the question. Mr ALBANESE R36 I wonder if he yells that loudly in their tactics meeting. I wonder if he does that. The fact is that the opposition are seeking to make something out of a short-lived oversight because they have nothing else to say—nothing about the cost of living, nothing about the Jobs and Skills Summit, nothing about the energy crisis that we've inherited, nothing about the fact people can't access to child care, nothing about the crisis in aged care. What they ask about is a minister who—it's not surprising that the minister here, the member for Eden-Monaro, the person who has turned Eden-Monaro into a safe Labor seat, is a target for those opposite. Remember when it was called the bellwether seat? Not anymore. This is a minister of integrity. This is a minister of honesty. This is a minister who's upfront, and I stand by this minister. This minister, what she did—and she has declared that occurred—is that shares were given to her husband. (Time expired) Jobs and Skills Summit 21 14:12 Mr LIM 300130 Tangney My question is to the Prime Minister. How would a jobs and skills summit provide benefit to Australians over the long term? 14:12 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler Thank you very much for the question. I thank the member for Tangney—a fine member who got a double-digit swing to enter this chamber and who is doing a fantastic job as part of our expanded Western Australian team. The fact is that the Jobs and Skills Summit was a huge success, because it brought together business and unions; it brought together states and the Commonwealth. And it was inclusive. One of the good things about the summit wasn't just that you had leaders of industry, leaders of the trade union movement, leading people throughout society, advancing their views, it was the contributions of many people who I hadn't seen before and hadn't met before—people like Isaiah Dawe. He's the CEO of ID. Know Yourself. He's an Indigenous man who grew up in foster care, and he lived in 17 different homes in his first 18 years—17 different homes in just 18 years. But here he was, speaking in front of the cabinet of Australia, premiers, chief ministers, captains of industry, about his experience and the importance of getting into the workforce. Stephanie Agnew, from Get Skilled Access, spoke about her experience as a young woman of losing her vision in her 20s. She spoke about her very personal experience of, essentially, working at a real estate agency and what occurred with people engaging in activity which I think most Australians would find reprehensible as she was losing her sight—moving things around the office so that she couldn't find the things that she took to work, like her lunch and other activities. She spoke about her experience, though, and her capacity now that she is rising up to the executive ranks of her new business that she is involved with. Dr Claire Naughtin, from the CSIRO, spoke about scientific innovation and the need to commercialise the breakthroughs that occur in this country. It was a very constructive, positive event over those two days. People came, in good spirit and with goodwill, to talk about how we meet the challenges together as a nation—how we work and move forward in a united way, rather than in a divided way. That's why I think the implications of the summit will go on for a long time to come. Cost of Living 22 14:15 Mr KATTER HX4 Kennedy PM, is our country in pain from free markets and 'save the planet'? Our housing prices are up 500 per cent, cars 800, and electricity and health insurance 400, yet our average weekly earnings are up only 215 per cent. Is the cold and worthless duopoly recording record profits while charging Mrs Housewife an avocados mark-up of 120, tomatoes 200, sugar 300 and potatoes 1,000? Are cold and worthless CEO salaries $10 million a year? PM, whilst your workload is an inspiration to us all— The SPEAKER 53517 The member's— Mr KATTER HX4 what is your salary? PM: action when? The SPEAKER 53517 The member's time has well and truly finished. I call the Prime Minister. 14:16 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I thank the member for Kennedy for his question and for his patience, because I know he was ready to get the call yesterday during question time. I can inform the member for Kennedy that the government has a range of policies which are in line with his long-term objective, which I know he's held very sincerely, about improving the capacity of the Australian economy to stand up and be more resilient. One of the lessons that we had during the pandemic was that we need to, put simply, make more things here. We need a future made in Australia. That's why the government's Buy Australian Plan is very important, using government procurement to make sure that at every possible opportunity we maximise the creation of Australian jobs, the support for Australian businesses and industry right here—whether it be in the agricultural sector, whether it be in manufacturing or whether it be in the purchase of goods and services that we support Australian industry. The other thing that we have, of course, is our National Reconstruction Fund—a national reconstruction fund of $15 billion that will be about how existing industries adapt and about providing them with some support, in terms of capital, that might make new investment in the transformation of those industries far easier going forward. But it's about more than that as well. It's about the creation of new industries. The fact is that we have everything, for example, that can go into a battery—not just batteries for the electric vehicles that will be required but batteries to ensure that renewables can go around a community, not just be isolated, and batteries that can assist manufacturing as well. That is why we have such enormous opportunities. I know that in the member for Kennedy's electorate—I was at the Minerals Council dinner last night—some of the rare earths, as well as the traditional industries, like copper, which I know that the member for Kennedy is very passionate about, have enormously positive prospects going forward. Just as we were powered by minerals in the 20th century, and the 21st century, we now are in a situation whereby the natural advantages that we have in this country—if we get it right; if we're prepared to intervene at the right time to facilitate private sector investment in the agricultural sector for value adding and in manufacturing for value adding—can ensure that we have a future where Australian jobs are maximised, where Australian living standards are lifted and where the Australian economy continues to grow. Jobs and Skills Summit 22 14:19 Dr ANANDA-RAJAH 290544 Higgins My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Women. How will the outcomes from the Jobs and Skills Summit improved gender equity, deliver for Australian women and grow our economy? 14:19 Ms BURNEY 8GH Barton I thank the member for Higgins for her question. It's wonderful to see Higgins in the Labor fold. Congratulations. Supporting women to fully participate in the workforce is core business for the Albanese Labor government. For far too long women's policy has been relegated to the sidelines of public policy, an afterthought, but no longer. Under the previous government Australia fell to its worst ever position in global gender equality rankings, and that is the truth. But it's a problem we can solve and we must solve. Our great potential as a nation will be just out of reach until we do. It was great to see that women were front and centre at the jobs summit last week. More than 50 per cent of participants at the summit were women, and there were so many speakers and facilitators. It was absolutely inspiring, and the issue of improving women's workforce participation dominated much of the discussion, particularly child care. When women are deciding whether to return to work after having a child and how many hours they can work, access to high-quality affordable child care is vital. The Albanese Labor government has listened and will act. We will deliver on our $5 billion commitment to make child care cheaper. Supporting women to fully participate in the workforce not only is the right thing to do for women up but is also critical for our nation and, importantly, critical for our economy because it will increase our economic prosperity and make us more resilient as a nation. There were also a number of concrete outcomes at the summit in relation to women. The APS will report on ambitious targets. Businesses with 500 employees or more will have to publicly report. The Workforce Gender Equality Agency will work to close the gender pay gap and capture an accurate snapshot of every pay gap that exists. But I am most pleased to say that we will strengthen the Respect@Work Council by ensuring workers and businesses have a permanent seat at the table along with government and civil society. Australia should be one of the best countries for women to live in, and under the Albanese Labor government it will be. Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories 23 14:22 Mr LEESER 109556 Berowra My question is to the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, and I refer to the minister's answer in the House yesterday that she discovered a breach of the Prime Minister's code of conduct after reviewing the code of conduct and making additional inquiries. When did the minister first make contact with the Prime Minister or his office concerning this matter? 14:23 Ms McBAIN 281988 Eden-Monaro I thank you for your question, because transparency does matter. It matters in this House; it matters every day, not just when you have a code of conduct, and that's probably something that other people should reflect on. Opposition members interjecting— Ms McBAIN 281988 I'm happy to answer, if you let me. I divested the shares to my husband prior to receiving the written code of conduct. Once I reviewed the written code of conduct I immediately spoke to the Prime Minister's Office. I then put in place a series of events to sell those shares, and once that was done I reported back to the Prime Minister's Office that I'd completed that transaction. Universities 23 14:24 Dr REID 300126 Robertson My question is to the Minister for Education. How is the government supporting universities to deliver more Australian and international students to tackle skills shortages? 14:24 Mr CLARE HWL Blaxland I thank the honourable member for Robertson for his question. There are skills shortages everywhere—in our schools, hospitals, aged care centres, childcare centres and companies big and small—and a lot of those skills are forged in our universities. That's why in addition to the extra TAFE places that we've already announced we've also announced the funding of an extra 20,000 university places. Universities have now just two weeks to put in their bids for these extra places. All 20,000 are for courses where we have a skills shortage—think about teachers, nurses, engineers and IT—and all 20,000 are for Australians that we don't see enough of in our universities at the moment: Australians from poorer backgrounds; Australians from the regions; Australians with a disability; Indigenous Australians; Australians who are the first in their family to ever set foot in a university. I told the House a few weeks ago, when I was asked a question by the member for Clark, that I don't want us to be a country where your opportunity in life depends on who your parents are, your postcode or the colour of your skin—and I meant it. And that's what this announcement is about. I was also asked about international students. International education is an incredible national asset. It's the biggest export that we don't dig or drill out of the ground. It got kneecapped by COVID—a $40 billion industry, basically cut in half. It's slowly coming back, but there's more work to do. There are about 370,000 international students in Australia right now. When they finish up their studies, when they graduate, only about 16 per cent stay on and work here. It makes sense that, if you're doing a degree here in an area where we've got a chronic skills shortage, we should encourage those students, when they finish up, to help us to fill those gaps in our economy. We train them up; we should use those skills. Other countries have cottoned on to this and made changes to their own schemes, and on Friday my friend the Minister for Home Affairs and I announced some important changes here. International students who get a degree in an area where we've got a verified skills shortage will be able to work here for an extra two years. Business has backed it, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has backed it, the Australian Industry Group has backed it and the universities have backed it. It's a commonsense change that will help businesses to fill some of those chronic skills gaps and also help to get an important national asset back on its feet. Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories 24 14:27 Mr FLETCHER L6B Bradfield My question is to the Prime Minister. What are the consequences of a minister in the Prime Minister's government breaching the Prime Minister's ministerial code of conduct? 14:27 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler That's from the guy responsible for Leppington Triangle! That's the problem they've got here: when it comes to integrity— An opposition member interjecting— Mr ALBANESE R36 So let's compare the issues here; let's compare them, because the member for Eden-Monaro—the returned member for Eden-Monaro, the hero of the Eden-Monaro by-election, who was re-elected with the support of over 60 per cent of the people of Eden-Monaro—has sold the shares that were available. She was a holder of shares. She inadvertently gave them to her husband. If you want to get into families, we'll go down that track—but we shouldn't; we haven't in the past— The SPEAKER 53517 Order. I'll ask the Prime Minister to pause for a moment. I call the Leader of the Opposition on a point of order. Mr Dutto 00AKI The Prime Minister has been asked very clear and concise questions. He has wriggled his way through question time today and— The SPEAKER 53517 What's the point of order? Mr Dutton 00AKI refused to answer the questions. He cannot answer a straight question. The question is very clear, and the Prime Minister again is refusing to provide a straight answer. The SPEAKER 53517 Resume your seat. Thank you for the point of order. I call the Prime Minister and refer to the question regarding the consequences. Mr ALB R36 What has occurred here is that the minister was made aware of the situation. She acted immediately—immediately—to address the circumstances. And that stands in stark contrast to the behaviour of those opposite. She has been transparent the whole way through—the whole way through. And I completely stand by the minister for regional development and local government. She is doing a fantastic job of representing the people of Eden-Monaro and, what's more, she's doing a fantastic job of turning up and doing her job as she did last Thursday and Friday, engaging with people in the community and particularly engaging with people in local government. The minister has been upfront about her situation at all times. There has been no conflict of interest whatsoever, no blind trust set up to pay legal fees, no bodgie activity such as that which characterised those opposite. That is why there hasn't been any conflict of interest and there hasn't been any cover-up. The situation was rectified at the earliest possible opportunity, which is an entirely appropriate way for a government of integrity to act. Interest Rates 24 14:30 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor My question is to the Treasurer. What does today's independent Reserve Bank interest rate decision mean for Australians? 14:31 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin Thank you to the member for Lalor. Congratulations to her tomorrow, on the ninth anniversary of her election to this place as part of the mighty class of 2013. The independent Reserve Bank has just announced its decision to increase interest rates by another 50 basis points, and that brings the cash rate to 2.35 per cent. This will be very difficult news for a lot of Australians with a mortgage. Once again, it isn't a surprise to anyone. The bank had flagged more increases, the markets had anticipated it and homeowners were expecting it as well. But the fact that we knew it was coming doesn't make it any easier for people. This is tough. This will tighten the screws on family budgets. This will put more pressure on a lot of Australians who are already stretched enough. As the House would be aware, a half-percentage-point increase in the cash rate means average homeowners owing $330,000 will have to find about $95 a month more for repayments. For Australians with a typical $500,000 mortgage, it's about an extra $145 a month in addition to the extra $475 they have had to find since rates are started rising before the election in May. Interest rate rises do mean that Australians will have to make more hard decisions about how to make ends meet. It also means more difficult decisions for governments because higher interest rates mean a higher cost of servicing the trillion dollars of debt that has been left to us. As I've said previously in this place and elsewhere, it's not for the government to interfere with the independent decisions of the Reserve Bank. It is our job to do what we responsibly can to help Australians deal with these pressures in the near term and to build a much more resilient economy into the future that is able to withstand some of these global and domestic shocks. Our jobs summit, our economic plan and our budget are all deliberate and direct responses to these economic circumstances that were left to us: high and rising inflation, flat and falling real wages and productivity paralysis. That's why we are doing so much to ease the cost of living, whether it comes to child care, wages or medicine costs. The SPEAKER 53517 The Manager of Opposition Business will cease interjecting. Dr CHALMERS 37998 It's why we are working to help deal with the issues in our supply chains, which the Prime Minister mentioned in response to the question from the member for Kennedy. All along we have been upfront about the nature of this inflation challenge. We have been realistic about the decisions taken by the independent Reserve Bank and we will continue to work around the clock to make this economy more resilient so that Australians, especially right now with a mortgage and doing it especially tough, know that the government is doing what it can to deal with those parts of the inflationary pressures where we can have a meaningful influence. Interest Rates 25 14:34 Mr TAYLOR 231027 Hume My question is to the Prime Minister. Today more than three million Australians with a mortgage face a fifth consecutive interest rate increase. Can the Prime Minister tell those Australians how much more they will pay on a typical mortgage as a result of all of those increases? Government members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The member for Moreton and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy will cease interjecting. Members on my right will cease interjecting. I call the Prime Minister. 14:34 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler They're nothing if not agile! I refer to the Treasurer's answer. He just said that if you've got a $330,000 mortgage you'll pay an extra $95. If it's $500,000, it's $145— Mr Taylor 231027 That's not a typical mortgage. Ms Catherine King 00AMR That's the average—maybe not yours! Mr ALBANESE R36 In Angus Taylor land it's not the average, but in the real world it's the average. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Prime Minister will refer to members by their titles. Mr ALBANESE R36 In the member for Hume's world it mightn't be the average, but it is actually the average mortgage, which is what he asked. Early Childhood Education and Care 25 14:35 Dr CHARLTON I8M Parramatta My question is to the Minister for Early Childhood Education. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to improve access to affordable early childhood education and care and to support women's greater economic participation? 14:36 Dr ALY 13050 Cowan I thank the member for Parramatta for his question. I know that the member has a long-ongoing commitment to early childhood education and also to women's economic equality and women's workforce participation. The role of women and the opportunities gained from unlocking the untapped talent of Australian women to participate fully in the workforce—whether it's by them taking on more hours, whether it's by them starting new opportunities or whether it's for them to be able to progress their careers and to participate fully in the workforce—were a key theme across all of the sessions at the Jobs and Skills Summit that the Labor government held recently. Anyone with children in early childhood education and care knows just how expensive it is. Parents—mostly mothers—who are primary caregivers are forced to weigh up the costs of early childhood education against their potential earnings. Many end up being locked out of the workforce and out of the labour market because the cost is so prohibitive. The Albanese Labor government understands that, and that's why we have taken affordable access to quality early childhood education and care as a vital part of a child's early years, as a vital part of creating that foundation for learning and play and also as a critical part of our economy, giving choice to families and helping more women to participate more fully in the workforce at their choice. That's why we have a plan for cheaper child care. That's why we took it to the election. That's why, in the October budget, we'll deliver on our $5 billion commitment to make early childhood education and care available for more Australian parents. We'll allow more women to enter the workforce, to take on more hours and more days if they so wish, and to not have that interruption to their career progression that we know for many women leads to a greater disparity between the pay of men and women and also contributes to the poverty cycle for women later in life when they're forced to take that break in their careers. As part of that commitment to addressing the cost of living and making early childhood education and care more accessible and affordable across the country, we'll be tasking the ACCC to investigate early childhood education and care pricing. We know that to make our reforms possible we've got a bit of work to do. We have to undertake further work to recruit, to train and to retain a high-quality early education and care workforce. But this is something that the Anthony Albanese Labor government is taking seriously and something that each and every one of us on this side of the House is determined to progress. Medicare 26 14:39 Mr WILKIE C2T Clark My question is to the Minister for Health and Aged Care. Minister, you've expressed concern at the state of primary care, and rightly so, considering bulk-billing continues to fall due to the grossly inadequate Medicare rebate. Of course, the previous government denied this and cooked the books by counting the number of bulk-billed services rather than the number of patients. So, Minister, will you fix this? Will you lift the rebate to bring relief to the millions of Australians who can't afford to see their GP? 14:39 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh I thank the member for Clark for his question, because he knows that it's never been harder and never more expensive to see a doctor than it is right now in Australia. And it's no mystery why. It's a direct result of nine long years of neglect of and cuts to Medicare—cuts that began when the now Leader of the Opposition was the Minister for Health. We remember that we managed to block his original, radical plan that would've imposed a GP tax on every single Australian going to the doctor, but he was determined to, by hook or by crook, hack into Medicare funding. So, instead, he imposed a freeze on Medicare rebates that lasted for six long years. It was a pay freeze on the nation's GPs while their costs were going up and up. As the member points out, this has created unprecedented pressure on bulk billing rates. The former government was allergic to telling the truth about bulk billing, but the truth is that fully one in three Australians now are paying a gap to see their doctor. That number is increasing and the gap fee has never been higher than it is right now. Amazingly, for the first time in Medicare's history, the average gap fee to see a doctor right now is higher than the Medicare rebate itself—for the first time in the history of Medicare. That is why strengthening Medicare was the centrepiece of Labor's policy on health at the last election. We committed $750 million to strengthening Medicare—a fund with $250 million per annum ongoing. We brought together doctors, nurses, patient groups and others in a taskforce that I will chair leading up to Christmas to advise the government of the best way to invest those funds. There will be different views within that taskforce. But, as we saw last week, when you bring people together in a respectful, constructive dialogue— The SPEAKER 53517 Order. The minister will resume his seat. I call the member for Clark on a point of order. Mr Wilkie C2T A point of order, Speaker, on relevance: the question goes to whether or not the government will increase the Medicare rebate for visiting a GP. The SPEAKER 53517 I call the minister, who is being relevant, but I ask him to return to that part of the question before his— Honourable members interject ing— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Mr BUTLER HWK As I just said, there will be different views from doctors, nurses and patient groups within that Strengthening Medicare Taskforce. But when you bring those groups together and engage in a respectful, constructive dialogue, you create the best outcomes for the Australian people. And I know that we will do that in that area as well. That taskforce and that fund also sit on top of our commitment to roll out 50 urgent-care clinics, bulk billed, including three in the member's state of Tasmania next year. That will be $220 million in grants to Australia's general practices—practices that deserve more than just our thanks for the extraordinary work that they've undertaken over recent years—and $146 million to strengthen general practice in rural and regional Australia. This government has no higher priority in health than strengthening general practice. Housing 26 14:43 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby My question is to the minister for housing. How will the government's housing agenda support social and affordable housing to help reduce the cost of living? 14:43 Ms COLLINS HWM Franklin I thank the member for Boothby for the question and also note her very long interest in housing and housing affordability. Indeed, we know that today's decision of the Reserve Bank will make it more difficult for more Australians to find a safe and affordable place to call home. We also know that many families around Australia, after this decision today, will be making very tough decisions about their mortgage repayments, but also around their family budgets, with the cost of other essentials also going up. Of course, we inherited rising inflation, rising interest rates and a trillion dollars of debt from the other side. That's why we went to the election with a very substantial plan to deal with housing and housing affordability. Indeed, in the lead-up to the Jobs and Skills Summit, in every round table that I held—and I know this also from talking to others on our side of the place—the cost of housing was raised as a really critical issue to getting staff. It was getting really, really critical for those employers to get staff because of a lack of affordable housing in their regions particularly. That's why we took a decision to unlock up to $575 million from the National Housing Infrastructure Facility. This facility has been underutilised. We want to work with the other tiers of government, like social housing providers, but also to try and unlock private capital, such as superannuation investment, into more social and affordable housing across the country. We also have a broader plan that includes the Housing Australia Future Fund, where we want to build 30,000 more social and affordable houses right across the country. We also have programs that we're going to be introducing to help more Australians purchase a private home. We have the Help To Buy Scheme, which is a government equity scheme, and the Regional First Home Buyer Support Scheme to help more people living in regional Australia to get into their first home. Then we want to introduce the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council. That's because we know that going forward we're going to need to be able to work together on this and have some answers on affordability and supply. And there's the national housing and homelessness plan. We've worked with the states, local government, social housing providers and, importantly, the construction industry and the building sector to have a long-term plan to ensure that we're not in this position again. We want a plan to make sure that housing is affordable over the long term. The Jobs and Skills Summit highlighted this government's collaborative approach. It's by working together that we will be able to address these housing challenges. I've already met with my state counterparts. We had the first housing ministers' meeting in almost five years in May, and we're having another meeting at the end of this week, to talk about the national plan and to get things happening because we want to get as many houses on the ground as quickly as possible. The SPEAKER 53517 Order! There's far too much noise. There's far too much noise from the member for Barker, the member for O'Connor and the member for Longman. Taxation 27 14:46 Mr WOLAHAN 235654 Menzies My question is to the Prime Minister. Given Australians are doing it tough amid rising costs, can you guarantee that the government won't announce any new or increased taxes for families before the end of the year? 14:46 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler What the government is doing is taking pressure off families. That's why we'll be introducing legislation tomorrow to make pharmaceuticals cheaper, to reduce the cost of pharmaceuticals to $30 from $42.50. We'll be doing that tomorrow. I'd invite the member for Menzies to indicate his support for that move. The SPEAKER 53517 I will listen to the member for Menzies on a point of order. I would ask him to state the point of order. Mr Wolahan 235654 I invite the Prime Minister to answer the question. It's a simple yes-or-no answer. The SPEAKER 53517 On the point of order, I can appreciate you would like a yes-or-no answer, but that is not how question time works. Mr ALBANESE R36 I was asked what we were doing about living standards. That was the question. A bit of advice: when you're on the backbench, just like when you're on the frontbench, you can say no. You can say no when they hand you the bit of paper. Mr Taylor 231027 What about tax? Mr ALBANESE R36 And, whatever you do, don't ask a question about Leppington Triangle of this bloke. I was asked what we are doing, and I am telling you what we're doing. What we're doing is reducing the cost of pharmaceuticals. Next week we'll have other legislation to reduce the cost of child care. Ninety-six per cent of families will benefit from that. What we're about is assisting people who are doing it tough. When it comes to the cost of living, I notice that the Leader of the Opposition was asked this morning about whether he supported an extension of the halving of the petrol excise beyond September. You know what his answer was? He said, 'I'll tell you before the next election.' That's what he said. It ends in September, but he'll tell you before the next election! The fact is that those opposite have contempt for people who are doing it tough. We are engaged in cost-of-living relief, and that is what you will see in our budget. Jobs and Skills Summit 28 14:49 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What role did regional Australia play in the lead-up to and during the Jobs and Skills Summit? 14:50 Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR Ballarat I thank the member for Lyons, a great regional Australian, for the question. I was very proud of the representation we had at the Jobs and Skills Summit from those from regional Australia. I, the member for Hunter, the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories and the member for Lyons were there. The Leader of the National Party was also there. He knows how important it is to show up when you are given an invitation. There were the National Farmers Federation President, the Isaac Regional Council, the Cooperative Research Centre for Developing Northern Australia and Cape York Partnerships alongside many Australians who live and work in regional Australia. The Jobs and Skills Summit was a really important first step of the government's plan to address the skills crisis in regional Australia. What is clear is that there are a wide range of issues behind skill shortages in the regions, whether it is housing affordability and availability, liveability in our regions, lack of training facilities and pathways, construction costs and access to materials, lower wages in some of our regions, competition for skilled workers across industries and the challenges that are in our freight and logistics sector across our regions. These issues can have a significant impact on cost-of-living pressures not only in regional Australia. They add to transport costs in the rest of the country. Our government is working to address these. Many of the regions will see large investments from the ongoing pipeline of infrastructure investment but also from the renewable energy sector. Regional stakeholders want to embrace this opportunity, but they also want a plan for the workforce and for the pressure on local services. In the lead-up to the summit there were a number of roundtables that my colleagues had. I thank the many participants for that. In terms of the 36 outcomes of the summit, there are important outcomes for regional Australia. They include strengthening our migration system and actually getting more permanent residents moving into our regions and contributing their skills in our local economies. There were announcements in relation to TAFE—making sure fee-free TAFE places are available to students in regional Australia and strengthening TAFE so that it can provide services into the regions. Those economies that are reliant on resources and tourism in particular are desperately short of affordable housing stock. The Minister for Housing made announcements about making sure we start to get the private sector, in particular the superannuation sector, engaged in building houses in our regions. And there was improving jobs pathways for women. They were all important issues raised in the summit. Again I would like to thank the many regional Australians who participated in the roundtables and who turned up to the summit, particularly the Leader of the National Party, who knows that the battle for us often is having a seat at the table. He knows that when you get an invitation you actually turn up. Taxation 28 14:53 Mr BATES 300246 Brisbane My question is for the Treasurer. How are Labor's stage 3 tax cuts actually good for the economy? 14:53 Dr CHALMERS 37998 Rankin I thank very much the member for his question. The stage 3 tax cuts which were legislated by the former parliament to come in in two years time— The SPEAKER 53517 The member for Barker is warned. Dr CHALMERS 37998 As the honourable member knows, the tax cuts that were legislated by a former parliament come in in around two years time. The government's position on those tax changes hasn't changed. Our priority is to focus on some of the nearer-term issues in our economy, some of the issues that were central, for example, to the Jobs and Skills Summit, which was held here in Canberra last week. The most pressing thing we can do in the economy right now is responsibly deal with people's cost-of-living pressures in a way that delivers an economic dividend, deal with some of the labour and skill shortages which are holding our economy back and invest in the future of our economy, whether it be energy, skills or some of the other important ways to ensure we have a future made in Australia. I know that there is a lot of debate and discussion about those tax cuts. I listen respectfully, obviously, to all points of view that are put to us about the future of those tax cuts, but our focus is on some of the nearer-term pressures. Those opposite asked the Prime Minister about taxes in the budget. I say this to those opposite: if we had a tax on stupid questions asked by the member for Hume, we could pay off the deficit in one hit. Climate Change 29 14:55 Mr GEORGANAS DZY Adelaide My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government providing overdue leadership on climate policy? How would this support our economy with job creation and cost-of-living relief? 14:55 Mr BOWEN DZS McMahon I thank the honourable member for his question. I enjoyed coming to his climate change forum before the last election, and I'll enjoy going to many more with him in the future, I'm very sure. The world's climate emergency is Australia's jobs opportunity, but only if we get the policy settings correct. I'm very pleased that earlier today Senator Pocock confirmed publicly that he will be supporting our climate bill through the Senate, which gives it a pretty good chance of passing through the other place, by my count. This is a good thing because this will underline the end of 10 years of denial, delay and dysfunction. It will send a message to the world's investors that Australia is open for business when it comes to investment in renewable energy, in transmission and storage, which will create thousands of jobs right across our country. The other thing I'm pleased about is that clean energy jobs played such a big role in last week's successful Jobs and Skills Summit. It's right that this is the case because clean energy jobs and clean energy investment are some of the keys to our economic future. This is important because we need to not only manage the transition underway but also ensure we have the skills and ability to make the most of and add value to our natural resources—our lithium and our rare earth and critical minerals—which will be in so much demand around the world. Under this government, we don't want to just dig them out, as important as they are. We want to add value and make more things in this country. That means having the skills to do so. It means investing in those skills, and that's why there are such important outcomes from the Jobs and Skills Summit. The member asked me what else we're getting on with. We're also getting on with great job creation programs in relation, for example, to offshore wind, which is so important. A few weeks ago, I was very pleased to begin the process of declaring an offshore wind zone off the coast of Gippsland. I indicated that the Hunter will be next, as well as the Illawarra, the Indian Ocean off Perth and Bunbury, and Portland. These are all jobs in the regions. We know that renewable energy jobs will increase by at least 266 per cent, and 75 per cent of those will be in the regions. It's in the regions where we'll ensure we have that investment in the jobs of the future under this government, because we know there's been a decade wasted and now we don't have a second to waste. Biosecurity: Foot-and-Mouth Disease 29 14:58 Mr LITTLEPROUD 265585 Maranoa My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. How many veterinarians, promised by the Australian government on 29 June to help Indonesia control foot-and-mouth disease, are currently deployed in Indonesia? 14:58 Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR Ballarat Thanks very much for the question. Can I say to the member that this is a partnership with the Indonesian government. It is in our interests that the Indonesian government succeed when it comes to foot-and-mouth disease. I know that you will join with me in saying that we are very grateful for the enormous efforts that everybody is making in keeping foot-and-mouth disease out of Australia. The travelling public coming back from Bali, in particular, are making sure that they are keeping this country safe. The efforts that we are making in partnership with the Indonesian government include, as I said yesterday, the provision of one million vaccines, which arrived in country on 21 August, and the procurement of three million additional doses. We know that over two million vaccines have already been administered in Indonesia. We are providing $500,000 to support biosecurity for Indonesian feedlots; personnel, including veterinarians; refrigeration logistics to help get out the vaccines in Indonesia; technical and epidemiological advice; and foot mats at Denpasar Airport. Instead of trying to score political points and trying to actually do that— Opposition members interjecting— Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR Oh, you just did that to me, did you? I thought there was an objection to men doing that. What was that? The SPEAKER 53517 The minister will just park her horses for a moment. Mr 265585 A point of order on relevance: the question was very tight. It was around the number of veterinarians that are deployed in Indonesia at the moment. That was a very tight question. She has not been specific to the question. The SPEAKER 53517 The Minister for Climate Change and Energy is not helping. I call the minister on the point of order. The question was specific about veterinarians. She is halfway through her answer. I'd ask her to return to that part of the question. Ms CATHERINE KING 00AMR As I said, it is a partnership with the Indonesian government to make sure that we keep foot-and-mouth disease out of this country, something that I'd think the shadow minister would be interested in. Rather than criticising the Indonesian government and trying to score political points about how many numbers are where and what you want to do, how about you work in partnership with us—instead of doing what you did do when you held the agricultural portfolio, which was to be briefed about the threat of foot-and-mouth disease, put a tweet out about it and then do absolutely nothing. Energy 30 15:01 Mr TED O'BRIEN 138932 Fairfax My question goes to the Prime Minister. A multigenerational family-owned IGA in the town of Mapleton in Queensland is facing 400 per cent increases in its power bills, which threatens the business and indeed will have a devastating impact on the local community. When will they receive the $275 cut to their power bill on which Labor made promises on over 90 occasions? 15:02 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler I'm asked about the cost of energy in Queensland, and what we know is that in March a decision was made that there would be an increase in wholesale energy prices. What occurred, though, was that there was no transparency there. It came into effect on 1 July. It's not surprising, because one of the problems Australia has got is that we have a national energy grid that was built for the last century, not this century. What we know—and we stand by the modelling that was done by RepuTex; let me explain it—is if you have a cheaper form of energy, which renewables are, than fossil fuel energy at the moment then you'll get lower power prices. That's the way the system works. Business understand that, which is why the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Australian Industry Group, the Clean Energy Council and other business groups— Mr Ted O'Brien 138932 On relevance, the family who own the IGA are the Andersons. They're struggling. My question to the Prime Minister— The SPEAKER 53517 For the benefit of all members, points of order on relevance are not a reason to bring new material into the question. You must state the point of order on relevance and resume your seat. I'm giving a general warning to all members that that standing order will not be abused. It's becoming too loose at the moment, and I'm asking all members to respect that standing order. Mr ALBANESE R36 There are some lo o se units over there! The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Prime Minister, return to the question. Mr ALBANESE R36 When you have a cheaper form of energy, energy prices will go down. It's not hard to understand. But not only did they have 22 energy policies and not land a single one when they were in office; they now have come up with a new one. It isn't renewables; it's nuclear power. The shadow minister is looking at the nuclear option. No-one likes a reactor like a reactionary! No-one likes a reactor like a reactionary. Remember, the last term when they were in government, they came in here and carried around a lump of coal. Remember that? They handed it around, the member for New England and the member for Cook. I'll give them this bit of advice now they're going down the nuke option. I'll give them a bit of advice: don't bring in a bit of uranium and pass it around, because that won't work well. If I don't do anything else for you today, for the sake of this chamber, don't do it. Honourable members interjecting— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! There is far, far too much noise in the chamber. When we have silence, we will continue. I give the call to the member for Pearce. Employment 30 15:06 Ms ROBERTS 157125 Pearce My question is to the Minister for Social Services. A key theme coming out of the Jobs and Skills Summit was the need to increase employment opportunities and outcomes for people with disability. What steps are the government taking to achieve this? 15:06 Ms HWA Kingston RISHWORTH (—) (): I would like to thank the member for Pearce for her question and her ongoing support for those living with a disability in her electorate and beyond. Of course, the Albanese Labor government is committed to supporting the fullest participation of all people with a disability in society, and increasing employment for people with a disability is a key priority. The unemployment rate for people with a disability increased steadily over the last decade, widening the unemployment gap between people with disability and people without disability. It is now more than double. Every person in Australia is entitled to the dignity of work and the economic, social and psychological benefits that work brings. That's why I was incredibly pleased at the Jobs and Skills Summit last Friday: there was a shared commitment to boosting participation and breaking down structural, institutional and attitudinal bias and barriers that many Australians living with a disability face every day. Really, it was disappointing— Ms RISHWORTH HWA The Deputy Leader of the Opposition is interrupting here, but what was really disappointing was that the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party missed out on the panel of people with lived experience of barriers to the workplace. Those individuals were able to talk about— Ms RISHWORTH HWA I really find the Leader of the Opposition disrespecting the lived experience that those people with a disability face. They had the guts to stand up and talk about their own experience of barriers to the workplace. The SPEAKER 53517 Order. The member for Barker is on a warning. Ms RISHWORTH HWA I tell you that, if we are going to truly unlock the full potential for our country and address our labour shortages, we need to support the right conditions to encourage inclusive workplaces, to encourage employers to open up their workplace for those workers who have been overlooked before. That's why I'm so pleased that at our Jobs and Skills Summit we were able to make tangible progress on ensuring people living with disability are able to get access to the workplace. I don't understand why those opposite are continuing to ridicule progress made on increasing employment opportunities for people living with a disability. You should be ashamed of yourselves! Through an MOU, the government— The SPEAKER 53517 The minister will resume her seat for a moment. The minster doesn't have the call. I'll call the member for Petrie. Mr Howarth 247742 On reflection on members. The minister just reflected on us in a disorderly way in relation to people with disability. We made no such comment at all. The SPEAKER 53517 There's no point of order. Ms RISHWORTH HWA We will enter into a MOU with the Business Council of Australia to design a disability employment initiative. We will have 1,000 APS digital traineeships to ensure those living with disadvantage get access to this opportunity. We will enter into a partnership with Australia's technology sector— (Time expired) Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union 31 15:10 Mr FLETCHER L6B Bradfield My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to a recent statement from CFMEU boss Christy Cain— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The Manager of Opposition Business will resume his seat. I've been crystal clear about the use of props before. This is a final warning to all members. If props are used during question time you will be sat down immediately. I give the call to the Manager of Opposition Business to read the question without props. Mr FLETCHER L6B My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to a recent statement from CFMEU boss Christy Cain: 'We did it. It's now the Australian Labor Party's turn to deliver. We have to actively keep our collective foot on the throats of every politician.' Prime Minister, are these threats against politicians appropriate? Is this what the CFMEU gets for its donations? The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The minister for early education will cease interjecting. 15:11 Mr ALBANESE R36 Grayndler The question goes to a particular union, the CFMEU. I'm pleased to get a question about that. When I was confronted with the issue of John Setka, what I did was expel him from the Australian Labor Party. What I did when there were issues— Mr Dutton 00AKI You're still taking his money! The SPEAKER 53517 Order! The members on my left have asked a question. The manager was heard in silence. I am requesting of the House that the Prime Minister be heard in silence. Mr ALBANESE R36 When I've seen inappropriate behaviour within the party I am now proud to lead, I take action. I expelled John Setka from the Labor Party. Ms Ley 00AMN The question didn't mention John Setka! The SPEAKER 53517 The Deputy Leader of the Opposition has been constantly interjecting during question time. I ask her to cease her interjections. The Leader of Opposition, on a point of order? Mr Dutton 00AKI On relevance: the Prime Minister talks about virtue, and that he's done this with John Setka. They've taken millions of dollars, the Labor Party, from the— The SPEAKER 53517 Order! Resume your seat. The Leader of the House? Mr Burke DYW Mr Speaker, you earlier made a ruling about people using points of order to raise new issues that were not in the question and to add to the question, which is exactly what the Leader of the Opposition is now doing. Mr Dutton 00AKI Mr Speaker— The SPEAKER 53517 Resume your seat. Mr Dutton 00AKI I'm seeking the call. The SPEAKER 53517 Resume your seat. Mr Dutton 00AKI I'm seeking the call to speak on the point of order. The SPEAKER 53517 And I've requested you resume your seat. Mr ALBANESE R36 When I've seen inappropriate behaviour, I've acted. The Leader of the Opposition has said that, because there was a CFMEU member at the Jobs and Skills Summit, that is why he didn't attend. That's the reason given by those opposite. Perhaps that also explains why he wasn't at the Minerals Council dinner last night, because there was also a CFMEU member there! But the thing we really have in common is: when you have an opportunity to contribute, when you have an opportunity to engage, this Leader of the Opposition doesn't turn up. He doesn't turn up because he has nothing positive to offer, unlike the Leader of the Nationals and unlike the range of businesses who turned up last night—BHP, Rio Tinto, Santos, Glencore, Dyno Nobel. Mr Littleproud 265585 What about the unions? Mr ALBANESE R36 David Littleproud was there—the Leader of the National Party was there last night! Dr Chalmers 37998 He was at my table! Mr ALBANESE R36 He was there enjoying the company of the Treasurer! I did read a comment from someone: It is clear to me that an insular minority within the party currently holds sway with a narrow world view out of step with our more secular, inclusive, and diverse community, and the issues that are most important. Who said that? Nigel Satterley, from Western Australia. And what's the Liberal Party doing? Expelling him from the Liberal Party. Treasonous words in the modern Liberal Party! They went back to two seats in WA. They lost four seats in the house of reps in WA— The SPEAKER 53517 I ask the Prime Minister to return to the question. Mr ALBANESE R36 and here they are, ranting and raving about a union. Their obsession it knows no ends. The fact is that, where we see inappropriate behaviour, we call it out. When Nigel Satterley, who has been a lifelong member of the Liberal Party, speaking up in favour of democracy, they expel him. (Time expired) Mr Dutton 00AKI You take the cash—John Setka's blood money. The SPEAKER 53517 The Leader of the Opposition will withdraw that statement. Mr Dutton 00AKI I withdraw. Migration 32 15:16 Mr KHALIL 101351 Wills My question is to the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs. How is the Albanese government repairing our visa processing system to build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce in Australia? 15:16 Mr GILES 243609 Scullin I thank the member and note his keen interest in these issues and his participation in the Jobs and Skills Summit last week—a very effective contribution, I might say. Since the borders reopened, many have discovered that visa processing is an essential—indeed, fundamental—function of our national government. This is something that on this side of the House we have long understood, which is why in opposition we stood against and defeated the former government's attempt to privatise our visa processing system—a privatisation that would have cost 2,000 jobs. When we arrived in government, there were a million visas waiting to be processed. This isn't good enough. It demonstrated a system in crisis. This government, the Albanese government, recognises this and is getting on with the job of ending this crisis. We have been taking a series of steps to fix it, to build a bigger, better trained and more productive workforce, recognising the vital role skilled migration plays in this in conjunction with the work done by the Minister for Skills and Training, recognising that this isn't a lazy policy option as it has too often been over the last decade. We also recognise the facts. We recognise the reality with which we are confronted. That isn't true for everyone in this place. Yesterday, the shadow minister for home affairs said to SBS that the previous didn't make cuts to the system. She said that the reduction in funding in Home Affairs was related to operations in regional processing. However, if the shadow minister had read the portfolio budget statement for her own department, she would have known that funding for visa processing in this program year was cut by over $36 million. I ask myself if perhaps she can't be solely blamed for this. Perhaps it was the other minister for home affairs at the time. He's not even here. Perhaps he's checking the budget papers! After nine years of neglect, we are getting on with repairing the damage. We'll be engaging 500 more workers, 500 hardworking public servants, in the home affairs department, to get visas moving. This is on top of 215 additional staff who are working on visa processing. We are getting visas moving to get the economy moving, because we understand immigration is about nation building. It's not a function that can be neglected or a tap that can be turned on and off. Fixing this mess is one of the most urgent tasks of this government, and we are getting on with the job, as we have been since day one, and getting the visas moving. Mr Albanese R36 Mr Speaker, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper. DOCUMENTS 33 DOCUMENTS Presentation 33 15:19 Mr BURKE DYW Watson Documents are tabled in accordance with the list circulated to honourable members earlier today. Full details of the documents will be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE 33 MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE Economy 33 15:20 The SPEAKER 53517 I have received a letter from the honourable member for Farrer proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely: The Government's utter failure to address rising cost of living pressures facing Australians. 