That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the Member for Melbourne from moving the following motion immediately—That the House:
(1) notes that since the House resolution of 16 October 2023 concerning Israel and Gaza, which supported the State of Israel's looming invasion of Gaza by stating that the House 'stands with Israel', the following have occurred:
(a) an appalling and increasing toll of deaths and injuries caused by the State of Israel's bombing and invasion of Gaza;
(b) a growing humanitarian catastrophe caused by the State of Israel's blockade, bombing and invasion of Gaza; and
(c) the State of Israel is the subject of recent International Court of Justice orders in South Africa's case regarding the prevention of genocide;
(2) therefore does not support the State of Israel's continued invasion of Gaza and calls for an immediate and permanent ceasefire; and
(3) calls on the Australian Government to end its support for the State of Israel's invasion of Gaza.
This parliament must stop backing the invasion of Gaza. Labor must stop backing the invasion of Gaza. As we meet today, over 31,000 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, have been killed. That includes over 13,000 children. Thirteen thousand children have been killed since the Labor backed invasion of Gaza began. Estimates are that between one and two million people have been displaced out of a population of 2.2 million. Half of the homes have been destroyed in Gaza, meaning there is nowhere for people to go, and, of course, the borders remain shut so people cannot get out. Children are now starving. They are dehydrating. Women are giving birth without any kind of painkillers or other assistance. The health system is on the brink of collapse and, in parts of Gaza, has collapsed. A hundred thousand people plus are dead, wounded or missing.
Since this parliament met and Labor and Liberal backed the invasion, the population of Gaza have been herded south. They were told to move south by the Israeli military because they were told that the north was going to be bombed, and it has been bombed. It has been levelled. Now there are reports that the military is building a road from east to west to further partition Gaza in the way that it has done with parts of the West Bank, and there is nothing in the north for people to go back to. They've been herded into what has been described as the world's largest refugee camp, in Rafah, where there are over 1½ million people.
Now, since the Greens last tried to reverse Labor's support for this invasion, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu has said they are going to invade Rafah. Even as others offer plaintive pleas to please not do it, from people including our Prime Minister and the United States President, nonetheless Prime Minister Netanyahu comes out again and again and says: 'We're going to do it. We're going to keep doing it.' It is crystal clear now that this invasion that Labor continues to back is not only a humanitarian catastrophe but a war crime that is resulting in the mass slaughter of tens of thousands of children and civilians, and it is getting worse.
It is not just the unbelievably catastrophic death toll, which is a result of this invasion that everyone could see coming, but also the utter collapse of civil society and the health system within Gaza, which is leading to aid agencies warning of widespread famine and disease that is about to hit. They are telling us and everyone around the world that they cannot get the aid in that is needed. They cannot get it in, because it is being blockaded by the Israeli military and the Israeli government at the borders. Since we were last here in parliament, we have witnessed people who were lining up to get flour and the basics of life get killed when the Israeli military opened fire. They have been killed as they lined up to get the most basics of life. Children in Gaza are now eating so-called 'bread' made out of animal food. Mothers are fronting up to seek medical help with children dying in their arms because they are not getting enough to eat. And aid is getting stalled at the border as part of this invasion. The Israeli government, which Labor continues to back, is not even letting aid in.
When this issue first came before parliament, we said very clearly, 'You cannot back the invasion of 2.2 million people walled into an area half the size of the ACT—where 40 per cent of them are under the age of 15—without a humanitarian catastrophe and mass slaughter unfolding.' Tragically, what we said back in October is now happening day after day, and it is getting worse. This extreme right-wing war cabinet that Prime Minister Netanyahu has set up is not listening to the plaintive pleas and weasel words of governments like Australia, especially when the Labor government keeps backing military exports to Israel and refuses to join the majority of the world's countries in calling for a permanent and immediate ceasefire—not some humanitarian pause that means the Gazans can be fed before they get shot at again, but a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire. That is now what a majority of the Australian people want.
What we have seen is that the pressure from the Australian people is working. It has meant that the government has reversed its shameful decision to cut funding to UNRWA, the body that is delivering aid to people. Our Labor government shamefully cut their funding, and public pressure has reversed that decision that never should have been taken in the first place. It is time now to listen to what the people of this country and people right around the world are saying. It is time to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and to stop backing the invasion.
