Darren Chester's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-10T22:05:30+00:00
items: Labor Government | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Victoria: Bushfires | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Flags Amendment (Protection of Australian National Flags) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Gippsland Electorate: Roads, Cycling Without Age | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Economy | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Molineux, Ms Sophie Grace | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
items: Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal) Bill 2025 | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Mallacoota-Genoa Road | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Remembrance Day, Australian War Memorial | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Albanese Government: Rural and Regional Australia | Statements by Members | House debates

Labor Government | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: The member for Canning.
encoded: The member for Canning.
date: 2026-02-10T13:58:00+00:00

Victoria: Bushfires | Private Members' Business | House debates
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description: Bingo—bingo! The member for Nicholls is spot on, because these were the skilled workers in the bush with the equipment that we relied on to keep us safe. In an act of absolute political...
encoded: Bingo—bingo! The member for Nicholls is spot on, because these were the skilled workers in the bush with the equipment that we relied on to keep us safe. In an act of absolute political bastardry—ideology gone mad—the Labor-Greens in Victoria combined to shut down the native hardwood timber industry, and our communities are less safe as a direct result of that policy decision. So I call on the Victorian parliament—the Liberals and the Nationals, I wish you all the best in the lead-up to next election—if you get that opportunity, restore the native hardwood timber industry to help keep our communities safe. Now, finally, I want to reflect just on one other point. I do admire locals who manage to maintain their passion and enthusiasm for practical environmental management, even in the face of all this hostility from the Labor-Greens in Melbourne. And one of those locals is a fellow by the name of John Mulligan. John is 94 and he's just launched his new book called Our Mismanaged Forests, which draws on his decades of experience of living and working in the bush. Now, John is a survivor of the 1939 Black Friday bushfires. He's seen, right throughout East Gippsland, all the major fire events which have impacted our community over the nine decades of his life. In his book he highlights again the consequences of accumulated fuel loads and the lack of consistent fuel management and fuel reduction burns in our community, and also the importance of adopting some of the practices of the Indigenous people who were here for thousands of years, long before whitefellas turned up, and who were using firestick technology to actually reduce the fuel loads. So John Mulligan advocates for communities to learn to live with good fire in the environment as a means of reducing the risk of these mega-fires which do so much damage. In closing, I thank the volunteers. I thank those who've done so much to help our community recover. But I call on the Victorian government to please do more to …
date: 2026-02-09T19:14:00+00:00

Victoria: Bushfires | Private Members' Business | House debates
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description: In seconding the motion from the member for Nicholls, I commend him for bringing the House's attention to the terrible events that occurred in Victoria over the January period. Now, we do live in...
encoded: In seconding the motion from the member for Nicholls, I commend him for bringing the House's attention to the terrible events that occurred in Victoria over the January period. Now, we do live in a very fire-prone environment in Victoria, and the conditions in the north-eastern and western parts of the state have been very dry. I want to commend the volunteers and the agencies involved in the suppression work and in the immediate relief and recovery efforts as well, and extend my condolences to those who have lost property in those fire events. We need to be doing more to front-end our efforts around prevention, around mitigation and around resilience when it comes to managing bushfire in the environment. We do live in a fire-prone environment in Victoria, and the risk of out-of-control blazes and the damage they can do to properties, to lives and to native animals need to be properly understood. I invite those listening to think about the components of these catastrophic events. To have a fire of this magnitude, you obviously need some sort of ignition point, and there will always be ignition points. It could be a lightning strike, it could be an accident, it could be equipment failure or it could be some idiot with a match. You also need dry, windy conditions. And low and behold, in Victoria, in summer we will have days that are dry and windy. But you also need a fuel load and that is the essence of the motion before the House today—the question of fuel load and mitigation and prevention activities. The only thing we can really control when it comes to bushfires is the temperature associated with the fuel load. If we manage the fuel load, we can just turn down the severity, turn down the temperature a bit so the damage to the environment, the damage to properties, the damage to people trying to fight these fires is minimised. We have to do more to reduce the fuel load, particularly on public land in Victoria. I've said it before that to do that you need more boots…
date: 2026-02-09T19:14:00+00:00