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 standin g orders having risen in their places— 15:21 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer This Prime Minister is so consumed by and obsessed with the politics of yesterday that he has no interest in dealing with the issues, the real issues, that face Australians today. This new government has failed dismally to address the rising cost-of-living pressures facing Australians. Today homeowners have been hit with yet another interest rate rise, adding further pressure to already-tightening household budgets. And Australians will rightly be asking that if their Prime Minister couldn't even name the interest rate five months ago, how on earth could he be trusted to keep rates down? We know the Prime Minister struggles with numbers; we got that through question time. But he's been caught not knowing the cash rate, he's been caught not knowing the unemployment rate, he's been caught not knowing Australia's borders were open and he's been caught not knowing his own NDIS policy. We have a Prime Minister who struggles with the facts, so let me remind him of some facts. A homeowner with an average mortgage of $750,000 is now paying around $900 more on their monthly repayments than they were in May. That might not mean much to the Prime Minister—yesterday he was joking around about living in public housing at The Lodge—but it means a great deal to millions of Australians paying their mortgages. And this arrogant Prime Minister, who thinks shooing away these problems will make them disappear, has done absolutely nothing to fix them. That's $900 a month more for your mortgage under this Prime Minister. What's he doing about it? Nothing! The Prime Minister refuses to talk about it because he has no plan to fix it. At Christmas this year, when Australians are wanting to spend money on gifts for loved ones, get together with their family and go on holidays, the pain of this rate rise will really start to sink in. When the Prime Minister sits in his 'public housing' at The Lodge, let him reflect on every single family who is hurting as a result of his government making a bad situation worse. Australians going to the supermarket are finding they have to pay more and more for less and less. The Prime Minister told Australians more than 90 times before the election that Labor would cut power prices for families and small businesses by $275. In 100 days of this Labor government, the Prime Minister has not repeated that commitment once. Families are going broke, businesses are going to the wall and Australians are hurting. And what do they get from this Prime Minister? Excuses, excuses, excuses. In April, when the Prime Minister couldn't name the unemployment rate and couldn't name the cash rate, he said: Earlier today I made a mistake. I'm human. But when I make a mistake, I'll fess up to it, and I'll set about correcting that mistake. I won't blame someone else, I'll accept responsibility. That's what leaders do. The Prime Minister has been caught giving families false hope about a $275 cut to their power bills. Has he fessed up to that mistake? Has he apologised to Australians for doing it tough? No. All we get is historical revisionism from this Prime Minister—another broken promise and no responsibility. He still thinks he's Leader of the Opposition. He's stuck in the past, with no plan for the future—obsessed by and consumed with yesterday. No interest, no plan and no ability to deal with today. Most governments like to hit the ground running but this Prime Minister has hit the ground reviewing, when Australians need concrete action from their government—which they needed yesterday. Before the election the Prime Minister said, and I'll say this very clearly, 'Australians will be better off under a Labor government.' It's just another broken promise. Inflation under the Albanese government is running at 6.1 per cent, the highest rate of inflation in almost 32 years—the highest rate of inflation since Labor's recession that we had to have. The Prime Minister this morning attended the launch of a report which found that 40 per cent of Australians felt more distressed over their finances compared to last year. Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray said: The rise in financial stress coincides with surging demand for suicide prevention services … She said: The issue of cost-of-living and personal debt is ranked the biggest risk to rising suicide rates over the next 12 months. She continued: This is higher than previous years and is the first time an economic issue has overtaken social issues like drugs, loneliness and family breakdown. So we need more than empty words from the Prime Minister. What is the government actually doing to help with this crisis today? Every day of delay from this government is putting more and more Australians at risk. Over the last few weeks, I've been out and about around this country with colleagues, listening to small businesses, workers and local communities about how they're doing and what they need. With the member for Casey, I met with a window manufacturer who was grappling with rising power prices and needed more support for apprenticeships. With the member for Flinders, I met with 15 fabulous female small-business owners, who all cited the workforce shortages as their No. 1 issue. With the member for Menzies, I met with a group of disability carers, who were crying out for basic support systems just to be bolstered. In the Macedon Ranges, in regional Victoria—woefully represented by the member for McEwen—telco coverage is so poor they can't even get phone reception. In some areas they can't use the EFTPOS machine at the farmers' market where they sell their wonderful local produce. Where is the advocacy? Where is the support? It is outrageous. In Queensland, with the member for Bowman, I visited a business park and a local nursery. Again, you could not miss the crunch of the cost-of-living crisis facing them. Last week I was in southern Sydney with the member for Hughes, where we visited a local manufacturing business struggling with the rising cost of inputs. We also visited a small business absolutely crippled by the skills shortage. I also visited Lismore with the amazing member for Page, where the floodwaters have receded but so too has any interest from the Prime Minister. He still hasn't gone there since being elected in May. They need ongoing support, and this federal government is failing them. In regional Tasmania, the member for Bass and I met with the George Town Chamber of Commerce, where we heard firsthand how the regions are facing unique issues that just won't be solved by a cookie-cutter, Canberra-centric approach. That won't do it. In my own electorate—Griffith, in the amazing Riverina—we recently had the Bush Summit, where the Prime Minister came in for a fly-in fly-out photo-op. He was one hour and 15 minutes on the ground, and then he left. It was a shame he didn't stay. He would have heard harrowing stories of rising power prices smashing our local food producers. What do we hear from the Albanese government in response to these challenges? Nothing. What is the response that they have mustered up? Well, this week there was a lot of backslapping and self-congratulation on a mandated, indexed rise to the pension. They lauded it as the biggest rise in decades. Out they went, talking it up. What they didn't say was that the reason it was so big was that it's linked to skyrocketing inflation. It was an automatic increase. It would have occurred if Kermit the Frog were Prime Minister! Ms Bell 282981 Kermit the Frog is Prime Minister! Ms LEY 00AMN Maybe he is! Last week, they held a union summit—run by the unions, for the unions—which failed to deliver a single thing to address the cost-of-living pressures on families and businesses. Instead of addressing the cost of living, they want to reintroduce industry-wide bargaining, industry-wide disputes and strikes, which will ultimately lead to higher unemployment, lower profitability and a negative impact overall on the Australian economy. So, while the government and the minister at the table are busy backslapping each other for their union talkfest, businesses across the country are no closer to getting the policies they're crying out for. The Prime Minister made a personal decision to invite CFMEU boss Christy Cain to the summit—a summit which discussed the role of women in the workplace. Mr Cain has previously promoted criminal activity in the CFMEU, telling his members, 'Laws need to be broken; you're going to get locked up.' He's been charged with assault for belting someone. He's been found in contempt by the Supreme Court of Victoria. He even described John Setka as 'one of the most fair dinkum people in this country'. Whilst Australians struggle with the cost-of-living crisis, this Prime Minister is focused on giving this misogynistic thug a platform, and Australians deserve better. That's a captain's call, it sits on the Prime Minister's head and it's a captain's call that he needs to explain. This Christy Cain previously launched a strident public defence of John Setka after John Setka launched a vulgar attack on domestic violence advocacy hero Rosie Batty. If the actions of John Setka were bad enough to kick him out of the Labor Party, why on earth were the people who defended him invited to contribute to discussions about the safety of women in the workplace last week? This is the thug who said: If you're not at the table, you're part of the menu. I'm not part of any menu. The women in this place are not part of any menu. That was a misogynistic slur, and it's a slur that not one single member of the government has had the courage to condemn. We've had one hundred days of Labor and no action to fix these real cost-of-living pressures. (Time expired) 15:30 Mr JONES A9B Whitlam Over the last month we've seen the character of the new opposition on display. They are out of touch and they are stewing in irrelevance not because they have to be but because they choose to be. They were invited to participate in an important national conversation on jobs and skills, but they didn't turn up. They don't turn up, because they've got nothing to say. They were a government that gave up governing, and they are an opposition that's got nothing to say about policy. If they want to have a conversation about the cost of living, let's have a conversation about the cost of living, because there are two sides to the cost of living. This mob over here said there was absolutely nothing they could do to control minimum wages. From opposition we our committed to putting our shoulder to the wheel to get minimum wages moving again, and within the first week we wrote to the Fair Work Commission and said the Labor government expects to see minimum wages moving again and that is exactly what happened: a significant shift in minimum wages, keeping pace with cost-of-living increases, helping deal with cost-of-living pressures on family budgets, in stark contrast to the nine years of this hopeless mob over here, who had wage suppression as a deliberate design feature of their policy. Contrast the two: one week, wages moving; nine years, wages go backwards. This is how hopeless this mob over here is. The coalition ignored casual workers and casual worker rates going up and up, and didn't we see the result of that during the pandemic? They were thrown out of work with nothing to fall back on. Who could forget the words of the then Minister for Industrial Relations—remember his name?—Christian Porter, who said, 'That's okay, they can fall back on their savings.' How out of touch can you be? They were minimum wage casual workers with nothing to fall back on. It took this side of the house, the Labor Party, to push that government to do the absolute basics, and when push came to shove we did it again by extending pandemic leave for these vulnerable workers. As well as that, we're ensuring we are doing something about insecure work in this country. The coalition want to talk about power prices. We're very happy to talk about power prices, because after 22 energy policies when they couldn't land on one single policy—perhaps we're on the way to 23—is there any wonder that electricity prices went up on their watch? To add insult to injury we saw the member for Hume over there hide a whopping 18 per cent energy increase because they did not want the voters of Australia to understand what the woeful results of their hopeless policies and nine years of decadence were leading to. They want to know what's going on with energy prices; I'll tell you what's going on with energy policy. In our first week we gave certainty to investors. When we talked to investors and said, 'What's going on with energy generation? How come you're not investing in it?' the first thing they said to us, 'We don't know what the policy is, because for nine years we've had nothing from this mob over here. How are you going to make a 30-year investment when their policies don't last 30 minutes?'. So we are working on an energy policy which gives industry the certainty to invest, and we will ensure that we get cheaper energy and more secure energy and we will have a cleaner energy supply, something that this mob over here failed at 22 times over nine long years. The coalition are so out of touch that they don't understand what it is like to be a young family dealing with the rising costs of child care. They went up and up and up on their watch. What are we doing? We are introducing a policy to ensure that the majority of Australian families will get a significant cut in their childcare costs. Over 90 per cent of Australian families with children in child care will be having over 90 per cent of their costs covered. That's what a cost-of-living policy does for you. While this mob over here won't turn up and haven't got a clue, we'll introduce legislation for cheaper child care for 1.25 million Australian children. The coalition talk about the rising cost of health care. What they won't tell you is that they froze Medicare rebates for nine years. If you are wondering why you can't find a doctor in your regional town that will bulk-bill you, it is because this mob over here froze Medicare rebates for over nine years. Doctors can't afford to provide a bulk-billing service in regional Australia, and the answer is right over there. We will reverse the changes in the policies of this mob—six years of neglect and indolence. Our budget will cut the cost of medicines and ensure that Australians can afford to see a doctor once again. The Jobs and Skills Summit that this mob over here boycotted because they found somebody in the invitation list they didn't like the sound of actually came up with some solutions. If you want to know why you can't get an electrician, carpenter or plumber to your house for love nor money, the answer is over there. They cut the guts out of the TAFE system. They cut the guts out of vocational education and training. Apprenticeship completion rates have been going through the floor. If there is any wonder why the price of tradies is going through the roof, the answer sits over there. We took the horse by the reins, and we will ensure that we reverse nine long years of neglect by reinvesting in TAFE. An agreement was reached with the states and territories and business last week at the forum that you neglected to turn up to. You boycotted it. We reached a landmark decision—180,000 fee-free TAFE student places to ensure that we can get apprenticeships and traineeships going again. We are fast-tracking fee-free TAFE places and ensuring that businesses can hire again. The coalition's mismanagement of the economy has made it harder and harder for the government to deal with the challenges, but we will not shrink from them. But we will be honest with the Australian people—$1 trillion worth of Liberal Party debt has to be paid off. That is your legacy: a rising cost of living and $1 trillion worth of debt. Never has there been a party which talks so much about economic management, but— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Are you seeking to make a point of order, Member for Monash? It better be a good one. Mr Broadbent MT4 It is a reference to you, Deputy Speaker, when he says 'you'. I let it go once. I let it go twice. I let it go three times. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 I know the feeling of letting things go when people make repeated mistakes, so I will remind the minister to direct his comments through me, the chair, and not reflect on me. Mr JONES A9B I thank the member opposite and you, Deputy Speaker, for your guidance. It would be a gross injustice if I were to blame you, or anyone on this side of the House, for the indolence and economic mismanagement of this mob over nine long years. Never has there been a party that has talked so much about economic management but done so little of it. Never has there been a party that has talked much about the importance of business but understood so little about the needs of business. So whether it is addressing the cost of child care, fixing the skills gap, ensuring we have one energy policy for the term of this government and not 22 that don't make it through the caucus room, ensuring we are dealing with TAFE or ensuring we are putting in place policies that have real wages rising again—we are focused on cost-of-living issues. Never have you seen a more miserable, out-of-touch opposition that are stewing in irrelevance, not because they have to be but because they choose to be. 15:40 Mr THOMPSON 281826 Herbert The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services spent his whole time talking about us in opposition, not about what the government is doing. You spent the whole time criticising a former government rather than talking about— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Excuse me. Just be quiet. I'm taking a point of order from the member for Perth. Mr Gorman 74519 Deputy Speaker, we had the member for Monash raise an incredibly important point of order about referencing 'you', referring to you in the chair. The member speaking may not have heard that point of order, so I raise it again just so that we can appropriately refer to either the government or your good self. Thank you. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Thank you. I assume all members now present in the House have got this standing order firmly tattooed into their memory, so let's give it a go at not using the word 'you' unless you are directly speaking to me. Mr THOMPSON 281826 The cost of living has spiralled out of control throughout the country. What have this Labor government been doing? Labor have stated that they've made medications cheaper. That's not hard. They have just continued the former government's policy—copy and paste, green tick, continue. Meanwhile the new government claim the regular indexation of pensions as delivering a win. It's great that pensioners are getting more money, but it happens automatically twice a year. It really is going up with the wild levels of inflation that we're having. Labor is saying that Australians have to wait years before they get any cost-of-living relief. Australians cannot wait a year. They need action now. Two hundred and seventy-five dollars off your electricity bills—that's what was promised by this Labor government. This has gone. It was walked away from. It has been abandoned. They lied to the people of Australia. 'More secure, well-paid jobs' is what we've been hearing. You have inherited unemployment at its lowest rate in 50 years. The Prime Minister needs to come clean to the Australian people instead of kicking the can down the road with his summits, his photo ops, getting Shaq down and shutting down debate with his smoke-and-mirror politics of saying he's doing better but sitting on his hands while everyday Australians suffer. Australians are sick of the Treasurer standing in front of the camera and offering an update on how bad things are. Australians know this when their pay hits their account and it's gone before they can go to the petrol station to fill up their car or the shops to buy groceries. They know this every time the postie drops off their electricity, insurance or rate bills. What is Labor's plan? What is the solution going forward? Australians want outcomes and solutions, not more of the Treasurer's excuses. Australians are looking for relief now, not next month, next year or in two years. A lot of families can't wait that long. Instead of hitting the ground running, Labor has offered Australians 100 days of excuses. The cost-of-living pressures are hitting hard around Australia and the electorate of Herbert isn't immune. The people of Townsville are doing it tough with higher power prices, higher fuel bills and higher grocery bills. In July a study found that a basket of groceries in Townsville had increased by 4.2 per cent in just a six-week period, which is why food charities are having to work so much harder to keep up with the demand. Just before coming down to this fortnight's sitting I dropped into the ADRA food pantry, which provides low-cost groceries for those who need them the most. They do an amazing job, but they have queues lined up down the road from six in the morning. There are lines out the door. There are people picking up canned food and grabbing bread, and young mums grabbing nappies. The supermarkets are too expensive. These are the challenges that people are facing in Townsville. There is an average of 12 to 15 new registrations for families signing up to shop at the pantry. They have delivered more than 5,000 boxes of food to people who can't afford to shop anywhere else. The constant increase in numbers demonstrates that we need to do more to ease the cost of living. We need a solution to ensure that the lines don't even get busier and longer in places like ADRA's food pantry. We need the government to act. The people of Townsville and our nation need action now. 15:45 Dr REID 300126 Robertson The Albanese Labor government is committed to building a better future for Australians, and for the people of Robertson in my home on the Central Coast. The Australian public voted at the recent federal election for a government that would take the issue of cost of living seriously, because for too long under the former Liberal government Australians continued to see cost-of-living increases and a government that was ever absent. I am proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that has a suite of policies that will address the cost of living and is now working to legislate those policies to help ease cost-of-living pressures for Aussie families. For example: in my electorate of Robertson, the cost of child care is extremely high for many couples—it is extremely high for many families. This was constantly brought up as we doorknocked, as we phonebanked and as we hosted street stalls around Robertson. The Albanese government will ensure child care is more affordable by lifting the maximum childcare subsidy rate, and we will extend the increased subsidy to outside-school-hours care, including many other changes that will ease the cost of child care and therefore ease the cost of living. These measures are targeted and will mean that 96 per cent of families will be better off, which equates to 1.26 million families across Australia. I know that the people of Robertson will benefit from our policy making child care cheaper, and I look forward to this 47th parliament passing this legislation and helping millions of families struggling with child care to get much-needed assistance. During my election campaign, Labor made a commitment, should an Albanese Labor government elected, that Narara, a suburb in Robertson, would receive one of 500 community batteries that will be rolled out across Australia. Community batteries will revolutionise energy storage at the grassroots level and mean that thousands of Australians will have the ability to feed solar generated electricity from their rooftops into a community battery that can be utilised at night-time. This policy will ensure that Australia meets its emissions reduction targets but, importantly, will reduce electricity costs for thousands of Australians and the people in my electorate of Robertson. The Albanese Labor government also wants to ensure that more Australians can harness the benefits of solar power, because we know that clean energy is cheap energy; we know that the sun does not send a bill and the wind does not send an invoice. That is why the government will roll out 85 solar banks around Australia, to ensure more can take advantage of clean and more can take advantage of renewable energy while at the same time reducing their energy costs and easing the cost of living. Which brings me to our next cost-of-living measure, a measure that is close to my heart as an emergency doctor who has seen firsthand the devastating impact that medication costs can have on patients and residents on the Central Coast—and indeed right across Australia. People are having to ration medications for their high blood pressure or for their hypercholesterolaemia, meaning that these chronic conditions that otherwise would have been medicated for become cerebrovascular accidents or strokes, or become acute myocardial infarctions or heart attacks. I'm proud to say that an Albanese Labor government, the members on this side of the House, will legislate that more medications will be more affordable for more Australians. The government will cut the cost of medications by reducing the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme copayment from the current maximum of $42 50 per script to a maximum of $30 per script. Labor will always ensure Australians can access medications they need, when they need them. Labor has built Medicare and we will always protect and strive to strengthen our world-class healthcare system. The fact is that the economic mismanagement of the Liberals and Nationals has left us with $1 trillion of debt and not a single cent of vision to show for it. Our economic plan is a deliberate and measured response to the economic circumstances that we inherited. It is our task to do what we can to help Australians deal with these pressures in the short term and build a more resilient economy. We will guide and steer our economy during this difficult period and build a future the Australian people and the people of Robertson deserve. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 I give the call to the member for Groom. 15:50 Mr HAMILTON 291387 Groom Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker, and I'll endeavour to do my best in refraining from using the word 'you' inappropriately. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Thank you. Mr HAMILTON 291387 What an important MPI for us to be talking on: the Albanese government's utter failure to address rising cost-of-living pressures facing Australians. We had the minister talking about what happened in the first week of this government, talking it up. The minister missed, of course, one important thing that happened in that first week, which was the government's complete backflip, complete walking away, from their commitment to reduce your energy costs by $275. This was a key component of the campaign. It sat right beside their 43 per cent emissions reduction policy. This was what provided balance to that argument. It was presented as a bit of a red herring, to try to show that there was some balance, some reasonable behaviour, being exhibited. But what we saw in that first week was immediately—bang—walking away from that commitment to reduce your energy bills by $275. Today we saw the Prime Minister, on being asked three or four questions on this issue, refusing to answer them, and this has been all the way through. Every time we've raised this—'Do you maintain your commitment to reduce energy bills by $275?'—the government has said nothing on it. It's refused to answer this. It has walked away from it completely. This is what happened in the first week of this government. We saw exactly the intent of the government. They're not going to focus on cost-of-living pressures. They have far different things to focus on. I think I also heard the previous speaker talk about a trillion dollars of debt that they had inherited as just some victims of this. Let's be very, very clear: it's every dollar of which you agreed to, and you suggested that we spend more. You are now in government. You are no longer in opposition, you are in government. You are responsible. What has caused these cost-of-living pressures is not some historical incident. These are things happening now, and you are the government; this is on your watch. What you do now matters. Giving us the same speeches from opposition that you gave before, pointing out to us on this—it's your responsibility. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Excuse me. The member for Lalor on a point of order? Ms Ryan 249224 The point of order is the one we've been talking about all afternoon. The member for Groom is referencing the Deputy Speaker again and again in his speech. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 It did creep in towards the end. So you might just pay a bit closer attention. This is an important standing order for this afternoon, it would appear. Mr HAMILTON 291387 Madame Deputy Speaker, I tried so hard. I will double my endeavours. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 You gave it a good shot; you need to do better. Mr HAMILTON 291387 Madam Deputy Speaker, this failure is born of a view that the government is some sort of victim of these historical incidents, but these are things that are happening right now. We saw today— The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Sorry, I give the call to the member for Lalor on a point of order, I presume? Ms Ryan 249224 I want to remind the member for Groom of your preference to being called Deputy Speaker and to leave the 'Madam' out of it. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 It's not a strict point of order, there, member for Lalor. It is perfectly true that my preference is to be called Deputy Speaker. Give it a try. Mr HAMILTON 291387 My sincere apologies. It was not meant in any way other than to be as appropriate as possible. Forgive me. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 Thank you. Mr HAMILTON 291387 I'm glad to be taken off point because—this is really the government's whole role, their whole game, to point back across and not take any responsibility for what's happening now. We saw today's interest rate rise. If we're talking about cost-of-living pressures, the first interest rate rise, back in May, is only being passed on to people now. So we've got four more of these coming. They're about to hit—one after the other, like a train. Across Australia this cost-of-living pressure will continue to rise, and this is happening entirely on Labor's watch. I'm sure that we'll be asked to wait until the budget to see anything happen here. We'll be asked to wait until the budget, and we'll have to have patience, because Labor has absolutely no intention of acting at all on cost-of-living pressures until then. We know every Labor Treasurer wants to be seen as an economic conservative and the Treasurer will be trying to present that in this budget, but Australians will be waiting with the patience of a chopping block on this one, because we know what's coming. This is going to be a tax-and-spend budget. We can see it. Labor have made their intentions very, very clear. 15:55 Dr GARLAND 295588 Chisholm If we take cost-of-living pressures seriously, and we on this side of the House do, we really need to understand how we got to this situation if we want to solve the problem. Whilst those opposite might want us to forget that they adopted a deliberate strategy of wage suppression as part of their approach to government, keeping workers' pay low for nine long years, I can tell you who has not forgotten that strategy, Madam Deputy Speaker: the millions of workers who suffered as a result of that cruel approach. During the election campaign, we on this side of the House were mocked for suggesting that the lowest-paid workers in our community should not go backwards but in fact have wages that keep pace with the growing cost of living, which would amount to about a dollar extra per hour. Instead of supporting that easing of cost-of-living pressures, those opposite treated as somehow scandalous the suggestion that the lowest-paid workers in this country should not be the worst-off workers in this country. We shouldn't really have been surprised, because throughout the last term of government we saw how those opposite ignored the plight of workers. It's hard to know where to begin on this. It's hard to know whether their economic strategy and approach to workers was born out of incompetence or born out of contempt. But we saw how casual workers, during the very worst part of the pandemic, were left behind. Those opposite told them they needed to pay their own way through—and I've heard previous speakers discuss how absurd that suggestion was. But it wasn't just casual workers who were left behind. I think about the people who make up my community in the electorate of Chisholm, in Melbourne. We have many international students, many academics and many workers on visas, all of whom were cruelly excluded from the JobKeeper subsidies. As a result of the decisions those opposite made, we now have to grapple with the crisis of how we rebuild the university sector and how we make sure we have enough workers to help the small and medium businesses that are part of the local economy. While those opposite might want to forget what they did to our communities, the people in Chisholm and, I'm sure, people across the nation will not forget. People will remember, though, the things the Albanese Labor government is now doing to set things right, and that we actually take this issue seriously. We're not treating it as a game, as those opposite may like to treat it, because we're talking about real people's lives and livelihoods. I think of a few instances lately when people in my community have come up to me with real excitement about what the future under an Albanese Labor government might hold, including cheaper child care. Cheaper child care is good not just because it decreases the pressure on families to meet cost-of-living demands but because we are able to have greater workforce participation as more women, who are mainly the primary caregivers, enter the economy. But I suppose, in having just a quick glance at the benches opposite, that maybe those opposite don't really care much for women's participation in the workforce, given there are no women from the other side in the chamber at this moment. Unlike those opposite, we know that women's workforce participation, cheaper child care and better wages for workers in aged care and other care sectors are vital to addressing those real cost-of-living pressures we face in our communities. We do not treat this as a triviality. We do not treat this as a game. We treat this as a very serious issue that requires structural reform that was neglected for almost a decade, which is a real shame. When we talk about cost-of-living pressures, we know that, for so many families, these pressures are not new. I remember during the campaign speaking to people who could not afford to go and see a specialist, because the out-of-pocket expenses had climbed up by almost 60 per cent. In my community of Chisholm, the out-of-pocket expense to see a GP in the last nine years has gone up by 38 per cent. We have inherited a situation where people were desperate and were making the choice between paying their bills and going to see a doctor. That is no way to run a country—not a country like Australia. So I am delighted that we're actually addressing these issues in a structural way. 16:00 Mr CHRISTENSEN 230485 Dawson I rise today to voice the concerns of my constituents. The people of Dawson are extremely nervous and fearful of the rising cost of living. Today, the Reserve Bank has again lifted interest rates, making this the fifth increase in five months. Australians with a $500,000 mortgage are paying on average an extra $600 per month compared to interest rates in April of this year. This is an increase of $150 that families need to find each and every week. Back in March 2022 the coalition government provided relief for Australian families by bringing in the 22c fuel excise reduction. I am calling on the Albanese Labor Government to continue this fuel excise reduction. In my electorate of Dawson we have limited public transport options and long-distance travel is part of everyday life. Fuel is a huge weekly expense for regional Australians. Groceries have also significantly increased in price at the checkout. Families are being forced to make a choice between putting fuel in their car or food on the table. I don't think that that's fair. And what about the insurance premiums in my part of the world? They are outrageous, leaving thousands of residents with no choice but to live uninsured or at risk. North Queenslanders are still waiting for the Labor Albanese government to implement the $10 billion Reinsurance Pool. While north Queenslanders dread the looming cyclone season, the insurance companies continue to profit from this indecisive, no-plan government. Energy prices are ever increasing, and Australian families and businesses are struggling with soaring power prices, yet nothing is being done to increase our baseload capacity or supply. In fact, this current government, who are bowing to the Greens, are taking away reliable and affordable options. We are all in fear of what the next 12 months will bring with these cost-of-living pressures. I am constantly asked by the constituents, 'What is the government's plan?' So I stand here today to urge the Albanese Labor government to get a plan instead of reintroducing industrywide bargaining, industrywide disputes and strikes, which will ultimately lead to higher unemployment, less profitability within businesses and a negative impact to the overall Australian economy. I ask the Prime Minister: could he stand by his word and please give me Australians the $275 reduction to their power bills that he promised. This promise was made 97 times after December 2021. Before the election, Mr Albanese said: I will say this very clearly. They— meaning Australians— will be better off under a Labor government … Again, this is just another Labor broken promise. The Treasurer says there's no credible economic forecast in Australia right now that thinks that wages growth is going to keep up with inflation. Inflation under the Albanese government is running at 6.1 per cent. This is the highest rate of inflation in almost 32 years. This is the highest rate of inflation since Labor's recession that we 'had to have', apparently. The independent parliamentary budget confirmed that the Labor government's policies will result in higher debts than deficits. They did not even submit all their policies to the Parliamentary Budget Office for costing despite their saying that the policies were fully costed. The Assistant Treasurer is out there predicting hyperinflation and more strikes, and that is not what Australians need right now. The Prime Minister tells us he has a plan. The Prime Minister has promised us a plan. So please tell me—and the people of Dawson: what is the plan? 16:05 Ms RYAN 249224 Lalor I am pleased to rise today to join my colleagues, the member for Whitlam, the member for Robertson, the member for Chisholm, on this important MPI, and I welcome the contributions from the members for Farrer, Herbert, Groom and Dawson. It's amazing to be here on the government benches and watch the conversion of those opposite, who've suddenly discovered cost-of-living pressures. There has been an epiphany. There has also been on display today a demonstration of collective amnesia. It's like the last 10 years have just been washed away, washed away in 107 days. The Albanese Labor government went to an election critically concerned about the cost-of-living pressures and a trillion dollars of debt with too little to show for it. We went to an election critically concerned about nine years of wage stagnation, with wages going backwards in this country. We went to an election critically concerned about the inaction of a nine long, tired year old government that failed at every turn to do the things that this country needed it to do. In fact, it was not just inaction; there was a sense of deliberation in the things that they did. The actual strategy to keep wages low was admitted by them to be part of their economic strategy, the decisions they made, the choices they made. When I first came here in 2013, one of the things that I learnt in that first year was that governments are about priorities, budgets are about priorities and every decision a government makes, every action it takes, speaks to its priorities. What we saw from those opposite when they were in government made it very clear what their priorities were. They weren't so concerned about cost of living when they oversaw penalty rate cuts. There was no concern then about the cost of living for people in my electorate who wore that very hard. There was no concern for casual workers when they were not granted the same as other workers in the economy during the pandemic, no concern for the thousands in my electorate. There was no concern for the families that I represent when, during the pandemic, casual working parents had no work. I was hearing from school principals about year 12 students who were neglecting their studies because they were being offered 40, 50, 60 hours a week at McDonald's, and those young people felt compelled to support their families. When I heard about kids going to school without lunches day in, day out during the pandemic, there was no squealing about cost-of-living pressures on those the former government neglected not just over nine years but in our acute memories of the pandemic. So the conversion today is extraordinary, but enough about them; enough about those opposite. This government is getting on with the job. This government has introduced, has ensured, a wage rise for our lowest paid workers. We've seen that happen in a week in government. It's an extraordinary achievement. We've also seen members of this government reinstate Australia on the world stage, which, in the longer term, will impact cost of living because it will mean that we have better relationships internationally, better trade deals, a better reputation. This government is getting on with the job. We saw last week the Jobs and Skills Summit—an opportunity for Australians to come together. After nine years of division and broken promises, after nine years of neglect, we have an opportunity to move this country forward, to make Australia a better place for families like the families I represent and for families right around the country. As a government, we will have our priorities very clear. Our priorities are about opportunities for all. Our priorities are about taking the hand we have been dealt after nine long years of neglect and doing the things Australians tell us will make a difference. Bringing Australians together to work together towards a better future—that's what this government is about. We will deal with cost-of-living pressures. We will do it with Australians. 16:10 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt It's a tough day for the people in my electorate of Sturt and the people of Australia, with the Reserve Bank announcing their decision to again increase interest rates by 50 basis points. Power prices are going up, fuel prices are about to go up, real wages are going down and mortgages continue to increase. Today's announcement of a 50 basis point increase is the fourth in a row of 50 basis points, and, of course, there was another increase before that. We are now at 2.35 per cent of the cash rate. Unfortunately the pain of this doesn't seem to be coming to an end anytime soon, because the most recent inflation rate, as has been pointed out in this debate, increased again to 6.1 per cent. The 5.2 per cent increase to the minimum wage, unfortunately, is still going to see the lowest-paid workers under this Labor government go backwards, because inflation is higher than that increase and wage inflation generally is still under half the inflation rate. The predictions from no less than the Reserve Bank governor and others are that 6.1 per cent is by no means the peak of inflation. So things are very tough for the people of this country. Today's decision by the Reserve Bank goes to show that, unfortunately, they have to keep using the monetary policy levers available to them to try and get inflation under control. Of course, monetary policy is not the only way that governments have at their disposal to address inflation. We have an independent Reserve Bank which everyone in this chamber, hopefully, supports. Those decisions are independent and they are made from a monetary policy point of view, the cost of money in our economy, based on all the information available to them to achieve their target inflation rate. One of the things they have to contend with is what the Commonwealth budget is doing, what the situation is with the budget deficit, and whether or not the fiscal policy settings of the federal government are contributing to inflation or helping the Reserve Bank with their task of bringing it under control. We have a budget being delivered in this place in about six weeks time, and that will really be the only tangible example of whether or not this government and this Treasurer have a plan to assist in that task of getting inflation under control. All the other things that have been mused about in this debate are completely irrelevant when it comes to the cost of living and the families of Australia compared with the situation of inflation not just at such a record high, of 6.1 per cent at the moment, but predicted to continue to increase. We all understand and accept there are global forces that are part of the pressures on the cost of living. They're also helping with the terms of trade. Many of our commodities are in a boom cycle at the moment, which is helping to support our economy through these tough times. But, ultimately, no matter what forces are coming to bear, we within this economy, and as a Commonwealth government and as a Commonwealth parliament, have to have a plan to address it. As I say, the Reserve Bank will keep increasing interest rates—possibly more than they need to if they're not getting support from a fiscal point of view from this government. That will be the enormous challenge that befalls the budget coming up in late October. Labor have got a lot of plans for more spending. I'm sorry to tell you that if you're only spending more money and increasing the deficit, that is only going to increase interest rates and that is going to put the Reserve Bank in an impossible position as the only people fighting inflation in our economy. In fact, if you increase the deficit, let alone not reduce it, then all the result you'll get is having an unnecessary and enormous burden—a form of tax increase by increasing people's mortgages. And that is going to disproportionally, in particular, hurt some of the people who are struggling in our economy the most at the moment. Real wages are going backwards, and they will continue to go backwards, no matter what decisions are made by the Fair Work Commission, unless we get inflation under control. No-one can predict what is going to happen with inflation if we continue to operate in an environment where we're not taking it seriously, particularly in the upcoming federal budget. So I urge the Labor Party to do something against their muscle memory and against their form when it comes to Commonwealth budgets—to use that as an opportunity to properly help the Reserve Bank to reduce pressure on inflation in our economy, to share the burden, to share the load and to cut expenditure. They should help them with that and stop putting this pressure on the poor mortgage-payers of this country. 16:15 Ms SCRYMGOUR F2S Lingiari I rise to talk about the cost of living in regional and remote communities of the Northern Territory, and the failure of the previous government to act and assist these families and communities. The towns and communities in my electorate are reeling under the extraordinary rise in the cost of everyday living. Regional and remote Australia is always an expensive place to live; we don't have the economies of scale of large cities and we have huge distances to contend with. But when this was exacerbated by nine years of neglect by the previous government, battlers in my electorate suffered. Access to fresh produce is becoming unaffordable to the average person, as food in remote communities is 56 per cent more expensive than in regional supermarkets due to long supply chains and poor-quality roads, as outlined by the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory. Every lettuce for sale at the Kintore Store, near the border with WA, or at Aputula Store, near the South Australian border, has travelled hundreds of kilometres on unsealed and unsafe roads. Trucking companies have to charge more to cover repairs and fix breakages. Even the Santa Teresa Road, only 80 kilometres from Alice Springs, is a terrible access road. And, despite the urgings of the former member for Lingiari, the previous government refused to seal it. I am proud to be able to tell residents that the Albanese government will deliver in terms of this road. If you continue travelling about 700 kilometres west of Santa Teresa to Docker River, on the border between the Northern Territory and Western Australia, the negative impact of the cost-of-living crisis is laid bare. Here you can expect to pay $9.60 for two litres of milk, three times more than you would pay in Alice Springs. We had a government in power for nine long years, and I have sat here and listened to their MPI, which is a matter of public importance. I have listened to every member on the opposition benches, who suddenly have amnesia. They ignored this for nine years. They had a deliberate strategy of wage suppression as part of their economic strategy, and kept workers' pay as low as possible. Of course if you do that you end up with situations where people in these communities need to make unimaginable sacrifices: do I pay for my medicine or do I pay for my child to eat? This is an everyday reality for families in Lingiari that the coalition government created through their neglect of the poorest Australians. Blaming poor people for being poor, which is what the previous government's CDP program did, doesn't help them pay for the lettuce or the milk—or the retail, for that matter. What matters is real jobs in communities, real skill development and award wages at a minimum for hardworking people. That is what the Albanese Labor government will be doing with its review of the failed CDP program. My constituents on Christmas Island and the Cocos Keeling Islands are really suffering at the hands of Australia's cost-of-living crisis, as they were already contending with air freight costs adding $12 per kilogram to their fresh food prices. There is a massive systemic problem with sea freight systems servicing the Indian Ocean territories. The backlog for freight is in the order of 15 to 20 tonnes and the prices are spiralling as a result. How do we expect people to live in these territories when fresh produce is becoming unattainable to everyone? But this isn't an issue that has just come up today; this was an issue that the previous government knew about, but they took no action to address the root causes of these issues. It is a difficult problem, but I am proud to be part of a government that recognises that this is an issue, and we will take action. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The discussion has now concluded. COMMITTEES 43 COMMITTEES Electoral Matters Joint Committee 43 Membership 43 16:20 The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 The Speaker has received a message from the Senate informing the House of the appointment of senators as participating members to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters for the committee's inquiry into the 2022 election. As the list of appointments is a lengthy one, I do not propose to read the list to the House; details will, however, be recorded in the Votes and Proceedings. BUSINESS 43 BUSINESS Rearrangement 43 16:20 Mrs ELLIOT DZW Richmond I move: That business intervening before order of the day No. 5, government business, be postponed until a later hour this day. Question agreed to. GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH 43 GOVERNOR-GENERAL'S SPEECH Address-in-Reply 43 16:21 Mr LIM 300130 Tangney Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. I'd like to begin by acknowledging the traditional custodians of the land on which we meet today—the Ngunnawal people—and the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation, which Tangney is a part of, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging. The seat of Tangney is named after Dame Dorothy Tangney. She was the first female senator in Australia's parliament and a proud Labor member. I am honoured to stand here today as the first Labor MP elected to represent Tangney in 39 years. I would also like to acknowledge my predecessor, Ben Morton, and thank him for his service. My story starts in 1961. I was born and grew up in Parit Zing, Johor, Malaysia. I am the oldest among eight children. My family could not afford electricity or running water. We had to chop rubber wood to cook. The floor of our house was rammed earth. The roof was leaky, and our toilet was just a hole in the ground. My parents were uneducated rubber tappers. When it rained, they could not work, so there was no income to feed the family. My parents and the generation before them never went to school. I was lucky enough to be able to go to school. I felt immense pressure to do well. I studied very hard, knowing that life would be better for my family if I did well in my study. After finishing high school I wanted to study further but unfortunately could not afford university fees. As a child, I always dreamt of being a police officer. In 1980, I joined the Malaysia police force, as I always wanted to serve the community and help people. I enjoyed this career, but the salary was too low—not enough to support my family. So, after two years in the police force, I went searching for new employment, and I found the best job in my life—dolphin trainer! Dolphins are so loving and beautiful. They are cheeky and very intelligent. They can sense our feelings. I was with my dolphin friends for four years, before the safari park closed. I was very sad to say goodbye to them, but I was also happy that they were back in their home, where they belonged, wild and free. It was during this time, when I was a dolphin trainer, that I married my love, Chew Yong. She is up there. She is my wife of 40 years, and also my best friend and mentor. Without her, I would not be the person you see here today. After the safari park shut down, I started a supply and distribution business. That was quite successful, with operations across the country. It allowed me to provide a secure life for my growing family. My spirituality is very important to me. In my early 30s I decided to live as a temporary Buddhist monk for 25 days in northern Thailand. I shaved my head and took a vow of silence. I meditated and ate very simply. During this time I experienced absolute peace—peace that radiates from within. It was an important experience that I still reflect on, and I find peace in solitude and contentment in helping others. All parents want the best for their children. For me, education is everything. And I want my children to be better off than me. In 2002, my wife and I made the decision to emigrate to Australia, to give our children the best education and opportunity to secure a comfortable life. My children each received a great education at the public schools in Tangney, and they graduated from their local universities. They are now all married and have great careers. I love my children with all my heart, and I'm always so proud of them. After our arrival in Perth in 2002, we ran a coffee shop in the CBD. It was great to be working as a family. We had to learn a lot of words that I'd never heard of before, like 'flat white' and 'lamington'! 