Nola Marino's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2025-09-07T23:05:10+00:00
items: Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Endometriosis | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: National Capital and External Territories Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
items: Forrest Electorate: Emergency Services | Adjournment | House debates
items: Endometriosis | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Grievance Debate | House debates
items: Rare Foods Australia | Adjournment | House debates
items: Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
items: Renewable Energy | Adjournment | House debates
items: Aged Care Bill 2024, Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Forrest Electorate: Sport | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Relay For Life | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Western Australia | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Forrest Electorate: Community Services | Statements by Members | House debates

Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: It was interesting to listen to the government now saying that the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025 will actually support every child in Australia. Well, if...
encoded: It was interesting to listen to the government now saying that the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025 will actually support every child in Australia. Well, if they're going to get the best start possible—it's supposed to be a Labor guarantee—that's, of course, except for rural and regional families, where there actually is no child care available today and won't be in the future. This will guarantee 72 hours a fortnight of taxpayer subsidised child care but certainly not if you're in a childcare desert, where there is no child care available at all. It's supposed to be three days for all families. Well, it won't guarantee that for those families in rural, regional and more remote areas, where there's actually no child care at all. What this bill does not guarantee is that it will actually prioritise places and access for working families or single parents over non-working families. What will a single mum do, one who has to work to keep her children, especially during a cost-of-living crisis? What does she do if she cannot access child care at all? How does the government think she will feel when she looks in the door at the childcare centre and sees children from families where the parent or parents are not working or not having to work because they are earning up to $533,000, which this bill actually allows subsidised child care for? What are her options? Not only is this unfair; it is divisive in communities. Removing priority access for working families is a terrible decision by Labor. I can only imagine how this will pit family against family where there are and where there will be no childcare places available for the families who need it most. This is divisive, not only for family against family but for metro verses rural, regional and remote. Where is the child care for those in our regional and rural areas that don't have access to any child care at all? How can this be for each and every child in Australia when there's no chi…
date: 2025-02-12T12:56:00+00:00