Last time this debate happened, we saw some utter furphies and red herrings put up by the government and others. They said, 'Well, you can't support this motion because it doesn't mention the hostages and it doesn't mention the other attacks on civilians that happened on 7 October.' Let's be crystal clear about this: this parliament has already made its view clear about that. There is unanimous agreement to call for the immediate release of the hostages, and there has been unanimous condemnation of attacks on civilians. Everyone has done that. That is not a reason not to vote for this motion, because that will stand on the parliament's record and enjoy the unanimous support of people here.
What this motion is about is one thing and one thing only: whether you now, knowing that over 30,000 people have been killed and 100,000 people have been killed, are missing or are injured, still continue to back the invasion of Gaza. That is what this motion is about, and this is a moment for everyone in this parliament, knowing what has unfolded since 7 October and seeing the devastating toll it is taking on civilians, to decide whether you still back the invasion or not. Even if you have a different view to what I do and to what the Greens do about this being the time to start putting sanctions on this extreme war cabinet of Prime Minister Netanyahu's and to stop arming Israel, even if you have different views about those things and even if you think the invasion was justified back then, there is no justification for continuing to back the slaughter of thousands of people who are walled in to an area half the size of Canberra with nowhere to go.
When Prime Minister Netanyahu says, 'I'm going to invade Rafah no matter what you say,' now is the time to say, unequivocally, 'We're going to stop backing the invasion.' This is the time for every member of parliament to make their vote count. Everyone in this country will be watching. Which members of parliament have the courage to line up and say, 'It is time to stop the invasion, and it is time for a full, permanent and immediate ceasefire'?
]]>The Member for Melbourne told the House:
North Melbourne's and Carlton's towers will be the first to go. People will be kicked out of their homes within the next few years. It's wrong to destroy these vibrant and diverse communities. The people there have a right to a home—a public home.
The Prime Minister then misrepresented me and misled the House by going on to say:
That sounds okay except that no-one is there because they're derelict.
In fact, there are hundreds of people living in those towers, and the Victorian Labor government wants to demolish the homes of thousands of my constituents in public housing in North Melbourne and Carlton, with 33 Alfred Street in North Melbourne listed as the first to go.
Thirdly, in claiming that I was incorrect, the Prime Minister told the House:
What we're doing … is upgrading them into more homes for public housing …
And he said:
… people who live in public housing should live in quality public housing—
which he then said that I disagreed with. In fact, Labor has made no commitment to move these residents into public housing, just as I said. In fact, Victorian Labor has said they want non-government and private sector development on the land. In misrepresenting me, perhaps the Prime Minister made a new guarantee to Melbourne public housing residents that there'll be more public housing homes—
]]>Imagine having that power and deciding not to use it, but instead deciding to use the power of government to say, 'If you've already got four homes, we will help you with a big fat cheque to go and buy your fifth, your sixth, your seventh or your eighth'—because that is what this Labor Party is doing with the power of government. Labor is making the housing and rental crisis worse. Labor is backing unlimited rent rises, saying that there should be no limit on how much rents can go up. Labor are saying to every renter and first home buyer who is struggling to find an affordable place to live that they would rather back the wealthy property investor who turns up at an auction to go and buy multiple properties even as some people are struggling to get their first. That is what this government is doing. As a result, it is pushing people to breaking point.
I talked about how Labor's plan, which this bill is based on, involves helping wealthy property investors. I want to take a moment to explain how this scheme, supported by Labor and costing the public billions, works. At the moment, if a wealthy property investor with multiple properties turns up at an auction where there are first home buyers who've scraped and saved for a deposit, that wealthy property investor has an advantage. They have a big fat cheque from the Labor government sitting in their pocket. How does that work? It work like this. The first home buyer will bid at the auction as much as they are able to afford, as much as they have been able to save up for a deposit plus whatever they hope that they are going to be able to repay. The wealthy property investor, however, turns up at that auction and, as the first home buyer puts their hand up to bid, the wealthy property investor can outbid them time after time, knowing that no matter how high the price goes they will be able to write off any losses they make as a tax break. In other words, they can pay as much they want for the property, much more than the first home buyer is able to afford, knowing that when they go and rent it out if they made a loss they can write that off on their tax and get a tax break. The first home buyer can't do that, but the wealthy property investor can.