2006 was a big year for me and my family. I reignited my lifelong dream and joined the WA Police Force at the age of 45. 2006 was also the year that my oldest daughter, Yin Wee, was diagnosed with cancer. Looking back, I don't know how my family and I got through that period. Every day I travelled back and forth between my intense police training, in Joondalup, and Fremantle, so that I could spend every waking moment by my daughter's bedside in hospital. I had to appear hopeful and joyful for my daughter and my family, even though I was crying inside. My daughter won her battle with cancer, thanks to our amazing system—all of this underpinned by the great Labor Party initiative we know as Medicare. I am eternally grateful to the doctors and nurses. For many years, my daughter spent her birthday visiting the oncology wards to express her thanks, in deep gratitude. I spent more than 15 years in the WA Police Force. I was posted across Western Australia, servicing the community from Eucla, 1,400 kilometres east of Perth, to Karratha, 1,500 kilometres north, and back to Perth. Police officers have a most difficult job, constantly taking on stressful, undesirable duties that no-one else wants to do but must be undertaken. My brothers and sisters in blue bear a difficult burden. This difficult burden has a name: it's called duty. We start our day before our children or partner are awake. Once we arrive at the police station we put on our blue uniform and gear up and hit the road. We never know what situation will arise or what we'll be called to attend. It may be serious family domestic violence, a fatal traffic crash, an armed robbery, a pub brawl, sudden death, murder and many more. All these are common tasks for police officers. Police officers have often been abused, kicked, punched, bitten and spat on. They go from job to job, often thanklessly, dealing with so many difficult situations. They may be tired. They may be affected by what they have encountered. But whenever they receive a call, they turn up and do the job professionally without complaining. Then, at the end of the day, they return to the office to finish a big pile of paperwork before heading home to their families, keeping a brave face of normality from what they have experienced. And the next day they start the process all over again. This is the burden of duty. I want to take this opportunity to recognise the uniqueness of policing and the people who put their hands up to serve. I also extend my thanks and gratitude to all the front-line workers, like our nurses, doctors, carers, teachers and beyond. And I thank all of them, deeply, from the bottom of my heart and I want to advocate for all of you. I received the Police Officer of the Year Award in 2020. I felt that I was where I needed to be: serving the community. Whilst my whole life journey is important, one man made all this possible. His name is Gough Whitlam. He was the Prime Minister of Australia when the Labor government abolished the last vestiges of the White Australia policy in 1973. He is a hero to me as well as to many. He introduced multiculturalism into Australia. Because of him, we can call Australia home. Because of him, I and many of the new MPs here in the 47th Parliament can be the faces and representatives of our multicultural communities. I was born as a third generation Malaysian Chinese, but I stand here today as a proud Western Australian elected by the people of Tangney as their representative in Australia's federal government. Western Australia is where I live. I note and cherish the achievements of our state Premier, Mr Mark McGowan, and the WA Labor team. Mark is a gentleman and a statesman over and above his position as a premier. Thanks to his leadership, WA is now the wealthiest state in Australia. In my eyes, Mark is a legend. Australia's closest neighbours are those in Asia, encompassing the ASEAN region, China, India, Japan, Korea and many more, and it is important to note that our economic boost, especially WA's, over the past few years was from the Asia region. There is a verse in the Bible from the Book of Proverbs, chapter 27 verse 10, in the King James version that reads, in Mandarin, 'Yuan qin bu ru jin lin'. The translation of it is, 'Better is a neighbour that is nearby than a brother far away.' This is the principle of Neighbourhood Watch, in the police terminology. My youngest son, DJ, serves in the Australian Navy, which makes me very proud of him. Well done, DJ. He's the one that gave me the pink lunchbox! DJ and I believe in peace, and we believe that peace can bring harmony and prosperity. You can see both of us; we are not fighters. We always smile and are happy. But, if our country required our services, we would put our life on the line for our country and its people. Like all of you here today, Australia is our home. I am a very passionate about promoting peace. When I was young, my grandma and grandpa told us about their life experiences during World War II—the cruelty and atrocities that Japanese soldiers imposed on the civilians when they invaded Malaysia. This event left a terrible burden on them. My grandma passed away at the age of 76, and she was still in fear of the Japanese soldiers, even on her death bed. In my electorate of Tangney, we have residents from more than 160 nations, with more than half of them having English as their second language. Many of the migrants who live in Tangney are from war-torn countries. They have emigrated from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Central Africa, Afghanistan and many more. When I was doorknocking, many of them told me they came to Australia because they wanted to escape from war. They shared with me their stories and their struggles. All they ever wanted was to be with their family and to have peace. War comes with deep costs. War causes huge humanitarian, environmental and financial crisis. War brings suffering, pain and sorrow to many. There are 1.1 million Commonwealth war graves in 23,000 locations around the world. So many mothers, so many widows, so many sons, daughters and families have cried and mourned, senselessly suffering from unnecessary conflicts, generation after generation. The cost of war is too much to bear. We must learn from history. We must learn from those mistakes. I have been to so many community events and celebrations: Jewish and Palestinian, Tamil and Sinhalese, Burmese and Karen. People from countries with conflict now live together harmoniously in Australia. I am a firm believer that we must propagate peace not only in our communities but also in our neighbouring countries and beyond. Peace, love, unity, respect: these four words are simple but meaningful words to live by, and I choose to live by these words. I believe all of us here today want to see Australia as the beacon of peace in this troubled world. Beating war drums is a foolish exercise. I do not believe that war is the way to resolve human problems. Words are not enough to express my gratitude, but, right now, they are all I have. With the indulgence of this House, I would like to pay my thanks in the first two languages I have learnt: Malay and Chinese. Kepada semua saudara saudara yang berada di Malaysia, Australia dan di seluruh pelusuk dunia. Terima kasih atas semua perhatian dan berkat yang telah anda sekian berikan kepada saya. Terima kasih atas semua dukungan dan bantuan anda semasa pilihanraya di Australia, terima kasih semua! Ge wei lu ju zai wu fu si hai de hua ren tong bao, xiong di jie mei men, da jia hao. Xie xie ni men gei wo suo you de guan xin he zhu fu. Gan en ni men zai quan guo da xuan qi jian gei wo de yi qie zhi chi he xie zhu. Xie xie da jia! In translation: to all my friends in Malaysia, Australia and abroad, thanks for all your care and love. Special thanks to all who have reached out to support and help me in the Australian general election. Thank you! To all my supporters, my friends, who have travelled across the country to be with me here today, thank you very much. I would like to thank the Honourable Kate Dowse MLC and Raj Selvendra for their encouragement to start this journey and for their continuous support. I would like to thank the SDA and in particular Ben Harris for his unwavering support throughout my campaign and beyond. I would also like to thank Tim Picton, Ellie Whittaker and all the staff at party office. Thanks to all the WA state MLAs and MLCs. Thanks for all your support. And a special thanks to the member for Isaacs, Mark Dreyfus, for doing many days of doorknocking with me. I would like to thank my campaign team for their incredible efforts. Special thanks to Tim Grey Smith, my campaign director. I also want to thank all my brothers and sisters in the blue uniform. Thank you for assisting me in doorknocking, letterboxing and much more, helping to put up hundreds of lawn signs after your hectic shift work. Thank you. And to all my army of volunteers, donors and fundraising team, you know who you are. I don't want to single out any person, because I'm so indebted to all of the help you have given me. I'm forever grateful to each and every one of you. I would not be here today without the support, understanding and encouragement of wife, Chew Yong, who is here today, my children—Yin, who is here as well, number 2; Artur; Kent Wee, Kai Yong, DJ and Diem—and my cute, cheeky granddaughter, Alina. She is not here. To the good people of Tangney, it is an honour and privilege to serve you, and I am determined to do my best with integrity, remembering the words of Abraham Lincoln: government of the people, for the people and by the people. I make a pledge on this day. I will never take you for granted. I will work every day to make Tangney a better place. I will be accessible and responsive. I will deliver on my promises. I will serve all of you with love, compassion and honesty. While my late parents may not be present physically in the audience today, I want to pay tribute to my hardworking mum and dad. I dedicate this first speech to them both. Ah pa, ah ma, kamsiah! Thank you, Mum and Dad. Lastly, my wish to everyone listening to my speech today is to speak in Pali language: Sabbe satta sukhita hontu, anomodantu! The meaning is, 'May all beings be well, happy and peaceful.' Thank you for listening. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265979 Before I call the honourable member for Holt, Ms Fernando, I remind the House that this is the honourable member's first speech. I ask the House to extend to them the usual courtesies. 16:47 Ms FERNANDO 299964 Holt I acknowledge the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples and the Bunurong people, the traditional custodians of the Canberra and Holt areas respectively. I pay respect to elders past and present and extend those respects to my Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander colleagues in this chamber and the other place. This government's commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full demonstrates our emphasis on correcting our wrongs and rectifying injustice. The Prime Minister's determination to enshrine a Voice to Parliament in our Constitution is a glowing example. This is because the Australian Labor Party believes in an Australia that is fair and just to everyone, an Australia that treats everyone equally, no matter how we look, where we were born, what language we speak at home, what our gender is or how much we earn. Holt, the electorate I am proud to represent, is diverse in its geography and demography and in the people who have represented our community before me. I want to particularly acknowledge the contribution of the preceding member, Anthony Byrne. My electorate stretches from the scenic fishing village of Tooradin to the suburbs of Cranbourne, Clyde, Lynbrook, Hampton Park and Narre Warren South, which have supported new and aspirational Australians for decades. I do not believe it is a coincidence that Holt and the Hindu festival of Holi differ by only one letter. Both symbolise people celebrating diversity and the shared belief in the oneness of all. However, while we celebrate Holi once a year, the diversity that characterises this colourful festival is observed in Holt every day. Six in every 10 residents of my electorate are children of parents born overseas and 40 per cent speak one among 161 languages other than English at home. Although it may take a little longer than this term to master each one, it is clear that when we walk down any street in Holt we are bound to bump into people who speak a different language at home or trace their family's origin to a place unlike ours. Yet what makes Holt and indeed Australia unique is that we Australians may differ in our pasts but are united in pursuing a shared future. Holt is among the youngest federal electorates in Victoria, as families choose the suburbs in my electorate to raise their children in a community that is safe, supportive and welcoming. Our community is a home for people who strive toward ensuring that their children have a better life than they did, like my parents, Bernie and Humesh. My life is built on the Australian values of migrating for a better future, giving everyone a fair go and, most importantly, supporting each other as one big family. After being high school sweethearts since the age of 13, Bernie Rodrigo and Humesh Fernando celebrated their most memorable day at St Mary's Church in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala 38 years ago. They were blessed with three children: my elder sister, Candice, who I am sure is smiling down at me from heaven; Cassandra Juanita, undoubtedly the most mischievous out of the three; and my younger brother, Hamish, who is as proud of this day as I am. My fond recollections of Dehiwala include my incredible, generous grandparents, Clifford and Emerald, whose warmth, love, humour and food assured contentment and happiness. To this day I am still in awe of my parents' determination to achieve a better life for their children and the courage to act on it. The decision to uproot the lives of your family and move to a land across the ocean, where people are different to you, is daunting. It was a hard one for my parents and a harder one for Hamish and I. Nana and Papa were our best friends, our favourite teachers and our most enthusiastic playmates. Leaving the people who fulfilled any of these roles is difficult; leaving those who fulfilled all of them is unthinkable. The memory of landing in Melbourne on a cold July evening in 1999 is permanently etched in my mind. Little did I know the difference in weather would in fact be the mildest shock I would encounter in my new homeland. Knowing that we could always call this wonderful country home only encouraged us to do better with each passing day. Australia has given my family and me a home, a community and a purpose. There is no honour more profound than serving my fellow Australians. When doubts were raised about the future of our country in the 1930s, Sir John Monash responded by saying: The best hope for Australia is the ballot box and good education. Australian democracy has weathered ups and downs due to our indisputable support of education for all. Universal education is a pillar upon which our society rests. It is the force that provides all Australians the opportunity to achieve their potential and contribute to our shared success as a nation. While education is everyone's right, I know too well that it is not something to be taken for granted. After I had a semester at St Gerard's Primary School in Dandenong North, my parents planned to continue my education Lyndale Secondary College in the same suburb. At the time, it was hard to make ends meet for the Fernandos and keeping up with the cost of my education was difficult. Upon request from my parents, the assistant principal of Lyndale at the time, Mr Ian Mitchell, wrote to the department of education and successfully advocated for a fee waiver. I remain grateful for Mr Mitchell's effort and I cannot overstate the importance of my teachers in making me who I am today. A huge shout-out to Mandy Tassel, Richard Japie, Krista Rainsford and Joseph Hall for all their years of support for the students of Lyndale Secondary College. Even though studying can be exhausting at times, I always my mother saying, 'Material goods can be stolen but knowledge cannot.' That is something I have held onto all my life, and it is my message to every young Australian. Today, I am in this chamber to be the voice for Australians who are having it tough, like I once did. I am here to fight for those who cannot take for granted the things that we do. I will never forget that my parents did not have to choose between keeping their daughter well fed and educated, because in our country we believe everyone, no matter their wealth, immigration status or family background, must be supported to reach their full potential. I put my hand up to be a member of the House of Representatives to ensure that we, as parliamentarians, will always look out for those less fortunate than ourselves so that one day they will look out for those less fortunate than them. This is the Australian way; these are the values that we cherish as Australians. Today is National TAFE Day, and there is no occasion more suitable to draw attention to the importance of the Albanese Labor government's work in rebuilding our vocational education and training sector. My admission to William Angliss Institute for a Certificate IV in Patisserie and a Diploma in Hospitality Management continues to be among the most memorable moments of my life. Finishing this qualification gave me a career, a purpose and a treasured hobby which I spend most weekends pursuing to this day. For decades, our thriving TAFE sector has given us the opportunity to gain experience and upskill ourselves. Addressing the sector's funding shortages will support Australia in meeting present and future demands in this rapidly-changing world. My first memory of Woolworths is when the Fernandos stayed in the Western Sydney suburb of Quakers Hill with my mother's best friend, Aunty Sujatha. She spoiled Hamish and I by paying a Woolies bill of $500 on the condition that we promised to study hard. Aunty Sujatha, I will never forget the joy you brought to us that day. Little did I think that the supermarket chain would have such a special connection with my life. For 15 years, since I was 15, I stacked shelves, baked pastries and bagged groceries at various Woolies stores across the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Those years as a Woolies employee also fostered my passion for ensuring that essential workers are treated with care and dignity. My involvement in the union movement paralleled my involvement in retail. I became a member of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association on my first day at Woolworths. At the time, my knowledge of the vast world beyond friends, family and community was limited to the occasional glance at the news and receiving a copy of the Shop Assistant Journal every quarter! In mid-2007 the Shop Assistant Journal focused on the consequences of the Howard government's disastrous industrial relations plan, WorkChoices, on my job security. This emphasised the importance of understanding the impact my vote could have on families like mine. It was this period, I believe, that put me on the course that resulted in my election to the House of Representatives. Realising the impact of government policies on my ability to earn a fair day's pay for a fair day's work, I understood that being a union member alone was insufficient. I knew it was time to advocate for millions of Australians like me who spent many hours on the shop floors of supermarkets, fast-food chains and warehouses. As the years progressed, the time devoted to strengthening our labour movement increased. After serving as a delegate and as a health and safety representative, it was time to dedicate myself to the union movement around the clock as a union organiser. Many on this side of the chamber will know that being a union organiser is an experience like no other. Over the five years that followed, every day was different and every interaction was unique. Between the long and irregular hours, during which my office regularly shifted between my car and the tearooms of the stores I visited, knowing that I made a small yet meaningful difference to my former colleagues was rewarding. This meant ensuring that Sharon, a 70-year-old carer with poor eyesight, was afforded a roster that accommodated her caring responsibilities and health requirements, or supporting Lucy, a young lady with special needs, in her successful appeal to overturn a wrongful termination during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic. My time as an organiser had such an incredible impact on my life that I still catch myself referring to the people I represent as my members! Our workplace laws affect every Australian. I joined the Australian Labor Party because it is the party of the working people. When jobs are at risk and wages decline, the nation looks to those in Labor to fix a system failing to protect them from exploitation. Labor governments have been responsible for cleaning the mess left behind by those on the other side of this chamber. I am honoured to support a government that will continue this proud tradition of delivering a better future for every Australian worker. My family's success as a family is not our own. We were fortunate to migrate to a country where community organisations are strong and supportive. My awareness of this fact dates back to my very first Christmas in Australia. We encountered financial difficulties in our early years, and this meant my brother and I would have celebrated our first Christmas in Australia without any gifts. However, the Salvation Army stepped in where Santa Claus could not, and Hamish and I were blessed to celebrate Boxing Day with a beautiful doll for me and a teddy bear for him. Holt abounds with examples where community has filled the gaps to ensure that no-one falls through the cracks. Among the earliest of them is the founding of the Cranbourne Golf Club, which ensured Melbourne's Jewish community could enjoy a game of golf free from discrimination faced at other venues. Of course, the past 2½ years have presented us with challenges that occur only once in a lifetime. I am proud of the diligent organisations in our community for helping to address each one. This includes: the role of welfare organisations like Community Information and Support Cranbourne, AMES Australia and South-East Community Links in always keeping their doors open for anyone in need; the work of religious organisations like St Agatha's Parish, Dhammadeepa Meditation Centre, BAPS, Nanaksar Thath and Omar Farooq Mosque during the COVID-19 pandemic; the support of various Australian, Sri Lankan and Tamil organisations towards Sri Lanka during these times of need; and the assistance of the Afghan-Australia Philanthropic Association, the Bakhtar Community Organisation and the Afghan Women's Organisation to those struggling with the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan. My utmost respect is reserved for that indispensable pillar of our society that has protected and upheld the safety and dignity of every working Australian: the union movement. I want to particularly mention the union I have belonged to for all my adult life—the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association. For over a century the SDA has been a pioneer in delivering for vulnerable Australians—especially women, who constitute a majority of the union's membership. My deepest gratitude is to the SDA family in Victoria for all their support. Specifically, I want to thank the Victorian state secretary, Michael Donovan. Michael, your decades of service to SDA members have been essential to protecting and advancing the pay and conditions of my former colleagues. On a personal note, you have always been there to ensure my sense of purpose is unwavering, and I am forever grateful for that. I also want to thank two champions of SDA Victoria who are here today: assistant secretary Mauro Moretta, for his wise counsel and dedication; and state president Julie Davis, for continuously supporting my participation in the union movement since my first day at Woolworths Dandenong Plaza. I extend my gratitude: to Radha Nair, Manny Zouros and Aleksandar Velanovski, for being my best friends—thank you for always supporting me and encouraging me to believe in myself; to Dean D'Angelo, for checking up on me every day and being with me from my first door knock to my swearing-in; to Michael Galaea, Kimi Singh, Emma Mattoo and every staff member at SDA; and to my federal colleagues Senator Raffaele Ciccone and Dr Daniel Mulino, for teaching me the ropes and making sure I no longer get lost on my way to Aussies! Today, I also want to remember my dearest friend, Darrell, who I miss very deeply. Darrell, I know you are watching from above and I hope I have made you proud. I have learnt so much from my involvement in the union movement, and I do not think I can express my gratitude enough for the people who have supported me along this journey. I want to thank all local ALP members and campaign volunteers for standing beside me through rain, hail and sunshine, including Hannah Spanswick; the Barton family; the Joliffe family; Dinesh; Jean-Marc; Josephine; Faheem; Geoff; Margaret; Deborah; Annette; Ray; Wayne; Michael Cooney; Clare; Varnan; Aunty Ranjni; Wicki; Jeyatheepan; Ambi; Dhileep; the Rahimi family; the Jan family; Ali; Hasan; Hussein; and my aunties and uncles Prashanthi and Brindley, Roshelle and Steve, Ansley and Nilanthi, Kaushi and Gnane, Diedre, and Kumar. A special shout out to Mike McNess, Mem Suleyman and John Berger from the Transport Workers Union; to Victorian Labor Assistant Secretary Cam Petrie; and to my incredible campaign team: Dale Wilson, Hasan Erdogan, Emily Sagolj, Akshay Jose, Josh McFarlane and Trey Karunaratne. If not for the passion each of you brought to the campaign, Labor would not have the privilege to represent our community in this chamber. I was fortunate to receive the guidance of several state and federal colleagues without whom my campaign to be the member for Holt would not have been successful—in particular, my federal colleagues Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, Tony Burke, Clare O'Neil, Andrew Giles and Julian Hill; and my state colleagues Pauline Richards, Gary Maas, Jordan Crugnale, Enver Erdogan and Lee Tarlamis. Last but not least, I would like to commend my excellent staff—Amo Chakravarthy, Hafiz Jan, Matthew Musilli and Jacqui Dawson—for being the strong and dedicated pillars I have relied on since being preselected. There is never a dull moment when I am with you all. I give my love to my family in Sri Lanka, Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, the United States and Switzerland for all your love. Many of us would know that the best thing about having family all over the world is that you never have to worry about paying for a hotel! Finally, I thank my wonderful family—my father, Humesh; my mother, Bernardine; my brother, Hamish; my sister-in-law, Christine; and my best friend Angel the lorikeet—for all your love and support. You have encouraged me to do things outside of my comfort zone, and I am here today because of that. I support this government because I am a proud Australian who is committed to protecting our values of fairness, equality and a fair go for all. I want to conclude by quoting my favourite verse from the Bible, chapter 7, verse 7 in the Gospel of Matthew: Ask and it shall be given to you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. My message to everyone is simple. Two decades ago, I was a little girl trying to figure out life in a new country, and I did not even dream of being here. I honestly pinch myself thinking that this is my life now. Australia's greatest strength is its ability to support every Australian in achieving the life we want, if we are determined and prepared to work hard for it. It is our responsibility as Australians to provide each other the support to make it happen. I am grateful for the opportunity bestowed upon me. I will use this time in this place to inspire the people of Holt to put their hands up to be the representatives of our community in every possible way. I thank the House. Debate adjourned. BILLS 49 BILLS Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022 49

Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022

Second Reading 49 17:13 Mr WOLAHA 235654 Menzies N () (): I rise to continue my remarks on the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022. When I last spoke, I thanked the minister for the goodwill and spirit that this bill encompasses. The part that I wanted to focus on was that the support is no longer contingent on warlike service. Yesterday I was proud to stand in this chamber and say that we honour the 102,000 names on our War Memorial, but there are many names on other memorials of those that died in training and in service, and we honour them too. I looked up at the brother of Greg Sher and said: whenever I can, I'll say his name. That was Barry Sher's plea to me. I'd like to pick out two peacetime incidents that happened that we should never forget. The first happened in Melbourne, at the Rip. Melbourne has a large bay, and at the end of the bay is this peaceful but potentially dangerous stretch of waterway. On 17 February 1960, 74 commandos engaged in an exercise to move from one side, in Queenscliff, to do a raid at the other, near Portsea. They never made it. Although they took off in good weather, the weather turned, and 74 commandos fought in vain to save the lives of three who were lost. Their names are Warrant Officer Class II George Drakopoulos, Private Roger Wood and Private Eddie Meyer. At the annual memorial, I see all of their friends, and I see from the friends who were there on that day that, even though we're a long time away from 1960, you never get over that. This bill properly looks after every veteran who put on a uniform and took a risk. On other times and other occasions, I think we should honour peacetime names. At some other time, I would like to read out the 18 soldiers and crew that died in the 1996 Black Hawk training exercise, but I will save that for another time. I thank the House. 17:15 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt I rise to support the second reading of the Defence, Veterans' and Families' Acute Support Package Bill 2022. I want to start by paying tribute to all members of this House who have served our nation. The member for Menzies, just to my right here, I thank very much for his contribution and congratulate on his maiden speech yesterday. I thank him for his service to the country and the service he will be continuing to provide our country in this parliament. We are very lucky to have many veterans elected to this House and into the Senate, and I think it is excellent to have that perspective when we're deliberating on all matters but in particular when we're deliberating on matters regarding support to those who have served our nation, our veterans. I support the bill, and many speakers have gone through some of the elements that the bill covers. I'm very lucky and proud to have the Jamie Larcombe Centre located in my electorate of Sturt. Jamie Larcombe tragically died in Afghanistan. The centre there is part of a tribute to his service to our nation and is doing vital work supporting veterans throughout metropolitan Adelaide and greater South Australia. I know there are many similar centres around the country. I'm also a proud member of my local RSLs. A lot of them have excellent support programs and wellbeing programs. Whilst they do fantastic work, we can always do better as a parliament to provide more support to the work that they do and to the service and support our veterans need, and that's what this bill does. It emanates from the previous government, from the last budget, and now we have the opportunity to pass it through this House. The previous speaker and other speakers talked about some of the elements. Removing the requirement to warlike service I think in particular is an excellent outcome. That definition has waxed and waned over the years. My grandmother was a nurse in the Second World War. She served here in Australia at the Heidelberg hospital in Melbourne, so she didn't leave the country. But she cared for many prisoners of war that returned to this country, and that, as everyone can imagine, was an extremely traumatic experience. She spent the rest of her life talking about the Aussies that came home whom she cared for. Many didn't come home, but service to this nation absolutely goes in many forms. Previous speakers talked about the sorts of people that will now be eligible for that support, and I think that's vitally important. It is fair to say we have improved greatly our understanding of the need to provide support to families of our veterans because of what they do to support our veterans, like we seek to do as a parliament. But I do know from working with veterans in my own constituency, and all members would be similar to this, that certainly we could do better to support families of our veterans and particularly those providing care and support to veterans dealing with a whole range of issues because of the great service they gave to our nation. The children of veterans is actually an emerging category of circumstance that's raised by veterans coming to me and talking about their anguish. They know the burden that is on their young children at times, because of the way in which they are seeking to be supported, and the awareness that their children might have. Bizarrely and disgustingly, which surprised me in fact, some children of our veterans can receive bullying in the community, which is abhorrent and to be condemned but equally goes to remind us how important it is that we've got a structure in place for the entirety of the family unit around our veterans, whom we quite rightly need to provide absolutely top-tier care and support to. This is a bipartisan effort, and I know the House is obviously supporting this unanimously. I wanted to take the opportunity again to make a contribution on another measure that's going through this chamber this sitting week to further support our veterans. We all know that there's still a lot more to be done, and I know there'll be other things that come through this chamber to provide enhanced support to our veterans. I'm very confident that that will continue to be very much a bipartisan process and one that we look forward to working with those opposite on, to support them in any way that they identify. Hopefully, they take constructive suggestion from us at times into the future to make sure we're providing the highest standard of support for those that have served our nation. With that, I commend the bill to the House. 17:20 Mr KEOGH 249147 Burt In summing up debate on this bill, I'd like to thank the opposition and all others in this House for their support of it. In particular, I'd like to thank the shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the member for New England, for his engagement on this bill and other legislative measures we've been bringing forward to support our veterans. I also wish to thank the other members of this House for their contributions to the debate today. In fact, all members went through and highlighted the great benefits for veterans' families that this bill will provide. I'd like to thank, in particular, my assistant minister, the member for Kingsford Smith, and the member for Makin for their contributions in that regard. Members across the parliament also made the observation that, quite rightly, ensuring that government and parliament support our veterans should be a non-partisan matter. I would like to commend the member for Wright for his very brief support for this measure, and the entire House thanks him for the brevity of his comments; and appropriate they were. I think one of the other key themes that was reflected by speakers on this bill was the importance of getting on with the job of providing these important benefits to our veterans and their families. A number of members referred to this government's commitment to Veterans' and Families' Hubs, which we took to the election, and we are very happy to be moving forward with that commitment as we described it in the election. That is an important thing that we are doing, and I think the reflections that they made about some alternative locations for those hubs in the future also reflects the lack of detailed commitment from the previous government to delivering on that. That is something that I understand they're unhappy about, but I commend them for their advocacy for their communities of course. The member for Fisher also referred to the great Australian Defence Force Parliamentary Program and how that affords those of us in this House who have not served in our Defence Force an opportunity to engage with our defence forces across ranks and in various theatres and modes of operation. I was fortunate enough to bunk with the member for Fisher on our trip to Afghanistan. Among the many trips that I've participated in with the ADFPP—as I know he and many other members in this House have as well—it certainly was a hugely eye-opening opportunity for me and a great opportunity to engage one-on-one and with groups of our defence forces across different ranks, in different theatres and in different operations. I really do encourage members to take up such an opportunity, should that present itself to them through that program. It's very important. A number of members also referred to the great defence personnel and veteran population that they have in their electorates—owing to the bases, sometimes numerous that they have there—and the great relationship that they have with their veteran population as a consequence. I think that is a very good thing, and I encourage members to engage with their bases as well. I do share with the member for Mackellar her concern about withdrawal of support from her local RSL club for one of the local veteran support services in her electorate. That is a concerning development because we do want to see our veteran support services supported and funded where possible. I commend the member for Bass for her observations about the need to ensure that these local Veterans' and Families' Hubs are based on local knowledge and meet the local needs. That's why these hubs, as they roll out and have rolled out across the country, do vary in their operating models, because they are about meeting the needs of local veterans and families where they are—the supports that they require—and working with local community organisations to deliver those supports as well. I understand the issues that she has raised about the lack of availability of psychiatrists, particularly for diagnosis, and I understand this is an issue we need to look into further to ensure that veterans are getting the services that they need. I very much commend the member for Menzies for his contribution, not just as a serving member but also as the co-chair of the parliamentary friends of veterans, an organisation within this parliament that I look forward to having frequent and ongoing engagement with. I commend him as a former director of the Law Council of Australia for referring to the Law Council of Australia's principles of the rule of law. It is important that our laws are readily known and available. I think that was a pretty erudite observation by him, but I don't think that could be said of our current suite of veterans' entitlements legislation. At the moment, just one of them comprises 170 pages of definitions before we actually get to the content of those entitlement provisions. I pay tribute to him for honouring his comrades in his speech earlier. With that, I want to make the observation that making sure that our defence personnel, veterans and their families are well supported and looked after during service and after as they transition from the Australian Defence Force is an important task and responsibility of government. That's something that has been observed by all of the speakers today. Families play a pivotal role in supporting our current serving Australian Defence Force personnel and veterans. The nature of military life is unique, and families are also deeply affected by military service. As one individual said while giving evidence of her own personal experience to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide: A soldier may receive the pay cheque, only in the Australian Defence Force the whole family is employed by the Government. It’s our family lifestyle, our legacy. For most veterans' families, military service is largely a positive experience. However, some may need support to manage challenging life circumstances, such as mental or physical health episodes or sudden significant events such as the loss of employment. That is why it's disappointing that we didn't see the legislation pass in its previous incarnation during the last parliament. This legislation now, though, goes further than what was previously proposed. It will enhance the existing program by expanding services available to the families of veterans receiving compensation through DVA or who have died in service when that family is experiencing crisis and allows families greater choice in how they use those services. It will better equip working-age families to adjust to new or challenging life circumstances when they occur and also in the future. This legislation will better improve support for families who are bereaved and those who are in crisis, no matter the nature of that crisis. We want to ensure supports are wrapped around families when they are needed and quickly. While it is not a crisis service, it will allow families who have experienced crisis to access intensive support to adjust to new or challenging life circumstances, complementing the other Department of Veterans' Affairs or government services. This initiative will provide at-risk veteran families with access to a range of services that will meet their health and wellbeing needs up to a cap of $12,500 over two years. Families will be able to access services to the value of $7,500 in the first year and $5,000 in the second. In addition, families with children can access additional support services to the value of $10,000 a year for each child under school age and $5,000 a year for each primary-school-age child until the child reaches high school. Also under this initiative widowed partners can access support service to the value of $27,835 each year for two years for services such as cleaning, gardening and other help around the home and to provide counselling for them and their children and skills based support, such as mental health first aid and other practical support for the family's wellbeing. I acknowledge the member for Menzies's example about the importance of home support in times of crisis. He gave a good example of that. I think that demonstrates the benefit that this program will provide. Families will also have access to additional support for children under high school age. The bill also includes new review rights for decisions made under this program, something that was not in the previously proposed legislation. The Albanese Labor government is committed to delivering practical support measures that will improve the welfare and wellbeing of veterans and families now and into the future, building on services currently available in our community. This is one of those practical measures. The federal Labor government is committed to delivering a better future for defence personnel, veterans and families. I thank all honourable members for their commitment to supporting our service personnel, veterans and families. If you are a serving member, veteran or family that requires support, you can contact Open Arms on 1800011046 or via openarms.gov.au. I encourage all members of the House, and indeed members of that other place, that when they see the volunteers from Legacy, who will be out and about around this building tomorrow morning, to please donate generously and support the work of Legacy and support our defence and veterans' family during this Legacy Week. I commend the bill to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Message from the Administrator recommending appropriation announced. Third Reading 52 17:31 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. Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022 52

Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022

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

Second Reading 52 17:32 Ms LEY 00AMN Farrer I appreciate the opportunity to continue my remarks on the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022. We handed the Albanese government a skills and training system, not just training up but powering ahead on the back of record investments guaranteed by a strong economy. Our policies invested over $13 billion in skills over the past two years alone. But we didn't just clean up Labor's mess; we made the most significant reforms to Aussie skills in over a decade. Guided by an expert review that we commissioned, the Joyce review, we got on with bringing our skills system into the 21st century. We overhauled and put in place industry-led clusters to speed up qualification development so our skill system could keep up with the evolving needs of our modern economy. We established the National Skills Commission to provide evidence based leadership on the skills we need for our workforce today and for tomorrow. The National Skills Commission has not only been instrumental in driving data driven decisions in skilled migration but has exposed seriously concerning differences in the amount apprentices and trainees are getting charged to study across states and territories. The NSC has been unanimously endorsed by industry. The Independent Tertiary Education Council of Australia said that the National Skills Commissioner, supported ably by a professional team, has done some excellent work with respect to skills planning and forecasting, and that it regards Jobs and Skills Australia as the National Skills Commission-plus. In fact, the Business Council of Australia has warned, 'JSA needs to build on this foundation and ensure that the NSC's good work is not eroded.' We reformed and increased training incentives through our new apprenticeship incentive system, including introducing direct payments to apprentices to see them through their studies and into a job. Our policy settings got apprenticeship numbers up to record levels. For the first time in our history, we hit over 220,000 Australians taking up a trade apprenticeship. We did all of that while saving a generation of Australian workers from the biggest hit to Australia's workforce since the Great Depression. What does that look like? When I was recently in Lismore, I saw firsthand the importance of trades as that town rebuilds. Many of those tradies had apprentices that were supported through the pandemic. In fact, whether it's round tables that I've held up in Queensland, over in Perth or in Western Sydney, everywhere I have gone people have said that we've got the skills and apprentices supports right, throughout the pandemic. Reports that Labor is looking for savings in the skills budget are particularly worrying. That is the exact opposite of what the Australian economy needs right now. We've heard a lot of talk about skills from Labor over the past week, but, as any tradie will tell you, talk is cheap. It's getting the job done that matters. And when it comes to this mob, their form does not fill you with confidence. So whilst we accept that the bill will pass, we will be keeping a watching brief on Jobs and Skills Australia, because we know just how vital skills are for the strength of our economy and we desperately want the Labor government to get this right—for once. I thank the House. 17:36 Ms KEARNEY LTU Cooper I rise with great pleasure to speak to the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 and the Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022. I really wanted to speak to this important bill. It establishes the future for Australia. It is seminal. It is a linchpin in the infrastructure for the future of a highly skilled, highly productive workforce and, thereby, economy. I'd like to congratulate the Minister for Skills and Training, my good friend the member for Gorton. He is, indeed, a friend to workers, to small business and large corporations alike. He's an asset to this new government, and he gets the benefits of tripartism upon which the new Jobs and Skills Australia will operate. The issue of tripartism is one lost—completely lost—on the previous government. They have no idea what it means, its benefits; they are blind to the way the world has benefited from tripartism. At the ACTU, when I was president for over nine years, I was lucky enough to represent Australia at the International Labour Organization, the ILO. It's an international body that has operated on this basis to create international standards for the world of work. They create amazingly complex legal instruments that manage to set out basic principles for rights at work. Australia, of course, is a signatory to many of the standards and conventions created through true dialogue, true debate, that operates between unions, employers and governments. These are the bodies that make up tripartite outcomes. My experience was amazing, and I am forever grateful for having had the experience of representing the trade union movement in Australia at the ILO. In the time that I was there some emerging conventions were forged. One that stands out for me is the forced labour or anti-slavery convention. Australia is a signatory to this convention, one that I am amazed to say the previous government signed to. There are conventions for child labour and conventions for the prevention of violence and harassment at work. This is a particular one that I am very proud of, because I was there working very closely with my friends at the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and the Australian government, where we led the debate to include the employer's role in helping deal with domestic violence. Our role in that was a great example of tripartism. Australia led the way in a tripartite manner. We now have paid family and domestic violence leave for all workers across this country. We created core standards, like the right to freely organise, that states that workers should be able to join unions without fear. And, more recently, the ILO has developed the rights of health workers in a pandemic. There are hundreds of conventions, protocols and guidelines. The process was an amazing thing to be a part of. Union and workers' representatives from right around the world would meet with governments from right around the world, and, of course, employers—large employers in corporations, smaller employer groups and employer representatives. Every interest was recognised—core outcomes. But we all really came together to find common ground where we knew we could work to make sure workers were protected and businesses prospered. Often than not, we were not far apart. Often than not, it was easy to come to an outcome—like at the recent Jobs and Skills Summit, where all interests were recognised and where great outcomes were achieved. Sometimes it wasn't so easy. Sometimes we worked late into the night and even early mornings to get consensus, but we always got there. In my time at the ILO, I learned about the way many European and other countries held tripartite negotiations in their own economies. I was lucky enough to meet and chat with the former Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel. Angela Merkel is considered, in Germany, to be a conservative, and I remember thinking to myself at the time, 'I would really love to meet a progressive if she is a conservative.' She was the leader of a country that values tripartism. We spoke about workers' councils in workplaces, which are commonplace all over the German economy, where employees and unions meet regularly with their employers. They saw issues out at the workplace. I spoke with her at the time that she was establishing a minimum wage panel based on Australia's tripartite model. She was very impressed with our model. I spoke with her about the importance of how her government—she told me her government actually funds unions and employer bodies to negotiate in good faith. Imagine that! They are funded to go about doing their job without fear or favour. Germany is a high-wage, highly productive economy. I spoke to Angela Merkel about how she managed to maintain a robust manufacturing sector that is highly competitive and highly efficient, but is highly paid. Workers get decent wages. Her answer was simple. She said she invests in a skilled workforce and in innovation through universities and industry research. She makes sure there is accessible quality education, both vocational and university based, keeping one step ahead of the game. She said it's important to listen to and value a highly skilled workforce. All these things together keep the economy, particularly the manufacturing sector, moving ahead. Angela Merkel also said to me that she used to hold Australia in high regard, setting the standard for giving workers a voice alongside employers and the states. She said, 'It doesn't seem to be like that anymore.' She actually asked me why Australia had gone backwards with respect to tripartism and workers' rights. Well, the answer was simple: the previous government, the LNP, did not value unions and did not value members. They were more interested in doing the bidding of big corporations and big business. We are all wondering why we have stagnant wage growth, why we have low productivity, why the workers' share of national income in this country is at a decades-low level, why productivity is sluggish. An important part of improving productivity is having an engaged, well-paid, secure and respected workforce. Including workers' voices at every level of the economy, including at the highest level, is an important part of achieving that. It is absolutely just as important as hearing from employers, hearing from training providers in the area of skills provision and hearing from state and territory governments. Labor is getting on with the job of making this country better for everyone, leaving no-one behind. We won't lock anyone out. The previous government ignored workers and actively had policies to keep wages low, to shut workers out. On the back of the Jobs and Skills Summit we are putting in place the necessary changes that will move this country ahead, taking everyone with us. We have plans on every front, including this bill establishing Jobs and Skills Australia as an incredibly important part of the future—an independent agency that will provide advice to the government on Australia's current, emerging and future labour markets. It will provide advice on the necessary workforce skills and training. The body will work closely with state and territory governments, with industry employers, with unions and with providers to ensure a shared understanding of the key issues facing Australia's labour market. It will examine the VET system and recommend changes that will make sure the system is fit for purpose and delivers for our workers, giving them the skills that are in demand and ensuring good, decent jobs—jobs for our industries that are desperate for skilled workers. The previous government cut around $3 billion from the VET sector. It was not focused on the areas where shortages exist. It's clear that urgent action is needed to address the skill shortages and to match participation in training with the types of skills in demand right now and, of course, those that will be demanded in the future. Jobs and Skills Australia will focus on the whole labour market. It will be driven by actual data and proper analysis, with real-time workforce forecasting. It will examine the needs of emerging industries so that we aren't left scrambling to keep up with industrial advancements. It will ensure that our regions are part of any plan. It will consult with the public and keep them up to date with its important work. This is just the beginning of our commitments in the jobs and skills area. It will stand alongside the Australian Skills Guarantee, which will train thousands of workers by ensuring one in 10 workers on major federally funded government projects is an apprentice, trainee or cadet. We will deliver 465,000 fee-free TAFE places, including 45,000 new places for students studying in industries that were affected by COVID-19, industries of national importance and industries facing skills shortages. It will especially target school leavers, workers wanting to retrain or upskill, and unpaid carers, who are predominantly women, to get back into the workforce. It will ensure that at least 70 per cent of Commonwealth VET funding is for public TAFE. I take this opportunity to thank TAFE teachers, who have stuck at it through really hard times, particularly the Melbourne Polytechnic, which offers great service to my electorate. The TAFE Technology Fund will exist to improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and telehealth simulators right across the country. Our Future Made in Australia Skills Plan also has TAFE commitments. These are made as part of the government's $1.2 billion Future Made in Australia Skills Plan to focus on closing the gap in key areas of skill shortages. We will have new energy apprenticeships that will encourage Australians to train in the new energy jobs of the future and provide the additional support they need to complete their training. There will be a New Energy Skills Program that will, in partnership with the states and territories, industries and unions, develop fit-for-purpose training pathways for new energy industry jobs. As part of this program we will establish mentors—experienced workers in new energy industries will help train and support new apprentices. In conjunction with this program we'll support the government's agenda to prioritise growth and investment in the renewable energy sector as part of the Powering Australia plan. And we will develop, certainly on the back of the Jobs and Skills Summit, a full employment white paper. This will be informed by, as I said, the job summit outcomes. It will investigate and report back on issues, such as how we can best prepare Australians for jobs of the future, how we can improve the quality of work, how we train workers up over a lifetime and how we tackle issues of unemployment, casualisation, job insecurity, long-term unemployment and stagnant wages. It will help people with a disability engage in the workforce. It will listen and deliver for First Nations communities. Importantly, it is the beginning of us establishing how we make sure that any Australian who needs a job can get a job. I'm excited by this legislation. It is just the beginning. It is setting up the infrastructure that will ensure a fantastic future for our country, one set by all parties in a true sense of tripartism that means everybody owns it, everybody shared in its development and everyone will want it to succeed. That is how you do inclusive government. 