Flags Amendment (Protection of Australian National Flags) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
encoded: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
date: 2026-02-09T10:14:00+00:00

Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The minister has had several opportunities in question time this week to explain when Australian families can expect the $275...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The minister has had several opportunities in question time this week to explain when Australian families can expect the $275 reduction in their power bills promised by the Prime Minister. Will the minister finally admit the Prime Minister wasn't telling the truth and not a single Australian family has seen the $275 reduction? Minister, why can't anyone in the Labor Party accept responsibility and just say 'sorry' to the Australian people, who are struggling under Labor's cost-of-living crisis?
date: 2026-02-05T14:42:00+00:00

Gippsland Electorate: Roads, Cycling Without Age | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: 'Just fix our bloody roads.' That is the constant message I'm receiving from Gippslanders. Whether it's from families, truck drivers or holidaymakers, they are coming to my office and they are...
encoded: 'Just fix our bloody roads.' That is the constant message I'm receiving from Gippslanders. Whether it's from families, truck drivers or holidaymakers, they are coming to my office and they are complaining that our road network is falling apart. It's falling apart because the Labor Party, at state level and at federal level, is starving regional Victorians of road funding for maintenance and improvements to their road network. We are all expected to drive cars that are roadworthy. Surely, then, it's reasonable to expect our governments to give us roads that are car-worthy. The worst example is the Princes Highway, which is the main arterial route through Gippsland and which links our community right through to the New South Wales border. Would you believe the Albanese government has not provided a single cent in new funding for the Princes Highway in more than four years in government? This is a disgrace—not one dollar in new funding for the major highway that runs through Gippsland in four years. No wonder we are dodging potholes and the road shoulders are falling apart. It's endangering people's lives and adding to the cost-of-living pressures as people have to fix their cars because the government won't fix the roads. It gets worse. Would you believe there's unallocated funding available for the highway? Last year, Senate estimates confirmed there's $133.8 million in unallocated funding still available for use on the Princes Highway, which is money that was left in the highway fund from the previous coalition government. The work's not getting done, because the state government won't pay its share. The message is clear. Just fix the bloody roads. Cycling Without Age is a worldwide phenomenon. There are more than 3,000 chapters right around the world and 46 chapters in Australia. It was first established in 2012 in Denmark. Cycling Without Age, I'm proud to say, has been established in Gippsland through a committee that I have organised with some local volunteers. …
date: 2026-02-04T10:10:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: I gave him his best material!
encoded: I gave him his best material!
date: 2026-02-04T14:02:00+00:00

Economy | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: Way to go, Bubble Boy!
encoded: Way to go, Bubble Boy!
date: 2026-02-04T14:02:00+00:00

Molineux, Ms Sophie Grace | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: Like all members in this place, I do enjoy the opportunity to speak at my local schools on occasion. Among the key messages that I like to pass onto students is just a little reminder that you...
encoded: Like all members in this place, I do enjoy the opportunity to speak at my local schools on occasion. Among the key messages that I like to pass onto students is just a little reminder that you should never sell yourself short and never forget where you came from. I want young Gippslanders to be able to achieve their full potential in their chosen field and never to think for a second that a kid from a country town can't achieve great things in their life and do something if they just work hard and put their mind to it. And, in saying that, it brings me to a young Australian who has just been named the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game: Sophie Molineux from Bairnsdale. Sophie was born and raised in Bairnsdale. She played her first cricket as a 10-year-old alongside her father Mark, and she has been a member of the national team since 2018. But the journey for Sophie hasn't been that easy. She has sustained serious injuries during her cricket-playing career which have curtailed her opportunities to play at an international level. So I can say with great pride and great authority on behalf of all Gippslanders how excited they are to see Sophie Molineux selected as the Australian women's cricket captain across all three forms of the game. This is a young lady who has never given up, and she's never forgotten where she came from.
date: 2026-02-04T13:52:00+00:00

Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: It speaks volumes of those opposite that not one of them has stood up, since the member for Bendigo did, to seek to defend this legislation, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism...
encoded: It speaks volumes of those opposite that not one of them has stood up, since the member for Bendigo did, to seek to defend this legislation, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026, because this is bad legislation. This is bad legislation which has been rushed into the parliament, with no consultation, to solve a political problem for the Prime Minister. And that is the form of this prime minister. This year, the member for Grayndler celebrates his 30th year in parliament. The Prime Minister is the ultimate insider who is always trying to find a political solution to any problem he faces. His basic instinct after the tragedy at Bondi was to try to find a political solution, and the first scapegoat he found was the law-abiding gun owners in this country. Never forget: we have some of the strictest gun laws in the world. This prime minister has sought to distract and divide the population by pointing to gun owners now and saying, 'We have to take those guns away from you.' There has been no consultation. I've been to gun-shop owners in my electorate to ask them, 'What consultation was there with you?' How many guns is it reasonable for a person to have? You just heard the member for Dawson explain that it is reasonable for a keen licensed shooter to have multiple guns for different tasks, because different guns do different things in the hands of a law-abiding citizen. It is quite reasonable for someone who may be involved in clay-target shooting to have a shotgun for that purpose, a different shotgun for duck shooting, maybe a light-calibre rifle for control of pests like rabbits and a different calibre rifle for control of deer or pigs. Very easily, a law-abiding Australian pursuing their sport as a hunter or a sporting shooter, or just a farmer doing their job, would rapidly have half a dozen guns with no problem whatsoever. And they are no threat to the Australian public. Yet this government and this prime minister, se…
date: 2026-01-20T09:49:00+00:00

Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
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description: In speaking in support of the Prime Minister's motion, and on behalf of Gippslanders, I want to extend my condolences to the families and the loved ones of the 15 innocent Jewish Australians who...
encoded: In speaking in support of the Prime Minister's motion, and on behalf of Gippslanders, I want to extend my condolences to the families and the loved ones of the 15 innocent Jewish Australians who were murdered at Bondi Beach in the worst terrorism attack on Australian soil. I want to commend speakers on both sides of the chamber for their contributions today, but specifically the many fine words that have been spoken by people like the member for Berowra, the member for Isaacs, the member for Wentworth and the Deputy Prime Minister. One of their central themes was that Australia has been good to the Jewish people. Australia has been a safe place—a place where Jews have not been persecuted for their faith as they have been in other parts of the world. After the horror of the Holocaust, many Jewish people came to Australia and helped to build the nation that we all enjoy today. So, yes, Australia has been good to the Jewish people, but the Jewish people have been good to Australia as well. There are so many leaders in business, in defence, in politics and in our cultural and broader civic life—the Jewish people have been good to Australia. The terrorism attack, tragically, has stoked fear and division as it undermines the Australia that we all believe in in this place. Collectively, we have failed Jewish Australians in this place. We have to accept our share of responsibility for failing to keep them safe. Self-evidently, we failed to keep them safe as they went about practising their religion and celebrating a special time in their families' lives. We have to ask the right questions. We have to learn the lessons and we have to commit ourselves to protecting the rights and the freedoms of all Australians. I think my friend the member for Berowra said it best when he told the House: Without change—without political change, without cultural change and without a reprioritisation of antisemitism as the foundational threat to this country—what we have seen will get worse. I…
date: 2026-01-19T14:43:00+00:00

Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal) Bill 2025 | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: I withdraw.
encoded: I withdraw.
date: 2025-11-26T13:57:00+00:00

Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal) Bill 2025 | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: The Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal) Bill 2025 is the mean spirited bill which attempted to gut the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. Without...
encoded: The Defence Amendment (Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal) Bill 2025 is the mean spirited bill which attempted to gut the independent Defence Honours and Awards Appeals Tribunal. Without any consultation whatsoever, the Minister for Veterans' Affairs developed a plan which had no support from day one. But everyone on that side of the House voted for it. Every one of you voted to strip away the appeal rights of Australian Defence Force personnel and our veterans while also placing a 20-year time limit on the heroic actions of our servicemen and servicewomen. This bill is a disgrace. The minister couldn't name a single veteran who supported it—not one veteran!—when he was challenged in this place. There were 75 submissions to the Senate inquiry, and 74 opposed the bill. Now, in the most humiliating retreat, the bill has been discharged from the Senate because not even Labor senators wanted to vote for it. Prime Minister, you and your minister owe our veterans an apology for the stress and anxiety you caused. Why won't you just say sorry, Prime Minister? Forget about trying to fix this disgraceful bill. Just tear it up and throw it in the bin. It's time to focus on the real issues affecting our veterans. Why won't you focus on the real issues? Oh, you can speak now, Jim Reaper? The Jim Reaper speaks, finally! Not a word on that awards tribunal—you're a chicken liver! (Time expired)
date: 2025-11-26T13:57:00+00:00

Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: There was one; you're right, Member for Riverina. There was one supporting submission, and the one supporting submission—what a surprise—came from the Department of Defence. The...
encoded: There was one; you're right, Member for Riverina. There was one supporting submission, and the one supporting submission—what a surprise—came from the Department of Defence. The department that wrote the legislation was the only submitter to the Senate inquiry that could speak positively of the bill. So I make no apologies for getting angry at the dispatch box. I make no apologies for raising my concerns publicly, vociferously and in tandem with my colleagues on this side of the House, because the Department of Defence stuffed this up from day one. The Department of Defence did not consult with the tribunal, did not show any respect to ex-service organisations or stakeholders, and did not consult with the opposition, and what you ended up with was an alarming amount of stress and anxiety in the community as a direct result of the department's failure. When this legislation came to the House it was telling that among the 90-plus members of the Labor Party the minister and one other member spoke on it—just two of them. They were only two they could find willing to speak on the legislation. I'm glad the decision was made to discharge the legislation from the Senate. I say to the minister—don't bring it back in its current form. Don't even think about bringing it back with a 20-year time limit and don't even think about bringing it back with restrictions on who can seek a review, because we will have this fight all over again, and I know what the Australian people think about putting a time limit on 'We will remember them'. We are here as an opposition to work with the government where we can, as we have with this legislation here today. We stand ready to support urgent, meaningful reforms that deliver better outcomes for veterans and their families, and I look forward to working in the spirit of collaboration, particularly around the recommendations of the royal commission. I think it's going to need a bipartisan commitment to make it happen. It's going to need a bipar…
date: 2025-11-26T12:26:00+00:00

Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: I say at the outset that the coalition will be supporting the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill. I would like to acknowledge the presence of...
encoded: I say at the outset that the coalition will be supporting the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Bill. I would like to acknowledge the presence of the minister in the chamber today as well and make this simple point: wherever possible, the coalition will follow a principle of bipartisanship on issues impacting our veterans and their families. That's a longstanding principle, I think, on both sides of the chamber, in fact, that, where possible, the major parties in this place have worked together to try to improve the system of support for veterans and their families. I encourage the government to continue to work with the opposition in that regard and in that spirit going forward. Like the Labor Party, as the previous speaker indicated, we believe, on this side of the House, that we have a proud record in terms of working to reform the system of support for veterans and their families. While in office, the coalition parties worked diligently with the Department of Veterans' Affairs on a wide range of reforms to improve the system and make it fit for purpose for the modern-day veterans. One of the challenges in this portfolio, in this space, is acknowledging that the needs of different generations of veterans are very different. It's very tempting, when you see our men and women in uniform, to think that they're all the same. They kind of look the same in their different uniforms of Navy, Army and Air Force, but beating beneath the surface of the uniform is a heart and a soul of an individual person who may have different needs when they leave the Defence Force. Making sure that our system of support is fit for purpose for all generations of veterans is one of the critical challenges facing this chamber and this government and that has faced previous governments. I want to commend the minister for his endeavours in that regard. We recognise, on this side of the House—as the minister himself has recognised on many occasion…
date: 2025-11-26T12:26:00+00:00