It's not only that; it gets worse. They know that, thanks to Labor, in a few years time, or whenever they want to, they can sell the property and they only have to pay half the tax on it. They'll get a capital gains tax discount. But someone who has made their money through working, after they've paid the cost of their massive HECS debt that has gone up thanks to Labor, after what's available having paid extraordinary grocery bills that the government won't rein in and having dealt with massive rising costs of living, doesn't get to write off the cost of the payment on their mortgage or the payment on their rent as a tax break. They have to pay the same amount of tax on their taxable income that everyone else in the country has to. Because the tax comes out before you have even met those expenditures, the tax comes out at the start, you don't get a choice. Your employer takes the tax out. You have to pay your tax. But if you have managed to make your money out of buying and selling and flipping properties, having got a nice tax break along the way, you then get another tax break thanks to Labor.
This is why, in large part, our property market is so turbocharged. The first home buyer who's struggling to get in has to scrimp and save, but they'll be competing against a wealthy property investor who knows, firstly, they can push up the price as much they want knowing that they can write off any loss as a tax dodge and, secondly, when it comes time to sell the property they'll get another tax break. The system is stacked against first home buyers and renters, and Labor is backing it. It is costing the budget. It's $15 billion going on these kinds of tax breaks—negative gearing and capital gains tax. If you add up all the other tax breaks that these wealthy property investors get, you are looking at close to $40 billion. Renters don't get that. First home buyers don't get that. The money is going to those who've already got multiple properties to go and buy even more. That is Labor's answer to the housing crisis. Then they say, 'It's okay. We're going to bring a bill to parliament to fix it,' and it continues this system of rorts that is stacked against first home buyers and renters.
Labor needs to wake up. The housing crisis and the rental crisis are breaking people. They are breaking people, and Labor is pushing rents and house prices up. Labor is backing unlimited rent rises and billions in handouts to wealthy property investors that are driving mortgages and house prices up and up and up. Labor say they want to address this, but here we are, a couple of years into their government, and Labor come along and say: 'This is the silver bullet that will fix it. This is our whole answer to the housing crisis.' It's a bill that maintains all of those wealthy tax breaks for property investors and that helps push up prices and leave 99.8 per cent of renters worse off. Labor comes in with a bill that is aimed at pushing up prices and continuing to give tax handouts to wealthy property investors.
The system at the moment is stacked against first home buyers and renters. The Greens will fight for first home buyers and renters while Labor fights for wealthy property investors. Seventy-five per cent of the members of the government have got these investment properties. The Greens are here to fight and to end these rorts that the property class are enjoying because the first home buyers and renters are suffering. You see it every day and every week as first home buyers turn up to auctions, only to be outbid by a wealthy property investor who's got a big fat cheque in their pocket thanks to Labor.
You see that every day, but what we also hear is parents who are saying they are worried that their kids will never be able to own a home in this wealthy country of ours that is Australia, even if they do the right thing. You have first home buyers and renters who say, 'I've done the right thing.' They went to TAFE. They went to university. They've studied hard. They've worked hard. They've got a good job. They've got an income. They might even have a partner who's got a good income as well. They're doing all the right things and still under Labor they can't find an affordable place to live, because Labor backs unlimited rent rises and skyrocketing house prices.
What does Labor say to all of those people who've done the right thing and done everything that they were asked to do? Labor says, 'We're going to spend between $15 billion and $40 billion helping the wealthy property investors who've already got multiple properties to go and buy even more.' That is Labor's answer to the people who are doing all the right things and that is why people are becoming increasingly angry with this government that has got enormous power, including the power to fix the housing and rental crisis. Instead Labor uses its power to make the housing and rental crisis worse.
I can't sit here in this parliament, see Labor come and say, 'This is our answer to the housing crisis: a bill that's going to push up housing prices, leave 99.8 per cent of renters worse off and continue to give billions of dollars in handouts to wealthy property investors,' and back it. That is not good enough. That does not get our support. Labor may continue fighting for wealthy property investors, but the Greens are going to fight for first home buyers and renters. We cannot support this policy that leaves people worse off while continuing to slip a big fat cheque into the pockets of people who've already got multiple properties. These massive handouts from Labor to wealthy property investors are denying millions of renters the chance to buy their own home. That cannot be supported.