Endometriosis | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I was very proud, in the run-up to 2018, to work on developing not only Australia's first ever National Action Plan for Endometriosis but the first national endometriosis plan in the world. I was...
encoded: I was very proud, in the run-up to 2018, to work on developing not only Australia's first ever National Action Plan for Endometriosis but the first national endometriosis plan in the world. I was very proud of that work. As a government, we provided funding to back up that particular plan. Part of that plan was to provide pelvic pain clinics, and that was part of our budget in 2022. These pelvic pain clinics and pelvic pain education are very important in managing endometriosis. However, we lost government, and Labor refused to fund a pelvic pain clinic in my electorate in the South West of WA. One in seven women in my electorate will be affected by endometriosis, and the South West has the highest population outside of the metro area. So I investigated the process and found that the decision was not based on demographics or need in the community. It was actually based on the quality of an application, just like a school essay—a tick in a box. The government, the department and the primary health network in WA all significantly let down the women in my electorate—the majority of women who are outside of the metro area who need access to a pelvic pain clinic. There is a great level of need, it is a lifetime condition and there is no cure. I was at the local bowling club the other night, talking about endometriosis, and women above the age of 70 and 75 were coming to talk to me about their ongoing experience with endometriosis and how they've suffered all their lives. That's why I want a pelvic pain clinic in my part of the world. There is, as I said, no cure, and if it gets to the heart and lungs it will kill you. I have made repeated requests for a pelvic pain clinic in the South West to ministers. It is something that is very badly needed. Now, I have personal experience of endometriosis—not only myself but also through my daughter. I've been very blessed that she allowed me, in the run-up to the 2018 development of that first national plan, to tell her very raw pe…
date: 2025-02-11T16:18:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Yes, shame! The greatest concern is when I'm watching the damage that's being done to rural and regional Australia, and when I look at those desperate farmers in Victoria, they've got no choice....
encoded: Yes, shame! The greatest concern is when I'm watching the damage that's being done to rural and regional Australia, and when I look at those desperate farmers in Victoria, they've got no choice. They're just going to get steamrolled, and I am so concerned about them. There are also concerns around fire in those same communities, with insurance premiums going up. One thing leads to another, but none of this burden is felt by basically anyone on that side, nor by the government at all. On that basis, I conclude my remarks.
date: 2025-02-11T20:20:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Right. We have a site that was commissioned in 2001, and it will have to be decommissioned in 2027 because it's too expensive to re-power. Will this be repeated? How often? The company has yet to...
encoded: Right. We have a site that was commissioned in 2001, and it will have to be decommissioned in 2027 because it's too expensive to re-power. Will this be repeated? How often? The company has yet to announce what it will do with the neighbouring Yambuk wind farm, commissioned in 2007. We'll wait and see what happens there. I suspect the same will happen with offshore wind turbines as well. Labor's renewables-only policy is failing the Australian people and failing business and failing families. The cost of energy is driving businesses absolutely to the wall or to fail or to consider leaving Australia. Labor's energy approach is actually five times the cost that Australians were initially promised. Families and businesses are bearing this cost. It is obscene, in a resource-rich country like Australia. It is absolutely obscene. Energy bills have risen by up to 52 per cent, and more than 27,000 businesses have been forced to close their doors. There's no doubt that soaring energy costs are a major reason for these closures. These high-energy costs apply right throughout your input—at all stages of your input. Every input will involve an energy cost, and that adds to your cost of doing business. Business and industry—ACCI and COSBOA's—concerns are being totally ignored by the government. How on earth can Labor talk about a future made in Australia when business, industry and households don't have affordable, dispatchable power? It's that simple. What is even worse, Labor is putting Australia's energy security into China's hands. Every 20 to 25 years, the wind turbines and solar panels that are made mostly in China will have to be replaced. We will be dependent on China for our energy security, and this will compromise our national security. Anyone in this House knows, and everyone should know, that energy security and national security are actually the same thing. You can't have one without the other. In WA we are short of power, and in my electorate I have businesses and …
date: 2025-02-11T20:20:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Yes. It's farmers that are actually the targets. In the South West of WA, in what is the iconic and beautiful Geographe Bay, Labor has decided to build a wind factory. It has declared a zone of...
encoded: Yes. It's farmers that are actually the targets. In the South West of WA, in what is the iconic and beautiful Geographe Bay, Labor has decided to build a wind factory. It has declared a zone of 4,000 square kilometres with massive turbines of nearly 300 metres from base to blade tip—close to 1,000 turbines—with prices and profits for investors underpinned by Labor's Capacity Investment Scheme, which now means the profits of these offshore companies will be underwritten by Australian taxpayers year on year. All of this is off the federal budget. With the wind factory proposal, what we saw in the South West was a terrible and arrogant and superficial, badly named—misnamed—'public consultation'. It wasn't a consultation. It was typical of the steamrolling of regional communities that we're seeing in other states. Over time, I suspect our communities will be left with this rusting infrastructure in one of the most loved, visited and enjoyed areas in Australia, Geographe Bay. Of all places, Geographe Bay is the wrong place. This is for locals and for domestic and international visitors. This is where the diving, the fishing, the camping and the recreational and commercial fishing and boating happen. No wonder our communities are so strongly opposed to this. They didn't want it, and they are absolutely strong and active and vocal in their opposition, angered and frustrated by the process, a bit like that of this bill, of terribly arrogant and superficial consultation. It wasn't consultation at all. And the representatives at these sessions couldn't even answer basic questions for us about exclusion zones. They told us that the exclusion zones could range from 50 to 500 metres around each turbine and the actual distance would not be known for up to 10 to 12 years. How's that? Over time, our community would be left with rusting and aging massive turbines that need to be replaced on a regular basis or left for taxpayers to deal with. It's one or the other. It's a regular rep…
date: 2025-02-11T20:20:00+00:00

Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I concur that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has not used the right process—a terrible process, in fact—for the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025....
encoded: I concur that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has not used the right process—a terrible process, in fact—for the Electricity Infrastructure Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. But I just want people to consider the burden that Labor's massive renewables-only energy policy is having on regional and rural Australia. Just think about this: Labor's plan includes nearly 60 million solar panels, over 3,500 new wind turbines and 28,000 kilometres of new transmission lines, all in rural and regional areas. We know that the government will need to double the size of the transmission grid just to connect all of this new renewable energy, but, if it's double the size, I suspect it will be double the price and the cost—cost that will be added to families' and businesses' power bills. As we know, these endless kilometres of wind turbines and solar panels and 28,000 kilometres of additional transmission lines are impacting rural and regional areas, and farmers and food production. This is also, sadly, dividing neighbours, dividing friends and dividing communities. That's appalling. I'm also concerned about reports regarding the fine plastic coming off turbines over time and farmers having to make declarations that will affect their businesses, their markets and their profits in time. I read that farmers who graze livestock under solar panels, wind turbines or other renewable energy infrastructure must now declare it under the national on-farm livestock assurance program. Equally, I understand that this change to the Livestock Production Assurance program was quietly introduced in September. Farmers and producers are rightly very concerned about the potential consequences of this. Meat & Livestock Australia contracts a company called Integrity Systems Company to manage its Livestock Production Assurance process. This process requires farmers to identify any chemical or physical contamination risks to livestock from equipment or infrastructure that may be degrading with age…
date: 2025-02-11T20:20:00+00:00