Mallacoota-Genoa Road | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: This is a section of the Mallacoota-Genoa Road. I picked it up on the weekend, and I brought it with me here to parliament this week, because I wanted to prove a point. Our roads in Victoria are...
encoded: This is a section of the Mallacoota-Genoa Road. I picked it up on the weekend, and I brought it with me here to parliament this week, because I wanted to prove a point. Our roads in Victoria are falling apart, and the state Labor Party is doing nothing about it. Now notice the white line on this bit of road. It's important to acknowledge that, because that means that the side of the road has fallen off. You now have a small cliff. If people towing boats, towing caravans, drop a wheel over the side, they are in peril of losing their lives. This crumbling road has no shoulders. It's dangerous and is putting the lives of locals and visitors at risk. Worse than that is that more than four years ago, in May 2021, I secured $10 million from the previous federal government, as part of the Black Spots Program, to upgrade this road—the only access road between Mallacoota and Genoa—and we are still waiting, more than four years later, for the Victorian government to spend a single dollar on the actual road. How can it be possible that it takes more than four years to spend the $10 million provided by the Commonwealth to upgrade the highest priority project in the Mallacoota-Genoa area? It's incompetence on a grand scale. Lives are being put at risk. The road is falling apart. I plead with Victorian government: just fix the bloody road.
date: 2025-11-24T16:21:00+00:00

Remembrance Day, Australian War Memorial | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: The coalition associates itself with the kind remarks of the member for Aston upon the death of Ben and sends our best wishes to his family as well. The Great War was meant to be the war to end...
encoded: The coalition associates itself with the kind remarks of the member for Aston upon the death of Ben and sends our best wishes to his family as well. The Great War was meant to be the war to end all wars. Across the world, somewhere between 15 and 22 million people were killed. Of those, 9½ million were service personnel. Six million Allied service personnel died during the Great War and, tragically for our own great nation of Australia, there were 60,000 fatalities. Many more returned home carrying the battle scars and the mental health impacts for the rest of their lives. But on 11 November at 11 am in 1918, the guns fell silent on the Western Front. Each year, our nation stops on 11 November. We observe a minute's silence out of respect and in solemn commemoration of those who lost their lives. It was originally known as Armistice Day, but became known as Remembrance Day after World War II to respect all who have died in conflicts. Throughout our nation's short history, 102,000 service men and women have died defending the freedoms that we all enjoy here today. On Remembrance Day, we will remember them. I often tell school children when they visit Parliament House that our most important building in Canberra is actually the Australian War Memorial. I'm very proud to have been part of a government which delivered $500 million for the redevelopment of the War Memorial. It is a legacy from the coalition government that will allow us to tell the stories of more modern conflicts and peacekeeping missions at a time when those veterans and their families are still able to appreciate it. What's concerning me, though, right now is that the Albanese government has actually failed to announce new members of the Australian War Memorial governing body and veterans are increasingly nervous about why these delays are in place. Now is not the time for a half-strength governing body at our most important national institution where we respect, recognise and commemorate our service …
date: 2025-11-06T11:28:00+00:00

Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: They were big businesses when we were in government!
encoded: They were big businesses when we were in government!
date: 2025-11-05T15:26:00+00:00

Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: Invite-only grants programs.
encoded: Invite-only grants programs.
date: 2025-11-05T15:26:00+00:00

Albanese Government: Rural and Regional Australia | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: I want to talk about the difference between fantasy and reality. On election night the Prime Minister promised that he would govern for all Australians. He promised that no-one would be left...
encoded: I want to talk about the difference between fantasy and reality. On election night the Prime Minister promised that he would govern for all Australians. He promised that no-one would be left behind. The Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government has this on her website: The Australian Government is committed to investing in Australia's regions to create jobs, build opportunity and unlock economic growth and productivity. It's a fantasy! The reality is cuts to regional development programs. We've seen this minister for infrastructure and transport cut the Roads of Strategic Importance program, cut the Building Better Regions Fund, cut the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program and cut the Community Development Grants program. We see the difference between fantasy and reality. The fantasy is she says she's going to invest in regional communities and the reality is she's going to cut the programs. Actually, that's not entirely true. She hasn't just cut our programs; this minister is so good that she cut her own program! She created the Growing Regions program, and, after two years, cut that as well. What sort of minister can claim to represent regional areas when, after she has finished cutting coalition programs, she cuts her own program as well? All I can say is: be careful, Australia. Be careful when you're deciphering the comments of the Prime Minister and the infrastructure minister to understand the difference between fantasy and reality. The fantasy is: when this Prime Minister says no-one will be left behind, regional Australians know he's making it up. (Time expired)
date: 2025-11-04T13:51:00+00:00