These policies from the government were cooked up by a small-target opposition when they were running around not offering an alternative to Scott Morrison's prime ministership and government but instead trying to be the smallest of small targets, coming up with bandaid solutions that are all about being seen to do something to address the housing crisis rather than actually doing something. So they dreamt up this policy while they were trying to be a small-target opposition.
But the housing crisis has only got worse under Labor. Labor's housing and rental crisis is now breaking people; it is much worse now than it was even a couple of years ago. If the government can change their position on stage 3 tax cuts, under pressure from the Greens, because of changed economic circumstances and the growing crisis, then they can change their position on these tax handouts to the wealthy property investors as well. If Labor can change their position on stage 3 tax cuts, under pressure from the Greens, because of changed economic circumstances, then they can change their position on giving tax handouts to wealthy property investors that are denying millions of renters the chance to buy their own home.
We are saying very clearly to Labor: if you want our support, then start tackling capital gains tax and negative-gearing concessions, which are pushing homes out of the reach of millions of renters, cap and freeze rents, because that will give people the breathing space to deal with Labor's housing crisis, and build more public housing. You've got the power of government. Use it to make people's lives better; don't use it, Labor, to advantage wealthy property investors who've already got four, five, six, seven or eight properties. They don't need a government subsidy. It's first home buyers and renters who need help. The more that Labor continues down this road of backing the wealthy property investors and denying millions of renters the chance to buy their own home, the angrier people are going to get.
We are offering you our support as the Greens if you're willing to tackle the causes of the housing crisis and not just come in here with policies that actually leave people worse off and that are about being seen to do something rather than actually doing something—because people can see through you, Labor. They can see that you're just being seen to do something rather than actually doing something. These small-target policies won't cut it anymore. Small-target government cannot fix Australia's big problems like the housing and rental crisis. I say this: if you don't use this opportunity in the House, then we won't be supporting this bill in the House. You've got the chance, before it goes to the Senate, to start tackling these big issues of tax handouts to the wealthy, building more public housing and capping and freezing rents. But, if you choose not to, Labor—if you make 2024 the year that you continue backing wealthy property investors—then the anger from renters and first home buyers is going to continue to grow.
I hope that Labor comes to its senses and decides to tackle the housing crisis this year by working with the Greens. If it doesn't, don't be surprised if renters make their voice heard at the next election and take it out on Labor at the ballot box because Labor's backing wealthy property investors while the Greens are backing renters and first home buyers.
]]>The report said that actions by governments exacerbate rather than remedy disadvantage and discrimination, in many situations. This is the definition of institutional racism, and it shows how government departments and systems are reinforcing the disempowerment of First Nations people right across the country.
The report was also a necessary act of truth-telling. It painted a true picture of what the 'government knows best' approach is doing to communities, and the clear need for a different approach. The attitudes underlined by criticisms contained within the Productivity Commission report are what keep First Nations people out of schools, hospitals, universities and workplaces.
Out of the 19 Closing the Gap targets across 17 outcomes, seven are improving but not on track to be met, four are on track to be met, four are getting worse and four have no data to assess progress. We're expecting an update to the data early this year. Hopefully it will show some improvement, but, if the report from the Productivity Commission is anything to go by, we shouldn't necessarily hold our breath.
On the anniversary of the national apology, the government handed down the annual report on the Closing the Gap implementation plan. We heard a number of announcements, including the creation of a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Commissioner, and the Greens welcome this announcement.
There are also some simple things that the government could do now—right now—that would help significantly improve the lives of First Nations people. Medicare in prisons would make a huge difference, because we know that incarceration rates are appallingly high for First Nations people, especially in places like the Northern Territory. When you look at youth detention in the Northern Territory, you find that, in some places, almost everyone is a First Nations person. Medicare in prisons for First Nations people across the country would make a huge difference, and that's something the government could do right now.
Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 is also absolutely critical. We have an incredibly high rate of locking up children—and First Nations children in particular. Children as young as 10 do not belong in prison. We need to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14. It's something that First Nations communities are crying out for. It's something that people fighting for justice are crying out for. It's a reform whose time has come.
We're seeing some first steps—under pressure from the community, from First Nations groups, from the Greens and from others—in some jurisdictions, but the federal government has to take the lead. The government's got a very big megaphone and a very big ability to help corral the states and territories and push them to raise the age of criminal responsibility to 14—to get those states and territories on board. Bear in mind: everywhere on the mainland at the moment, there's a Labor head of state.
Raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14 will go a long way to help close the gap and improve the lives of First Nations people. I would just ask everyone to reflect on whether they think the 10-, 11-, 12- or 13-year-olds that they know, in their life, deserve to be in prison—because that is what is happening to First Nations people, right across the country.
People trusted this government when they said that they wanted to put First Nations people in charge of their own solutions. Now it's time for the government to put their money where their mouth is and start handing decision-making power to Aboriginal-controlled community organisations, because we know—and the evidence is clear, in so many places—that, when you do that, you get a better result. You get a better result because First Nations people have the solutions; they know what they need.
First Nations people have sustained themselves for over 65,000 years. Governments need to support and enable community-led solutions, designed by communities for communities. This will allow for the diversity of the hundreds of nations to be taken into account and help ensure programs actually deliver what is needed for each individual community. Every government department and every minister has a role to play. Everyone needs to do their part.
The Productivity Commission report said that, without urgent action, closing the gap risks becoming another broken promise to First Nations people, but this is bigger than just broken promises. It's life or death for so many of our first peoples.
The Greens shared in the disappointment and could see the gutting effect having an unsuccessful result in the referendum had on so many First Nations people. We campaigned very hard for a successful outcome to that referendum. Certainly people in Greens electorates responded in record numbers, and I thank them and everyone else across the country who voted, but we got the result. It was not the result that we wanted, but we got the result that we did. But one of the things that became clear during the referendum was that, when you looked at the misinformation campaign that was spearheaded by the Leader of the Opposition—the misinformation and the untruths told about the history of our country; about the violence and dispossession and the effect that that has on First Nations people; and even about the proposals that were being put in the referendum. When you see the massive misinformation campaign spearheaded by the Leader of the Opposition and by others, it underlines the need for truth-telling in this country.
Before the election, the Greens said, 'We actually think that we need to begin the process of truth-telling first because, if we have the process of truth-telling first, we start to lay the foundations for real reform.' The process of truth-telling allows First Nations people and others—everyone else—to come forward and tell their story about what the history of violence, dispossession and colonisation has meant for them, what it has meant for them in generations past and also what it means for generations now. When we have that process of encouraging people to come forward and tell the truth and encouraging everyone across this country to come and tell their stories, we can begin the process of healing. We begin the process of understanding and begin the process of people listening to each other. Then we can begin the process of having justice and healing and then move on to have a treaty. What we're seeing in Victoria is this process of truth-telling playing out at the moment. There are things that in the past might have been done differently in terms of setting it up, but, at the moment, it is bringing forward people to tell their stories. When you bring people out to tell their stories, especially in an environment where there is not a vote at stake and it is about increasing understanding, you start to create discussion and you start to create understanding. That lays the foundation for lasting reform.
It was bitterly disappointed to see the referendum result that we did, but it was also incredibly disappointing not to see the government now get on with the remainder of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which we could start to progress now. Beginning a truth and justice process and this country and establishing a truth and justice commission at the national level goes a long way towards delivering First Nations justice and closing the gap, because it begins the process of laying a really strong foundation for reform. Having that informed and honest discussion about our shared history helps us heal and then move forward together towards a treaty.
Given that we find ourselves in this situation now, the Greens are urging the government to press forward now with the establishment of a truth and justice commission and also beginning the process towards treaty, because it will take some time, but we've got to start now. In Victoria we can see the processes unfolding over a number of years. If we don't start now, it's going to be justice delayed. I urge the government to get on with the remaining elements of truth and justice and treaty.
]]>There is only one party in the United States, the Property Party … and it has two right wings: Republican and Democrat.
While Labor and the Liberals hold hands and defend these tax handouts for property investors, the same could be said here in Australia. We have the party of property moguls here in Australia, and the Greens are taking them on. Negative gearing hands billions of dollars to property investors and locks renters and first homebuyers out. The Greens will not stand by and allow Labor to make this rental and housing crisis worse. The system is stacked against renters and first homebuyers, but we can fix it. We know pressure works, and the Greens will use our power in this parliament to keep fighting.