National Capital and External Territories Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
type: item
description: I want to thank the chair and acknowledge her work in this inquiry and also thank all members of the committee who were part of it and showed such a great interest in and passion for what...
encoded: I want to thank the chair and acknowledge her work in this inquiry and also thank all members of the committee who were part of it and showed such a great interest in and passion for what Australia is contributing in Antarctica. I also thank the secretariat, particularly Fran Denny and Sam Thompson, as the chair referred to. But the really important part of this, from my point of view, was the recommendation regarding the capacity for inspections, particularly in relation to Australia's national security interest. I think that was very important in the recommendations that we made, in relation to inspections and the increased interest of other nations in Antarctica and for Australia to maintain the focus on the agreements that we have in Antarctica. I was very pleased, particularly as the coalition government commissioned the RSV Nuyina, to see that craft, to see its amazing capacity and capabilities, and to see the great passion that all of the staff and scientists that we met had. I think the Nuyina is just fantastic and is a credit to everyone involved, as to not only the design but also how it will operate ahead. It brings renewed opportunity, as we will see. I think we'll see the quality of the research that will come out. We were fascinated by the krill, by the CO2 sequestration that's contained in krill, by the massive amount of krill in Antarctica and by the fact that our scientists have been able to actually have those onsite and observe them in such a fashion. That multidisciplinary research is so important with the Nuyina now. I think there's huge opportunity there for Australian scientists and for the new scientists coming through. It gives them a fabulous platform to work with and from. I think it will encourage even more young people to be involved in Antarctic type research. So that's fantastic. But I do certainly strongly support the idea of a second resupply vessel, as this became very apparent to us. There's the need for Nuyina to focus on that res…
date: 2025-02-10T12:44:00+00:00

Forrest Electorate: Emergency Services | Adjournment | House debates
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description: Summer is ahead of us and I want to acknowledge all of the volunteer emergency services people in my electorate and even around Australia who will be flat out. In my electorate, the volunteers in...
encoded: Summer is ahead of us and I want to acknowledge all of the volunteer emergency services people in my electorate and even around Australia who will be flat out. In my electorate, the volunteers in Forrest will be working overtime with the amount of tourists as well as locals they look after, and they do an amazing job. I look at my surf life saving clubs along the coast. We all have surf life saving clubs that do an amazing job. In WA in the 2022-23 report, it said 90 per cent of the drowning deaths in Western Australia were men, which was up 17 per cent on the year before. While 52 per cent of those occurred at a beach, over 90 per cent were over a kilometre from a surf lifesaving service, which, in itself, tells a story. The surf lifesavers provided first aid and prevented accidents and incidents for nearly 70,000 people. There were over 550,000 people who were caught in a rip that they were able to help. The other group that I want to mention is our fire and emergency services. In WA, we have 27,000 volunteers. They just have such a big job to do. I look at my area in the south-west of the state, the cape-to-cape region, which has significant fuel loads and is a great challenge for our fire and emergency services. In 2023-24 the comms centre answered approximately 40,000 calls. The volunteers and career firefighters responded to 3,200 crash rescue incidents, 5,800 bushfires and 1,500 search-and-rescue efforts. That includes the likes of our volunteer marine and sea rescue group as well. Look at the number of hours that our volunteers dedicate to our emergency services. To those of us who live in rural and regional parts of Australia, often it's all volunteers or majority volunteers, and they do an extraordinary job. I also want to recognise St John Ambulance. We had 4,288 St John's volunteers listed in that 2022-23 report. Having a mum who was a St John Ambulance attendant—and our home phone was the ambulance phone all her life—I cannot tell you how important it i…
date: 2024-11-27T19:48:00+00:00