17:49 Mr McCORMACK 219646 Riverina Listening to the member for Cooper, you would think that everybody on this side demonised unions and the role they play in the workplace. That's not so. I was a member of a union—the Australian Journalists Association and, later on, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance—for 21 years. I didn't need to be a member of the union for the last 11 of those years, because I was the editor of the Daily Advertiser and the Riverina Media Group at Wagga Wagga, but I chose to maintain my membership. I appreciate, understand, recognise and acknowledge the role that trade unions play in Australia, and I think many, if not all, members on this side do too. But militant unionism, unnecessary strike action—some of the things that unions do—are the sorts of things that really make things hard, particularly for small business, and that's what we object to. Everything is okay, but in balance. I certainly acknowledge that, and I certainly acknowledge the role that unions no doubt played at the Jobs and Skills Summit in Canberra last Thursday and Friday. It was good that unions were represented. Sometimes I think the CFMEU go way, way too far and they could very well pull their heads in—and stop the donations as well, to the Labor Party. But the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 is important, as the member for Cooper just acknowledged. I know that is true in regional Australia at the moment, and I know it was mentioned at the summit. I appreciate the fact that the Leader of the Nationals, the member for Maranoa, was present and took part. I was pleased that he did so. You've got to be at the table to hear what's going on, and I appreciate the fact that he contributed to that. I also acknowledge why some others didn't and understand their reasons for not doing so. Indeed, I hope it wasn't just a talkfest. I hope, as the member for Cooper no doubt does, that we get some meaningful action not just on jobs and skills but, indeed, on the vacancies that exist in regional Australia at the moment. It's critical that we fill those roles, especially as we approach what will be another bumper harvest for many farmers in the Riverina, the Central West and elsewhere in regional Australia. This is potentially their third bumper harvest in a row. I know that many companies, large and small, are doing everything they can to prepare for such a harvest. Indeed, GrainCorp is building bigger and better infrastructure around the countryside. Many others besides are doing likewise in preparation for what is going to be a considerable tonnage of grain. But we do need to find the workers to help harvest those crops. It's not just grain but fruit, and stock are realising record prices at saleyards. Abattoirs, of course, are always very busy around the countryside. The role that regional Australia plays in feeding and clothing our nation and many others besides is considerable, but we can't keep doing it if we don't have the workers. Tonight here in Parliament House we're going to see the annual AgriFutures dinner. In particular it's a celebration of the role women play in regional Australia. It's an increasing role, I have to say, in that they're filling many of the roles once occupied only by men. I acknowledge all of the wonderful state and territory finalists in the national award. I well recognise the 2019 AgriFutures Rural Women's Award national winner, Jo Palmer, from The Rock, for the role she continues to play with Pointer Remote Roles, a company she established to link up people and vacancies. It's playing a vital role in regional Australia, and no doubt it will continue to do so. I talk often to Kim Houghton from the Regional Australia Institute—a body that, I acknowledge, started in the Gillard years—which plays an important part in advocating for and on behalf of regional Australia. Just the other day I received my weekly text from Mr Houghton, who indicates that, according to the most recent Regional Australia Institute data, regional job vacancies are now at a record-high 86,900 advertised jobs in July 2022. That's a 24.7 per cent increase on the same time last year, and this is significant. The Regional Australia Institute's Regional Movers Index measures the latest data on the movement of population to regional areas from capital cities. Once upon a time it was always regional people, often our best and brightest, going to the capital cities to look for work—to look for opportunities. Now it's the other way around. Millennials continue to make up the biggest proportion of people moving to regional areas from capital cities. That's a good thing, but, of course, we've got to find the housing for them; we've got to find the rental properties for them. I acknowledge the shadow minister at the table and the role that he played in helping to do just that in the last government. Net migration to regions remains 30.2 per cent higher than two years prior to COVID-19. COVID-19 taught us a couple of things, and I know Prime Minister Albanese often says that it taught us that we have to make more here in Australia. I acknowledge that. Certainly, whilst I appreciate the member for Cooper indicated a desire to manufacture more in Australia, we're already doing a lot in that regard, and a lot of it often doesn't get recognised. A lot of it often just goes straight through to the keeper, because great news stories don't always make the front page, and actually making stuff in Australia doesn't always make the pages of the papers—more's the pity. But the other thing that COVID certainly taught us is that we can do anything, anywhere, as far as meetings are concerned. People can have an input in the boardrooms without having to physically be in a capital city, in a central business district, in a high rise in Melbourne or Sydney or Brisbane or another metropolitan centre in Australia. You can do it from wherever you are in regional Australia, whether you're in Manangatang or Mangoplah. You can Zoom in. None of us even knew what Zoom was prior to COVID, but we politicians certainly all know this now, because we're now safe from nobody! Everybody wants a telepresence meeting! And, of course, as the good MPs that we are, we make that possible; we make ourselves accessible. You can Zoom in from anywhere in regional Australia. Thanks to the telecommunications funding that the Liberals and Nationals put in place around regional Australia, you can have access to those boardrooms to make sure that you can have your say and make your voice heard. The government has said it will honour the Australian agricultural visa agreement established between the former coalition government and Vietnam. This ag visa and these sorts of arrangements are so important in filling that vacancy gap I mentioned earlier. The government's approval of this will no doubt come as a relief to growers and producers throughout my electorate who have been affected by the workforce shortage. It's not the jobs and the skills, necessarily; it's the vacancies. Skills are important, of course, but we need skilled and unskilled workers. We hear different figures, but we are somewhere in the order of about 90,000 backpackers short of where we would normally be. The difficulty with that is that many of the backpackers left Australia when COVID first hit our shores, and much of the decision and desire to come to Australia is based on backpackers going back and telling their friends what a great time they had in Australia—'Get over there; it's fantastic. You can work in a farm, work in a factory, work wherever and earn your money.' Often, most or many of them go on a holiday just prior to leaving our shores. It's fantastic. They do the work and then they spend all their money here. They have a great time. They go back home and tell their friends. And they come from the Americas. They come from Europe. They come from all over. But the trouble was when they left, because we had two years of planes being grounded, largely through lack of international flights. That was sensible, that was practical and that was necessary, but we did it and we stopped that dialogue between our backpackers. Subsequently, even though Australia is still a great place, and even though we've still got many vacancies, the backpackers aren't readily coming back. We hope they will. Earlier this year I visited a factory called Apollo Fabrication in Young. Young is known as the cherry capital of Australia, and well that might be. I think they grow the best cherries in all of Australia. Others might disagree, but it's a local tradition and I'm biased, so let's just say that. The operations and sales directors of Apollo, Caleb and Nathan Jackson, told me that the company had been involved in manufacture for some of the most iconic buildings in Sydney—the updates to them, the refurbishment of them and the new infrastructure there. I mention particularly Mascot airport and the Sydney Cricket Ground. When I visited this factory at Young, 14 of the approximately 50 employees were apprentices, great young people who are doing wonderful things for this company. Apollo is committed to investing in regional areas and employing from regional areas. I mention this because it is just one story, one little snapshot, of what we are doing as far as manufacturing right here in Australia. If the current government can do more of that, well and good. I will support that because it will promote Australian manufacturing. The budget delivered in March by the former coalition government sought to continue to support jobseekers and young people, and it certainly achieved that goal. At the time, we already had 3,765 apprentices in the Riverina, and new measures in that budget, with expanded wage subsidies, were designed to lead to more opportunities for apprentices and trainees, and it worked. It worked and it will continue to work. The national unemployment rate decreased to 3.4 per cent in July on the back of the policies that we put in place, the work that we did and the many job vacancies that were available because of the economic policies that we'd implemented. This is so important. We had an unrivalled record in creating job opportunities for people, in giving them the skills and the job opportunities. If Labor can empower the country to do even more then that's got to be desirable too, because we want our people, particularly our young people, in work. We want to give our seniors the opportunity to keep their payments and do more work if they feel they want to or need to, so that they have that choice. I encourage that. I can well remember the former shadow Treasurer, now the Treasurer, saying that we would be looked upon as having succeeded or not in the pandemic by the jobless rate in Australia. Well, by that measure, we succeeded. The work that we did during the pandemic to ensure that people remained in work, that people had the opportunity to take a job if there was one to take, and, of course, to get the health outcomes led us to being rated No. 2 in the world according to the Hopkins research index. That is something to be proud of. I know Labor will go around besmirching and demonising what we did as a government, but rest assured that when it came to jobs, skills and filling vacancies, on those parameters, we absolutely succeeded. Of course, the efforts we made to make sure that we kept Australians safe and healthy during the first global pandemic in a hundred years will be the measure by which we are judged in the future. What we did to keep Australians safe, what we did to avoid losing tens of thousands of people—because that was the prediction—I think is something that the Morrison government should be very proud of. JobKeeper alone saved 700,000 jobs. I feel it is a great pity that the former member for Kooyong is no longer in this chamber. There was a record high of 220,000 trade apprentices. Over three years, some 1.1 million jobs were created post the pandemic arriving on our shores. I hope the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 and the Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022, if passed, succeed, because we want those opportunities, particularly for our young people. We want those opportunities for Australians. We want to make more goods here. We want Australia to be the best it can be, and if this legislation helps then that's all well and good. 18:04 Ms MILLER-FROST 296272 Boothby I rise to speak about the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 and the Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022. During the campaign for the seat of Boothby, few economic issues were raised with me more often than skills shortages. I heard from small business owners and managers who simply couldn't find the trained staff they needed to keep their cafe, shop or family landscaping business operating—let alone expand. I heard from conveyancers and psychologists, healthcare services and childcare services. An aged care provider told me they put on 15 staff one month but they lost 22 the same month, and they were paying above-award wages. An allied health provider told me her staff were receiving unsolicited job offers from other providers every week. And yet I also heard from, and have long been acutely aware of, people who couldn't find gainful employment. Many of these people were doing everything right, to use the jargon. They had tried to upskill themselves to meet the relevant skills gaps in our economy, but they faced barriers. The cost of training was too high; training and work weren't available anywhere near where they lived; and there were not enough after-hours training programs, meaning many, particularly those with caring responsibilities or those who were already working in the daytime and wanted to upskill, simply couldn't attend. This challenge, the match of jobs and skills and the disconnect between the two, is what drove this government to bring together voices from across our economy and society—from businesses, unions, civil society, academia and community groups—to discuss how we can improve this area, and it is the principle that underpins this legislation. Briefly, the legislation is the first step in implementing the government's election commitment to establish a new statutory body: Jobs and Skills Australia. This bill represents the first of a two-stage legislative process to implement this commitment. The second stage is to be completed in a timely fashion after consultations with governments, unions, industry and employer groups. Jobs and Skills Australia will be tasked with providing expert independent advice to the government on current, future and emerging skills and workforce training issues. This advice will help inform the government policies and programs that we will need to improve the nation's training systems, and ensure that skilled workers can be appropriately matched with industry needs—evidence-based decision-making. The bill will prescribe an initial set of functions for Jobs and Skills Australia, including providing advice to the Minister for Skills and Training and the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations and their agencies in relation to providing advice on Australia's current and emerging labour market. This includes advice on workforce needs and priorities; providing advice on Australia's current and emerging future skills and training needs and priorities, including apprenticeships; and the adequacy of the Australian system in providing VET, including training outcomes. And Jobs and Skills Australia will also be tasked with producing accurate and up-to-date data and analysis, such as workforce forecasting, assessing workforce skill requirements and undertaking cross-industry workforce analysis. Crucially, Jobs and Skills Australia will also be tasked with informing the public about issues in employment and skills, to ensure greater transparency and collaboration from all sectors. As I have said, this bill is the starting gun in improving our jobs and skills framework. Much like the future Jobs and Skills Australia, I and many of my Labor colleagues have been in the process of hearing directly from those in our communities who are impacted by jobs and skills shortages. Two weeks ago today I convened a group of around 45 business leaders, local government officials, civic society representatives and leaders for the 'Boothby Jobs and Skills Summit'. There we heard of the skills shortage that goes to the aims of this legislation. Indeed, as many in this House know, 17 per cent of businesses reported not having enough employees in February 2022. This is particularly acute in the higher skilled occupations, at a staggering 67 per cent. This was something noted by many of the advanced manufacturing groups who attended the Boothby summit, and particularly those from the Tonsley precinct. It is also the case in areas of paramount importance to our economy and our society: the care sectors of the economy. Anyone with any interaction with our care providers—whether it's aged care or disability care or trying to juggle getting access to early childhood education and care—knows we have a jobs and skills crisis. Care centres are understaffed and overstretched; job vacancies run into double digits for many centres. It was a theme that underpinned just about every discussion at the Boothby summit, because the skills shortages in that area have a dramatic impact on the wellbeing of Boothby families and the economic productivity of our community. We know that a lack of access to affordable care hampers many people, particularly women, in their efforts to get back to work. It is also why it is so important—and I'm deeply heartened by the approach of the Minister for Home Affairs and the Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs' recent announcements—that we clear the visa backlog and increase the skilled migration cap. While we know that we have a low unemployment rate at the moment, we also know it's because the borders were closed and the people haven't come back. We as Australians are suffering for that shortage. I was fortunate to be invited to attend the National Jobs and Skills Summit here in Canberra last week, and I was struck by the sense of positive purpose and of constructive engagement between people from all sectors of our economy and society, both business reps and worker reps. I was also particularly taken with one panel, which focused on the lived experience of those people in our society who face significant social, cultural or economic barriers to entering the workforce. These might be people aged 50 and over whose experiences are too often overlooked by assumptions about the currency of their skills and their adaptability; or Australians with disability, who want the same opportunities afforded other Australians to contribute to our economy and society and to personally benefit from a career; or those from CALD backgrounds, who suffer when people can't look past a last name or an accent or cultural attire to see the hardworking dedication of millions of migrants to our country—in a country that's built on migrants. That's not to mention women, who are often underemployed in part-time or casual work due to caring duties. These women are looking for more opportunity. These overlooked workforces are the untapped resource in our economy, and they are already here wanting to work. I'm very keen to see that Jobs and Skills Australia, the statutory body that will come about as a result of this and further legislation, can find ways to bring these people along as we work to solve our jobs and skills crisis together. This bill is just the start of the government's action to address the skills crisis we've been left. The Australian Skills Guarantee will train thousands of workers by ensuring that one in 10 workers on major federally funded government projects is an apprentice, trainee or cadet. We will deliver 180,000 fee-free TAFE places next year—that's only a few months away. We've seen all state and territory governments and the Commonwealth commit to guiding principles to underpin a five-year national skills agreement from 2024, and I have to say Australia is thrilled to see people working together—states and Commonwealth. These same governments have made an agreement with the BCA, ACCI and the ACTU and developed the Statement of Common Interests on Skills and Training for the jobs summit. That is a level of cooperation that seemed impossible not so long ago. The government has also committed to the TAFE Technology Fund to improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and telehealth simulators across the country. It has also committed to new energy apprenticeships to encourage Australians to train in the new energy jobs of the future by providing $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships—jobs of the future. And, of course, we will produce the jobs summit and full employment white paper. This will be informed by the National Jobs and Skills Summit and will tackle challenges associated with improving the quality of work, underemployment, casualisation and job insecurity as well as stagnant wages. I'm so looking forward to the consultation on the white paper, because I know that businesses and workers in Boothby and across Australia are champing at the bit with commitment and ideas. They want to be involved. There's a feeling of relief and excitement—Australia is back in business again. The Albanese government, and the Prime Minister and Treasurer in particular, have shown their ability to bring people together from across our economy and society, and I commend these bills as the first step in addressing our jobs and skills shortage and allowing Australia and all of its people to achieve their full economic potential. 18:15 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt I rise to speak on this bill, the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, which changes the name of the National Skills Commission to Jobs and Skills Australia. What a day it is, and I was here when it happened! It's a story for the grandkids! Anyway, we won't be standing in the way of this cosmetic change that the government is putting through the House right now. But, equally, I want to take the opportunity to make it very clear that we on this side of the House won't be letting window dressing like this be something that the government uses to mask having a genuine approach to the significant challenges that businesses in Australia are facing. Obviously skills are central to that. This bill, as has been admitted by other speakers, is changing the name of the National Skills Commission to Jobs and Skills Australia. Apparently there's another bill which isn't ready to come before this House which will have some kind of detail around how this new jobs and skills commission will operate. I don't know how it's going to be any different to the National Skills Commission. There have been a lot of these entities through the ages. If this is the rebranding that they needed to do so that they could get through a day of the campaign and say they had a skills policy by announcing the formation of this new entity then so be it. But I will be looking very closely at the other legislation that comes forward and, more importantly, what actually happens when it comes to an agenda of working with the businesses of this country that understand what their skills needs are and the support that they need from government to solve some very serious challenges that they have in their workforce. I note that the government had a Jobs and Skills Summit last week. I would have thought for this body to have any value it would have been good to have it in place before that summit, if that summit in fact had any genuine purpose. But that didn't happen, so we will wait and see what this agency does, given it wasn't welcome to have any part whatsoever in what apparently was a totemic meeting held in this building last week to solve jobs and skills for the future of our nation. We watch with great interest. In my home state of South Australia, we have some unique skills challenges that I wish in the best of faith that someone in this new government could have some interest in and play a role in addressing. The defence sector is a very significant one in particular. We are obviously very grateful for the decisions of the previous government which are going to transform the industry capacity of South Australia through the most significant naval shipbuilding programs in this nation's and probably the Southern Hemisphere's history. That is going to create a lot of very highly skilled jobs for people with very significant and unique skill sets. I will tell you who knows how many people they need and what skills they need to have. It is the businesses that are in the supply chains and the businesses that are going to be building those vessels and contracting all of the requirements for those programs. I very much hope that anything that is established structure-wise has at the heart of it working with the businesses that are creating the jobs and know what skills they need. We have had some bad experiences in South Australia when it comes to Labor governments doing the absolute opposite, particularly in 2015 and 2016 when the industry based RTOs were absolutely decimated by a decision of the Weatherill government, which removed funding from those registered training organisations that were operated by people like the AHA to train the cooks, chefs and other skilled workers they needed in the pubs, restaurants and cafes of South Australia, or the MTA, training people with the motor mechanic skills to work in those businesses. Those RTOs, civil contractors and many more were absolutely decimated because that Labor government said, 'We don't want industry'—who you would think would know a lot about the skills and training requirements they had—'providing that VET training; we're going to centralise it and have a control-and-command approach to it through government decision-making and government funding,' and cut them out. That was an absolute disaster, and of course it destroyed what had been industry taking the lead on their skills requirements and saying: 'We're very happy to actually take responsibility for forming training organisations and understanding and committing to the number of people that we need to train at an industry-wide level. We will provide the employment pathways to them. We'll obviously work with our member organisations to make sure that we're not training people that they don't need. And we'll also forecast, we'll look into the future, because we can talk to our members about how their businesses are growing and changing and what new needs they might have into the future—we'll predict all of that and train for our sector.' So we can have a national body with a new name—though I was a strong supporter of the National Skills Commission, and I do not understand the rationale for any criticism of that entity or why it needs to be changed, although I understand the realpolitik of the new government having to have a skills policy and that saying they were going to create a new body was a way of saying they had one during the campaign. I note that they also indicated that the staff of the National Skills Commission would just be transferred into this new agency and it wouldn't have any new cost. So, really, how they'll be performing any different function to the National Skills Commission, when it's the same people doing the same jobs that they're doing within the National Skills Commission—if their party platform from the election is to be believed and it has no new cost—will surprise me. But, nonetheless, I urge the government to prioritise those partnerships with businesses and industry sectors—some of whom weren't welcome last week. Restaurants and caterers were not invited to the Jobs and Skills Summit. If you think there are no jobs and skills challenges in restaurants and catering, you have got no idea whatsoever about one of the very significant sectors that has huge challenges and needs to be listened to and heard. But they weren't welcome last week. That is very peculiar, and it shows to me that last week was not about any genuine discussion about skills and jobs; it was about political theatre. You may have achieved that objective, but I can tell you that if you don't take these challenges seriously and come up with serious solutions to them then this government will be in a lot of strife very quickly. Although that might have political value for those on this side of the House, we actually do care about the welfare of the businesses of this country and the people that are employed in those businesses. We don't want the government to fail them. But, unfortunately, that attitude—doing things like not inviting restaurants and caterers—is absolutely failing one of the most important sectors in our economy. It's one that really struggled—probably struggled the most, with the tourism sector, of course, more broadly—through the pandemic. So they weren't welcome and their perspective, apparently, is completely irrelevant to a national jobs and skills summit. Well, let's hope that this new entity, which we're rebranding in this bill from the National Skills Commission to Jobs and Skills Australia, can convince the government—whenever they're actually formed with this other piece of legislation that isn't even ready yet to come into this chamber—and change the attitude of the government on things like that. Certainly, on this side of the House, we want to see industry and business listened to, and we do want to see genuine solutions to those challenges. In my home state of South Australia, we've obviously got some major opportunities if we get this right. For the interests and welfare of my electorate and my home state, I want us to get the necessary skills training requirements right. So I wish this process well, even though I'm very sceptical about it. But, in good faith, we are not standing in the way of the rebranding in this bill. This will be a great episode of Yes, Minister one day. Nonetheless, we are not here to prevent your rebranding. Good luck with the logo and the website, '.gov.au'—all of those things; you can do all of that. But, please, at some point, I hope this government takes seriously the genuine challenges that we've got in skills. On that basis, I commend the bill to the House. 18:24 Ms MURPHY 133646 Dunkley In that contribution, the member for Sturt provided unsolicited advice to the government. As I understood what he said, he said, 'If this government doesn't take this issue of skills shortages seriously and come up with solutions, the government will be in real trouble.' I'd like to take this opportunity to thank the member for Sturt for sharing his real-life lived experience with the chamber and the government. Of course, that's what happened to the previous government. We can't pretend in this chamber that the skills shortages have arisen from nowhere in the last 100 days. I appreciate the member for Sturt sharing that real-life lived experience of what happens to a government that doesn't take skills shortages and workforce planning seriously. I can assure the member for Sturt that many of his questions about Jobs and Skills Australia, which is established under this bill, the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, would be answered if he read the provisions of the bill. If he still doesn't understand the purpose of this legislation and the institution being established, I am sure the minister's office would be more than happy to give him a briefing on it. We know that, as a nation, we are absolutely experiencing skills shortages across a range of industries—industries that are important to our economic growth, industries that are important to the functioning of communities, industries that are essential to the health and wellbeing of Australians. It defies logic to suggest that these skills shortages have arisen in the last 100 days. Whilst there were issues during the pandemic lockdown that have contributed to the skills and worker shortages in this country—including the decision to abandon migrant workers and tell them they can leave the country—it is also not the case that it is the last three years alone which has led to the rise of skills and skilled worker shortages in Australia. The truth is there has been a decade of a lack of workforce planning in critical industries across this country, not least of which are health industries. What was revealed, not caused by but exacerbated by and revealed by the pandemic, was the absolute absence of proper workforce planning for nurses, GPs and other health practitioners, who are crucial to the health and wellbeing of communities like my community in Dunkley. Nurses who carried this community through the pandemic, who worked in hospitals in back-to-back shifts until many of them could hardly even stand up, who are still exhausted and still dealing with COVID waves, COVID patients and a backlog of patients who haven't had other health issues treated, will tell you there has been a lack of planning for their profession. There has been a lack of looking at initiatives like how to get more nurse practitioners into the system so they can look after people with chronic illnesses, like people living with cancer, to take some of the burden off the GPs and to provide good health for people who need it. In my community, like many other communities, we are also looking at skills shortages in areas which, quite frankly, defy belief. In the last term of parliament, under the previous government, which members of the opposition have crowed about—of its success, apparently, in helping skill up Australians and provide workers—I had hundreds of businesses contact me about skills shortages but I had two different businesses in Carrum Downs contact me, in desperate straits, about not being able to find workers. There is a stair manufacturer in Carrum Downs who went from having more than 200 job applications for vacancies in about 2018 to only having five per month over a two-month span, with 50 per cent of applicants not turning up for interviews. They needed people to do welding, to make staircases, and they couldn't find enough welders to get work completed—facing the possibility of needing to close after 25 years of being a family business in my community that employs locals. There was another engineering business in Carrum Downs that sent me an email saying, 'We run an engineering business and we're having an awful time trying to get tradespeople or even apprentices to interview. What is happening to our education system? We are struggling to get anybody through the door, let alone working for us.' They noted that I'd sent them a sticker about supporting 'Australian made' because I ran a campaign, last term, about supporting Australian made and buying Australian. But they made this point: 'If there are no workers available, how are we to have this happen and what are we to do?' They ended their email by saying, 'The youth of Australia need options in education for apprenticeships, and with many trades needing staff something needs to change.' What I can now say to these two businesses and many others in my community, and many of the exhausted nurses who just say, 'We need more nurses in the system,' and many of the businesses that run retail and hospitality, is that you now have a government that genuinely understands that we need to plan for the workforces that we need now and into the future. We need to invest in the opportunities for our people to get those skills so that Australians can be skilled up for the jobs that exist now and into the future. We don't have to solely rely on temporary migration, like happened under the previous government. In February of this year, before the federal election, 17 per cent of businesses reported that they didn't have enough employees, and the recruitment difficulty rate for higher skilled occupations was sitting at 67 per cent. Whilst we have high job vacancies and a low official employment rate in this country, those of us who are in touch with our communities know that there are a large cohort of people who aren't working and want to work but have either been unemployed for so long that they've left the labour market or find it so difficult—because they don't have the skills that are needed—to get the jobs that are available that they've left the labour market or are facing other barriers. What these people need is a government that's willing to give them the assistance they need to get back into the labour market, to get the skills that they need. That's why this government is committed to TAFE, and to public TAFE. Today, on National TAFE Day, it is appropriate to emphasise, yet again, the important role that TAFE plays in education and skilling up Australians of all ages and from all backgrounds. But enough has not been done to support the TAFE system. In fact, it's been allowed to significantly erode. And the workforce of the TAFE system—the trainers and the teachers and the educators—have not been supported enough to be able to provide that great training and education. Out of the Jobs and Skills Summit held last week, and the national cabinet meeting that was held immediately before it, we started a new era of Commonwealth and state cooperation on skills and training where TAFE is at the heart. There is a commitment to a billion dollars, co-funded, for the national skills agreement to deliver 180,000 fee-free TAFE places in 2023. And that is a great start. I come from the state of Victoria, where we have a state government that has also been providing fee-free TAFE places. Every time I visit Chisholm Institute in my electorate, which is a magnificent TAFE, I talk to students who tell me how their opportunities have been transformed because they've been able to enrol in a fee-free TAFE place, and they wouldn't have been able to study without it. There are young people studying to be enrolled nurses and older people who are already working in the aged-care system as carers studying to become enrolled nurses to increase their career opportunities. There are people studying to be social workers, drug and alcohol rehabilitation workers, carpenters, welders, plumbers or car mechanics, who have this opportunity because of fee-free TAFE. What Jobs and Skills Australia will do is make sure that these fee-free TAFE places provided by the federal and state governments are targeted towards skills shortage areas. You have to have a government that is willing not just to make announcements but also to do the hard work in the background—the planning of how these announcements are best directed and best delivered. And that's why this legislation is part of a package and a commencement of a government that has a strategy to deal with the skills shortage in Australia. It is not just an ad hoc, one-off piece of legislation. We have commitments to ensure that at least 70 per cent of Commonwealth VET funding is for public TAFE; to establish a TAFE Technology Fund; to have a Future Made In Australia Skills Plan; and to have new energy apprenticeships. It's so important to encourage Australians to train in the new energy jobs of the future. It's so important to provide additional support so they can complete their training. This government will provide $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships through our New Energy Skills Program and to develop fit-for-purpose training pathways for new energy industry jobs. It will do so in the spirit that the Albanese Labor government wants to govern in: in partnership with the states and territories, industries and unions. We have a commitment and a plan to deliver a reduction in emissions of at least 43 per cent by 2030 and to do so by giving Australia the opportunity to become the renewable energy superpower that we know that we can and should be. That commitment, again, feeds into a strategy to make sure Australians are skilled and able to take on the jobs of the future—the smart, well-paid, secure jobs that will come from the development of the renewable energy industry. They're the sorts of jobs that people in my community desperately want for themselves and for their children. It's why there is a sense of optimism and hope that the future will be better—that we will be able to provide a better future for our children—because we have a government that is committed to a strategy to make that happen. I commend this bill to the House. 18:38 Mr PIKE 300120 Bowman This is the first opportunity I've had to speak on a bill in this House. I'm learning new skills as well, so I'm fitting into the theme of the evening! Ms Murphy 133646 Congratulations! Mr PIKE 300120 Thank you. This bill, the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, seeks to establish Jobs and Skills Australia to drive vocational education and training. As part of its legislation, the government is seeking to repeal the existing National Skills Commission and reconstitute its functions within this new Jobs and Skills Australia, to be an agency within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. The bill establishes Jobs and Skills Australia as a statutory body within the department, which will provide advice and collect, analyse, share and publish data and other information on Australia's current and emerging market and its current, emerging and future skills and training needs and priorities. Currently, the NSC monitors, researches and analyses employment dynamics across different demographic groups, industries, occupations and regions. It considers how changes in the labour market will impact jobs and how these changes will impact the economy's education and skills needs. As a constructive opposition, we will assess proposals on their merits, but, as I think one of the earlier speakers said, we will not be giving the government a blank cheque on this front. As a constructive opposition, we will assess proposals on their merits, but, as one of the earlier speakers said, we will not be giving the government a blank cheque on this front. Whilst we accept that Jobs and Skills Australia will be established, we are sceptical of the new arrangements, given there is no clarity on how the organisation will be structured or on its full remit and responsibilities. The bill establishes the agency but not much more. This, as the member for Sturt said, seems to be more of a rebranding exercise than anything else at this point. Many locals within my community of the Redlands have talked to me about the challenges of the current skills shortage on their business. Unfortunately, we're reaching the point—we've well and truly reached the point, I'd say—where a lot of these businesses are giving up on trying to find new skilled workers to fulfil the duties that they have in their operations, and I think that's got very dire consequences for the future of Australia's economic growth. When you reach a point where businesses are deciding not to grow, because they can't find the workers, they've given up. Whilst delivering better information, coordination and leadership of Australia's workforce and skills is definitely a noble aspiration, such a function is already being provided by the National Skills Commission, which was established, of course, by the former government back in 2020. It's unfortunate that the government has not been able to outline the full remit and scope of this agency within this bill. It's unclear how this agency will be much different from the current agency, the National Skills Commission. I will touch on the skills shortage a bit in greater detail from my experience of my electorate and what my constituents are telling me in relation to this issue that this agency is seeking to address. In my electorate there are many great organisations that are tackling the task of skilling our workers. We've got the TAFE at Alexandra Hills. They do a fantastic job and are very highly in demand for young people and older people across my region. They were the recipients of a $1.2 million upgrade to their electroengineering facilities through the former government's Revitalising TAFE Campuses Across Australia program. That course is very popular at the Alex Hills TAFE, and the teachers there do a fantastic job. Another one to mention is the Australian Industry Trade College at Redlands. They're on the move. They've got a brand-new campus and a new facility that's been constructed. They've only been around since 2016, with a year 10 cohort, but since then they've expanded. I'm advised they now educate approximately 200 young people in the Redlands from year 10 to year 12. They're expanding and growing. As I mentioned, they're going to new premises. They're doing a fantastic job. I will also do a little shout-out, if I can— Mr PIKE 300120 Thank you. I've received the member for Leichhardt's permission on that! I give a shout-out to other local private RTOs such as Redlands College, Carers Queensland, EDB Training Services at Capalaba, PCD Training, Horizons Foundation, Capalaba State College and Sheldon College, who do a great job as well with this tertiary training, on-site training solutions and coach-commanded training. It's unclear to me what rebranded bureaucrats in Canberra will do for local operators within my electorate. It's unclear to me what Jobs Skills Australia is intending to do, through the bill that we are debating tonight, to support frontline efforts with these local organisations. We still don't really know where we are with the functions of this new agency, and I'm concerned, given the movements of the union movement at the recent Jobs and Skills Summit, about the role that the government intends for unions in the final formation of the JSA. I have seen in my home state of Queensland the impact that statutory authorities and statutory bodies have had under a Labor government which has stacked them with people from the union movement. I have seen the impact that that's had on business through the decisions and the operations of those entities. The government has told us the JSA will be cost neutral, because the existing funding for the NSC will cover the work of the JSA. The feedback that I've been getting in relation to the NSC is that it's performing its functions very well. It's unclear how the JSA will be different from the NSC, when it will receive the same amount of funding as well. That's another thing that the government has revealed in relation to this. I've also been advised that the minister expects the staff of the National Skills Commission to transfer over to the new body. So we've got the same level of funding, we've got the same staff and we've got a very similar remit, by my reading of it, and there isn't a great level of clarity as of yet. The current government has inherited a skills and training sector that is quite healthy, despite the current shortages. In 2019 the coalition released the findings of the Joycereport, providing a framework to bring our skills sector forward into the modern world. For the first time in Australian history, apprenticeships surpassed 220,000, which was a stark contrast to the freefall that we saw under the former Labor government. We established the new apprenticeships incentives scheme, seeing many new apprentices through their studies and careers. That was very well received in the electorate of Bowman. The coalition government also established the National Skills Commission, of course, which is the body that this bill seeks to replace. In the last two years alone the coalition invested a total of $13 billion in skills. Where this money was spent, it was spent incredibly well. We need to contrast that with the apprenticeships and traineeships record of the former Labor governments—the Rudd, Gillard and Rudd governments—when they last left office. The figures here show a fall of 22 per cent in training numbers between June 2012 and June 2013. That's 111,300 fewer people undertaking skills training. There is no silver bullet in relation to our current skills crisis, but, certainly, a massive disruption to supply like that is going to have an impact on our skills pipeline. This was a direct result of funding cuts under the Gillard government back in 2012. I've got to make sure I get the Prime Ministers right; I don't want to misapply blame. Our policy settings got apprenticeship numbers back up to record levels following these cuts. For the first time in our history, as I mentioned, we've got 220,000 Australians taking up trade apprenticeships. This was all done, remarkably, during the whole COVID period. I know that the word 'disruption' was used a lot, but I can't think of a word that can better describe the impact that that pandemic had across our economy and on every facet of our society. Training, skills and education were certainly all impacted by that. I know a lot of my local institutions did very well to adapt their offerings to ensure that things kept moving and people weren't missing out on their training. At the jobs summit the Prime Minister announced a total of 180,000 fee-free TAFE places. The Australian has accurately reported that two-thirds of these places already existed and will only be further subsidised. Another 15,000 are aged-care places that were announced under the former government's budget earlier this year, and the remaining 45,000 are new but were announced pre-election. So there's been a little bit more spin over substance in relation to that announcement. It's really hard to sink your teeth into anything within this legislation that's going to provide us with any comfort that there is some actual substance beyond the spin. The Prime Minister is on the record saying that the funding will go only to public training providers, and that's a very concerning proposition for me and the private providers within my electorate. It leaves behind 70 to 80 per cent of students who undertake training in private RTOs. It leaves behind as much as 79 per cent of women who undertake training in these private institutions. I think the government should be taking an even-handed approach, an agnostic approach. The government should not be picking winners when it comes to training and skills development. The coalition are also extremely concerned if JSA has embedded a bias for any corner of the skills sector alone, and it's important to flag now that we want to see safeguards to prevent that and prevent unions from dominating JSA and turning it into an entity that supports only public providers. As I said earlier, we do have concerns that this legislation is nothing more than a rebranding exercise. We want to make sure that there's more substance and less spin in relation to this. The coalition are intending on supporting this legislation based on the limited information that we've been provided with. The Liberal Party understand the importance of skills to the Australian economy. We understand how transformative skills and training are to the lives and livelihoods of Australians. Certainly that's the very strong feedback that I am getting from employers, providers and students when I make my way around the Redlands. We desperately want the government to get this right. Employers in my electorate need the government to get this right. I know my side of the chamber here is keen to work with the government to ensure we get this right. But we will be keeping a watching brief on Jobs and Skills Australia, seeking to ensure that it is held to account for any inefficiencies with this implementation. I have said that we will not give the Prime Minister a blank cheque. I think that is a very important point that we have made. In closing, I'll note that we look forward to seeing further detail on the establishment of the JSA and we hope that it's more substance than spin. 18:50 Mr NEUMANN HVO Blair I support these bills, the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022 and the Jobs and Skills Australia (National Skills Commissioner Repeal) Bill 2022. On National TAFE Day, I want to thank the students, teachers and trainers in my electorate, particularly at places like Bundamba TAFE in the south-west. I was there last week talking to apprentices who were training as baristas, chefs, cooks, mechanics and hairdressers. I want to thank them for the work they do. It is so important in my local community. Just listening to previous speakers from the coalition, it was almost like they had forgotten the captains of industry who have supported this legislation. ACCI, AiG, BCA and others have supported Jobs and Skills Australia. Listening to coalition speakers, there's just an extraordinary disconnect. It goes to show why they lost the last federal election and why they are out of office. The first bill here delivers one of Labor's key election commitments, establishing Jobs and Skills Australia. The second bill repeals the National Skills Commissioner Act 2020. The staff and resources of the previous commission will be transferred to Jobs and Skills Australia. The previous commission, the National Skills Commission, had an advisory function, but it lacked independence and any form of strategic approach that it's necessary that Labor's Jobs and Skills Australia will bring. Jobs and Skills Australia will be a cornerstone of this government. This is one of the first pieces of legislation that this Labor government has brought into being. In fact, despite what coalition members have talked about this evening, there is a two-stage legislative process. If they bothered to read the bill and understand what it is about, they would see the first thing is about establishing Jobs and Skills Australia, giving it full remit and legislative governance arrangements. It will be informed by consultation with states and territories, grounded by our commitment to a tripartite model in dealing with state and territory governments, employers, unions, industry and other community organisations, particularly those in the training field. So this is really crucial. It's part of the suite of policies that this Labor government will bring, whether it's in areas like: the new skills program; the New Energy Apprenticeships, $100 million to support 10,000 new apprentices in our new energy areas; our TAFE Technology Fund; or our Australian Skills Guarantee, which is so critical, training thousands of workers—one in 10 on major Commonwealth government projects will be an apprentice, training or cadet. It's absolutely crucial that we do this. There are the fee-free TAFE places that we are bringing forward, arising out of the summit that took place just last week. The economic challenges we as a country face are immense, brought on very much by nine years of neglect in this space. You can't cut $3 billion out of skills, TAFE and training and not expect there to be a consequence. There were 70,000 fewer apprenticeships and trainees at the conclusion of this coalition government's term in May this year than there were when we last lost office in 2013. The consequences of cuts and of not working with states and territory governments, industry, unions and TAFE is there for all to see. They told people who were so critical to industries like hospitality, retail, agriculture and the meat industry to just go home. That's what the Morrison government said during COVID. 