Labor shifted on the stage 3 tax cuts because pressure was brought to bear and they finally could not admit any more that it was unfair. If Labor can shift on stage 3 tax cuts, they can shift on negative gearing and on the massive tax handouts that go to property investors. All that these tax handouts—billions of dollars of public money every year—do is push house prices out of reach of renters and first-time buyers. Renters turn up to auctions to bid and they bid with what they can afford but next to them is a wealthy property investor getting a tax handout from the Labor government who can just keep bidding and bidding. At the end of the day, if developers bid too much, they write it off as a tax loss and get a tax handout from the government. Then, a few years later, as another continuation of the rort, they get to sell the property and they only pay half the tax on it; they get another tax handout at that stage as well. That's why here in this country Australia some people are struggling to buy their first home, but Labor is giving tax handouts to people who have five to buy their sixth, seventh and eighth. All that does is push housing prices out of reach of people and push up rents, and the housing prices continue to get worse.
We have an opportunity here in this parliament to fix the housing and rental crisis to stop billions of dollars of handouts being given to property investors that lock millions of renters out of the chance of owning their own homes. We can say, 'Stop giving tax cuts to politicians and billionaires and instead use that money to do things like fund a rent freeze or to build more public housing or get dental into Medicare or make child care free.' With a bit of guts in this place, we could stop all the billions of dollars that are going to the property moguls, billionaires and the big corporations and use it to make everyday people's lives better.
So, Labor, if you can shift on stage 3 tax cuts then do the right thing and shift on negative gearing and capital gains tax as well. Because, otherwise, generations are going to be locked out of having a home. Parents are worried not only about their kids ever being able to own a home but now also about being able to rent near where you work or study.
Labor just does not get how bad the housing and rental crisis is. They come to this parliament with band-aid solutions. Band-aids won't fix the bullet holes that are in our housing and our rental systems, that are pushing affordable homes out of the reach of generations. It's happening across the age spectrum—young people, old people. Under this government, you can find yourself, even after doing all the right things—going to TAFE, going to university, studying, working hard, saving, everything that is asked of you—still unable to afford a home.
Grocery prices keep going up and the government don't rein them in. Electricity prices keep going up, the corporations make billions of dollars of profits, but they won't tax them and make them pay their fair share. Our society is going down the road to becoming a US style unequal society, where you can do the right thing, do everything that is asked of you, and still not have enough to make ends meet. That is wrong because we are a wealthy country and, in a wealthy country like ours, everybody should be able to afford a house. You shouldn't have to win a lottery to afford a home, as Labor's plan wants you to do.
Labor comes in with a plan that says they will help 0.2 per cent of first home buyers with a small help for their deposit and the other 99.8 per cent will just watch house prices going up. In a wealthy country like Australia, you shouldn't have to win a lottery to have an affordable home. Everyone should be able to afford food. Everybody should be able to afford a roof over their head. You shouldn't have to skip meals or skip going to the dentist or skip going to the doctor because you are struggling to pay the rent or the mortgage, while billionaires and big corporations laugh all the way to the bank.
It's time that this parliament started acting in the public interest and not for the private interests of the property investors in this place who sit on huge property portfolios that most people in this country will never, ever see.
It is time we started putting the public first. This bill says that politicians and billionaires should get tax cuts three times the size of those given to everyday people. Well, the Greens think there's a different way. If we're going to spend $300-odd billion, do it in a way that lifts people out of poverty; do it in a way that doesn't put the politicians and billionaires first but puts everyday people first. It is time to start putting the public interest, not vested interests, first.
]]>Let me tell you something about this tax trick: it's not available to renters. It's not available to everyday people. It's available to only property investors. Seventy-five per cent of Labor politicians in this place are property investors. Sixty-four per cent of coalition politicians are property investors. They get the tax handouts if they negatively gear. When Labor and the Liberals vote against the Greens to keep negative gearing and capital gains tax handouts—
Government members interjecting—
]]>Government members interjecting—
]]>Eighty billion dollars is how much Labor is spending on giving tax cuts to politicians, billionaires and the wealthiest in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. Eighty billion dollars would pretty much pay to get dental into Medicare so that everyone in the country—not just the politicians and the wealthy few, but everyone in the country—could get the health care they need because you'd be able to go the dentist and use your Medicare card.
Many people are skipping on essentials like getting the care they need, like getting the medical care they need, like going to the dentist, because they simply can't afford it. So Labor had a choice on how best to spend over $300 billion. And do you know what they did? They took $80 billion of it and they didn't use it to put dental into Medicare or to wipe student debt or to help people who are doing it tough, who get nothing because they're on JobSeeker. No; Labor have chosen to spend $80 billion on giving tax cuts to politicians and billionaires.