Endometriosis | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: I was really proud of the Medical Research Future Fund that we put in place when in government and of being part of developing the first-ever national plan for endometriosis not only in Australia...
encoded: I was really proud of the Medical Research Future Fund that we put in place when in government and of being part of developing the first-ever national plan for endometriosis not only in Australia but in the world. I'm really pleased that Endometriosis Australia has offered a new scholarship to train more endo nurses for regional, rural and remote areas to treat this condition and disease that affects one in seven-to-nine women in Australia. This was part of the original plan, and I'm very pleased that that's getting closer to fulfilment. Can I also recommend that women with endo have a look at CHARLI. The CHARLI app allows Australian women to take control of their diagnosis and manage this debilitating and highly undiagnosed condition. Can I also encourage more of our young women to be able to access to PPEP Talk. These are pelvic pain talks that are being delivered into schools. I want to see as many young women as possible listen to those talks and know when the right time is to seek more help and to understand they need to look at whether they are affected by endometriosis. The sooner that we get to it, the more chance they've got of recovery and a great life.
date: 2024-11-27T13:41:00+00:00

Australian Broadcasting Corporation | Grievance Debate | House debates
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description: The ABC plays an important role in many of our regional and remote communities, particularly in thin regional communication markets and during emergencies. Many years ago, I was proud to be...
encoded: The ABC plays an important role in many of our regional and remote communities, particularly in thin regional communication markets and during emergencies. Many years ago, I was proud to be selected as an ABC Rural Woman of the Year. Well, I'm actually not proud of the ABC anymore—I'm appalled and disgusted. The ABC has become openly Green Left, politically biased and, too often, totally inaccurate—representing, by majority, city-centric elite activists in its news and current affairs delivery. It's no wonder, because the majority of the ABC's staff are located in cities. The 2023-24 annual report shows that 4,520 staff are based in metro areas and that only 594 are in regional and remote areas. No wonder we've seen the direct attacks on rural and regional farmers in how the city-centric ABC reported on the live cattle and live sheep issues. It was reported in such a way that the then Labor government first shut down the live cattle trade, and this has now been followed up with the shutting down of the live sheep trade. In each case, in the initial reporting, the ABC told only one side of the story—and what appalling attacks on our farmers and our regional communities as a result! I believe and hope that some of our regional ABC journalists actually understood the damage that has been done. I have watched the bias and politicisation of city ABC news and current affairs for years, and it has progressively got worse. I will never forget some years ago, when we were in government, when in 2016 I read a terribly inaccurate ABC story about the sexual assault of a child in Nauru that proved to be completely false. The list goes on and on. I kept a file of those for so many years. But the final straw has come for me as a result of the ABC's sustained attacks on our Australian Defence Force over the last few years, culminating in the deliberate and calculated falsifying of video footage, which was literally doctored footage inserted by the ABC into a story that was clearly …
date: 2024-11-26T18:43:00+00:00

Rare Foods Australia | Adjournment | House debates
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description: Congratulations to Brad and Jodee Adams on their company, Rare Foods Australia. Not only is it producing the only ocean-grown green-lip abalone in the world where two oceans, the Indian and...
encoded: Congratulations to Brad and Jodee Adams on their company, Rare Foods Australia. Not only is it producing the only ocean-grown green-lip abalone in the world where two oceans, the Indian and Southern oceans, meet around Cape Leeuwin, off Augusta in my electorate of Forrest; in another world first, they're also producing Southern Hemisphere subsea wine, the first in our open ocean waters, over a kilometre off the coast. Following a three-year successful trial period, Brad Adams, who has always pursued innovation and opportunity at Rare Foods, is now investing in Australia's first subsea wine production through ocean cellaring. Brad and his team are both fermenting and maturing wine in the ocean, using 22 subsea vats tethered to the ocean floor with specialised sea anchors that don't disturb the sea grass at around 20 meters in depth in the Rare Foods ocean lease zone. Each vat contains around 300 litres of wine maintained in suspension. At this depth, the fermentation takes on a different aroma and flavour than wine produced using traditional land based methods. It takes around nine to 12 months but tasting starts at around six months. I'm sure there are plenty of volunteers for that! It's the ocean current that naturally provides the refrigeration and movement, the gentle sway providing the constant movement needed in winemaking. It is in low light and in a consistent temperature and pressure environment under the ocean. Following the company's subsea wine trials, Rare Foods is now partnering with the French company Winereef International. Brad brought to this arrangement the boats, the experience, the divers and the infrastructure, and he has a very dynamic 'have a go' approach as well as very sharp business and commercial acumen. Rare Foods has another ace up its sleeve, with access to the world-renowned premium Margaret River wines, and they will be branded as Ocean Signature. This is a match made in heaven and a totally new offering for the market and for the reg…
date: 2024-11-26T19:39:00+00:00

Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
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description: I began my first speech in this parliament by thanking the people in my electorate of Forrest for the faith and confidence they showed in electing me to represent them in the federal parliament....
encoded: I began my first speech in this parliament by thanking the people in my electorate of Forrest for the faith and confidence they showed in electing me to represent them in the federal parliament. In this, my valedictory speech, I thank them most sincerely for that faith and confidence over six elections. It has been an honour and a privilege to serve you—the people of Forrest—during these years, and I've been absolutely grateful for every single day I've had here. Can I also thank my colleagues who are here in the chamber today? They are here in the same way that many of you supported my maiden speech 17 years ago as the 1,038th member of this House, out of only 1,244 in total now. I was part of the class of 2007, after the election where there were only seven Liberals—Rowan Ramsey, Luke Simpkins, Steve Irons, Scott Morrison, Alex Hawke, Stuart Robert and our one newly elected National Party member Mark Coulton. Even though the coalition lost that election, I can well remember the excitement we all shared. We have worked so well together; this speech is my opportunity to say thank you. Firstly I thank those who have actively worked with me over the years to identify and help me secure what has actually been unprecedented federal investment in infrastructure projects and programs delivered into the south-west during my time as the member for Forrest. This includes the people in my electorate and my coalition colleagues during our nine years in government who understood and responded to the need for, and supported, this critical investment—investment that was so badly needed in what is one of the fastest-growing, most economically diverse dynamic and productive regional areas in Australia. With mining resource manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, construction, tourism and retail, the south-west is its own economic powerhouse. It's also a region where people increasingly choose to live, to work, to raise a family, to invest and to retire. The federal governm…
date: 2024-11-18T15:48:00+00:00

Renewable Energy | Adjournment | House debates
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description: On behalf of my communities in the south-west of WA, I want to sincerely thank the Leader of the Opposition, who recently came to my electorate to announce that, under a coalition government,...
encoded: On behalf of my communities in the south-west of WA, I want to sincerely thank the Leader of the Opposition, who recently came to my electorate to announce that, under a coalition government, there will be no offshore wind farm in our iconic pristine Geographe Bay, one of the most naturally beautiful parts of Australia and indeed the world. I specifically want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for listening to the majority of our south-west community members, who are strongly opposed to this seriously flawed Labor government proposal. Our communities know that this Labor wind-farm plan does not add up on economic, environmental or social grounds. However, what we also know is that, as always, Labor is simply steamrolling regional communities in its obsession to get to its 82 per cent renewable target by 2030, done by ruthlessly riding roughshod over our communities, forcing our regional communities to bear the burden of Labor's intermittent, unreliable renewables-only obsession. Put simply, Labor's green dream is our regional communities' worst nightmare. Just look at Broken Hill as a prime example of what happens to regional and remote communities dependent on the unreliability of Labor's renewables and battery storage policy. Picture hundreds and hundreds of around 300-metre turbines covering 4,000 square kilometres of Geographe Bay. What a dreadful and appalling blight on the major tourism and recreation attraction in the south-west of WA. For countless locals, as well as the tens of thousands of visitors to the south-west, Geographe Bay is the drawcard. It is their amazing marine recreation area for boating, fishing and diving, for instance. It is without question absolutely the wrong place for Labor's wind farm. There will be massive costs in the construction, maintenance and removal that we will have to pay for by way of our power bills. There will be kilometres of undersea cables, and substations will have to be installed to bring that energy ashore, caus…
date: 2024-11-07T16:50:00+00:00

Aged Care Bill 2024, Aged Care Legislation Amendment Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: Dignified.
encoded: Dignified.
date: 2024-11-06T18:23:00+00:00