'Just leave the country.' We're seeing that in the greatest demographic shift since 1991 in this country. The latest ABS data shows clearly the consequence in terms of the demographic shift among states and territories—between regions and capital cities. We're seeing the consequence in industries. We need collaboration and cooperation in industry with various groups—workers, trainees, unions, training providers. That's what we need. It must be across portfolios and across ministries and at state and territory level as well. The last week's Jobs and Skills Summit was absolutely critical to harnessing the energy, vitality, creativity and intelligence of the Australian community. This government is committed to ensuring full employment, productivity growth and better participation for women, for minority groups, for our First Nations people, for people living with disability and for vulnerable people in our community, to harness their strength and their capacities, and to make sure they're involved. It's not just an equity and justice issue; it's about our economic development and participation as we go forward. It's about reducing barriers to employment so that all can participate, and we saw the result with dozens of initiatives announced just last week. That included the additional $1 billion dollars for the joint federal and state funding for fee-free TAFE places and the acceleration of those places; assistance to pensioners and veteran pensioners to get age pensioners and veterans working more without the loss of their social security payments; the modernisation of workplace laws to improve bargaining and make them more accessible for workers and businesses in a cooperative, collaborative way; and amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible work arrangements. We need to do all of these things. An increase in the migration program up to 195,000 places in 2022-23 will help ease widespread critical workforce shortages. On 10 August we had our own Jobs and Skills Summit in Blair. It featured presentations from the Tivoli Social Enterprises, a community faith-based organisation operating out of the Ipswich suburb of Tivoli at the old drive-in. It's more than movies, as CEO Pastor Fred Muys says. The enterprise provides training through skilling Queenslanders for work in hospitality, conservation and land management, construction, business, youth work and more. This is a great initiative of the Labor government in Queensland. Tragically, even before a report into the program was initiated and delivered to the then Coalition government, Campbell Newman's LNP government scrapped the program. It had great adverse impact on people's apprenticeships and traineeships in Queensland. Fortunately, the Palaszczuk Labor government has brought it back, and it's been my privilege to attend a number of those graduations, where people, with hope in their hearts, can clutch a certificate and recognise the opportunities they gain with those certificates. But so many people, when I turn up to those programs, don't actually go to the graduation, because they're in employment because that program works. That's the kind of dynamic creativity we need in this country. We need people to learn on the job. This social enterprise—a drive-in and kitchen—is preparing food for customers and distributing up to 2½ thousand pre-cooked meals to needy families. This is not just in my electorate but also in the electorate of Wright, and elsewhere. It runs major events at various times. It's also involved in eco land management and developing koala habitat, because, if we don't preserve our koala habitat soon, we'll be looking at koalas in museums. This was a site of relief during the recent floods. So you can see jobs and skills have a connection to land management, ecosystems, flood relief and a whole range of areas. You can't isolate jobs and skills and think that it has no impact on the economy, on community or on national development. There is a meat-processing plant in my electorate, at Dinmore—the largest in the country: JBS Foods. The second largest is at Kilcoy Global Foods in the northern part of my electorate, in rural Somerset. JBS Northern Division's chief operating officer, Anthony Pratt, spoke at the jobs and skills summit at Brothers Leagues Club Ipswich. He talked about the fact that JBS's capacity is 823 workers short, and that's at Dinmore alone—this is the biggest meat-processing establishment in the country. It mirrors the issues that Kilcoy Global Foods, who I met with recently, have up there in getting skilled workers to work in the rural township of Kilcoy. They're relying very much on skilled workers from the Philippines and elsewhere, many of whom go on to become Australian citizens and make their homes in the Kilcoy and Somerset region. Sadly, when the former government left office they left a massive backlog of unprocessed visa applications in skilled areas as well—at least four times as many as the former Labor government left in 2013. I want to acknowledge the minister, who is at the table there, in addressing this issue and getting things moving again. It's absolutely critical. Hundreds of extra frontline experienced public servants are dealing with this issue. This is all related, and this is the tragedy and the travesty of this former government. They sit over there in impotence and are not part of the conversation for dealing with jobs and skills in this country. They're just not. They have not listened to the words of ACCI, AiG, the BCA and many business organisations and employers—COSBOA as well. They've just ruled themselves out of this conversation. Many issues were raised in the Blair jobs summit and these issues are absolutely crucial—for example, in the area of clean energy. James Sturges of eleXsys talked about the opportunities in the skills and training area for our local community. There are shortages across 51 different trades in the energy sector alone. But this is the mob over there who had 22 energy policies, and some of them didn't even last 12 hours! They couldn't even last until question time! James outlined some of the opportunities in clean energy and the relevant technology, and ways to reduce costs and to look at better jobs and skills in our local area. I'm committed to making sure we have community based renewable energy hubs, including a community battery based in Ipswich. Industrial hubs and estates could generate power and deliver cost savings across a number of businesses. There are opportunities in the circular economy as well—for example, one of the interesting participants in the Blair jobs summit was Pastor Billy Dean from the Raceview Congregational Church. Through their Men's Shed, they're involved in the recycling of plastic. There are opportunities in that area for jobs and skills. He talked about what they do through their Men's Shed in creating a cleaner and better environment, and also in providing job opportunities in the recycling industry. The interaction, shall I say, with housing is important also, and this is one of the things that came up that shows why this piece of jobs and skills legislation is so critical: it can't be divorced from it. The Housing Australia Future Fund, the $10 billion commitment that this Labor government will initiate, will be crucial for our First Nations people, for veterans, for essential workers, for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence and for social housing alone. It's absolutely crucial. In our area we've seen a growing housing problem and a growing homelessness problem, and that was exacerbated by the floods. So the interaction between housing, jobs and skills can't be ignored. We had evidence from employers at our local jobs and skills summit about the relationship between getting proper housing. In my area, the fastest-growing area in South-East Queensland, the Ipswich area, it's about getting proper and better housing so that we can get those apprentices and jobs in those areas. We heard evidence from employers, whether in the health industry, in the meat industry or in the defence industry, who had to go to motels for their staff because there wasn't enough construction of housing in our local area. There are opportunities for welders, for apprentices and for electricians and a whole range of areas, and these are the areas that I want Jobs and Skills Australia to look at. In my community we made a submission to the Jobs and Skills Summit, and I look forward to our local community also making a contribution to the white paper. This legislation is absolutely critical, and I wish those opposite would read bills instead of talking points. Have a look at the bill. Have a look at what's there, in the bills, before you come into this place and talking nonsense with Liberal-National talking points. It's important you look at the bill. That's really, really critical in the circumstances. I want to commend the Minister for Skills and Training for the bills before this chamber. It's a tragedy for our country that those opposite failed to work on jobs and skills. It's been left to a Labor government to take action. It's absolutely critical we do it for my local community, for South-East Queensland and for across the country. We need a government with vision and a government with commitment on jobs and skills, not a government that cuts apprenticeships and traineeships and cuts funding for TAFE. 19:05 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher That was a very interesting and not so insightful presentation from the member for Blair, who seems to have a very interesting take on history. I'm sure we can have a greater chat about that at the gym, perhaps, tomorrow morning! I am very fortunate in my life. I have worked as a carpenter. I've been to TAFE. I was educated at Holmesglen college of TAFE. I was an apprentice carpenter, I became a carpenter and I then became a builder. I then went back and did a law degree and practised as a barrister for 16 years. So I've walked both sides of the fence: I've been to university, and I've been a white-collar worker and a blue-collar worker. There's no doubt that a quality education has the ability to change people's lives. There's absolutely no doubt about that. Since I was elected in 2016 I have made it my mission to make Fisher, on the Sunshine Coast, the place to be for education, employment and retirement. I want to ensure that the many young families who move to the Sunshine Coast can give their kids a good education on the coast, can get a good job on the coast and, ultimately, can retire on the coast. The last thing parents wants to see is their kids having to move away from home to get a better job or to get an education. The ability for a regional area, like mine on the Sunshine Coast, to provide good education and good quality jobs is so incredibly important. It's really interesting to sit here and listen to those opposite talk about how the coalition government, purportedly, ran down skills and education. When the member for Maribyrnong was involved in skills and training, apprenticeships were at an all-time low under those opposite—those who now profess to be gurus who will change the world. When I think of skills and education, I think of groups on the Sunshine Coast like STEPS employment group. I think of STEPS Pathways College, that connect people who live with disabilities. They can get better training and go on and lead independent lives. I think of Your Employment Solutions, another organisation on the Sunshine Coast that works with young people who live with disabilities. I think of the Sunshine Coast trade and training technical college that's attached to the Caloundra high school. This is a college that gives young people an opportunity to learn a trade while they're at school. These school based apprenticeships are unbelievably fantastic. It gives young people an opportunity to learn a trade whilst they're at school. We talk so much about the importance of tertiary education. Yes, tertiary education can be important, but we must never forget the importance of trades. If we, as a nation, continue to run down trades, as we have done over the last—certainly in the last iteration of the Labor government, that tried to push everybody into university. Mr Perrett HVP Rubbish! Complete bunkum! Mr WALLACE 265967 Absolutely correct! If we do that, then good luck trying to get your toilet fixed. Good luck trying to get a house built. Trades give young people an opportunity to learn invaluable skills that will take them anywhere in the world. If you do a trade in Australia, you will never, generally speaking, be without work. You can always find work. With an Australian trade qualification, you will be able to get work anywhere in the world because of the high quality and high esteem that that trade is held in around the world. It is important, in my view, that we walk the talk in this place. At every opportunity I get I talk about the importance of trades and not necessarily making a career out of going to university. If you want to go to university, that's fine. That's great. We need lawyers, we need doctors; there's no suggestion about that. But we also need plasterers, we need plumbers, we need electricians, we need carpenters, we need hairdressers et cetera. A couple of years ago, I started what I call my Ready, Set, Go bursary, which provides $1,000 to young people who are in a trade and who want a little bit of help. They want a little bit of help for tools or maybe a bit of help towards buying a ute, whatever it might be. I think of people who the bursary has supported, like Tom Loane and Morgan McCosker, who are both electrical apprentices, and Courtney Byron, who is an apprentice hairdresser. We in this place need to walk the talk, and we need to be supporting our young people into trades. In relation to our work on skills and training when we were in government, those opposite will tell you all sorts of things about what we did and we didn't do, but these are the facts. Mr WALLACE 265967 These are the facts, Member for Moreton, so just listen. We invested record funding into vocational education. The result was historically low unemployment and historically high employment participation—particularly for who, Member for Canning? For young people and women. You can't look at the scoreboard and say the maths is wrong. We also saw a record number of apprentices and trainees. Through our $2 billion JobTrainer program, we supported over 300,000 students through subsidised vocational training. Through our Job-ready Graduates Package, we delivered reforms which make employability in the future economy the priority for higher education funding. Through the JobMaker Hiring Credit scheme, the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements and the Completing Apprenticeship Commencements program and our wage subsidy program, we were able to support hundreds of thousands of apprentices, trainees and employers to grow our skilled workforce. I've still got plenty of mates who are in the building industry, and, let me tell you, they loved the subsidies that we introduced for training apprentices. We understood that many in the workforce were working without formal qualifications, some for many years. That's why in 2015 the federal government, our federal government, the coalition government, changed the Standards for Registered Training Organisations to require all nationally accredited providers to offer recognition of prior learning. Essentially, if you can demonstrate that you have the work experience and informal training equivalent to the skills or competencies in the qualification, the RTO will provide you with a pathway to obtaining a formal qualification. We handed the Labor government a world-class vocational skills and training system which had recovered from years of Labor meddling and neglect and which wasn't just growing but powering ahead in a strong job market and national economy. As my colleagues on this side of the House have outlined time and time again, we want to be a constructive opposition—don't we, Member for Canning? We want to be at constructive opposition. We want to work with government to deliver better outcomes for Australians. We want to deliver better outcomes for Australian families and their businesses. Now, sometimes, we're going to agree with the government, and sometimes we're not. We will hold the government to account all the time; in this spirit of wanting to be a constructive opposition, it is important that we hold the government to account—that we hold them to account for their promises and we hold them to account for their inactions. Over 100 days have passed since this government took office. Now, 100 days in the broader scheme of things is not a long time, but this government, the Labor government, needs to start putting some runs on the board. They made Jobs and Skills Australia the cornerstone of their election commitments, and yet, to date, we have no idea what this agency will actually do. We have no information about how it will do what it will do, and we have no information about how it will help do whatever it will do. Is this just a rebranding exercise, or is it a complete dismantling of the system which stood us in good stead over the last nine years? These questions are unanswered, the voices unheard and the concerns unaddressed. What we need to be careful of is that they do not stop this sector in its tracks. The National Skills Commission already does the job of researching, reporting, coordinating and leading efforts to inform and improve Australia's skilled workforce and training agenda. There is no doubt, as I speak to businesses, that all of us would share that this country is having a skills crisis. There is no doubt about that. Predominantly the reason for that would be COVID. COVID has turned our skills training and the way we work upside down, but that is no reason why we should sit back and say, 'Well, that's COVID; so be it.' It is vitally important for our young people, vitally important for our economy that we encourage people back into skilled labour, back into work. Our unemployment rate is so incredibly low at the moment, but we do need to be encouraging those who have taken part in the great resignation. We talk about the great resignation in the US. Well, I think that's also happened here. I can't let the moment pass without talking about Labor's Jobs and Skills Summit. This summit, the foundation of Labor's pledge to reform the skilled workforce—well, we all know it turned out to be a bit of a fizzer. Mr Perrett HVP You don't; you weren't there. You boycotted it. You called yourself irrelevant! Mr WALLACE 265967 It's reminiscent of Labor's Australia 2020 Summit that it held in 2008: a lot of hype, a lot of talk, a lot of waxing lyrical by the Labor movement and the big end of town. The member for Moreton was probably in there getting his photo taken for five minutes and then back out again. We know what some members of the Labor Party were doing at that summit! I note with some disappointment that there weren't many local service providers invited. In fact, I wrote to the Treasurer and I put forward STEPS Group Australia and Your Employment Solutions, two great businesses in my electorate. I wrote to the Treasurer and I said, 'If you want two small local businesses that do great work in the disability sector, you should have these guys at the table.' There was no response. If they were a union, they'd quite likely have been there. The summit was a summit of unions. The summit did not take into account the many great contributions that private service training providers like STEPS and Your Employment Solutions provide. I want to finish by saying that, on this side of the House, we are absolutely committed to ensuring that Australians continue to receive good quality skills and training. That's what we have done over the last nine years and we will hold this government to account to do the same. 19:20 Mr PERRETT HVP Moreton I'm pleased to rise to speak on the Jobs and Skills Australia Bill 2022, which comes hand-in-hand with the very successful Jobs and Skills Summit, which has been widely acknowledged as being a great meeting and opportunity place. This bill delivers on our commitment to establish Jobs and Skills Australia as a national partnership to drive VET education and strengthen workforce planning by working together with employers, unions and the training and education sector—the three cogs. Jobs and Skills Australia will provide advice on the skills and training needs of workers and employers now and in the future. The body under consideration, set up by this current bill, is intended to be an interim one, as I am sure the previous speaker might have known had he'd looked at the legislation. Thankfully he was able to veer close to it, but he managed to miss it. This interim organisation will only exist until a permanent model for the Jobs and Skills Australia can be established. This bill is a priority because we now know how critical the skills and labour shortages have become in many sectors of the economy. As I'm sure all MPs have done, I've spoken to many employers in Moreton who are desperate for employees because they can't fill the skills shortages that they need to, especially in manufacturing. Every local manufacturer or business that I've met with has outlined the difficulties they're facing in finding new employees. Jeff and Ben Samuels from QMW, in Acacia Ridge, are acknowledged worldwide for their mining expertise, for their manufacturing and innovation, but, sadly, Jeff and Ben can't find apprentices to employ and train. Just down the road at Hi-Tech Tooling, also in Acacia Ridge, the demand for pharmaceutical and food production has nearly completely taken over from their traditional plastics markets for high-tech tooling, but Richard can't find experienced toolmakers and is very keen to take on more apprentices. Toolmaking is a very unique skill in Australia. Employers tell me that they're willing to train new employees. This will take time and effort, and it's a huge investment, but they're struggling to find people to employ and train. When they can't find employees locally, some of the businesses try to source skilled workers from overseas, which, in itself, presents challenges due to the significant visa processing wait times—which I note the minister for immigration and citizenship is working to address. Deputy Speaker, I am sure, like all Australians, you're horrified to hear about that figure of one million unprocessed visas. What is very clear is that, after nearly 10 years of inaction, those 10 wasted years of a coalition government, it's crucial that we get a better understanding of the skills we need now and that we'll need in the future to drive a national skills policy. This new body, the interim body, will replace the National Skills Commission, which was launched by the former coalition government back in mid-2020. Departmental staff supporting the National Skills Commission will be redeployed to Jobs and Skills Australia. Funding for the National Skills Commission will be transferred to Jobs and Skills Australia. The repeal of the National Skills Commissioner Act 2020 and the transfer of its staff and funding will pave the way for Jobs and Skills Australia to step into that national leadership role for the workforce, the labour market and skills advice. Jobs and Skills Australia will be responsible for providing advice to government on our current, emerging and future labour market and workforce skills and training needs to improve employment opportunities and economic growth. This new body will have a wider remit to work in partnership with key stakeholders compared with the commission and will have a more strategic focus, because this is what Australia needs right now. This bill presents the opportunity to ensure that the challenges of improving workforce productivity are approached in a considered way so that skills shortages can be addressed and wages increased sustainably. Jobs and Skills Australia will also provide a platform to make sure that expenditure on skills training delivers the outcomes required to support a growing economy. This is because Australia's skills funding framework is a confusing mix of direct and indirect investment from governments by way of employer payments, employee wage subsidies, student funding programs and student loan programs. This will not only ease confusion for employees and students but also ensure that taxpayer funds can be used efficiently and to the greatest effect. Jobs and Skills Australia will also work closely with state and territory governments as well as industry, employers, unions and training providers to ensure a shared understanding of the key issues facing Australia's labour market. It will also examine the adequacy of the VET system in delivering these skills and making sure training and job opportunities are available to all Australians regardless of their background. The advice of Jobs and Skills Australia will help ensure that the economy is not held back by these shortages. It will help guide a skills and training sector that will provide workers with choices and opportunities for secure employment because they have the right skills. It will mean that, in the future, local employers in my electorate, like QMW and Hi-Tech in Acacia Ridge, will not be held back by those skilled worker shortages. Jobs and Skills Australia will undertake the workforce forecasting, prepare capacity studies for new and emerging industries, and contribute to the planning for a pipeline of skilled workers. The pandemic brought about and emphasised the shortage of skills and workers, especially with reduced skilled migration and that lack of support for temporary migrants workers during the COVID lockdowns. We all remember the former government telling those on temporary visas to 'go home' and the horrible damage that that did to our reputation in this part of the world. This shortage in skills and workers has highlighted how the absence of planning and the lack of a coordinated national response to skills and labour shortages over the last 10 years has contributed to the crisis facing some sectors. The Labor government aims to address this, as our Jobs and Skills Summit has demonstrated. Many of the vital industries that rely on VET graduates are facing workforce shortages made worse by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the reduction in skilled migration. My local TAFE—SkillsTech at the Acacia Ridge campus—have for decades provided a trained workforce for local industry. They train painters, mechanics, truck mechanics, carpenters, bricklayers, tilers, hairdressers, plumbers, cooks, plasterers—and that's just the half of it. While their student numbers are increasing right now, even they have talked to me about the difficulty they have had in finding new apprentices and new students. The additional fee-free TAFE places announced last week will hopefully go a long way to incentivise new students to take up a course at TAFE. Many Moreton residents are familiar with the skills and workforce shortages in critical areas such as aged care, disability care and child care. It is very obvious that urgent action is needed to address these skills shortages and to match participation and training with the types of skills that are in demand right now and those that will be in demand in the future. Jobs and Skills Australia's advice to government will help inform policies and programs to ensure that Australia's training system delivers the skills and workers that industry needs. This will all be informed by stakeholder consultation, because, while there is urgent action required to address the skills shortages, action will require the best evidence and close collaboration across governments, industries and unions to make a significant difference. We need to start as soon as possible. They'll do that capacity study and, once this legislation is passed and Jobs and Skills Australia is created, fund that $1.9 million for the additional resourcing required. It will undertake a transitions analysis and will inform further development of any training products, career pathways and other activities to best prepare us for the future. Our government will do what we can to make sure that the White paper on full employment will be released next year so that we can prepare society for good jobs. It's in our DNA as a government to support the aspirations of all workers to find secure and meaningful work. We are the Labor party, it's in our DNA and I commend this legislation to the House. ADJOURNMENT 69 ADJOURNMENT Energy 69 19:30 Mr JOYCE e5d New England I appreciate this opportunity to say something about what is happening in the world, not to blame the Labor Party or any government about what made it happen but to blame them if we do not prepare ourselves for what is coming our way. Guy Adams, on the Isle of Barra, which is probably the most westerly point of Scotland for a hotel, is wondering whether he is going to keep his doors open. His power bill is going from 25,000 pounds a year to 125,000 pounds a year. That would mean, of course, that the people who are cash strapped have no capacity to come there and pay the cost to run a room. The power crisis in Britain did not start with the war in the Ukraine. It started with the so-called 'wind drought' that meant that their reliance on renewables was unable to meet the requirements of the economy. It was then exacerbated by the war in the Ukraine, but there is no doubt it started with the so-called 'wind drought'. Now, why do I say this? It's because we are now rinsing and repeating in Australia what is happening in other parts of the world, and this is very dangerous. The other day, I went to my local town, Walcha. I played rugby for Walcha. We won the grand final in 1990. It was pretty good. The town of 1,000-plus people beat a city with 67,000 people. In that town of a thousand there were over 200 people at the Walcha bowling club. Why? It was because in the town of Walcha they are about to build 515 wind towers around the town. Now, in that compendium of people who appeared there that night were members of the Greens who spoke, local counsellors, members who support the Labor Party and me. I felt I was on the surest ground, because I said: 'You wanted a renewable target. You got it. Here it is. This is it. This is what it looks like.' The Greens speaker was very good, very articulate and very cogent, and said, 'I did not come here to live in an industrial park,' and I said, 'That's precisely what you're going to have.' The umbrage we feel is that, as we get our 550 wind towers around Walcha, there's not one that's going to be built in Manly. There's not one that's going to be built in Bondi, Toorak or on a beach in Western Australia. We will assuage their feeling of whatever it is—guilt—but we actually have to pay for it. It becomes incumbent upon us. The other big issue is this: as we spoke to farmers, who get paid about $30,000 per tower, we said: 'Who is responsible for pulling them down when these things become out of date? Look at the contract you have entered into.' I said: 'If you have a coal mine, the decommissioning of it is the responsibility of the person who takes the lease out. They have to put money in a trust to clean up the site. It is not so for wind towers. The wind towers are the responsibility who of the people whose land it is on. This will mean there will be contingent liability that will rest upon the land. I went through how much these cost to pull down. They have to bring up specialised cranes, of which and there are only a couple in Australia, and truck the stuff out. It is about $500,000 a wind tower. In some of these places, the decommissioning cost would be more than the cost to replace, and the banks realise this as well with regard to how much money to lend them. They now have small modular reactors—20 metres high, 2.7 metres wide, 77 megawatts. Two of them would power the city of Tamworth, if you look at six kilowatts per house. Some say it's only two to three. Two would take the place of hundreds of wind towers. Very quickly, wind towers will become obsolete technology, and we will have a massive problem, like dilapidated council flats, festooned across our nation. (Time expired) Reid Electorate: Multiculturalism, Migration 70 19:35 Ms SITOU 298121 Reid This Saturday, countries in East and South-East Asia celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. It's one of their most important festivals of the year—a day to celebrate the moon when it's at its fullest and the harvest when it is most bountiful, a day to eat moon cakes and rice cakes and to reunite with family and friends. It's also a festival being celebrated in my electorate of Reid, in the multicultural heart of Sydney. Last weekend I had the great honour of leading the dragon dance as part of the mid-autumn festivities in Rhodes. It's the first time in Sydney we've had so many people take part in a dragon dance. More than 100 people joined in, despite the torrential rain. After the challenges of the last few years of bushfires, floods and the pandemic, there has never been a more important time for us to come together. The festivities of Saturday were only possible because of the Rhodes Multicultural Community Association, an organisation run entirely by volunteers. Now in its eighth year, the Rhodes Multicultural Community Association started as a group of residents in Rhodes who regularly met to socialise, exercise and dance together. It's now grown to an organisation that supports the local community through English classes, information sessions, bike riding classes, art exhibits and migrant settlement programs. During the height of the COVID pandemic they supported the local community by helping families who were quarantining and by providing practical assistance to small businesses. Their work was so critical that they were awarded the resilience award by the Canada Bay council. Part of their work was to organise a mid-autumn festival to give the community an opportunity to celebrate with each other, and to share this with the wider electorate. It's an example that is replicated in so many communities in Reid. The Saturday I'll be celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival at another event, this time organised by the Australian Korean Association of Sydney—also a volunteer run organisation that has done a fantastic job to celebrate Korean culture in Australia. It was established in 1968 and has been providing support to the community ever since. To me, these two organisations demonstrate the importance of multiculturalism in Australia. Migrants bring the wonderful traditions of their homelands to Australia, and we are enriched by it. That is the story of successive waves of migration to this country—people who have left their homelands to come to Australia for a better life and to contribute to making our society stronger. Since Australia first established a federal department dedicated to immigration in 1945, more than seven million permanent migrants have settled in Australia. More than seven million people from around the world have laid down roots here. They've built a life, contributed to the economy and strengthened the bonds of our community, and they have made Australia one of the most linguistically, culturally and religiously diverse countries in the world. While our migration system has contributed to Australia's success story, in more recent years the emphasis has shifted away from permanent migration and towards temporary migration. I don't think we've gotten the balance right. Temporary migrants are not able to plan for their future here. Their life is precarious. It's harder for them to become embedded in our community because they face the uncertainty of having to pack up and leave. They are more vulnerable to workplace exploitation from unscrupulous employers. Yet we know they are contributing and important members of our community, often working in areas of chronic skills shortage, including aged care, child care and nursing. I welcome the Albanese Labor government's recent announcement that it will increase the permanent skilled migration cap by 35,000 places to 195,000 for this financial year. It's a great step for migrants, for workers and for businesses struggling under the current skills shortage. It also means we give skilled migrants the opportunity to contribute to our community, just like members of the Australian Korean Association and the Rhodes Multicultural Community Association. Housing, East Brisbane State School 71 19:40 Mr CHANDLER-MATHER 300121 Griffith I want to talk about the response to the Greens' call for an emergency two-year rent freeze and pause on interest rates, because I think it reveals something about just how badly disconnected from everyday people many politicians are. After announcing our proposal, I heard from countless renters who had copped outrageous rent increases, like a $100 rent increase despite no repairs being done in years; or a $60-a-week rent hike with less than a week's notice to sign a lease or move out; or a sudden 10 per cent increase on a cold and mouldy house. But renters are telling us they've got no choice but to put up with it. There's nowhere even vaguely affordable to move into, with vacancy rates around the country at record lows. We heard from a renter who agreed to swallow a $40-a-week rise, only to get booted out anyway so the owner could turn the property into an Airbnb. We heard about a tenant who got kicked out because the owner said they were selling, only to see the same owner whack it straight back up with the rent at a higher price—about $150 extra a week. The most outrageous story we heard was of a tenant who copped a $250-a-week rent increase. That's $13,000 a year extra on rent. I spoke to a single mum who ended up being evicted because she couldn't afford a $150-a-week rent increase. Her kids go to the local school and work at the local supermarket, and she works full time as a disability support worker, but she was evicted because we have a housing system where landlords are allowed to put up the rent by as much as they want. Meanwhile, we've seen federal Labor and state Liberal and Labor governments demonstrate a spectacularly callous disregard for the 30 per cent of this country who rent homes. When I proposed a rent freeze, the Prime Minister, presumably feigning ignorance, said he had no idea how a rent freeze would work. The Treasurer admitted that skyrocketing rents were a huge part of the cost-of-living crisis but then turned around and said it wasn't something they were working on. We know that rent controls work. In Scotland, British Columbia and New York, rent controls are used to protect renters' right to affordable housing. In fact, we've had rent freezes in Australia before. The Victorian government froze rents for six months during the pandemic and the Commonwealth government froze rents nationwide in 1941 to deal with the inflation crisis caused by wartime shortages. There's no reason why we can't have rent controls in Australia today. The only thing standing in the way is the lack of political will to put first the rights of everyday people to have a roof over their heads. When I asked the PM in question time yesterday if he'd help the 2.7 million Australians in rental stress by putting a freeze on the agenda for the next national cabinet meeting, he told me that he's already got a comprehensive plan to deal with the housing crisis. But not only is Labor's plan to build 20,000 social and 10,000 affordable houses over five years not a comprehensive plan; it's not even a drop in the ocean. When we have 116,000 people homeless in Australia every night and 163,500 families sitting on the social housing waiting list, how are 20,000 social homes good enough? When there are 2.7 million Australians in rental stress and one million of them in extreme rental stress, spending more than 45 per cent of their income on rent, how are 10,000 affordable homes enough to even make a dent? The reality is that Labor's fig leaf of a plan will see the waiting list for social housing end up longer than it is now. It will abandon millions of people to housing stress, homelessness and eviction. But just imagine if the government treated this like the crisis that it is. Imagine if millions of Australian households didn't have to worry about the next rent increase. Imagine if there were a nationwide urgent investment in well-designed community and public housing that actually addressed the need that we have in this country. Imagine that instead of the government spending $224 billion on the stage 3 tax cuts, which will give everyone in this place an extra $9,000 a year—and we really don't need it—there was a plan to build one million public and affordable homes with integrated public parks, transport, schools and community facilities. People in cities like Vienna don't have to imagine. But in Australia, for now, our political system remains dominated by the banks and property developers who profit so handsomely off a housing system that is okay with kicking a woman and her family out on the street but is also fine with the Commonwealth Bank making an extra $9 billion a year in profit. I also want to speak about the East Brisbane State School in my electorate. With the Olympics coming up in 2032 in Brisbane the state government have put a proposal on the table to demolish the Gabba stadium and rebuild it at the cost of $1 billion. This is despite the fact that the East Brisbane State School, whose enrolments have increased by 38 per cent since 2016—almost 300 kids—sits on the same site. It has become increasingly clear that that school will be demolished and moved to another site, or will be completely gotten rid of by this decision. What we know is that the federal government want to spend $500 million on that. (Time expired) Arts and Culture 72 19:45 Mr JOSH WILSON 265970 Fremantle A couple of weeks ago I was very glad to attend the Western Australian instalment of the National Cultural Policy consultation at the Rosemount Hotel. There are a number of things that already distinguish this government from its predecessor, one of them is that it features a Minister for the Arts in the member for Watson, not to mention the Special Envoy for the Arts in my friend the member for Macquarie. Another point of difference is that the Albanese Labor government has committed to creating a national cultural policy as a matter of high priority. It's awful that for the last nine years Australia did not have an energy policy. It is no more acceptable that for the last nine years we've not had a national cultural policy. It has denied Australia a different kind of energy. It has meant that some of the most important energy producers have been forced, even more than usual, to struggle when they deserve to thrive. The member for Watson, the Minister for the Arts, is absolutely spot on when he says that arts and culture shouldn't need to justify themselves in terms of economic value. The Minister for the Arts has been clear in setting out the five pillars of the policy-building process: First Nations first, a place for every story, the centrality of the artist, strong institutions and reaching the audience. I know with respect to the third pillar—the centrality of the artist—that Labor has always recognised that artists are workers. If you want to have a future made in Australia, as this Labor government does, then you have to support Australian manufacturing in the form of filmmaking, songwriting, choreography, set creation, storytelling, game design and all of the visual, physical and musical arts. If you believe that our national character and identity are important, if you believe that open-eyed reflections on our past and creative rigorous thinking about our future are important, or even if you simply find it restorative, inspiring or fun to be lifted out of the day after dayness of life through song, dance, film or poetry, then you will know that we must have a strong, diverse and distinctive Australian arts and cultural sector. I can tell you that's well known in the Fremantle community I represent. It's a place that is happily thick with artists. It's a place that holds culture and creativity very dear, and I've been shaped by those people, many of whom are family and friends, and I've been shaped by those values. It's not inaccurate to say that some of my preparation for being a representative was first falling short in my ambition to be a novelist, and I don't think that was bad preparation. I was an unremarkable freelance travel writer for 10 years and I published a few short stories, but it was typing away on those unsuccessful manuscripts that really taught me a few things. Clearly, I was not good enough, but I can honestly say that those days of imaginative and technical effort amounted to some of the best and most productive work that I've ever done or been capable of doing. Like the vast majority of people engaged in creative manufacturing, I wrote novel manuscripts while working at various part-time jobs. We should welcome the fact that, in many areas of working life, it is possible to be a run-of-the-mill practitioner and make a reasonable living. Stock-standard stockbrokers can still bring home a good wage. Middle-of-the-road road engineers can do okay, and that's good. But for workers in the cultural and creative industries that is very, very, very rarely the case. Only those at the very top of their art can expect to earn a fair and stable living, and it is the same for most arts organisations. That's not the case because of some physical law of the universe; it's a characteristic of the economy and society that we've created. And we shouldn't fall into the habit of believing that artists are meant to be struggling artists. Just as we shouldn't keep thinking that cumulative environmental decline is an example of balance between economic activity and the natural world. Indeed, when our economic system produces these outcomes, our economic system is failing. When our society produces these outcomes, we should have a hard look at our society because we're failing to insist on and failing to create a sensible and sustainable approach. I welcome, through this Albanese Labor government, the long-awaited process to again create an Australian cultural policy. On the five pillars outlined by the Minister for the Arts, it is possible to build a policy that will allow arts, cultural industries and creative industries in Australia to thrive. That is what we should aim for and achieve. It's what all of the arts, artists and other cultural and creative industry practitioners deserve, and, needless to say, it is long overdue. Child Care, Medical Workforce 72 19:50 Mr PASIN 240756 Barker Those of the 46th Parliament would remember that I spoke in this place on numerous occasions about the need to improve access to child care in our regions. I rise in the 47th Parliament to continue my advocacy in this space. While the Labor government held a talkfest last week about skills and employment and have indicated they will support the unions in their fight for more membership, they've failed to do something very simple to assist the Kingston South East community see more parents re-enter the workforce. Lack of child care has been holding back that community for many, many years. Enrol children before birth and drive 140 kilometres or don't work: those are the options available to parents crying out for childcare services in this regional town already struggling to fill jobs. The existing childcare service has a waiting list as long as the coastal town's jetty. Despite the Labor Party making an election commitment to match the coalition's funding of $1.8 million for a new childcare centre to be built, the community has heard nothing but crickets about the election commitment from those opposite. The project all hinges on this funding. Without written confirmation from the federal Labor government—and Minister Aly in particular—of the $1.8 million and the time frame on delivering this funding, the project cannot move forward. An issue that has been talked about for 40 years, a proactive community who have been working on this issue together, with my full support, and a local council working hard over five years all culminated in the announcement of federal funding from both major parties during the recent election campaign. And, yet, now the dust has settled from their election win, the Labor Party are now nowhere to be seen or heard. The community who suffered during the Black Summer bushfires but didn't receive the same support or attention as other regions are now feeling forgotten all over again. To those opposite, I say: it's about time you put your money where your mouth is. Don't turn your back on this community. I'm going to remain a thorn in your side until you make good on your election commitment to the people who live, work and are raising a family in the community of Kingston South East of South Australia. Child care isn't the only issue facing regional communities. Seeing a GP in a rural and regional community has never been simple. There has always been a distribution issue in this country, where GPs are plentiful in metropolitan areas and scarce in the regions. While the pandemic migration pause has seen this issue become more widespread, there is no doubt the issue is still more acute in rural, regional and remote Australia and those opposite, in all their wisdom, have decided to take away incentives for GPs to work in regional areas. The Distribution Priority Area classification identifies locations in Australia with shortages of medical practitioners and ensures overseas doctors are prioritised to work in those regions. Upon coming to government, the Labor Party wasted no time in changing this system. To increase the supply of GPs in suburban areas, internationally trained GPs can now work almost anywhere they want. The evidence suggests they will more than likely choose to work in the suburbs, rather than the regions. To spell it out for those opposite, I want to give an example of just how desperate we are in regional South Australia for a GP. Kimba, in the member for Grey's electorate, is so desperate for a doctor that they're offering a rent-free house and rent-free use of a brand new medical centre. The local council there have commissioned a video, starring local residents and outlining the positives of living in Kimba, to try and attract a GP. In my own electorate of Barker, the Lameroo and Pinnaroo district is offering an annual salary package of—wait for it!—$750,000 for a GP who is willing to come and work in that area. Communities are going to extraordinary lengths, I'd suggest to you, to get a practitioner to come and work there. And, while our regions are so desperate, the Labor Party are making policy that funnels potential GPs away from the regions and into the metropolitan centres that they represent. Now, I've got an offer for the minister, a fellow South Australian. I invite him to come with me to the regions. Come to Keith. Come to Lameroo. Come to Pinnaroo. Come to Kimba. I'll drive. But talk to the community—understand their issues and the impacts your policies are having on them. Heart Disease 73 19:55 Ms VAMVAKINOU 00AMT Calwell I rise tonight to speak about an important issue impacting Australians: heart disease and the need to focus on heart health to prevent disease and improve quality of life. I want to acknowledge my parliamentary colleague Senator Wendy Askew, who has joined me as co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Heart Health in this 47th Parliament. The group will provide a non-partisan forum for parliamentarians to educate and advocate for the prevention and better care and management of cardiovascular disease in the community. I look forward to working with colleagues to help bring awareness to this area and increase advocacy for important reforms impacting in this space. I want to touch on some important figures from my own electorate of Calwell relating to people living with cardiovascular risk factors and who carry an increased chance of developing heart disease. There are 105,908 individuals who are overweight or obese, 35,799 individuals with high blood pressure, 2,526 individuals with atrial fibrillation, 20,427 individuals with high cholesterol and 20,889 individuals who smoke. Data from the Stroke Foundation's report No postcode untouched: stroke in Australia2020 highlight that Calwell ranks 13th in the nation for the number of people who are overweight or obese. Furthermore, these data highlight that, in 2020, 35,799 people in Calwell had high blood pressure, with my electorate ranking 16th in the nation. While the overall standardised ratio for premature mortality for Calwell from any cause is proportionally less than the national rate, the standardised ratio of premature mortality due to ischaemic heart disease, cerebrovascular disease and colorectal cancer are proportionally higher than the national rate. Within the short space of time it will take for tonight's adjournment debate to begin and conclude, up to three Australians will have died from cardiovascular disease. Despite being a major killer of Australians and a reality which many will ultimately experience at some point in their lives, heart disease has long been understated as a problem and undertreated within our healthcare system. I say 'undertreated' because one of the most concerning things today is that most people, and especially men, probably can't recall the last time they saw their GP wearing a stethoscope or seeking to do a heart test. Auscultation, where a doctor listens to your heart with a stethoscope, should be included as part of a health check—it should be a routine health check. This measure, which is the only measure a GP has at their disposal within a clinic, must return to being standard practice once again, as a routine, non-invasive test that takes mere seconds. Health promotion charity and peak body hearts4heart has recently joined with a group of major cardiac groups to put forward a series of proposals to the Australian government to improve cardiovascular treatment across the country. The proposals range from simple practical measures to more wide-reaching changes in the background of the Australian healthcare system—approaches that range from adding a stethoscope to the Medicare Benefits Schedule's heart checks to the revision and permanency of heart health checks within the benefits schedule. These changes will strengthen heart health care by improving early diagnosis capability. As we well know when it comes to health, prevention is always preferable to treatment. It will ensure that those who require treatment and access to life-saving technologies do not face barriers which could endanger their health, by ensuring effective reform of medical technology regulation and assessment. I am pleased to provide my endorsement of and support for this proposal, and I thank the organisations which came together to propose these changes for their joint efforts. I want to close with the words of hearts4heart CEO Tanya Hall, who lost her father to heart failure when he was just 59, and who herself has heart disease: Unfortunately, dangerously low levels of awareness about heart disease are leaving Australians vulnerable. Not everyone experiences symptoms and the most common ones are often dismissed, either as other health issues or just signs of getting older, but they shouldn't be ignored. And with delayed diagnosis and upward trends in Australian heart disease as reasons for concern, including a stethoscope in the MBS Heart Check is a simple ask but we can disrupt the cycle resulting in thousands of cardiac related deaths and hospitalisations each year. The Parliamentary Friends of Heart Health look forward to working with hearts4heart, the Heart Foundation and other organisations and associations in advancing— (Time expired) House adjourned at 20 : 00 NOTICES 74 NOTICES

Tuesday, 6 September 2022

The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Vamvakinou ) took the chair at 16:00.

CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS 78 CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS St Kilda Mums, South East Community Links 78 16:00 Ms O'NEIL 140590 Hotham I'd like to highlight the work of an organisation in my community which is doing something truly extraordinary in Victoria. The organisation is St Kilda Mums. Like the very best organisations, St Kilda Mums started out with one very simple idea—that is, rehoming the essential items for mums and bubs to help every kid in my community get the very best start in life. From this simple and very organic community organisation has grown something that is truly extraordinary. Every year now, thousands and thousands and thousands of mums and bubs who are going through a really tough time have help. It might be families experiencing extreme poverty, homelessness, family violence, but this organisation takes prams and cots and baby gear from one mum who doesn't need it anymore and gives it to these families in need. The work of this organisation is done with so much love and care. Their warehouse, right in the heart of my electorate, in Clayton, is today something truly amazing to behold. It is an enormous space which is just chock-full of the goods that amazing people around Victoria have donated to this organisation. To every volunteer who helps St Kilda Mums; to the founder of this organisation, Jessie; to everyone who has supported them on their journey, I want to say thank you. By 2030 St Kilda Mums want to support every Victorian child who needs their help, and I, as their local member, am with them 100 per cent of the way. I also want to highlight the work of an organisation in my electorate which has been serving our community tirelessly for 50 years, and that is South East Community Links, based in Springvale. This organisation has been supporting thousands and thousands of migrants around the clock since its inception decades ago. The organisation has grown with the community that it supports. It supports L-platers who come from a non-English speaking background to get their licence. It helps by providing emergency relief to people who are struggling. It supports women who are escaping from family violence. It supports many people in my community on immigration matters. It's a huge point of pride for me to have had a very long association with this organisation pre my time in parliament. SECL was founded by my mentor, Merle Mitchell. Whenever people ask me who my idol is, I always point to Merle and her husband, Eric. These were two very rare advocates, who sadly have both passed away now. They had their home in Springvale and, when waves and waves of migration came into our local area, Merle and Eric were there to help people. I'm overjoyed that a community program has now been named in Merle's honour. Partnering with local schools, this program helps young people develop practical life skills that they might not otherwise pick up in a classroom. I was really pleased to visit Hampton Park Secondary College recently to launch this program. Having known Merle myself, I know she'd be so proud of what the MERLE program will achieve with these extraordinary young people in Melbourne's south-east. Student Debt 78 16:03 Mr 300246 Brisbane BATES () (): On 1 June this year student debt, or HECS-HELP debt, was indexed at 3.9 per cent. Last year this figure was 0.6 per cent. According to the Australian tax office, Australians are now saddled with $68.7 billion in student debt. But $68.7 billion can sound like a very abstract figure. What does that dollar value mean for someone currently pursuing higher education? The higher indexation rate means that the average increase this year to an Australian student debt is just shy of $1,000. For decades young people have been told that they need a tertiary education, be it through TAFE or university. In this place only yesterday we heard about the skill requirements for the jobs of the future and the ever-increasing role that higher education plays in attaining a place in the workforce. My electorate of Brisbane is home to many higher education institutions and to one of the youngest populations of any federal electorate. I've had many conversations with and received countless emails from students and graduates detailing the struggles they are facing while at university, and post graduation, in servicing student debt. Countless people are now finding themselves in a situation where they are not able to pay down their debt faster than it is accruing. This is a complete failure of our education and economic systems. Students are expected to dedicate 40 hours a week to their studies. They are also expected to undertake internships and complete 40-hour-a-week placements in order to graduate, and to hold down a job that pays just enough to place a roof over their head and two-minute noodles on the table. And, after all of these sacrifices, they still end up with at least $35,000 in student debt. With the cost of living spiralling out of control, rent stress escalating and inflation set to rise even higher, young people and students are going to be punished even further for trying to receive an education and fill the skills shortage we are experiencing in this country. Government can make people's lives easier. We can accept education as a public good. We can cancel student debt. Looking around the world, countries such as Germany, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and France have made higher education free. New Zealand has adopted a policy of one year of fee-free higher education. Even the United States only last week took steps to cancel up to US$20,000 of student debt. Once again, Australia is left playing catch-up. We must take steps to address the financial burden that receiving an education places on people in this country. We must cancel student debt. Butucarbin Aboriginal Corporation NAIDOC Debutante Ball, Chifley Electorate: Sports 79 16:06 Mr HUSIC 91219 Chifley On Saturday night I had the chance to do something I haven't done for a while, which was to attend a debutante ball. In this case, it was organised by Butucarbin, a not-for-profit First Nations community group doing tremendous work in the Chifley electorate. I'm proud of my longstanding relationship with that group and even prouder of the dedication of Aunty Jenny Beale and Uncle Jack Gibson. It was a pleasure to accept their invite to the NAIDOC debutante ball, representing the Prime Minister. Debutante balls might seem pretty old school, but I've got to say I love the way that Butucarbin have taken on the concept and used it as a platform to celebrate young First Nations people, bringing the community together and teaching a few handy skills along the way. No doubt a few of the young fellas there were learning how to dance much better, and there's also a dressmaking program to learn how to design and sew. In particular, it has also been good to see the incorporation of First Nations culture within that. For anyone who's interested in learning more, Nakkiah Lui and Miranda Tapsell did a whole podcast series talking about not just this debutante ball but the way that debutante balls have been used by First Nations communities to celebrate their young. I just want to congratulate them on that—and also on the message that Minister Burney provided in a speech by video to commend the debutantes, as the federal government seeks to enshrine in the Constitution the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. So, well done to them. I also want to use this opportunity to recognise some of the great work being done by sporting clubs in our area. The Blacktown City Football Club won the grand final of the National Premier Leagues New South Wales Men's Championship—a huge effort from the high-performing team to deliver another great result. I want to congratulate local Melissa Wu, who took out gold at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. That makes it her third Commonwealth Games gold medal, a tremendous effort. Finally, I want to give a shout-out to Ian and Taylor Wilson from the Plumpton Braves Baseball Club for 20 years of service to the club—a tremendous effort. They've been incredibly hard workers for the community. And I'm pleased to see both the Lakhota and Omaha teams make it past the semifinal rounds. Go Braves! I proudly display a Plumpton Braves baseball in the office. It is terrific to see community champions like the Taylors do their work. To all the sports clubs in our area, who enrich our community life: thank you very much for all your hard work. Australian National Flag Day 79 16:09 Mr HASTIE 260805 Canning Saturday 3 September was an important day for the people of Australia and my electorate of Canning. We celebrated National Flag Day, honouring the 121st anniversary of the day our flag was first flown. National Flag Day has a special significance for the people in my district: Annie Dorrington, one of the winners of Prime Minister Edmund Barton's flag competition, was a long-time resident of Serpentine, right in the heart of Canning. Since that day in September 1901, this national flag alone has symbolised our national character. It has been raised by Australian troops over battlefields for well over a century. It's the flag that flew over HMAS Sydney after her 1914 victory over the German warship SMS Emden. It was flown by diggers at Gallipoli and was raised at Pozieres. There was only one Australian national flag raised at Kokoda after it was recaptured. Only one flag was hand-stitched in Changi prison and kept hidden from the Japanese by Captain Strawbridge MBE in a calico bag inside his pillow. That flag was a symbol of hope for Australian prisoners of war and was raised over the gates of the camp when it was liberated in 1945. Australian Defence Force personnel have proudly worn it on operations over the last 20 years. One of my SAS patrol commanders, Adam, carried our flag beneath his body armour on every combat mission that the Australian government deployed him on. It was a reminder to him of whom he was serving: the Australian people, our values and our interests. I'm proud of the Australian flag and what it represents. It's the only flag that I wore on my left shoulder in the Australian Defence Force, it's the only flag I was prepared to fight and die for on operations, and it's the only flag that I serve as a Commonwealth parliamentarian. For new Australians, it's the flag they have chosen to stand under. Many migrants have fled war-torn, impoverished countries to seek a better life here in Australia. Just look at the pride with which the member for Fowler wore the flag yesterday. She can attest to the fact that the flag binds new Australians to the rest of us. It's a symbol of aspiration and unity that has flown now for more than a century—but not for some members of Labor, the Greens and the teals. The Greens are, of course, ashamed of our national flag. The member for Melbourne hides it in his press conferences. Labor and the teals are confused, posting on social media images of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on our national flag day. The member for Kooyong even claimed we have three national flags. I have no issue with those flags. They are proud symbols full of meaning for our Indigenous Australians. But they are not our national flag. And so I hope the Australian national flag makes us all feel a sense of gratitude for this country and a responsibility to preserve it. That's why I serve in parliament and why we must work together under one flag to defend the things that we love. Perth Electorate: Aboriginal Cultural Centre, Channel Seven Perth Telethon 80 16:11 Mr GORMAN 74519 Perth The Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Western Australia is slowly becoming a reality—something that we've built in the heart of Perth. It's been discussed for decades. It was a vision that many governments have had. I'm pleased that it is now being delivered upon. The Albanese government has committed $52 million to make this project a reality, partnering with the state government, who are delivering $50 million. We're working to share the oldest stories on Earth. The centre's design will be world-class. It will be a unique feature for the Perth electorate and a tourism asset for all Australians. Between Matagarup—known as Heirisson Island—and Kaarta Koomba—Kings Park—it will be a landmark for Perth. The site's location was recently announced by me and the Premier of Western Australia following considerable consultation. I want to thank the Whadjuk Cultural Authority representative group, who did the hard work consulting on the site that was chosen, the Terrace Road car park. This is one of the best sites in all of Western Australia. It'll be something of which we can all be proud. This centre will be Western Australia's answer to the Opera House. It will draw tourists from across the world. I call on every member in this place to support this project, and I call on corporate Australia to show their support with donations towards the building and maintenance of this amazing cultural facility. Speaking of amazing pieces of Western Australian culture, from humble beginnings in 1968 the Channel Seven Perth Telethon has become an annual charity extravaganza. The first was described as chaotic. 1968 had the chaos of the Perth Telethon. 1969 had the chaos of Woodstock. The chaos of the 1968 Telethon was the chaos of a studio opened to the public for the first time. It was the chaos of a live broadcast with children everywhere. It was the chaos that came when, for the first time, they were taking donations in decimal currency. But from that chaos came beauty. The Perth Telethon is now the highest-donating telethon per capita in the world, surpassing a mammoth $475 million in 2021 and supporting 97 charity beneficiaries. Each of these beneficiaries is dedicated to children's health and wellbeing. This year, it will be bigger than ever on 22 and 23 October. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will be there; my good friend the Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, Basil Zempilas, will be hosting; and Western Australians will be there in force. Wellington Street and RAC Arena will be the hosts. This will be Western Australia at its best, with people supporting one another and building a better future. I was recently able to say thank you to the team who make Telethon a reality. I extend those thanks to the leadership of Richard Goyder, Mr Kerry Stokes and the trustees of Telethon. Most importantly, I thank the people of Western Australia for their generous donations. Moore Electorate: Child Care 80 16:15 Mr GOODENOUGH 74046 Moore Improving access to quality and affordable child care for families in my electorate is one of my priorities. In government, the coalition lifted the $10,560 limit on the childcare subsidy, making it easier for parents to return to work or take up more hours. This benefited an estimated 18,000 families in Moore. This change predominantly supported women, who represent the majority of primary carers, by reducing childcare costs and giving parents more flexibility around their working arrangements. By securing federal grants, several early learning centres in my electorate have recently benefited from capital improvements, including new nature play areas at the Mullaloo Community Kindergarten, Davallia Primary School, Kallaroo Threes Playgroup and Padbury Primary School, delivered through the Stronger Communities Program. However, a number of childcare centres in my electorate still have unmet needs for maintenance and upgrades. I recently visited the Padbury Community Kindergarten and the Marmion Avenue Community Child Care Centre, at the invitation of members of their respective committees, to discuss applying for funding to help maintain and upgrade their current facilities. The Padbury Community Kindergarten has been operating at its current premises for 40 years. The ageing building requires significant upgrades to ensure the children have access to a modern learning environment. This includes upgrades to the outdoor play area, classroom facilities, additional storage and essential building maintenance. I look forward to working with the committee, the City of Joondalup and the WA state government to secure the necessary funding to upgrade the kindergarten and provide modern facilities. Similarly, the Marmion Avenue Community Child Care Centre, in Carine, has a range of fantastic facilities that allow the children to thrive in their learning environment. As a not-for-profit organisation, the centre is seeking federal funding to establish a community garden, build a storage shed and upgrade the playground. I look forward to working with the committee to secure the necessary funding for the centre to service the childcare needs of the Carine community. Providing more affordable and accessible child care will assist working parents in my electorate to minimise the cost of living, return to work and be productive members of the workforce. Page Electorate: Sport 81 16:17 Mr HOGAN 218019 Page I'd like to acknowledge that the East Lismore Hockey Club are celebrating their 75th year this year. They were formed in the late 1940s as a breakaway hockey team to enter the Far North Coast reserve grade competition. The women's side joined a year later. Today, Easties, as they are known, are one of the strongest clubs in the Far North Coast competition. Several current and former members have played for Australia, including former Kookaburra Grant Smith, who won bronze at the Atlanta Olympics in 1996. To celebrate their 75th year, they all had games—from junior level to seniors and reserves, in both men's and women's—played on their home field in Goonellabah on 5 and 6 August. They called it the Festival of Easties. They have had many contributors to hockey in the region, with the standout being Clint Mallett, who was inducted as a life member of Far North Coast Hockey Inc. for his work on and off the field, particularly for his role in 1987 as the founding secretary of Far North Coast Hockey Inc. Congratulations to East Lismore Hockey Club and the current committee of President Daniel Hughes, Secretary Sonia Buchanan, Treasurer Jo Mackney, Vice-President Andrew Helmood, June Blunn, Clint Mallett, Roxanne Tickle, Demi Flynn and Jane Parish. Thank you for the great community club that you are. I'd also like to acknowledge the grand final winners from the weekend in the seniors rugby league competition. The North Coast group 2 rugby league competition grand final was played on Sunday. With great delight, I can say that the South Grafton Rebels played the Orara Valley Axemen, and the Rebels came out on top 36-8. It was a great win. Congratulations. They are coached by Ronald Gordon. To the team—Keiron Heron, Luke French, Nick McGrady, Tom McGrady, Brian Quinlan, Hughie Stanley, Jordan Gallagher, Lewis Cooper, Cooper Makings, Jack Pitkin, TJ Walker, Grant Brown, Grant Stevens, Ryan Binge, Luke Walker, Tyrhys Brown, Aussie Cooper, Damon Kirby, Waylon Caldwell and Keaton Stutt—congratulations. While the Orara Valley Axemen missed out on grand final day, they were the minor premiers and are coached by former NRL player Sam Burgess, who came to the club after retiring from the NRL in 2019. He helped to resurrect the Axemen. He built the team. They won a minor premiership and energised new fans. They had great crowds there all year and had a great community spirit. I congratulate him and the team for that. The team consists of Liam Dunn, Ronan Singleton, Luke Beaumont, Lathan Hutchinson-Walters, Steven Cetinich, Buddy Hart, Dan Robinson, Cain Bunt, Zac Makelim, Matt Wakefield, Ryan Gill, Macauley Dawson, Justin Hull, Jedaiah Katal, Harry Davey, Vikram Atwal, Oscar Watson, Alex Bunt and Jarrod Hall. It was a great game. Well done, the Rebels. Hindmarsh Electorate Volunteer Awards 81 16:20 Mr BUTLER HWK Hindmarsh I'd like to take the opportunity today to acknowledge the recipients of this year's Hindmarsh electorate volunteer awards and their extraordinary contributions to our community. Alicia and Sophie Stefanoff volunteer for the Bulgarian Education and Friendly Society in events and dance teaching. Mimi Francesca is the driving force behind the society's annual festival, and Ivan Nenov has been a valued member for over 20 years. Adele Beilin is the membership coordinator at the Port Community Arts Centre, at only 16 years of age. Nancy Sellar-Clark and Margaret McEvoy have been dedicated parishioners of St Margaret's Anglican Church, Woodville, for many, many years. Anne McCutcheon and Richard Nolan are the talented volunteer gardeners behind the beautiful gardens of the Charles Sturt Memorial Museum. Andrew Seager and John Kappel are valued members of CHATS Inc., described as 'a beacon of possibility' and 'a local gem'. Graham Irish and Dennis Arnold of the Grange Lawn Tennis Club, garden and maintain the courts and cook barbeques for social tennis at the club. Tony Millikin and Sophie Molnar are the hearts behind Heart and Soul, a terrific food relief group, assisting over 3,000 people every week. Dianne Burrows, Trevor Thomas and Leonie Armbruster are committed volunteers assisting at the Largs Bay RSL at every opportunity. Mark Daker and Dragana Curak of the Charles Sturt Lions Club give their time without reservation and with second-to-none enthusiasm. Thomas Garland and Dorothy Dalwood are volunteers at the National Railway Museum and are always willing to help and always with a smile. Maria Dimasi and Nancy Colarco have volunteered at Nonna's Cucina for the last five years, bringing traditional family recipes, laughter and love. Thomas Krznaric and Caroline Griffiths from the Port Adelaide Obedience Dog Club are valuable senior instructors. Rita Beer is the club's chief instructor and is behind its success today. Linda Fisk and Anna Kemp are cofounders of Seeds of Affinity, advocating for criminalised women and supporting their transition from prison into the community. Julie Meadows works tirelessly at the Semaphore and Port Adelaide RSL and started the Purple Circle, teaching sewing and art. Marianna Boorman and Sharon Sharp are from Whale and Dolphin Conservation Australia. Their photographs and observations are incredibly valuable to the dolphin rangers. Eileen Darley and Catherine Fitzgerald of the Port Adelaide Artists Forum delivered the Beggars Banquet, an event that provided insight into the lives of those who are doing it tough. Sue Hogan is an invaluable life member of the Woodville Lacrosse Club, which she has been a part of for close to 50 years. The volunteers of St Paul's Anglican Church—Russell Ford, Barbara Pearce, Fiona Winter, Mary Maule and Tom Bunworth—all go above and beyond in their work, I am told. Hindmarsh is richly blessed with its volunteers. New England Electorate: Energy 82 16:23 Mr JOYCE e5d New England I want to touch on something that's incredibly important, and that is the price of power and the problems it's causing. Intertwined with that, of course, is the advent of renewables in the form of solar panels and wind farms. This is dividing our district. I went to a meeting the other day, and amongst the speakers were people from the Nationals, the Greens and the Labor Party, all saying, 'We do not want our area turned into an industrial park.' This is something that we feel is incredibly unfair, because people in the city areas don't have to deal with wind farms and solar panels, but Walcha are about to have 550 placed around the town, turning it into an industrial landscape. The issue is that it implies contingent liability that, if these things become irrelevant by reason of technology—it's static capital and raising technology—then farmers will probably have to be responsible for pulling them down. Like coal mines, where money has to be put into a trust for a rehabilitation, that is not the case for wind farms. And people say: 'Well, why is that they're not at Manly, Bellevue Hill or Toorak, but we have them here, scattered all over our land? Why are we once more the source of assuaging the moral issues pertinent to climate change in our areas, but other people don't have to wear it? We have to wear the industrial landscape; they have the benefit of feeling good.' The thing that's going to put them out of date very quickly is the small modular reactor. A small modular reactor at 77 megawatts, that's 77,000 kilowatts—it takes about two to three kilowatts to run a house—that's 25,000 homes or about 64 to 65,000 people, for something that is approximately 20 metres high and 2.7 metres wide. That will take the place of 70 or 80 wind towers. As these come in, you won't be able to stop them because the world is moving on. It's like power iPhones. They'll arrive here, and we'll have to deal with them. And who's responsible for castigating the land with wind farms that will ultimately go out of date? Today, in the chamber, the Prime Minister said, 'You brought a lump of coal in, don't bring a lump of uranium.' It just goes to show people's ignorance. Uranium 235 in its natural form, when it's dug up, is about 0.7 per cent radioactivity. Unless you intend to eat it or break it down with nitric acid and inject it, it's not going to kill you. In fact, it's quite safe. Lyons Electorate: Health Care 82 16:26 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons I rise today to share some welcome news from my constituents in the Central Highlands municipality that sits within my electorate. Just before the election, a Central Highland's general practice announced its closure, affecting hundreds of mainly elderly residents in the small town of Ouse, which is 88 kilometres north-west of Hobart. A replacement GP service folded within a few weeks, and the town has been without a GP for a couple of months. Residents have had to travel long distances at considerable expense to access basic medical services and renew their prescriptions. There have been public meetings and a number of stakeholder meetings between myself and many others, including Primary Health Tasmania, HR Plus and local mayor Loueen Triffitt. The Tasmanian government has, to its credit, played a significant role in offering accommodation and support services, such as IT, and the resources of the Tasmanian health service. Every level of government, local, state and federal, along with community members, medical practitioners and advocates, have been working tirelessly towards an ongoing solution. Today I'm pleased to be able to tell the House that medical services are set to resume for Ouse patients from October 10. For the remainder of this year, medical services will be available from Bothwell, 47 kilometres from Ouse, but it is hoped that some services will resume in Ouse early next year. The new arrangements follow an agreement being reached between the Tasmanian health service and Dr Mary Lumsden, who runs both Bothwell Doctors and Brighton Regional Doctors. Dr Lumsden has agreed to engage more GPs at her Bothwell clinic, meaning she can add Ouse patients and other Central Highlands patients to the books. I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank Dr Lumsden, who I have met a number of times over the years and for who I have the highest regard, for her willingness to expand her service and take the risk and for her ongoing dedication to the health and wellbeing of southern Tasmanians. I would also like to thank Mayor Triffitt, who has been a tireless campaigner for the restoration of medical services to her community. I don't pretend that this is a perfect fix, nor that it will be what the Ouse community wants for the long term, but it does at least restore some level of medical service, giving us breathing room to investigate what might be a better long-term solution. The fact is that the model of rural and regional health that has been in place for decades across Australia is failing. GP recruitment is down and retention is woeful. People living in the regions are not getting the services they expect and have a right to because the system is based on commercial viability for health providers and not health care and health outcomes. Our regions need a different model. I am engaged in regular discussions with leading stakeholders about what that change might look like and how it might be delivered. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 00AMT In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded. BILLS 83 BILLS Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 83

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

Second Reading 83 16:30 Mr STEVENS 176304 Sturt I rise to speak on the second reading of the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. I had the opportunity to speak on a motion on the principle of paid family and domestic violence leave—it was moved by the member for Paterson, from memory—in the last sitting week, so I won't revisit the comments I made in the chamber regarding my support for the principle. The substance of this bill, within that principle, is enshrining in the National Employment Standards something that's been established through a recent Fair Work Commission decision regarding paid, rather than unpaid, family and domestic violence leave. We had the Fair Work Commission undertake an inquiry, and they handed down the decision back in March 2018, as they do when it comes to those that are on an award. Around two million Australians, from memory, as the most recent data indicates, are on some form of award. The Fair Work Commission made a decision in March 2018 that a leave entitlement should be created for everyone on an award, which was that they would have up to five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave per annum, and that would be enshrined in the award. The commission also decided that they would undertake a process over the subsequent few years to consider taking that decision further, to take the principle from unpaid to paid and also to consider whether or not the initial decision about five days was correct. When the 2018 decision about unpaid leave was made under the previous government, we made the decision to enshrine that principle into the National Employment Standards, because, if we hadn't done that, the Fair Work Commission's decision would have only applied to people on an award. Whilst people on an award should have that entitlement, it's a logical extension that every worker should have that entitlement, whether or not they're on an award. The National Employment Standards apply to all employees, and we made the decision to extend the Fair Work Commission's creation of that entitlement to apply to everyone. That was universally welcomed by business in particular at the time. What this bill is now doing is following exactly the same principle that we undertook after the 2018 decision, because, more recently, the Fair Work Commission completed their process that they outlined in the March 2018 decision to look at whether or not they would expand the entitlement to become paid rather than unpaid and also at whether or not the five-day period would be adjusted. Their decision for those on an award was to make it paid and also to increase the entitlement from five days to 10 days. What we're doing now is putting this—as we did three years ago—into the National Employment Standards so that that entitlement that those on an award now have is applied to all employees, by virtue of enshrining it in the National Employment Standards. I'm very supportive of that principle. In contributing to the motion about paid family and domestic violence leave last sitting week in the House, I made the point of how vital it was that we do everything we can to support people in that horrible, terrible and disgraceful situation of being victims of family and domestic violence. We wouldn't ever want someone to feel, because of their employment circumstance, that they couldn't leave such a situation or have the time they needed to put themselves in a safe place and in a safe position because of fear of losing income or having some kind of repercussion for them through their employment. I commend the Fair Work Commission for the work they've done in this space both in the 2018 and 2021 decisions. I think this is an excellent outcome in the fight that we all have a bipartisan approach towards, which is to stamp out the scourge that is family and domestic violence wherever we can. I think this principle will go another step towards achieving that. I commend it to the House. 16:35 Mr PERRETT HVP Moreton I rise to speak on the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. During the last sitting of parliament, a vigil was held outside Parliament House by women's safety advocates to mark the day that a workplace right for domestic violence victims moved closer to becoming law. Tulips were laid in memory of those who had lost their lives to family violence. I know that many members of this House attended the vigil; it was very well attended. Later that day, as the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations introduced this legislation for 10 days of paid leave for victims of family violence, advocates stood and clapped. This has been a long, long journey for so many Australians, so many touched by the scourge that is domestic and family violence. We know that there is no single answer to overcoming domestic and family violence, but we also know that family and domestic violence is preventable. We know the policy response needs to be multifaceted. It must come from strong leadership by government; from business—especially from business; from the unions who do so much to make our workplaces better; and, most importantly, from the community and from individuals. It is only fitting that an Albanese Labor government showed leadership by making this bill one of the first pieces of legislation tabled in the first sitting week of the 47th Parliament. Currently, more than a third of Australian workers already have access to paid domestic violence leave, but making the entitlement a universal one will save lives. Anyone who works with victims and survivors of domestic and family violence will tell you that the most dangerous time for a woman is when she's leaving a violent relationship. It often takes a very long time to get to that breaking point where a woman leaves. Domestic violence is about control, and perpetrators go to extreme lengths to ensure that their victim does not have the physical and financial freedom to leave the violent relationship. Without paid leave, it can be harder for women to flee unsafe relationships. Those who flee have to be able to attend court, a complicated process; they have to find somewhere to live; and, often, they may need to find a new school for their already distraught children. A woman's right to safety cannot dependent on who her employer is. Women need to be given the means to leave safely while knowing that their employment is secure. This bill will enshrine 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave as a workplace right for nearly every worker in Australia. This bill will make sure that paid family and domestic violence leave is included in the National Employment Standards, an historic reform that will help support all people, but mostly women, who are escaping abusive relationships. While family violence certainly touches the lives of many Australians, the evidence and the statistics are that women are disproportionately impacted. They are also disproportionately overrepresented in lower paid, casual and insecure jobs. We know that family and domestic violence devastates the lives and livelihoods of those who directly experience it. For victims of family and domestic violence, their workplace can be a source of much-needed support. But it can also be a place where the perpetrator of the violence can readily target them. The University of New South Wales has reported that 19 per cent of Australian employees experiencing domestic violence reported harassment at their place of work—a place where they are known to be. Just imagine the awful dilemma for somebody who has finally taken the very serious and dangerous step of leaving a violent relationship—knowing that, the very next working day, the perpetrator of that violence will know exactly where they are, at what site and inside what hours. Not only that, but the perpetrator will know when they will be leaving that place of work. That is putting a vulnerable victim into an even more vulnerable and dangerous position. If victims of domestic violence don't have access to paid family and domestic violence leave, they won't have the option of not going to work to avoid their perpetrator, and they won't have the ability to take immediate action to have a protection order put in place through the courts to stop the perpetrator from coming to their place of work to harass or threaten them. What a difference it would make to the victim's ability to safely leave that relationship if they know that the next day they will not be in a place where their perpetrator will be able to find them and attempt to control them and put them back into their orbit. They will be able to take immediate action to put in place a protection order so that the perpetrator will not be able to go to their place of work or the place where they'll be residing, hopefully safely. These are important but simple things to put in place. To a woman leaving a violent relationship, it can be the difference between life and death. It is that serious. This legislation would make leaving a violent relationship a little bit easier. While getting out will still be very hard, this bill will hopefully mean that now there is less of a chance of someone losing their job and their financial security This bill sends a clear message that family and domestic violence is not just a criminal justice or social issue but a workplace and economic issue. This bill is a crucial step in combating this crisis and making sure that those experiencing family and domestic violence are financially secure enough to address these challenges. This bill will provide a new workplace right that will more than likely save lives. Earlier this year, the Australian Council of Trade Unions made submissions to the Fair Work Commission's review into the current model, which provided workers with five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave. The Australian union movement was advocating for a variation that would entitle employees to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave. At those hearings, experts from the health, legal and community sectors called for urgent policy changes on behalf of those experiencing family and domestic violence—an issue that has seen a 62 per cent increase in people accessing domestic violence services since the beginning of the pandemic. The Fair Work Commission hearings also heard from frontline workers. Frontline workers gave evidence at hearing after hearing about the absolute necessity of paid family and domestic violence leave, explaining its importance to accessing critical medical, legal, financial, emergency housing, safety planning, relocation and counselling services. Introducing a scheme that provides 2.23 million award-dependent workers with 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave will give those who are vulnerable to violence at home access to the crucial resources they need to stay employed, to stay housed and to stay healthy. Family and domestic violence has far-reaching adverse implications for the victims, including disrupting their working life and lowering their ability to earn a permanent wage in a well-remunerated job. Then those ripples go out through families and communities. It is for that reason that it's important to legislate for an appropriate amount of paid domestic and family violence leave to be available to all employees and not just hope that it will be negotiated into workplace agreements. The women who need this leave the most will not be in a position to effectively bargain. It is important to recognise that this bill is possible because of the hundreds of thousands of union members, community advocates and activists who stood up and demanded that the government act. This bill comes after more than a decade of tireless campaigning by the union movement, activists and community advocates which saw them win the inclusion of 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave in collective agreements and then modern awards in May of this year. On average, it can cost up to $18,000 to flee a violent home environment—money that should be spent on kids and on keeping a roof over the head. We know that economic security is the primary factor that determines if someone subjected to family and domestic violence remains in, escapes from or returns to a dangerous relationship. What's more, the cost of this leave to employers is very low, adding only 0.04c per hour worked. We know that employers already providing 10 days paid family and domestic leave—through union-won collective agreements and also modern award variations—are more likely to see greater retention of staff and higher levels of productivity when their employees are able to take paid leave to overcome serious challenges at home should they arise—and let's hope they never do. One in six women experience domestic and family violence, which extends beyond physical violence and can include emotional abuse, coercion and financial control. This is something that can happen to anyone in any suburb, in any job or at any stage of their life. The paid leave will be a game changer for working women, who are disproportionately affected by family and domestic violence. Paid leave will be a game changer especially for those who report concern about job security and finances as a major barrier preventing them from fleeing violence. As I mentioned earlier, the average cost to flee is around $18,000. So paid leave is crucial to give impacted workers the time and resources they need. The ACTU president, Michele O'Neil, has said: Addressing family and domestic violence is key for closing the gender pay gap as women who experience violence are more likely to fall behind in their career into low-paid and casual work, or out of the workforce entirely. The former government refused to support paid family and domestic violence leave. This is despite women earning less, having less super, facing harassment at work, and being more likely to be victims of family and domestic violence. These issues worsened during the pandemic, with domestic violence figures surging and sexual assault figures nearly doubling between 2020 and 2021. Working women already have to rely on annual and personal leave to cover time off for things like looking after children, parents and relatives, and for a range of other reasons. They shouldn't have to factor in the financial consequences of taking unpaid leave in order to be safe. It costs to leave; it's that simple. These costs include setting up new electricity, water and gas accounts, child care, rent, moving fees—all of those things. A new school means a new uniform, new books and all of those sorts of things. And it takes time—time searching for properties, packing belongings, attending complicated court hearings, talking to counsellors and teachers, and making new childcare arrangements. The hidden toll exceeds 10 days of paid leave, but it's the bare minimum to make sure that women—or men; I do recognise that men could be in that same situation—aren't further disadvantaged when they're escaping a dangerous situation. In a country where one woman is murdered by a partner or family member every week, it is indisputable that paid leave could save lives. Across the world, family and domestic violence leave is increasingly being discussed and advocated in the context of government and workplace responses to family and domestic violence. While many workplaces are introducing these entitlements into their agreements, only a handful of countries around the world have so far actually legislated for the provision of family domestic violence leave. Interestingly, the first country to legislate for domestic violence leave was the Philippines, back in 2004. The Anti-Violence Against Women and Their Children Act 2004 provides for victims of family and domestic violence to take up to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. Italy's Jobs Act 2016 provides for employees to take a maximum of three months paid family and domestic violence leave. And, I hate to say it, but even New Zealand in 2018 legislated an entitlement for all employees to take up to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave, in addition to existing sick and holiday leave entitlements. Canada introduced domestic leave in 2019, and most Canadian provinces have also independently legislated for family and domestic violence leave. It's not yet legislated in the US, but the Biden administration has made a commitment to it. So Australia is now one of the leading countries to recognise this important workers' entitlement. I do thank all of the people that have advocated tirelessly for this. The actions and advocacy of unions are never for the advancement of the individual alone. Unions act to make changes that benefit everyone. I want to point that out, because some people in this building seem to have a fear of unions. Maybe they've never sat down with unions and seen the great changes that they've brought to society. Access to paid family and domestic violence leave saves lives. It saves lives. No worker should ever have to choose between their income and their safety, or the safety of their children. As we welcome in these new rights, it's important that we also commemorate all the lives lost—I won't go through those names, but we all know some of those names—and the people impacted in Australia by family and domestic violence. I commend the legislation to the chamber. 16:49 Mr WALLACE 265967 Fisher I had the great privilege of chairing the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee when we undertook a very extensive inquiry, which took over 12 months, into family, domestic and sexual violence. Naturally, one of the issues that arose was whether there should be paid domestic violence leave. What the member for Moreton said just a few moments ago is fundamentally false; he indicated that members on this side of the House were against setting up paid family and domestic violence leave. The committee looked at this issue extensively and made a recommendation, and the Fair Work Commission was actually undertaking its inquiry at the time. Extensive investigations and inquiries were being undertaken by the Fair Work Commission. The committee left it open; it didn't dismiss it or reject it. It looked at the importance of the issue. It is an important issue. The committee heard extensive evidence. The member for Moreton talked about an average of $18,000. That wasn't correct. That wasn't the figure that the committee heard. The committee heard that there were expenses of up to $18,000. It wasn't an average; it was up to $18,000. You might think I'm playing semantics, but, clearly, I'm not. The issue of family, domestic and sexual violence is one over which this country should hang its head in shame. We see a woman die at the hands of a partner or a former partner every eight days. If that were any type of instance other than family, domestic and sexual violence, Australians would be up in arms. We'd be calling for fundamental legislative changes. I won't go so far as to say there would be riots in the streets, but there would be a great deal of concern and action. There would be calls for action. I lived and breathed this issue, at least from an academic point of view, when I chaired this committee. It was one that touched me deeply. I have to say I don't have any personal experience—thank God—in this area, but certainly, having worked on this committee and heard the evidence over such a long period of time, it impacted upon me and all of the committee members. Not only does one woman die every eight days; there are many examples of where men's lives are taken. This is not just an instance of women dying at the hands of men. We know that, whilst one in six women are impacted upon by family, domestic and sexual violence, one in 16 men are also impacted upon. Clearly, there is a disparity in those figures—I'm not suggesting anything other than a great disparity—but quite often we home in, with a laser-like focus, on the impact on women. But we should also be mindful that one in 16 men are impacted by domestic violence. These are Australians. The issue of family, domestic and sexual violence does not discriminate by postcode. It does not discriminate by how much money you have in the bank or how much money you earn. This impacts upon all quarters of life, in all areas of Australia. And, as I said when I started this speech, it is something that we, collectively, as Australians, should hang our head in shame over. The committee which I chaired received over 350 submissions. We gathered over 90 hours of evidence. We made 88 bipartisan recommendations. It was a very significant piece of work. This inquiry formed the shaping of the next National Plan to Reduce Violence against Women and Children, and I am, for one, very proud of the work that we did. The choice between physical and psychological safety and financial security is an impossible one for victims to make. Many victims of domestic, family and sexual violence feel entrapped, and this goes to the very issue of whether there should be some form of paid leave. No person should feel that they have to continue to live with a person because they can't afford not to—if that relationship is a violent one. We in the committee recommended that the Fair Work Commission review the family violence leave measures that were already in place, which was five days of unpaid leave. The committee knew that the Fair Work Commission was undertaking extensive work on this issue, so if there was ever any criticism of the committee as to why it didn't make this decision about the introduction of paid domestic violence leave, it was because the work was already being undertaken extensively by the Fair Work Commission. In their review, the Fair Work Commission ruled that leave should be paid for 10 days for full-time employees and on a pro-rata basis for part-time employees. That's what the Fair Work Commission found. It found that leave should be accrued progressively each year, in the same way as personal and carers' leave is accrued under the National Employment Standards to a cap of 10 days. It found that leave should be accessible in advance of an entitlement to such leave accruing, by agreement with the employee or employer. It found that leave should be paid at the employee's base rate of pay. It found that leave should extend only to those who are experiencing violent, threatening or other abusive behaviour by a close relative to coerce, control, harm or intimidate an employee. It found that this ruling is in line with the commission's previous ruling under section 106B of the Fair Work Act. I support this bill, with some caveats. The problem with the bill as it is currently drafted is that it goes beyond the recommendations of the Fair Work Commission. The bill as drafted effectively mirrors the recommendations of the ACTU to the Fair Work Commission. It goes beyond the findings of the Fair Work Commission. We all talk in this place about the importance of an independent arbiter and an independent umpire—in this case, the Fair Work Commission. What this government have done is go beyond it, and I'll talk about some of the problems with the way that they've addressed this issue. Instead of supporting paid leave at the base rate of pay, as is the custom with other forms of personal leave, and in line with the Fair Work Commission's decision, Labor are promising a rate of pay including bonuses, loadings, allowances, overtime, penalty rates and other incentive-based payments. This is proof that the Labor Party do not understand the way that small business operates. It is proof that the Labor Party don't understand business—full stop! How is an employer going to calculate the rate of pay, taking into account bonuses, loadings, allowances, overtime and penalty rates, when those have not been earned? How do you calculate for instance, a commission which has not been earned? How do you calculate overtime that has not been earned? These are things that other leave provisions do not provide for, for good reason: because they almost, in fact, make it unworkable and incalculable. So I would implore those opposite to revisit this issue. Sure, you've got the numbers. Politics is a matter of mathematics. But, on behalf of small businesses in particular around this country, I would implore those members opposite to really have a good look at how these provisions are actually going to work. I'm not arguing with the merits of the underlying argument; I'm arguing about how the rate of pay is to be calculated. My second issue is how family and domestic violence leave will be paid to casual workers. The Fair Work Commission found that the leave should be paid to full-time and part-time workers. But what about where you have casual workers? I know many people would say: 'Well, that's unfair. Why should you put casual workers aside?' I get the fairness argument, but, coming back to the calculation argument, how does one calculate the leave entitlements for someone who is a casual worker? Do you, for instance, look at an ordinary month or an ordinary fortnight? You've got 10 days leave. Do you calculate it over an average period? The bill is silent about that, so how are those calculations going to be made? Mr Deputy Speaker Wilkie, I know you're very curious about that, and with good reason. What about irregular rosters and irregular work? The whole basis of casual work is irregular, so the Fair Work Commission expressly did not extend its recommendation to casuals. The other concern I've got is the upfront accrual of 10 days leave. Labor are proposing that the whole 10 days of leave be accrued on day one of employment. That is totally inconsistent with other forms of leave that are paid. So this is a concern where someone rocks up and starts work on day one and they've got 10 days. This is not Andrew Wallace, the member for Fisher, saying this; this is the Fair Work Commission, which didn't extend this recommendation for leave, as important as it is, to the various concerns that I have raised here—and it was for good reason that it didn't do so. The Labor Party have a choice. They can box on and march through with their numbers—the iron laws of arithmetic. But I would ask them—on behalf of every small business owner around this country who is ultimately going to have to pay for this—to make it workable. Don't just repeat the lines of the ACTU. Respect the umpire's decision. The umpire is the Fair Work Commission. (Time expired) 17:04 Ms COKER 263547 Corangamite I'm proud to be part of a government that is providing the leadership and the investment to help end family, domestic and sexual violence. Paid family and domestic violence leave is part of that commitment, and it's long overdue. It will also save lives. I've been a passionate advocate for this much-needed legislation for many years. I was proud to be Mayor of the Surf Coast Shire in my region of Victoria when, in 2010, the council voted to introduce paid family and domestic violence leave for its staff. The agreement was hailed as the world's first and most progressive workplace agreement on family violence. While that was world-leading then, it is now well and truly time that this entitlement applied to all employees in Australia, regardless of their type of employment. Under this bill, more than 11 million Australian workers, including casuals, will have access to 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave. This change will give workers, who are overwhelmingly women, the means to escape violent situations without risking their job or their financial security. It is a horrific statistic that, in Australia, one woman dies at the hands of their former or current partner every 10 days. Recent research from Flinders University shows that, from the age of 15, around one in four women has experienced