Forrest Electorate: Sport | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: I rise to celebrate the 14-year career of Kookaburras captain Aran Zalewski, who has announced his retirement from international hockey. Aran grew up in Margaret River and developed his love of...
encoded: I rise to celebrate the 14-year career of Kookaburras captain Aran Zalewski, who has announced his retirement from international hockey. Aran grew up in Margaret River and developed his love of hockey playing with the Margaret River Hockey Club in the South West League. He debuted for the Kookaburras as a 19-year-old in a clash against India in Bunbury, very quickly cementing himself as a very competitive centre half and midfielder. Aran leaves the national team as one of their most decorated players of the modern era, winning three Commonwealth Games gold medals, one World Cup and the Champions Trophy twice. At Olympic level, he has represented Australia three times, winning a silver medal at the 2020 Tokyo Games. Outside of hockey, Aran is a fierce advocate for the south-west in sports and ensures that regional athletes have access to sporting opportunities and facilities. He became a dad last year, so I'm sure he'll be looking forward to extra time with his family. But he's not stepping away from hockey altogether. He'll be representing the Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey India League starting in December. But I wanted to congratulate Aran on a stellar career for the Kookaburras and for proving once again that in Australia you are not limited by your postcode. Congratulations also to Harvey local Joe Comito, who has earned the title of Australia's top darts player, dominating the Australian Pro Tour. He will also represent Australia at the Paddy Power World Darts Championship in December in London. Best of luck to Joe. Also congratulations to Sophia Tomas, who recently won a karate gold medal at the World Shoto Cup in London. She is from Harvey. Over 350 competitors from 18 countries took part in the competition, and Sophia took home gold in the over-18s division. Again, you are not limited by your postcode in this country. Finally—and this is a different one—what a top job Cruiser did, the six-year-old hardworking sheep-wrangling kelpie from Yalyalup in my elector…
date: 2024-11-06T09:46:00+00:00

Relay For Life | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Last weekend, Bunbury held its fantastic Relay For Life event. I want to thank the amazing volunteers who have run this relay for around 20 years. It's a 24-hour team based event and, of course,...
encoded: Last weekend, Bunbury held its fantastic Relay For Life event. I want to thank the amazing volunteers who have run this relay for around 20 years. It's a 24-hour team based event and, of course, it's designed to raise awareness of cancer and help fund Cancer Council WA's research, prevention and support services. Participants walk, jog and, sometimes, dance their way around the oval for 24 hours, which reflects the continuous nature of the struggle cancer victims live with each year. This year there were around 407 people in 41 teams who raised about $184,000. Over the years Bunbury has raised nearly $5 million to support Western Australians impacted by cancer. There are costumes, live music and food trucks making sure that everybody is well fed and full of energy, in a wonderful carnival-like atmosphere. Two special ceremonies occur: the cancer survivors' morning tea that honours those that have come through their cancer journey and the candlelit ceremony that is a tribute to those loved ones who have lost their cancer fight. It's an inspirational overnight event that unites people and local communities in their vision for a cancer-free future. I want to congratulate everyone who is involved—the wonderful volunteers who have been at this for over 20 years—and I congratulate those who received awards for their countless years of service to Relay For Life.
date: 2024-11-06T13:45:00+00:00

Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: It's a good point. Australia or Russia? I chose to live in Australia. I love the place, and I love the rights and freedoms. Every time we do a citizenship ceremony, freedom of speech comes up as...
encoded: It's a good point. Australia or Russia? I chose to live in Australia. I love the place, and I love the rights and freedoms. Every time we do a citizenship ceremony, freedom of speech comes up as one of the things that we are so proud of. We in this place should be protecting at all costs those rights and freedoms that people from around the world come here to be able to enjoy, that they often can't in the country that they've come from. Yet here we are discussing something that is deliberately putting those rights at risk. Fake news has been around forever in all sorts of forms. It is up to each one of us to decide what that is and to act accordingly. It is not up to the government to decide what the truth is. I am profoundly concerned that this bill is even before the House.
date: 2024-11-06T12:54:00+00:00

Communications Legislation Amendment (Combatting Misinformation and Disinformation) Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: It is not up to the government via ACMA to decide or dictate what the truth actually is. I am proud that we, the coalition, oppose this Draconian legislation and will repeal it in government...
encoded: It is not up to the government via ACMA to decide or dictate what the truth actually is. I am proud that we, the coalition, oppose this Draconian legislation and will repeal it in government because freedom of speech is an absolute fundamental to our democracy. By contrast, it is the clear intent of the Labor government to censor, silence, control, find and punish Australians for our online content by imposing and enforcing obligations on digital platforms. This is the most antidemocratic, anti-free-speech legislation I have seen since coming into this parliament in 2007. I actually never thought I would see the day when in this country, a proud country that is globally acknowledged and highly respected as a liberal democratic society, we would be debating a bill that is explicitly designed to censor and silence the Australian people, to deny us our freedom of speech and freedom of opinion, to deny Australians the right to frank, fearless and honest debates. We need to hear the views of people we disagree with. But what I believe Labor is really doing is preventing anyone who disagrees with the government from having their say, especially in the run to the election. The government will control what we read, see, hear and share online in the election campaign via ACMA. Labor is seeking to directly prevent anyone who disagrees with the government from having their say. This is a bill that strikes at the very heart of free speech, a key pillar of Australia's hard-fought-for and protected democratic freedoms and liberties. Over 103,000 Australian servicemen and women have fought and died for our democratic values. One of those was my sister's dad—my mother's husband—who was killed in Papua New Guinea in World War II. They fought to protect and preserve our healthy functioning democracy, a democracy that not only requires but should demand freedom of speech, where a diversity of ideas, views and opinions right across the ideological and political spectrum are encouraged,…
date: 2024-11-06T12:54:00+00:00

Western Australia | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: There is one question Western Australians need to answer: have you actually been better or worse off since Labor came to government in 2022? In WA, we know Labor has delivered higher costs of...
encoded: There is one question Western Australians need to answer: have you actually been better or worse off since Labor came to government in 2022? In WA, we know Labor has delivered higher costs of living, higher mortgages, 12 interest rate rises, higher costs of doing business, shortages of housing and rental properties, and shortages of skilled workers in spite of record immigration. Western Australians are paying higher prices, higher taxes and higher mortgage repayments because of Labor's homegrown inflation. Labor is trying desperately to manipulate headline inflation through taxpayer funded subsidies, subsidies that will be paid for by current and future generations of WA taxpayers. Over and above this, let's consider how Labor is deliberately and actively damaging Western Australia by closing the live sheep trade. As a farmer myself, I well understand why WA farmers know that the Labor government believes that we are expendable, that we simply don't matter. Axing the live sheep trade is a prime example. We Western Australians know that Labor is totally east coast, city, elite, activist focused, dictating to and actively sacrificing WA farmers and our communities. Every family and farming business matters in regional communities. That is something that Labor either doesn't understand or couldn't care less about. Each one of these businesses keeps their community going by buying locally from other small businesses and contractors. Livestock transporters, shearers, truckies, stock agents, schools, vets, mechanics and other small businesses are the lifeblood of rural and regional Australia. They're the ones that support our local volunteer emergency services, and sporting and community groups. Every local dollar that circulates in these communities helps to keep the whole community sustainable. How about the dreadful financial and personal stress this is forcing onto our farmers and their families? Labor couldn't give a damn in WA. When I watched the then Labor ag mini…
date: 2024-11-04T18:23:00+00:00

Forrest Electorate: Community Services | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to acknowledge the many years of hard work and kindness of local Bunbury mechanic Nathan Reed. Nathan, the owner of Advanced Auto Solutions, has since 2016 partnered with the South West...
encoded: I rise to acknowledge the many years of hard work and kindness of local Bunbury mechanic Nathan Reed. Nathan, the owner of Advanced Auto Solutions, has since 2016 partnered with the South West Refuge, a women's refuge now known as Harbour, providing used, roadworthy vehicles to women and families affected by domestic violence. Nathan takes vehicles that have been kindly donated, works on them at his own cost to ensure they're roadworthy and pays for a period of registration of those vehicles before donating them to women and families in need. A recent recipient of his generosity is a mother of four who previously had to spend up to $80 a day on taxis to get her kids to school and other activities. On top of the donation, Nathan has covered the cost of two ongoing services for the vehicle itself. These are lifechanging donations. Nathan, because of you, women and their families are able to start rebuilding their lives after dealing with the trauma of domestic violence and regain a sense of independence. Your generosity and hard work are a great example of the impact one act of kindness can have on a person's future. Thank you also to the community members who donate the vehicles that allow these women a fresh start. Anyone who can help, please get in touch with my office, and we'll put you in touch with Nathan. Any help you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
date: 2024-11-04T16:13:00+00:00