at least one incident of violence by an intimate partner. That sad statistic compares to about one in 13 men experiencing similar violence. In Australia, police receive a call relating to family and domestic violence every two minutes, on average. There is clear evidence that the prevalence of family and domestic violence has increased with COVID-19. For instance, a Queensland study showed that 67 per cent of family and domestic violence services reported new clients seeking help for the first time during the COVID crisis. In my home state of Victoria, sentencing data shows there were 375,000 applications for family violence intervention orders between 2011 and 2020. In the Barwon South West region of the state, which includes my electorate of Corangamite, 25,700 family violence intervention order applications were made over that same period. Sadly, children living in rural and regional Victoria are more than twice as likely to be a respondent to a family violence intervention order. Last March I visited Geelong's Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre, where I was told there had been a 100 per cent increase in people seeking help, driven in part by the pandemic and lockdowns. The Barwon Community Legal Service—based in Geelong and servicing my electorate—last year said that the number of clients experiencing family violence had risen enormously, with more than 60 per cent of clients reporting family violence. It's also telling that women across the nation experiencing family and domestic violence earn, on average, 35 per cent less than those who don't experience violence. It is an indictment of our society that Indigenous women are 35 times more likely than non-Indigenous women to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence. This is a serious and systemic problem that must be better addressed. There is no single solution. However, this bill is an important part of that solution. All workers have a right to be safe at work and safe at home, and no worker should ever have to choose between their safety and their income. It's wrong that millions of workers still face that impossible choice. Casual workers are not spared from family and domestic violence. In fact, women who are experiencing family and domestic violence are more likely to be employed in casual or part-time work. We cannot leave them behind. We don't want a system where some workers get paid family violence leave and others don't. It has to apply to everyone. Casual workers are already dealing with the consequences of being in insecure work, unable to access other paid leave. Excluding casuals from this legislation would leave 2.6 million people without this protection and give employers an incentive to prefer casuals over permanent staff. Unions have fought hard for paid family and domestic violence leave through the Fair Work Commission. Many employers, such as those in the Surf Coast Shire, have already done the right thing and established this entitlement. The government has consulted with business, both through their peak bodies and directly, and has received wide support. Businesses support this. Consultation has also occurred with unions, the states and territories and organisations working to support those impacted by this violence. Evidence heard by the Fair Work Commission found that the use of paid family and domestic violence leave schemes is very low. But the important thing is that it is there for people when they need it. The Albanese government is committed to removing barriers for people escaping family and domestic violence in their homes. The government aims to release the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-32 this year, which would further this important work. The Albanese government has already committed to a range of other new initiatives that will address violence against women and children. These include new investments for an additional 500 community frontline workers; consent and respectful relationships education in schools—start early; safe and affordable housing for women fleeing violence; and a new domestic, family and sexual violence commission. Prior to the election, Labor committed to seven new community domestic family and sexual violence community sector workers in my region, the Geelong region, including within my electorate of Corangamite. Similar commitments were made elsewhere in the nation. The additional workers will help up to 560 women experiencing violence who might otherwise be turned away. Leaving a violent relationship is the hardest and most dangerous thing that many people will ever do. We know that having a community sector worker there to help makes all the difference. Frontline domestic violence organisations tell us how much more they could do with an extra pair of hands. A single domestic violence case worker helps 80 to 100 women in the course of a year. Nine years of neglect and disinterest from the former federal government has left many frontline services surviving off the smell of an oily rag. Women in crisis should not be left to fend for themselves. Survivors of domestic and family violence are brave and resilient. They deserve every chance to rebuild their lives and strive for a safer and better future for them and their families. That stark statistic of one woman dying every 10 days at the hands of a current or former partner in Australia is totally unacceptable. The national plan will set out a strategy for the next decade, with the aim of greatly reducing domestic and family violence. The government is prioritising this important legislation to increase paid leave for family and domestic violence early in its term. That's a clear demonstration of the government's resolve to remove the barriers faced by those escaping violence. The bill seeks to amend the Fair Work Act, introducing into the National Employment Standards leave entitlements every year. I'm pleased that, in addition to introducing 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave, the bill extends the definition of family and domestic violence to include the conduct of 'a member of an employee's household'. Importantly, the bill is also ensuring that casuals will be entitled to access leave at their full rate of pay for the hours they would have worked had they not taken leave. The scheme will start next February for most employees. Small businesses will have an extra six months to adjust to the change, so the scheme is expected to be fully operational by August next year. Small businesses are defined in the Fair Work Act as those with fewer than 15 employees. This is a change that could and should have been made years ago, but the previous government failed to act, even though this had the support of the business community. Those on the opposition benches now have another chance to do the right thing and back this important legislation. I'm proud to be part of a government that is moving quickly to deliver on election commitments. I'm especially proud of this bill to deliver on commitments under our Secure Australian Jobs Plan and the women's safety policy. I look back to 2010, when my shire, when I was mayor, introduced this legislation locally, and it went through. I'm so proud that now, across the nation, all men and women who deserve to be able to take that leave will have the opportunity do so, hopefully. There is no task more important for this parliament than providing support for Australian workers to be safe: safe at home and safe at work. 17:14 Mr PIKE 300120 Bowman It is my first opportunity to speak in this Chamber, and we have an important piece of legislation that we're debating—the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. Family and domestic violence remains a serious and growing problem in Australia. The member for Fisher described it as a great shame on our national situation, and I completely agree with that. The words I've written down here are that it is a great scourge affecting every community across Australia. I think that's a very important point that some of the previous speakers have made: that it's not just the vulnerable communities in Australia. It's not just the remote communities in Australia. This is a scourge that is affecting every community in Australia, and I know every representative here in the House of Representatives will have stories of people in domestic violence situations who have come through their electorate office doors and sought support. For Australian women over the age of 15, approximately one in four experience violence by an intimate partner. That is quite a stunning statistic. Of course, there are many male victims of domestic violence as well, but the thought of one in four women in this country experiencing that is quite a remarkable and sobering statistic. In my own electorate of Bowman, we had our own harrowing story of domestic violence hit the headlines in the last couple of weeks. I won't go into the details of the matter because it will be before the courts, but, needless to say, it brought home the horror of DV and underlined the point that it exists in all corners of Australian society. This incident occurred in a very quiet suburban cul-de-sac. It's a street I've doorknocked before, during the election campaign. It is a lovely, peaceful, bayside street, and it's stunning to think that behind this idyllic scene was a nightmare just behind the door. On average, one woman is killed by a current or former partner every 10 days in Australia—another sobering statistic. Just down the road from my electorate office in Middle Street, Cleveland, the local Red Rose Foundation and Zonta Club run a vigil every time one of these incidents occurs. It's an important reminder to our community. It's just a quiet, silent vigil. They hold it out the front of our public library, and motorists and pedestrians going past get a gentle reminder that yet another victim of domestic violence has passed away here in Australia. Sixty-eight per cent of victims of family or domestic violence are in paid work. We know that financial security is a significant barrier to victims leaving violent relationships. This is what the experts tell us. Many great organisations in my electorate are working to support victims of domestic violence. I want to name just a few of them and maybe touch on some of the lessons that they've imparted to me on this important issue. The Redland Community Centre offers free crisis counselling with professional, qualified and experienced counsellors and also offers self-help workshops. They organise referrals to other relevant support organisations and undertake crisis management on behalf of clients. They have emergency workers on hand who present themselves at the centre when someone is experiencing domestic violence. Another one I'd like to mention is the Centre for Women & Co., who have done a terrific job in my community dealing with the scourge of DV. They offer trained and experienced DFV specialists providing crisis assessment over the phone or face to face. In particular, they provide advice on information, safety planning and support, which is such a critical aspect of assisting victims to plan their next steps, and that's what this bill goes to. They provide a referral to safe accommodation, of which they've got some within my electorate. The conversations that I have had with the people working on the front line in the DFV space in my community underline the need for holistic support, and critical to this is financial security. For someone to pull away from a violent relationship, they need financial security and a well-executed plan as to how they're going to get out of the situation and get themselves into a safer circumstance. One of the previous speakers made the point—and I echo it from my conversations with people working in this space—that economic security is the No. 1 obstacle. The stories they tell me are very harrowing. I'm sure we've all experienced similar stories within our own electorates. It's certainly my experience, and I've been told by the people on the front line, that economic security is that critical, key step. Their lived experience is that, without that economic security, victims go back into these relationships, and the situations escalate even further, to the point we saw recently in my electorate, as I mentioned before. In 2018 Australia joined only a handful of jurisdictions around the world when the then coalition government legislated to provide family domestic violence leave. The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Act 2018 currently provides five days of annual FDV leave as part of the National Employment Standards. This leave is available to all employees, including part-time and casual employees, from the day they commence with their employer. The entitlement renews annually, but the unclaimed leave does not carry over to the next year. Contrary to the member for Moreton's contribution earlier, in which the picture was painted that people on the coalition side had not taken any action on this, I point to the fact that Australia was one of the first jurisdictions in the world to undertake that legislative change. Since then, the Fair Work Commission have commissioned a review of FDV leave entitlements in modern awards. That began in April 2021, and the findings of the FWC review were handed down on 16 May, just five days before the federal election. Firstly, the FWC concluded that full-time employees and, on a pro-rata basis, part-time employees should be entitled to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year. Secondly, it found that the entitlement to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave per year should accrue progressively across the year in the same way as personal or carers' leave accrues under the National Employment Standards. The FWC concluded that the entitlement should accumulate from year to year, subject to a caveat whereby the total accrual doesn't exceed 10 days at any given time. Thirdly, the FWC recommended that the paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement should be accessible in advance of an entitlement to such leave accruing, by agreement between an employer and an employee. Fourthly, it was recommended that the paid family and domestic violence leave entitlement should operate on the basis that it is paid to the employee's base rate of pay, as defined under section 16 of the Fair Work Act. That's where we got to with the review of the Fair Work Commission. The bill that the government has brought forward will amend the existing entitlement so that national system employees will be entitled to be paid 10 days FDV leave. The bill also extends the entitlement to casuals and provides that employees are to be paid FDV leave at their full rate of pay rather than just at their base rate of pay. The bill expands the definition of FDV to cover actions by former intimate partners and related household members. The commencement date has been set for 1 February 2023 for employees employed other than by a small business. The entitlement has a delayed six-month commencement for national system employees of small businesses—that would be a start date of 1 August 2023. Those dates are actually quite close. It may be the fact that we've had a federal election in recent months, but I feel that 2022 is slipping away from us very quickly and that 1 February 2023 will be here in no time. There won't be much time for businesses to adapt to this. I note that there is a six-month extension for smaller businesses, but this is a fairly significant change, and I think we need to reflect on that, particularly in the current economic climate. Small businesses, big businesses, workers and individual households are doing it very tough at the moment. We're facing significant inflation and rising interest rates. There was another rate rise today. It is a very difficult time to be doing business in Australia. Skills, labour and supply shortages are being felt right across the economy. It is a difficult time to do business. It will be a difficult time to do business between now and the commencement date for this bill. We need to reflect on that. The explanatory memorandum claims that the bill has no financial impact. Of course, that's in reference to the federal government. The intention of the bill is to create an obligation upon employers, rather than the federal government providing any support in terms of direct payment for people claiming this leave. Of course, there is no financial impact for the government on this front, but we have to recognise that this will create some very real cost impositions for business. It is important to note that the former coalition government took a different tact in implementing the original Fair Work Commission decision. Back in December 2018, the former coalition government passed historic legislation enshrining five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave in the National Employment Standards. These standards set out 11 minimum employment entitlements to ensure consistency of entitlements for employees. The former coalition government reforms matched what the decision of the Fair Work Commission was in relation to award-reliant employees. This new entitlement ensured, as far as possible, consistency in entitlements for employees in the national system and reduced complexity for business. I think that's a critical point. Wherever we can, we should be ensuring that the implementation of these things is very consistent for business. I note that my time is slipping away, so I'm going to race ahead. Legislating in the National Employment Standards a right to unpaid family and domestic violence leave was an important step and part of the various measures put in place by the former coalition government to support family and domestic violence victims and address this very real issue, which is of great concern to everyone in my community. It is important to note the thoroughness of the recent Fair Work Commission review. This was a proper full review. It took on board input and advocacy from a range of unions and employee representative bodies. Submissions were made and hearings were conducted for every single step of the process. The decision and recommendations were reached independently. The Labor government's bill goes beyond the model recommended by the independent Fair Work Commission and implements many of the claims made by the ACTU during the hearing of the matter. It's quite concerning that this is going far further than what the Fair Work Commission had recommended. It's critical that we get the balance right. I'll touch on some of the differences. In relation to the accrual of leave, the Fair Work Commission said that the entitlement to 10 days paid FDV leave per year should accrue progressively during a year of service in the same way that personal leave is accrued. The entitlement should accumulate from year to year but subject to a cap whereby the total accrual will not exceed 10 days. This is to ensure someone who starts a new job doesn't instantly have 10 days of liability. It will have the effect of operating as a phasing-in mechanism for the entitlement over the first 12 months. There's the extension to casual employees, which is another point that some of the other speakers have raised, so I'm not going to touch on that. In terms of the rate of pay, it's important to note the distinction. The Fair Work Commission asked for it to be applied to the base rate of pay; this bill seeks to have it applied to the full rate of pay. There are many groups who've offered their opinions on the legislation and many different business groups who've essentially recommended that we go back to the Fair Work Commission's recommendation, including ACCI, the Ai Group and COSBOA. The cruel impact of family and domestic violence on victims and their dependents is a national tragedy. It is a tragedy that we must fix through education, positive role models, criminal prosecution and social and workplace support. The former coalition government recognised the importance of this problem when, in 2018, it became one of the first governments in the world to act in this regard. What is clear is that both the original legislation and the Fair Work Commission recommendations all show a profound determination to provide effective and sustainable support for victims of FDV. Under the provisions of the bills, the issue needs to be worked through. I think we need to go back to where the— (Time expired) 17:29 Dr ALY 13050 Cowan I'm very privileged to stand here today to speak in support of the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022, and I'm incredibly honoured to be a part of a government that is passing such an important bill—important for so many women out there. Rather than get into the technicalities of the bill in the time that I have here, I'd like just to ask the indulgence of people present here and those watching. Just grant me a little bit of indulgence. I'm going to ask you, just for a minute, to imagine yourself at the shopping centre doing your weekly shopping or maybe grabbing something for dinner that night because it's your turn to cook—in my household, every night is my turn to cook. You've got your trolley and you're pushing it down the aisle, and just across there you see a woman dressed in a nurse's outfit. She's carrying a basket. She's grabbing a few items as she goes along. Obviously she's got a list that she's working from, and obviously she's in a hurry. Coming around the corner, you see another woman, a mum with two children: a two-year-old who's starting to throw a little bit of a tantrum, and a one-year-old in the trolley who's getting fairly restless. It's that time of the day for them when they really just want to go home, have their dinner and be put down to bed. She's got a little bit of a frown, and she's trying to figure out how she's going to wrangle it all. Moving on to the next aisle, you see another woman, perhaps a bit older—perhaps she's retired or perhaps she's still working—and she's standing there looking at the myriad of pasta choices, wondering which pasta to get. I've been there. There's always so much choice in pasta, yet people still insist on making their own. Then, down the way a little bit, you see another woman coming along. She's got her heels on and she's dressed in a business suit. She too has a list and a basket, and she's just grabbing things off the shelf. Obviously, she knows exactly what she's cooking for dinner. Now I want you to pick one of those women—any one of them. Pick one of those women and imagine that that woman is going home to a partner that she is absolutely terrified of. Imagine that she's going to go home and she doesn't know if she picked the right pasta, because, if she picked the wrong pasta, there'll be hell to pay. Imagine that she's going to go home and that child still hasn't settled and, if she hasn't settled the child by then, there's going to be hell to pay. Imagine that she's going to go home and she doesn't know if she's going to make it through the night again without a bruise or a broken wrist or a broken arm or a black eye. Those are the statistics: one in four women—any women. One in four women that you walk past in the shopping centre is going home to a place that is not safe. Then, when she gets the courage, the ability and the capacity to finally leave, she knows she's going to live in poverty. She knows that she might have to lose her job. She knows that she's going to have to find someone to look after her kids. She knows that she's also going to have to show up to work every day. She's got to get her mortgage sorted out. She's got to find a place to rent. She's got to get her bank finances sorted out. She's got to do shopping. She's got to furnish her house or an apartment, if she can find an apartment. Perhaps she's got to go to a refuge and spend time in a refuge just to be able to be safe. I've been there, and I've been absolutely honoured by having so many women come and share with me their stories of being there. When they finally leave—and I say 'finally' because it takes more than one go, and many women go back again and again and again, because they have no place to go and they have no financial security, which means that they're forced back to their abusers, to the perpetrators of violence—they need time. They need the time to get their affairs in order and to have some stability for themselves and, if they have children, for their children, who are often with the woman who has had to leave a violent situation and an unsafe home. When I stood up here, I said I'm privileged to speak about this, because there was a time in my life when I couldn't even have imagined being able to speak about this topic. There was a time in my life when I couldn't even have imagined that we here in this place would be passing such a bill and recognising exactly what is needed to support, help and assist women—and men, but primarily women—who are leaving violent situations. There are many of them out there, my friends. You just don't know who they are. I remember the first time I spoke about my story. It was at a professional women's gathering, and the number of women who were teachers, doctors or lawyers who came to me and shared their stories with me would absolutely blow your mind. Sixty-eight per cent of women who are escaping family and domestic violence are employed in some form or another. Sixty-eight per cent of those women have to go to work the next day. If those women are in casual work, they have to forgo a day's work and a day's salary in order to be able to rent and furnish a place, sort out their finances, go to court, get a restraining order, seek a lawyer or just take the time that they need to look after their own wellbeing and the wellbeing of their children, if they have children with them. This is a good bill. This is a bill that we can all come together to support. Yes, I know that there are some concerns: how are the businesses going to afford it—dah, dah, dah? But let me tell you this: if you had ever had to stand in front of your boss and say, 'Hey, I might have to go to a refuge tonight,' and have him respond, 'Well, are you going to make it into work tomorrow?' then you would know just how important this bill is. You would have no reservations whatsoever in supporting this bill. If you had ever had to find a place to live, furnish that place, get your kids off to school—or maybe even change their place of schooling—or go to a court to get a restraining order, you would know how time-consuming it is, and you would know what kind of support you need to be able to do that when you're coming out of trauma or when you're still in trauma. I said I didn't want to get into the technicalities of this bill, but I will just make a plea to everyone here about how important this bill is, from and on behalf of all the women with lived experience who I've had the absolute honour of meeting over the years—how much this bill means to them and how much it means to them that we are standing in this place talking about this, talking about a way to support them out of family and domestic violence. The situation hasn't changed in the 30 years that I've been a survivor. The numbers are still up there. We're still counting dead women. Anything that we can do—any measure that we can take to help women get out of family and domestic violence, support them and wrap around them and their children as we're doing this—will go a long way to lowering that startling statistic of how many women die every week and how many women are living with family and domestic violence. Anything we can do to make that statistic lower and to support women is a good thing. It's a good thing. In closing, I commend this bill to the House. I think I've made it pretty clear that I commend this bill to the House. I feel very passionately about this bill. I think I've made that pretty clear too. I implore every member of this House to think about it. Think about that woman at the shopping centre. You might not know her, but, in passing this bill, you can make a difference to her life. The DEPUTY SPEAKER C2T I acknowledge the contribution by the member of Cowan. 17:40 Ms DANIEL 008CH Goldstein Every two minutes in Australia, police are called to a domestic and family violence matter. These are our neighbours, our friends and our workmates. Since the age of 15, approximately one in four women have experienced violence by an intimate partner. These are our besties. These are our mothers. These are our daughters and their teenage friends. These are me. These are you. First Nations women are at least 32 times more likely to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women. On average, one woman is killed by her current or former partner every 10 days in this country. Family and domestic violence can be physical, sexual or emotional, and it can affect anyone, no matter their gender. However, it affects women most severely. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' Recorded Crime—Victims data from 2021, more than a quarter of homicides nationally were family and domestic violence related, and most of the victims were women. Without adequate support, women have been made to bear the physical, emotional and financial cost of being trapped in a cycle of abuse and control at home, with no way out. Family and domestic violence carries health, welfare and social consequences which reach into every aspect of a victim's life. I'd like to take a moment to note the work of the amazing organisation Impact for Women that supports women and families through such trauma with clothes and household items in my electorate of Goldstein. There are many economic consequences. Violence against women and their children has been estimated to cost Australia $26 billion a year. These costs relate to health services, criminal justice processes and lost productivity. While domestic and family violence largely occurs outside the workplace, its impact reaches into the workplace. More than 68 per cent of people experiencing family and domestic violence are in paid work. Many of them can't leave violent situations without risking joblessness, financial stress, homelessness and poverty. This is why paid family and domestic violence leave is so critical. As the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations said in July, 'No employee should be forced to make a choice between earning a wage and protecting the safety of themselves and their families.' While I acknowledge the concerns of small businesses both inside and outside of my electorate, submissions to the Victorian royal commission into family and domestic violence made it clear that financial security is a significant protective factor in victims gaining freedom from abusive partners. To gain that freedom, victims-survivors need time off work to access legal appointments, find a new house, find a new school, attend court, move, be available to meet tradies to install safety measures and change financial accounts. Support for victims-survivors in their workplace is critical during the relationship separation phase. The 2021 Playing our part report by the Champions of Change coalition cited that, on average, it takes seven to eight attempts to leave a relationship and around $18,000 and 141 hours for a person to extricate themselves from that abusive relationship. Victims-survivors who are economically dependent on their perpetrator are more likely to remain in that relationship. The more financial independence a victim-survivor has, the more likely they are to be able to leave. In the Monash University 2021 survey and in interviews with victims-survivors conducted as part of the Fair Work Commission's review of domestic and family violence leave provisions, victims-survivors described the importance of paid domestic violence leave: I just needed some time to get myself together, my headspace, get some treatments, just to see where I am today. I just couldn’t believe what was happening to me, because it was a number of assaults. It was just awful. … … … If I didn’t have access to [family violence] leave, I would have lost my job, I would have lost everything… I don’t know if I would have survived … [paid family violence leave] was my lifeline. Domestic violence doesn't discriminate according to postcode, culture, education or workplace. I've spoken to women in my electorate of Goldstein who are trapped in violent relationships, too frightened to leave, too financially controlled to leave. As the member for Cowan said, these women are all around us. Whether a person is employed on a full-time basis in a well-paid, secure job or in casual, precarious employment, the consequences of living with violence are not diminished. I commend this government for introducing its Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill and for extending this leave, importantly, to part-time and casual workers. In February 2022, 22.8 per cent of Australian employees, or around 2.6 million, were casuals, with female employees overrepresented in casual employment. The bill provides for the rate of pay for family and domestic violence leave to be calculated at an employee's full rate of pay, and I strongly support this provision in the bill. No one should be financially disadvantaged because they're leaving a violent relationship. We also know that perpetrators may have access to and, indeed, monitor their victim's bank account, so a reduction in a worker's pay could be a red flag to the perpetrator and put the victim at further risk of violence. Paid leave will save lives and help vulnerable employees escape dangerous situations. It will allow women the opportunity to plan to leave, allow them to take action to leave, and support them after they choose to leave. But the effectiveness of the leave policy depends upon a safe and supportive workplace culture where employees feel comfortable to seek help at work. The administration and operation of this leave policy is just as critical as the existence of the legislation itself. Employers and managers can't be expected to become family and domestic violence counsellors or experts, especially those in small businesses that don't have HR departments. They can, however, ensure that the workplace has policies and procedures in place to support workers who are experiencing family and domestic violence. Small businesses must be supported in this, and I will continue to engage with those in my electorate regarding the transition to the implementation of these measures. Critical to a worker's safety is the ability to recognise the signs of domestic violence and to refer workers to domestic violence services for expert advice and resources. This sort of whole-of-workplace training must become a priority under the next National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children. As others have noted, this bill is only one part of the framework. The bigger picture is the national plan. We must get this right, and it's urgent. The next national plan must have adequate funding, clearer actions and targets, and a well-chosen and properly resourced new family and sexual violence commission and commissioner who can ensure proper evaluation and accountability, so sorely lacking in the first national plan. The previous plan failed to achieve the single target it set for itself—to see a significant and sustained reduction in violence against women and children during the 12 years from 2010 to 2022. In that time, rates of domestic violence have been stable, and rates of sexual violence have actually increased. Here are some of the key elements that must be embedded into that plan: we need genuine bipartisan commitment and funding to shift away from short-term, bandaid solutions towards longer-term funding cycles; there can be no improvement in women's safety—whatever the new plan's final form—unless it is backed by significant investment; and we need to address the structural drivers of family, domestic and sexual violence—in particular, gender inequality. Gender inequality is a social condition characterised by unequal value afforded to men and women, and an unequal distribution of power, resources and opportunity between them. Power and control are at the core of all acts of domestic and family violence and occur in an environment of gender inequality. Gendered violence will only be truly addressed when Australian women are equal to men. We need primary prevention and education campaigns that build awareness of the support services available to victims-survivors of family and domestic violence and how to access them. We need education on safe, healthy and respectful relationships embedded into early childhood education settings more consistently. Violence against women is a national emergency. As Australian feminist and writer Anne Summers said in her recent column: … it is not poverty that causes domestic violence, as is often thought. It is the other way round. Violence causes poverty. And it is this realisation that makes so many women remain in violent relationships. … … … What kind of society forces women into such an intolerable situation? Until women have equality in all sectors of society, and until they're safe inside and outside of their homes, we must apply a gendered lens to all policies and legislation. 17:51 Mr BRIAN MITCHELL 129164 Lyons I thank the member for Goldstein for her fine speech. I'm proud to have the opportunity to speak on this bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022. And I'm proud to be a member of a government that cares about workers, about women and about the right of every worker to a safe home, community and workplace. The bill before us delivers on one of the key commitments Labor made at the federal election—to legislate for 10 days of paid family and domestic violence leave for full-time, part-time and casual employees. We will get straight to the job of fixing the failures of the previous government and delivering on the commitments we made during the 2022 federal election. All workers in Australia have the right to be safe at work and safe at home. No worker should ever have to choose between their safety and their income. It is unacceptable that millions of workers in Australia still face this impossible choice. We know that family and domestic violence is ubiquitous and disproportionately affects women, who are more likely to be casual or part-time. We also know that leaving an abuser is the most dangerous time for a victim of domestic violence. Maintaining financial security is critical, as is providing adequate time for victims to deal with the many matters that need to be dealt with for them to take the steps to leave a situation of abuse. It's time-consuming and it's emotionally draining, and those matters need to be taken into consideration. In leaving abuse or violence, women incur significant time and financial costs, including finding a new place to live, seeking legal support, receiving medical treatment, and enrolling their children in a new school, for example. The facts set out by the Fair Work Commission in its recent review are harrowing. Since the age of 15, approximately one in four women—as well as one in 13 men—have experienced at least one incidence of violence by an intimate partner. Indigenous women are 35 times as likely to be hospitalised due to family and domestic violence than non-Indigenous women. On average, one woman is killed by her current or former partner every 10 days in Australia. This is just an absolutely devastating state of affairs. In Tasmania, calls to police regarding family violence have steadily increased each year since 2014. It's getting worse, not better. Currently, on average, police receive up to nine calls related to domestic violence every single day. Last month during state budget estimates, Tasmania Police advised that, as of 31 March, there had been 3,077 family violence incidents reported to police. Unfortunately, the prevalence of family and domestic violence has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Commissioner for Children and Young People in Tasmania has reported that some perpetrators exploited the restrictions on movement and stay-at-home orders imposed during the early stages of the pandemic in Tasmania to intensify their family violence, especially through further isolating women from friends, family or colleagues—or, indeed, workmates. Indeed, a Queensland study showed 67 per cent of family and domestic violence services reported new clients seeking their help for the first time during the COVID-19 crisis. As well as the personal and social cost of family and domestic violence, there is also a financial impact and a cost to business. Of people experiencing family and domestic violence, 68 per cent are in paid work. Women who are experiencing family and domestic violence earn 35 per cent less than those who are not. The impact of FDV costs employers up to $2 billion a year. This legislation before us today will help reduce these costs by reducing absenteeism, reducing turnover of employees and improving the understanding and management of family and domestic violence by employers. That shouldn't be understated. If managers and employers can learn more about the impacts of this on their employees and confront this as a workplace issue, I think that will help things and help them be more empathetic to the workers who are going through this. Looking more broadly, KPMG estimates that the total cost to the Australian economy of violence against women and their children sits at around $22 billion a year. In his testimony to the Fair Work Commission on this matter, Dr Jim Stanford, Director of the Centre for Future Work, estimated the ultimate impact of 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave on total labour costs in the Australian economy. He found that the final impact of this provision on total labour costs was almost too small to measure, equivalent to an increase of labour costs of one-sixtieth of one per cent, not even enough to be visible in aggregate economic data. These costs are easily outweighed by the economic benefits of reducing the incidence of FDV, let alone the social benefits. So the economic costs are negligible, too small even to contemplate, but the benefits are manifest. Our legislation extends the Fair Work Commission's recent preliminary view by introducing a right to 10 days paid leave for all eligible employees covered by the National Employment Standards, including rostered casuals. Leave is particularly necessary for casual employees, who are already dealing with the consequences of being in insecure work and are unable to access other paid leave. Excluding casuals altogether would leave 2.6 million employees—more than 20 per cent of all employees—without this protection and provide further incentive for employers to prefer casuals over permanent job holders. The other key difference between our proposal and the commission's preliminary view is that payment for leave will be at the employee's full rate of pay as opposed to the bare rate minimum that applies under the NES for other paid leave entitlements. This departure is also critical to meet our policy objective of minimising, to the greatest extent possible, the damage and disruption to a person's life and economic security caused by family and domestic violence. We have also extended the definition of family and domestic violence to include conduct of a member of an employee's household, to recognise that Australians are living in more diverse and different arrangements. The new entitlement will take effect on 1 February 2023 for businesses other than small business—fewer than 15 employees—and on 1 August 2023 for small business, in recognition that they have limited human resources and payroll capabilities. I'll spend the last couple of minutes talking about the economics of this, but, to me, that's not the main game. The main game is the social and human impact of this change, which recognises that women in workplaces need this support. It's been too long in coming. It would have been great to have it come in sooner than it is, but at least we're making headway now. This also goes to the women's safety issues that the Labor Party articulated at the last election. We're going to establish a new Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commissioner. We're going to fund 500 new community sector workers. We're going to invest $77 million to help make sure all Australian school students are able to access high-quality, age-appropriate consent and respectful relationships education. We will work with the states and territories to strengthen and harmonise laws relating to sexual assault and consent. We will deliver a separate national plan for First Nations people, to end violence against women and family violence, because of those horrendous rates among Indigenous woman. We will support justice reinvestment in First Nations communities, with a $79 million investment to reduce incarceration rates, including early intervention to reduce family violence. We will deliver more safe and affordable housing, helping women and children fleeing violence. There is $1.6 million to be spent on building 4,000 new social housing properties specifically allocated to women and children fleeing domestic and family violence. And there is $100 million allocated for crisis and transitional housing options for women and children fleeing domestic and family violence, and for older women on low incomes who are at risk of homelessness. Violence against women and their children is a crime and a fundamental breach of human rights. Every Australian deserves to live free from violence. The Albanese Labor government is providing the leadership and investment needed to help end family, domestic and sexual violence, and it starts with this bill. I commend the bill to the House. 18:00 Dr RYAN 297660 Kooyong Today I rise to support an increase in the domestic and family violence leave entitlement for victims-survivors of family and domestic violence, from five to 10 days each year. It is irrefutable that the rate of family and domestic violence is growing in our country, and there is an urgent need for our communities to help when we can. Prior to coming to this place, I met twice with the women's roundtable from Kooyong. They pressed upon me the importance of this leave entitlement. They spoke of research which supported its implementation and acknowledged the unfortunate prevalence of domestic violence in and around Kooyong. In most cases, the victims of family violence are women and children. The data tells us that, from the age of 15, one in four women and one in 13 men have experienced intimate partner violence. Women in rural areas are 24 times more likely to be hospitalised than women in the cities. We must implement whatever measures we can to support people who are experiencing family violence. Academic research shows that, on average, it takes seven or eight attempts to leave a violent relationship. It also comes at a significant financial cost. On average, it takes more than 140 hours. This process of extrication, which is statistically the most dangerous period for women and their children who are fleeing violence, cannot simply occur outside work hours. About 68 per cent of people who are experiencing family violence are in paid work. Many are unable to escape violence without the risk of losing their job and experiencing financial stress. This can often result in homelessness and long-term poverty. Unpaid leave may not help. Some women are in a financial position to take unpaid leave; most are not. Furthermore, experts warn that any unexpected pause in income from unpaid leave can be a flag to an abuser. This is another reason why it's crucial that a person's paid work is maintained throughout the period of leaving a violent partner, and later, too, as they start to recover or begin the process of court hearings or counselling. During this difficult and often dangerous time, support from the workplace is critical. No worker should ever have to choose between their safety and their income. I also support the minimisation of barriers to obtaining this leave. It's still a highly stigmatised subject for many, although it is to be hoped that measures such as this one will help in the process of destigmatisation. Importantly, I hope that employers will start from a place of reasonable belief and a recognition of the bravery of those who come forward. We do not want people failing to ask for help because of the difficulties in providing proof of their abuse. This bill is one of those special reforms that, while members and senators in this place will pass it through the parliament, belongs to the advocates who fought for it. People fleeing domestic violence and abuse will be afforded 10 days of paid leave because of the persistence, the dedication and the courage of survivors of violence who have worked very hard so that no-one else will have to go through what they went through. 18:04 Ms CHESTERS 249710 Bendigo Family violence can affect anyone. We know that it is not class based; we know that it is not culturally based. We know that, from the statistics, one woman every 10 days loses her life to family violence. And we know we need to be doing more as a country and as a government to be helping these women and, quite often, their children. It's a situation that many of us in this place know of an example. We know of someone who may have lost their life or who has gone through or is going through the tough decision about what to do, whether they be a loved one, a family member, a neighbour, a work colleague or somebody in our community. Everybody knows somebody who has been a victim or a survivor of family violence. We say this with a heavy heart because we know that the bill before us has come too late for too many women. This bill has come too late for women who may have survived but have scars. This bill has come too late for children who carry their experiences with them. The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 replaces the current entitlement in the National Employment Standards of five days of unpaid family and domestic violence leave in a 12-month period with 10 days of paid leave for full-time, part-time and casual employees. It also extends the definition of family and domestic violence to include current and former intimate partners of an employee and members of an employee's household. When the minister introduced this bill into the parliament, he explained in detail why it was necessary to extend this entitlement to a broader group of employees than other entitlements have done. Currently, casual employees aren't entitled to sick leave. This bill goes further than any other workplace entitlement because family violence doesn't distinguish employment status. You can be somebody wanting to leave an abusive relationship, whether you're a full-time, part-time or casual employee. That is why it is so important that this bill include casual workers. More than 11 million Australian workers, including casuals, will have access to 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave under this legislation. Casual workers are not spared from family and domestic violence. In fact, women who are experiencing family and domestic violence are more likely to be employed in casual work, and we cannot leave them behind. That is why it is a universal entitlement. It is needed. This is a historical step that we, as a parliament, are making. It will change the lives of women experiencing family violence. It will save lives. Those who say that aren't romanticising, celebrating or glorifying what this bill will do. It will literally save lives because it will give women pay and time and an opportunity to have a conversation with their employer about why they need time off to deal with what is happening in their lives. Far too often we hear testimony from family and friends: 'Why didn't she let me know? Why didn't she speak up? Why didn't she just leave?' For far too many women, the reason not to leave is a financial one—they can't afford to lose that day of pay; they've run out of leave, if they're entitled to leave; they just can't see a way out. Whilst this is not the silver bullet, it is one way that we're hoping to help those women who make that decision to leave an abusive relationship. Paid family and domestic violence leave is part of our commitment that we are standing here making together, hopefully as a parliament, to provide the leadership and investment that we need to support families and to help end the hideous cycle of family and domestic and sexual violence. Paid family and domestic violence leave is a long-overdue change. I do want to acknowledge that in my time here this is an issue that the parliament—particularly us when in opposition—did take seriously and did work constructively on. We did support the five days of unpaid leave when it was first introduced by the previous government, and at that time we called for it to be paid, because we know that very few people can actually afford to give that day up if they need that money to pay rent and bills. Those 10 days give women the opportunity to attend court, to change schools for their child if they need to, to spend a day with their kids, to work with them on what's going on and happening, to attend counselling, and to do whatever they need to do to get themselves to a safe place where they can feel safe from violence and start to slowly rebuild their lives after the experiences that they've had. We talk a lot about it being women, because it nearly always is. Yes, there are a few incidents where it's men who are victims of family and domestic violence, but it's nearly always women—those are the statistics—and children. Children in these relationships either bear witness or are themselves victims of violence. This is why this reform is so necessary and long overdue. This change will give workers, overwhelmingly women, the means to escape violent situations without risk of losing their jobs or financial security. I can remember having a conversation with a woman in my electorate shortly after I was elected. She'd fled Melbourne, to central Victoria, and was staying with friends. She was still making the tough commute back to Melbourne to work. She was worried that her former partner would turn up at her workplace and was struggling to have the conversation with her son about why they were staying for an extra-long period with their friends. She eventually ran out of her leave entitlements and eventually had to quit her job because she just couldn't continue that commute. She was leaving the area to move somewhere else because she was struggling to get access to accommodation. She felt embarrassed about the idea of turning up to work without having been able to have a shower, if she were forced to live out of her car. She felt embarrassed to have the conversation with her work colleagues about what she was going through, because she thought that so many of them were good friends with her former partner. These are the thoughts, the ideas and the real conversations that women are having each and every day. This entitlement now makes it law and gives them the opportunity to have leave and to ask for leave. Yes, there is a big support package that needs to go with this—an education piece for our employers and for women and for work colleagues to have about why this entitlement is necessary, to encourage women to ask for it if they need it, and to encourage employers to support women who need it. But having the entitlement legislated in the first place means we're halfway there. Another example is a small business in my electorate who reached out. They knew that one of their workers was a victim of family violence, and they wanted to do all they could to help her and said: 'What can we do? We don't know who to turn to. This person is an invaluable employee. We can see her burning through her leave. We know she needs help, and we don't know what to do.' At that stage, there was no entitlement for unpaid leave. There was no-one in Fair Work or in organisations that this business could turn to for support. They had to wing it alone. It shouldn't be that way. If we are going to be serious about ending the systemic and endemic—or pandemic—issue that we have of women being victims of family and domestic violence, we have to normalise the conversation and give employers, as well as women, the tools and the opportunity to support their workers in these situations. The good news for this proactive employer was that they did get help from the Centre for Non-Violence—which is based in my electorate—who quickly worked out a great plan. They did everything they could to keep on this woman, this particular employee of theirs, who they said ran the place—she ran the books, she ran the diary and she was invaluable to them—and today they are all stronger than ever. I really want to congratulate this business and other businesses and employers who have done the right thing and reached out, because it is a tough time. It's a tough time for anyone who knows that someone they care about is going through family and domestic violence—how to support them. And quite often you don't know the best way to help them. So that is why seeing the leadership from this business has really stuck with me. I hope that more businesses, once this bill is enacted, are able to do the same and that this gives them the opportunity to understand how they can better support their employees. Following consultation with business, the government has determined that the schedule will commence from 1 February 2023 for most employees. Small businesses will have an extra six months to adjust to the change, meaning the scheme will be fully operational in August of next year. This is a change that could have been made years ago but wasn't. Even though it had the support of the business community and would have easily passed the parliament, it has taken this parliament—it is up to us, the 47th Parliament—to make this a reality. The campaign began long ago, and I want to acknowledge the efforts of the ASU—the Australian Services Union—and of civil society organisations and the community sector in campaigning for this. They did not give up. They wanted to see 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave enshrined in our National Employment Standards so that every worker who needed this entitlement could access it. The very first family violence leave enforceable instrument anywhere in the world was negotiated by the ASU Victoria and Tasmania branch into the 2010 Surf Coast Shire agreement, and I want to acknowledge the member for Corangamite, who was the mayor at the time. Leadership from the employer, the Surf Coast Shire Council, and from the union who fought for that entitlement to be in the agreement—that is where we work best. The reason why what ASU and the civil society members did was so significant was that in many cases they weren't fighting for this entitlement for themselves, which is what usually happens in union campaigns; they were fighting for this entitlement for every worker in every workplace. That is why their We Won't Wait campaign deserves recognition. What else needs to be done? As I said, this is just one of many things, many initiatives, that we need to do if we are going to stop the endless cycle of family and domestic violence. We know from the stats that, in the 12 minutes that I have been speaking, the police have already been called out six times. Every two minutes, the police are called out to an incident of family and domestic violence. We need to be supporting our frontline workers. We need to make sure that they've got the skills and that there are enough of them to support women who are fleeing family violence. Our government has also announced an additional 500 frontline community workers; funding for consent and respectful relationship education in schools; safe and affordable housing for women fleeing family violence, including more accommodation to be built in my electorate; and a new Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence Commission. This is just the beginning. We know this has to be a partnership, a compact and a commitment—not just from our government but also from state governments, from local governments, from every employer and from every organisation—that we work together so that, in a generation's time, these horrible statistics are not still a reality. If we want to support women to leave, we need to do so with every tool and every opportunity we have. We do not want to be here in a generation's time talking about the lost generation of women—one every 10 days losing their lives to family and domestic violence—and their children and family members who are left behind to pick up the pieces. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 265980 I call the member for Indi. 18:20 Dr HAINES 282335 Indi Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker Sharkie, and congratulations on your elevation to the Speaker's panel. The Fair Work Amendment (Paid Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2022 will provide all employees covered by the National Employment Standards with 10 days paid leave at their full rate of pay if they're experiencing family or domestic violence. It expands the definition of family and domestic violence to cover actions by former intimate partners and unrelated household members. It also extends the entitlement to those who are employed on a casual basis and delays its implementation for employees of small businesses in order to give those employers more time to be ready for those changes, which is so important. I welcome this legislation. Family and domestic violence is an epidemic in our society and this is just one of many measures the government must take to address an issue that leaves a wide and deep scar across the lives of too many people, predominantly women and children. Family violence is the leading preventable contributor to death and disability in women aged 15 to 45 years, and it's the biggest contributor to women's ill health. It's also the largest driver of homelessness for women and—unbelievably!—results in a police call-out on average once every two minutes across Australia. It's extraordinary. Throughout my clinical career I met countless women experiencing family violence, and that's not surprising, because one in six Australian women has experienced physical or sexual violence by a current or previous partner. As a midwife, I screened for intimate partner violence, and this was an important evidence based intervention because it's estimated that around 15 per cent of women who report abuse report that that abuse started or worsened during pregnancy—again, a shocking revelation. The rate of family violence in the biggest towns of my electorate of Indi is staggering. Women in Wodonga and Wangaratta experience family violence at a rate 33 per cent higher than the Victorian average, and in Benalla it's 76 per cent higher. Those numbers are hard to fathom, but they represent thousands of women I represent, and I wish to use this platform to assist them in any way that we as legislators can. Of course this change won't solve family and domestic violence; it's just one piece in the puzzle. I hope to see much more from the government on the prevention end of this scourge, and I welcome what I heard from the member for Bendigo just now about the prevention space. For someone experiencing family and domestic violence, this leave could make what previously seemed impossible possible: attending a doctor's appointment, attending an antenatal check, attending hospital, going to the police, appearing in court, attending an appointment with a counsellor or with a lawyer, going to the bank, opening a new account or going to an inspection of a new rental to start a new life. Previously, a victim of family violence may have felt those tasks to be out of their reach because they couldn't afford to miss work. Leaving their relationship may have already seemed an insurmountable task because of the huge financial cost involved. This goes some way to lightening that load, but this is just the beginning. Family violence can have long-term impacts on the health, wellbeing, education, relationships and, so importantly, the mental health of women and their children. Making this leave available isn't just about doing the right thing for women at the most vulnerable times of their life; it also makes sound economic sense to make paid leave available to those experiencing family and domestic violence because that violence is having a seriously negative effect on our economy. In 2015, PricewaterhouseCoopers calculated that the broad economic costs of violence against women by their partners totalled $12.6 billion per year. I note that the Australian Industry Group has aired concerns about the cost this will place on employers, believing it to be too much of an impost. But employers are already paying the cost of domestic violence through absenteeism and lost productivity. Making this leave available will help good employees who, through no fault of their own, are experiencing domestic and family violence. At the Jobs and Skills Summit last week, much was said about increasing women's participation in the workforce and about reducing barriers to participation. This is just one of the ways in which we can assist women to stay in the workforce and ensure their own economic security as they respond to the violence they're experiencing. While this is welcome, I know that for some employers it will be a challenge. There are many good employers across my electorate who want to do the right thing by their employees, who want to be fair and who want to support them when they are experiencing family violence. The CEO of COSBOA, Alexi Boyd, made the very important point that many small businesses have treated these situations with compassion and generosity, but they're not experts in handling trauma. While we are really welcoming this measure, we must also ensure that there's education and support, especially for small businesses. Implementing this reform must be simple and it must not cause unnecessary red tape for employers—and especially not for victims of violence. We mustn't create another barrier in the effort to remove one for those experiencing family and domestic violence. This is a great first step, but it must not be the last step. I look forward to seeing many more bills coming into this House to address the scourge of family and domestic violence, to see funding for primary prevention, for education and support services, and for strategies which focus on changing behaviour and, crucially, the structural, cultural and societal contexts that target underlying causes, such as gender inequality and poverty. I close by acknowledging the work of the incredible people across my electorate of Indi who work in this very difficult space: Women's Health Goulburn North East, Gateway Health, our GPs, our social workers, our nurses, our midwives and our emergency department staff. Case workers across Indi, I thank you for your work, and I thank the government for this important bill. Debate adjourned. GRIEVANCE DEBATE 100 GRIEVANCE DEBATE Eating Disorders 100 18:27 Ms DANIEL 008CH Goldstein I rise today to point to the increase in eating disorders in my election of Goldstein and nationally. In the south-east region of Melbourne, the Alfred Child and Youth Mental Health Services, the Australian Research Council and the Monash hospital, as well as private clinics, estimate its prevalence as being almost one in nine adolescents, mainly for girls between the ages of 12 and 17 years. Some even estimate that in Bayside, in my electorate, it could be as high as one in seven, depending on their individual cohorts. That's potentially three in every classroom. Anecdotally, I hear stories of girls not eating their school lunches and adolescents sneering at their peers for eating bread. While eating disorders were on the rise prior to COVID-19, the pandemic has heightened the situation and the predisposing risk factors, specifically social isolation, lack of structure, pausing of sport and recreation, food insecurity, disruption of daily activities, fear of contagion, heightened family stress, decreased structure around eating, and increased use of screens for schooling and social interaction. Statistics are hard to come by, but we do know that the prevalence of all types of eating disorders has increased significantly, almost doubling during the pandemic in some age categories. The most accurate statistics we have were collected prior to COVID-19, and it's highly probable, based on the number of referrals clinicians specialising in this field have received over the last two to three years, that they present a flattering picture. The number of people in Australia with an eating disorder at any given time is estimated to be around one million, or approximately four per cent of the population. Eating disorders, when combined with disordered eating, are estimated to affect 16.3 per cent of the Australian population. Eating disorders have been on the rise for a decade, and experts in the field attribute this to what they call anxiety-provoking media, which promotes unrealistic and modified images, especially on social media. They say the increase in social media exposure at a young age—10 years and up—and a range of sociocultural and demographic issues, such as idealised thinness, have increased the prevalence of disordered eating and eating disorders. Females tend to have four times as much risk factor for developing disordered eating around puberty as males. This is occurring on our school grounds as much as it is in the home. In Goldstein, we've seen the incidence of body dissatisfaction increase drastically over the last five years. Experts say that clusters of disordered eating are occurring within school groups at particular year levels and within particular school environments. A lot of these are from higher socioeconomic environments, but not exclusively so. Recently, in some cohorts of 15 to 20 people, experts say we've seen almost 50 per cent of the social group develop disordered eating or engage in some form of restrictive eating. Academic pressure from schools and social pressure also affect restrictive practices that trigger disordered eating. Adolescents can feel out of control in their home and school environments and need something to create a sense of reward and control. Managing their eating and reducing calories is one way to achieve this. In addition, I've been advised by a local paediatric dietitian and nutritionist that right now there is a common trend among students at senior schools in Goldstein of not eating lunch or at least of eliminating all bread or carbs in particular. Many adolescents are competing with one another on social platforms like TikTok on who can consume the smallest number of calories within a day or a week. Comparisons with peers are also being made on MyFitnessPal. Often parents and teachers are oblivious to this. This is a disturbing snapshot. We have to do something, and this brings me to the treatments that are currently available. There are two main ways to seek treatment for eating disorders: publicly and privately. The public system is based mainly on someone presenting with medical instability who needs urgent medical care. Specialist ED wards are set up in most major hospitals to stabilise and renourish sufferers as quickly as possible. They're largely not geared to equip patients or families with support on how to continue to treat and support the patient when discharged. Patients and families can feel like they're left in the deep end with no support, and so begins the merry-go-round of in-out admissions, often lasting years. This creates whole-of-family impact, affecting the mental health of parents and other children, affecting work and school, and draining finances. One mother in my electorate is herself on medication for depression and anxiety. She told me she's left her job to feed her daughter, and the family may yet have to sell the family home to fund private treatment. This is a dire and hidden example of the impact of eating disorders and the lack of effective programs in communities. Day programs like the Butterfly Foundation program have been set up to help support the public system and to allow access to specialised intensive group based support, but waitlists are long and group support is not adaptable. It's a great program, but it only supports the patient for 12 weeks. After that, they're told to maintain weight markers and try to stay well. The follow-up is limited. The Alfred Child and Youth Mental Health Service also offers a specialist support system but almost exclusively with a family based treatment model. Family based treatment is based almost entirely on weight restoration, without psychological or behavioural support. The feedback is that it's bit of a one-size-fits-all model of treatment. Service providers in Goldstein are trying to do the best with what they have under a very under-resourced system. Privately, there are a select few who specialise exclusively in eating disorders, and some private clinicians feel overwhelmed with trying to manage conflicting issues that they're often not trained to deal with. It's critical that multidisciplinary teams are formed in the private setting to help with the effects of eating disorders. Carers can be left with the responsibility of connecting clinicians, which is time-consuming, expensive and frequently ineffective. Additionally, wait lists have skyrocketed during the pandemic and most carers and patients are told they'll have to wait months to see a specialist. So what do we need to do to fix the system? We need funding to be directed to the vulnerable and at-risk populations and we need multidisciplinary eating-disorder-specific clinics. We need education and resources to be properly rolled out in schools, not just a one-off session with Eating Disorders Victoria on body image in year 10. We need dietitians and psychologists employed in schools in high-risk populations. Wellbeing coordinators should not be expected to carry this burden. We need a task force to be set up now to create a nation-first eating disorder hub, a one-stop shop for prevention, treatment, management, family care and support, and relapse prevention. A hub would promote primary prevention by funding experienced clinicians, dietitians and psychologists to educate and inform teachers and parents with children entering transitional stages on what red flags to be aware of; reduce the waiting time to access specialist treatment; increase the effectiveness of routine treatment with continuous monitoring, like we have for type 1 diabetes; and increase support for families. Eating disorder treatment is expensive. The time to treat effectively is estimated at three years minimum, which is why recovery and relapse is common. We have an opportunity post COVID to get on top of this life-destroying condition and stop the rise before it becomes more of an epidemic than it is. Eating disorders and disordered eating are becoming the norm among some cohorts in my electorate, and there are families in Goldstein willing to offer their own time and resources to make a hub become a reality. They don't want others to feel lost in the system, isolated, alone and without any way of getting the treatment they need. I am seeking state and federal collaboration to create an environment where our children grow up accepting and liking themselves, where families and carers feel connected and safe and where eating disorders do not reach the predicted one in five in the next five years. Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum 101 18:37 Dr REID 300126 Robertson On Wednesday 31 August, the Robertson team and I hosted the Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum. This forum brought together the region's leaders and representatives from areas of business, unions, government, industry and education in order to discuss the challenges that face the labour market and the issues that face jobs and skills on the Central Coast. This forum corresponded with the Albanese Labor government's national Jobs and Skills Summit, which concluded at the end of last week. That summit similarly heard from businesses, unions, industry and government leaders and representatives from across Australia. The Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum took place in Gosford, the major city of our region. It was an incredibly productive meeting where stakeholders discussed the major challenges of our region and possible solutions to overcome these challenges. Some key points and information about the Central Coast labour market conveyed at the forum included that, on the Central Coast, according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the region's largest employer is health care and social assistance, representing approximately 18 per cent of the total employed persons in the region. This was followed by retail trade; construction; education and training; professional, scientific and technical services; and manufacturing, thus showcasing the diverse industry across our magnificent region. Within these key employment categories, women are represented in greater numbers in comparison to men in health and social assistance sectors and within education and training. However, within manufacturing and construction there are a greater number of males. Further, the business community was well represented at our jobs and skills forum. The small and medium-sized business community is a major employer on the Central Coast and an engine room of our local economy. The data states that construction represents the highest number of businesses registered, at just over 6,000; followed by professional, scientific and technical services, at 3,200; and rental, hiring and real estate services, at 2,300. These categories represent the greatest number of businesses in my region of the Central Coast. Also of note is that 15 per cent of the total employed population on the Central Coast hold multiple jobs. Education was also a major factor at our jobs and skills forum, as it is right across Australia. By way of background, just over 41 per cent of the Central Coast population does not have any post-high-school qualification, and only 14 per cent hold a bachelor's degree. Further, 24 per cent of Central Coast residents hold a vocational qualification. What these figures demonstrated at the forum and demonstrate to us tonight is that these are all areas that all levels of government can work together to address and improve employment and education outcomes. This was exactly the purpose of the Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum: to identify the challenges and the opportunities in our region, and to work on the solutions to make the Central Coast stronger and better prepared for the future. This is the better future that the Australian public voted for at the 2022 federal election. The Albanese Labor government is determined to ensure Australians are never held back and never left behind, and I am proud to be part of a government that has already demonstrated its commitment to incentivising education and training that will ensure more Australians can achieve success and realise their full potential. Our government, our Labor government, recently announced, following the national Jobs and Skills Summit, that it will provide up to 180,000 fee-free TAFE positions across Australia. An important message that also came out of the Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum was the cost of education and barriers to education. This will incentivise Australians to undertake courses in areas of shortage and areas of national priority. Further, the Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum identified a range of other issues that are inhibiting the labour market in our region. These are a few of the key issues discussed. A common theme was that there needed to be a better relationship between education and industry. Many businesses mentioned that they had apprenticeships available yet could not secure employees for these positions. I'm proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that is removing the barriers to vocational education by ensuring younger workers and older workers have access to fee-free TAFE courses, especially in areas of skill shortage and national priority. TAFE has always been a place to train. TAFE has always been a place to retrain. And, when financial barriers are removed, this allows equity and this allows access. These are the principles that underpin and have guided the Australian Labor Party since its inception and that now guide the Albanese government. The government will also invest just over $480 million to deliver up to 20,000 extra university places, making it easier for Australians to find a spot at university and to get a job. These measures will help address the skill shortages in vital industries across the country and will mean stronger connections between education sectors and industry sectors. This is all part of a comprehensive education package that will remedy a decade of neglect by the former government. Another big issue that was raised at our Central Coast Jobs and Skills Forum was road infrastructure. Our local road infrastructure is in a state of disrepair. When these discussions were had at the forum, comparisons were made to nearby cities like Sydney, and many stakeholders mentioned that it takes longer for residents to get from point A to point B on the Central Coast than it takes to get from Sydney to Newcastle. This is holding back the region's prosperity. To ensure that the Central Coast can attract more business and more industry, we need to support the infrastructure that will promote business and industry growth, and support the workers travelling to and from their place of employment. I'm pleased to be part of a government that will take action to improve the infrastructure on the Central Coast by investing in key transport routes, including in Kincumber with the Avoca Drive upgrade and our $40 million local roads package. Of course, more can always be done to improve infrastructure and transport options. This will be a priority of mine over this term of government, working with the Albanese local government, the state government in New South Wales and the local government in the Central Coast region to achieve these outcomes. The city of Gosford represents a huge opportunity for job creation and economic growth. Many stakeholders from the forum understood that Gosford needs greater investment to ensure it becomes a liveable city and attracts people to the destination for business, education and training, tourism, nightlife and the arts. We need to finally unlock the potential of the Gosford waterfront and imagine a place that welcomes everyone and showcases the magnificence of the natural beauty of the surrounding area. We must ensure we provide support for the arts with links to the First Nations community and a history of the area. The Central Coast jobs and skills forum was a complete success. We brought together business, unions and government; we identified challenges, opportunities and solutions that can solve many of the issues holding the Central Coast back while maximising our region's strengths. The information provided at our forum will be submitted to the federal government's employment white paper. I encourage Central Coast residents to get in touch with my office if they would like to make a submission. I want to thank each and every participant at the Central Coast jobs and skills forum. Your contributions on that day and into the future will help shape a better future for the Central Coast region. Nicholls Electorate: Employment 103 18:49 Mr BIRRELL 288713 Nicholls I rise to talk about skills shortages in Australia, particularly shortages in agriculture. In my electorate of Nicholls sits one of Australia's great food bowls. Over 90 per cent of Australia's pears are grown in Nicholls. Our horticultural industry also produces a significant proportion of Australia's apples and many other fruits and vegetables. Dairy is another critical industry, which in Nicholls produces close to $1 billion worth of milk annually. There are no second chances in agriculture. If cows can't be milked twice daily, there's no milk. If the fruit crop isn't harvested at optimal ripeness, it rots on the trees. Supply to the many food processors in Nicholls is dependent on our farms having ready access to willing workers to provide the raw materials. There is growing concern and frustration in Nicholls about the scarcity of workers and the failure of the Labor government to act decisively. The farmers of Nicholls didn't need a skills summit; they didn't need hot air. They need workers, and they need them now. The Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, attended the summit. He rolled up his sleeves, as he often does, and was constructive. I congratulate him for doing so. The Nationals were there because regional Australia needed a strong voice, and we are the strongest voice for regional Australia. What were the immediate outcomes? A lift in the permanent migration program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23 will help ease widespread critical workforce shortages, with 9,000 additional places for the regions. But it is not enough. It's a drop in the ocean. I welcome the opportunity for more people to come to Australia and settle in the regions. Nicholls has a long and proud history of welcoming people from all parts of the globe. Migration is part of the success story in Nicholls, including in agriculture. The downside post summit is that the jobs and skills needed in Nicholls are still needed today, in many cases desperately needed The Nationals have a solution: a dedicated agricultural visa. But, in its wisdom, the Albanese government has decided not to back it to the required extent. The Pacific Australia Labour Mobility—or PALM—scheme has been successful in providing seasonal workers in horticulture, but this does not appear to be a culturally appropriate fit for the dairy industry. Instead, the dairy industry must navigate the 482 temporary skill shortage visa and the designated area migration agreement for Nicholls, and both currently have shortcomings that need to be addressed. The 482 visa has no pathway to permanent residence for those employed on dairy farms, and, while workers from the Philippines are culturally suited to the dairy work and enjoy it and do very well at it, half of them fail the English test. Capable workers with functional spoken English and comprehension are being excluded based on written English skills, and employers are concerned the bar is set too high for the unskilled workers they require and would indeed welcome with open arms. There is a pressing need for additional unskilled labour categories in the designated area migration agreement for dairy workers. This would allow dairies to train and upskill their own workers. The Age newspaper on 30 August carried the story of Nabi Baqiri, who estimates that he could employ another 50 workers on his Goulburn Valley orchards. He desperately needs those workers. Mr Baqiri said he arrived in Melbourne in 2004 and he struggled to find work, so he moved to Shepparton to pick fruit. This is a quote from Mr Baqiri: I picked everything: pears, apples, peaches, nectarines, plums. There was no need for English or a drivers license. This is typical of Nicholls, where agriculture creates opportunity—something I spoke passionately about in my maiden speech. The Food Supply Chain Alliance calculated that the national food supply chain is short at least 172,000 workers from paddock to plate—172,000 workers that are needed to prevent prolonged higher food prices for consumers and reduced food availability that will continue through 2022 and beyond. This is an issue that impacts all Australians, not just the farmers who desperately need workers in order to harvest. Quite rightly, the Food Supply Chain Alliance determined that this is one of the few cost-of-living pressures that the government can influence, and it should be a priority. Regional Australia can look forward to welcoming a wave of migrant workers from Vietnam, with the minister for agriculture confirming the government will honour the Australian agriculture visa agreement, an agreement put in place by the Nationals. The Nationals have been calling for further clarification on this arrangement, and it is pleasing that the minister has reaffirmed that the Vietnam agreement will be honoured. There remains an opportunity for more countries to participate in the visa, including the Philippines, which, as I said, is a preferred country for dairy farmers in Nicholls to recruit workers. The Australian Workers Union ran a campaign against the ag visa. They talked of systematic exploitation and abuse of migrant workers on Australian farms, suggesting that exploitation has become part of the business model. Try telling that to Jon McKay from Rose Landscaping Services, who is currently setting up a new tree-growing operation in the heart of Nicholls. Just last week, I stood in the paddock with Jon, and he told me that his most valued employee is from Nepal. More than a decade since arriving as an unskilled migrant, that employee is now running part of the operation. The company is expanding, and it needs to recruit workers. They can't find them locally, and they're looking overseas, but the options are limited. They need an easier pathway. They need an ag visa. The AWU scaremongering is equally hollow when you visit dairy farmers, where Filipino workers are not only employed on the farms but, along with their families, are embraced by the small towns, including Nathalia, where these communities are thriving. There is genuine concern in Nicholls that, without proactive changes specifically targeting the dairy sector, the workforce gaps will continue to widen, affecting productivity, economic output and exports. The Vietnam visa is a welcome step, but there is more that can and should be done to address the urgent workforce shortages in agriculture. We need an ag visa. Jobs and Skills Summit 104 18:54 Ms ROBERTS 157125 Pearce Today I rise to speak on the Albanese Labor government's recent Jobs and Skills Summit, held here in Parliament House, Canberra. Before I begin, I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land we are meeting on, the Ngunnawal people. I also pay respects to the Wadjuk people of the Noongar nation, the traditional custodians of my electorate in Perth. Throughout the period of the federal election, it was clear to see that Australians want their government to focus on building a better future, to focus on the best interests of our communities. We held our incredibly successful Jobs and Skills Summit last week, after 100 days in government, and this summit was all about one thing: bringing people together to confront the big challenges in our economy and also in our society. We know that there is a genuine priority for some real movement and real discussions about our economic challenges. That is why there were over 100 workshops in Parliament House during the summit, in addition to many roundtables and consultations conducted around Australia in the lead-up to the federal summit. This summit exceeded everyone's expectations and gave us solid, secure and tangible outcomes to make the lives of all Australians better. Working with industry, unions and other stakeholders at the summit, the Albanese government has agreed to 36 immediate initiatives, including but not limited to: $1 billion in joint federal-state funding for fee-free TAFE in 2023, plus an additional 180,000 places; a one-off income credit so age pensioners who want to work can earn an additional $4,000 over this financial year without losing any of their pension; more flexibility using $575 million in the National Housing Infrastructure Facility to invest in social and affordable housing and attract financing from superannuation funds and other sources of private capital; modernising Australia's workplace relations laws, including making bargaining accessible for all workers and businesses; amending the Fair Work Act to strengthen access to flexible working arrangements, make unpaid parental leave more flexible and strengthen protection for workers against discrimination and harassment; improving access to jobs and training pathways for women, First Nations people, regional Australians, and culturally and linguistically diverse people, including equity targets for training places; 1,000 digital apprenticeships in the Australian Public Service, and other measures to reduce barriers to employment; an increase in the permanent migration program ceiling to 195,000 in 2022-23, to help ease widespread critical workforce shortages; extending visas and relaxing work restrictions on international students to strengthen the pipeline of skilled labour; and providing additional funding to resolve the visa backlog. All the ideas put forward will be explored over the next 12 months as part of the employment white paper, with the terms of reference to be released later this month. We are making real change. Locally, in my seat of Pearce, I felt it important to give my community a voice and input into this historic summit. That is why I, and many other Labor MPs and senators, held our own jobs and skills roundtables to directly feed into the federal summit, to give our local communities an opportunity to have that strong, reliable voice. At our local roundtable, I invited a plethora of community leaders, representatives and spokespeople, including representatives from our First Nations community, TAFE, university, small-business owners, farmers, growers, state government members, local government representatives, local business representatives, cultural leaders and manufacturers. We are fortunate in Pearce to have a pool of extremely talented, intellectual and well-respected leaders. It would be a grave oversight to not engage these particular members of our community at this time. Our roundtable achieved five main outcomes which, in turn, informed the Albanese government federal summit, with some issues being directly mirrored across the country and subsequently actioned at the federal summit. These include, No. 1, visa and immigration processing. A, our local Trans Aus farm representative stated that the current visa-processing times and immigration barriers, especially over COVID-19, have hindered their staffing levels. B, sectors such as farming rely heavily on overseas workers to provide support and manual labour to their businesses. C, Western Australia is a great host for skilled and unskilled labour; as such, it is imperative that these workers are provided with a simple yet effective immigration process. No. 2 was a focus on the type of working visas. A, some employees are just looking to come to Australia for a short period of time, but the benchmarks are high in terms of English language, skills and financial requirements. B, industries such as hospitality and farming rely on overseas employees. Benara Nurseries, in Pearce, predominantly hire people on a part-time or permanent basis. However, most backpackers opt to work casually and leave after a short period of time. For these specific industries, this means that business owners are unable to invest in training. No. 3 was about the ability to complete CVs and job applications. We are a multicultural community in Australia, and, in Pearce, 41 per cent of our community were born overseas. We are home to some extremely motivated and intelligent people, but English may not be their first language. As such, these people need help in preparing resumes, and also support to complete relevant documentation. No. 4 was about engaging the untapped potential of our youth. We have a wonderful First Nations community in Pearce, but we must understand that they also need support. If young people are not engaging in school, there may be ways that we as a community can help them to succeed. It is important that young people have the skills they need to seek employment. But, further, if young people are employed in ongoing work but cannot see a clear pathway to grow, then they may defer their attention elsewhere. Getting these conversations going is important, and I'm extremely proud that this particular group of young people were well represented at my roundtable. Measuring and understanding productivity was another point. Questions were asked about the way in which we measure productivity and how this has changed over the pandemic. Are we adapting the way we view and measure productivity in the workforce as the world changes? All of these points raised were met with incredibly respectful and interested discussions, with some points being presented with possible solutions from other representatives within the group. It is imperative that these discussions do continue, and, while we know our skills summit has many great outcomes for our country, we also know that the hard work starts now. I will continue to meet with these groups and engage the Pearce community, and I look forward to experiencing and applauding the progressive and positive change as a result of these much-needed, important discussions. I'm mindful that the people who were around the table at our local summit are incredibly busy people. They took the time to make sure that we had informed advice based on experience, knowledge and wisdom. I absolutely applaud them for spending that time with us and sharing that knowledge, and I'm hoping, like they hope, to achieve a better outcome for our community and for Australia. Gladstone Hospital 105 19:03 Mr BOYCE 299498 Flynn I rise to speak about the Queensland health crisis and, specifically, the issues that Gladstone Hospital faces. Most women look forward to the birth of their baby with feelings of anticipation as well as excitement. But, for many women in the wider Gladstone region, this excitement is tempered by feelings of anxiety and fear. This follows the Gladstone Hospital maternity unit being on bypass since 8 July, and the gradual decline of other medical services. For many years, the provision of medical services in rural Queensland has become less and less; so much so that even basic services, such as being able to give birth at Gladstone Hospital, are not being provided. The Gladstone Hospital serves the regional city of 60,000 people and surrounding towns, including Biloela. The maternity unit delivers about 600 babies a year. It is the only hospital available to expectant mothers, after the Queensland Labor government bought the former Mater Hospital and incorporated it into the public facility in 2020. I released a petition on 18 August drawing attention to the decline in the availability of maternity and other medical services at the Gladstone Hospital and the negative impact this has had on the wider Gladstone region and surrounding areas. The petition calls for the Premier, the Hon. Annastacia Palaszczuk, and the health minister, the Hon. Yvette D'Ath, to provide adequate funding, resources and qualified medical professionals to the Gladstone Hospital to deliver maternity and other medical services. So far the petition has been signed by over 2,000 people from across Central Queensland, including expectant mothers and their concerned family and friends. I've been inundated with stories of pregnant women who, at the last minute, had to be bypassed and travelled 90 minutes down the road to give birth to their child at the Rockhampton Hospital. Recently ABC Capricornia covered the story of a Biloela couple, Mariana Duran and Victor Villamil. The couple had planned to have their baby, Camille, at the Gladstone Hospital. After Mrs Duran developed gestational diabetes, they opted for a maternity unit with obstetricians on the staff. They booked accommodation close to the Gladstone Hospital, and everything seemed to be running to plan when they visited the day before their baby was due. But, when Mrs Duran went into labour, she was told that they would not be able to assist in the delivery and that she would need to go to Rockhampton. Mrs Duran and Mr Villamil left to discuss their options but had to return to the hospital due to Mrs Duran being in too much pain in their car. Mrs Duran was eventually offered transport to Rockhampton by ambulance but had to wait more than an hour for paramedics to arrive. I have also been contacted by numerous staff from the Gladstone Hospital who have concerns that the maternity unit is going to be closed for some time, but they are too worried to speak about it because of fear of losing their jobs. It is simply unacceptable that mothers should have to run the risk of giving birth on the side of a highway, especially on the side of a highway that is substandard and littered with safety hazards, including many potholes. Unfortunately this is all part of the ongoing health debacle in Queensland that the Labor government is not addressing. It is something that that they do not want to address. It seems that their policy of centralising health care to hospitals like Rockhampton, and to Brisbane, has added to the demise of basic health care in outlying communities such as Biloela. Unfortunately many towns in the Flynn electorate are experiencing similar problems, as are many regional communities across Queensland. Earlier this year I met with Dr Richard Tan, who is a long-time GP, with over 50 years servicing the Biloela community and hospital. We discussed the health needs of the region and the need for routine CT scans to be carried out in the Biloela area. With the amount of time that the Biloela ambulance spends travelling to Rockhampton and to Gladstone for routine CT scans, it would be beneficial for the community and patients to investigate the potential for having this service at the Biloela Hospital. Figures received from the Queensland health minister show that the number of hospital patients who are transported to Rockhampton and Gladstone hospitals is more than one per day, with 46 transfers on average per month. These figures do not include the number of private patients who also travel our roads to seek routine scans in Rockhampton and Gladstone hospitals. We also need to consider the paramedics, the hospital staff, the drivers of the ambulances and the ramping at the Rockhampton Hospital when they arrive. This means that Biloela is basically down an ambulance and at least two staff members for a full day, every day. The Central Queensland Hospital and Health Service says that Biloela does not have enough need for their own CT unit, due to the way these numbers are reported. How many private people travel to Rockhampton or Gladstone during the week to have a CT scan? With ambulance ramping reaching 56 per cent at Rockhampton last year, we cannot afford for our hardworking paramedics and our ambulance staff to be sitting at the Rockhampton or Gladstone hospitals waiting for routine CT scans. The benefits to our patients and our communities, as well as taking pressure off the health system in larger hospitals, should be plenty of incentive for Queensland Health to make this happen. The trend is becoming extremely clear. Our regional communities continue to suffer under the Queensland Labor government's health policies. Cabinet minister and member for Gladstone the Hon. Glenn Butcher is part of a government that is introducing the world's highest royalty rates in the coal industry yet cannot even provide resources for the Gladstone Hospital, which needs to deliver maternity services and CT scanners in Biloela. They do not realise how much GDP comes from the Gladstone region and from Central Queensland. Mr Butcher and the Queensland government have become feckless and indolent. They should focus their attention on regional Queensland by delivering solutions to return maternity and other medical services to the Gladstone Hospital as soon as possible. As the federal member for Flynn, it is my duty to apply pressure on the Queensland government to provide adequate health services in regional Queensland, including by restoring maternity services to the Gladstone Hospital as soon as possible. The current situation would not be acceptable in Brisbane and should not be acceptable in Gladstone. My Gladstone Hospital petition is on my website, and I encourage Central Queensland residents to sign it. I wish to quote an important statement from Dr Martin Luther King: 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.' Madam Deputy Speaker, I can assure you and the Gladstone regional residents that I will not become silent until the Gladstone Hospital maternity unit is returned to its full functional capacity. Lingiari Electorate: Gurindji Freedom Day Festival 106 19:11 Ms SCRYMGOUR F2S Lingiari Within the past two weeks, I have seen two incredible milestones within the Lingiari electorate—two significant achievements that it is important for me to reflect on in this place. The first is the 56th anniversary of the Gurindji walk-off, and the second is the 40th anniversary of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act—one historic movement sparking another. This year, similar to most, we celebrated and commemorated the Freedom Day Festival on Gurindji country. This day marks the nine-year struggle that saw Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji, Mudburra and Warlpiri people bravely stand up to power and win their land back. I want to take a moment to reflect on the story of Vincent Lingiari, my electorate's namesake. It was a story of struggle, of determination and of unshakable commitment to justice for the Gurindji mob and for all our people. Tired of being underpaid, tired of being forced to work for a rich man on his own country and tired of seeing his people treated unjustly, Vincent Lingiari made a stand. He walked off Wave Hill cattle station, refusing to work and leading his people down a humble creek bed. In this creek bed, Vincent Lingiari and the Gurindji mob stayed. Eight long years they camped, carrying a huge weight on their shoulders. The mighty trade union movement, who attended the Freedom Day festival in force, had worked for many years to support the Gurindji people. Certainly, during that struggle, they visited many times to drop off food and shelter. After eight long years, finally justice came. Labor's Prime Minister Gough Whitlam arrived on Gurindji country to hand back the country to its traditional owners. Many of you no doubt are well and truly acquainted with the legendary stories and photos of Gough Whitlam pouring sand into old man Lingiari's hands. But the story of Lingiari and the Gurindji people does not stop there. It was no simple happy ending for the Gurindji mob, who had to fight hard to keep their country, losing the cattle station and being forced to continue their fight for justice. This story is a powerful one, one this country needs to hear more of. The Gurindji Freedom Day Festival, which I was honoured to attend alongside Senator Pat Dodson, was a three-day festival of culture, music, art, sport and lectures looking at the history but also at what we can learn into the future. It was the Wave Hill walk-off which Freedom Day celebrates. That led to the establishment of the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act. It helped create the four great land councils of the Northern Territory—the Northern Land Council, the Central Land Council, Anindilyakwa and Tiwi. These land councils are intrinsically connected to and representative of our communities out bush. They all came together at Kalkaringi. The land councils play an enormous role in the Territory and, indeed, across the country. I want to thank those land council members for allowing both Senator Dodson and myself to attend their executive meeting. The executive council members from all regions discussed a range of topics affecting Aboriginal people in our communities, including the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a Voice to Parliament; a Northern Territory treaty; housing—there were many concerns throughout the whole discussion—both urban and remote; and the drift from our remote communities into our urban centres, and the impact that's having, particularly on some of the town camps. Voter enrolment was certainly front and centre in a lot of the discussions. The urgent need to invest in our homelands was at the forefront—and, when they were talking about child protection and safety, homelands are certainly an important part of this process. This government hears our land councils loud and clear, and I will work tirelessly to help and support their agenda. This was the first joint land council meeting in almost 20 years. You could feel the strength of the meeting as we all came together. I hope it's not another 20 years till we feel that again. I know, having been involved in the Northern Land Council over the last three years prior to my election to this parliament, it was—despite the efforts of the former Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt. I think he was part of a government that really didn't want to look at solutions on the ground in those communities, so I think he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. But it is certainly great to be part of a Labor government that hears those messages and that can look at some of those solutions. A lot of the delegates talked about the CDP, and I want to take a moment to also thank Minister Burney, who held a gathering of a lot of the CDP and job providers before the jobs summit. The outcomes from the CDP on mutual obligations and how it might work in remote communities was fed into the jobs summit. So we are certainly looking forward to how we can work within this government but also with those communities to try and get outcomes for Aboriginal people in a lot of those communities. It was also a privilege to be in the crowd to listen to the words of Thomas Mayor, a proud Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country, and a strong champion of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. Thomas spoke strong words during the Vincent Lingiari lecture at Kalkarindji, and he called on all Australians to have the courage to walk with our First Australians in the journey towards the Voice to Parliament—because the sad reality is that the battles for justice Vincent Lingiari faced nearly 60 years ago are the same battles we are fighting today. These battles look a little different. Our country and our world are much different places, but, at the root of these battles, the issues are the same: the lack of a voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the lack of autonomy in decision-making. In his address, Thomas spoke about the institutions that have come before that were tasked with representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at the national level. Thomas said: From the Australian Aboriginal Progressive Association in the 1920s, which was silenced through brutal intimidation by authorities who had complete control over our lives; through the Aboriginal Advancement League, the NAC, the NACC, the FCAATSI, to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission which was established in 1988. All of them split up, ignored, defunded and destroyed. Let those words sink in. At every stage that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have sought to amplify our voice to gain control of our lives and our communities, we have been set back. An invitation to walk with First Peoples of this country was a gift through the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and I am proud to be part of a government which has committed to starting that process. It was not about setting our First Peoples apart. It was not about some hierarchy of people at its core. It was about how we move forward and come together. To the people of Kalkarindji, the Gurindji; to the four land councils; and, particularly, to Thomas Mayor, who I've quoted in this speech; and to all who attended: I thank you. I will certainly make sure that, as the member for Lingiari, I advocate strongly for all of your aspirations that have been talked about with both Senator Dodson and me. It was a special moment for me and for so many others who attended this great festival. The DEPUTY SPEAKER 248181 I thank the member for Lingiari for her contribution. There being no further grievances, the debate is now adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting. Federation Chamber adjourned at 19:20