Under Labor's package, the wealthiest 20 per cent of society get 50 per cent of the money in their revised stage 3 cuts. I'll just say that again: the wealthiest 20 per cent get 50 per cent of the more than $300 billion cost of this legislation. The poorest 20 per cent get 0.4 per cent of the money. That's Labor's idea of fairness. And they justify it by saying, 'It's not as bad as what the previous mob did.' Well, by this stage of the game the Australian population, in the middle of Labor's housing and rental crisis and a massive cost-of-living crisis, is entitled to expect a bit more of the government than to be a little bit less crap than the last mob. Right? If you're going to come back and look at how to deal with a cost-of-living crisis and Labor's housing and rental crisis, then do something that will actually make a huge difference for people.
An extra $15 a week for middle-income earners is what Labor is asking people to be satisfied with, but average rents have gone up nearly $100 a week under Labor's housing and rental crisis, and average mortgages have gone up nearly $200 a week. And so Labor can find $4,500 a year for politician, but only an $15 a week for people whose rent has gone up by $100 or whose mortgage has gone up by $200. That is not fairness; that is asking people to continue to suffer through a cost-of-living crisis instead of taking the reins and saying, 'We're going to deal with it.'
With over $300 billion, imagine the things that you could do. You could put dental into Medicare, make child care free and wipe student debt—things that would last for people and wouldn't be swallowed up by another unfair rent rise from the landlord, because Labor backs unlimited rent rises. It wouldn't be swallowed up by mortgages continuing to go through the roof, because house prices are going up, because Labor won't unwind negative gearing or capital gains tax concessions. There are many people who will say, 'Yes, a bit of money is welcome,' but wouldn't it be better to take action on soaring rents, house prices and mortgages? Wouldn't it be better to do that? Wouldn't it be better to get dental into Medicare instead of giving Clive Palmer and Gina Rinehart a $4½ thousand a year tax cut? Labor still has not made the case about why the top tax bracket deserve a $4½ thousand a year tax cut at all. People at the top are doing okay. It is people on the low and middle incomes who are struggling, and that is where the help should go.
There are a lot of people in Labor's package who get nothing. If you're on income support, your rent and the cost of groceries have gone up, but you don't get a cent out of this $300-odd billion, if that's what you're totally relying on.
]]>If you were to attend a funeral every day for every child that has been killed in Gaza since the Israeli government's invasion, it would take you over 33 years—33 years. With Israeli forces now beginning a ground invasion of Rafah—where over 1.4 million people have sought refuge because that's exactly where Israel's military told them they'd be safe—the deadliest days may still be yet to come.
There is no excuse that Labor can make for not doing everything in their power to pressure Israel's government to stop. Labor must stop supporting the invasion and sanction Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu to help stop genocide. Labor must stop Australia's military exports to Israel. And, for the sake of basic humanity, Labor must restore the UNRWA funding that they suspended, to give the people in Gaza a chance.
]]>What we now know very clearly is that the Greens won the workers the right to disconnect, which means that, when you clock off, you can switch off. This is critical because so many people in this country have had their personal and family time interrupted by after-hours contact that could have waited until the next day at work. It means people can't watch their kids play footy or that they can't put the kids to bed because they're answering texts or emails instead. We now know that the Liberals don't want you to be able to put your kids to bed in peace; you should be answering emails instead. The Liberals don't want you to be able to enjoy time with mates over the weekend; you have to answer every text message that comes through from your employer. The Liberals want you bound electronically to your boss 24/7 even if you're not getting paid for it.
There has been a big change in technology over the years, and we now all have in our pockets minicomputers that allow us to be contacted pretty much wherever we are and whatever's happening, but the law just hasn't kept up. In part because of that, workers in this country work, on average, about seven weeks of unpaid overtime a year. That's how much average people are giving. The Greens have a simple proposition: if you're not getting paid for it and it's not reasonable then you shouldn't have to be available outside of work hours. It's a pretty reasonable proposition that I think most people in the country would agree with, because time outside of work is critical for recharging and spending time with your family and friends, and work can wait until the next day when you're back at work. Of course there might be instances where there's an emergency or immediate contact is needed, and this legislation that we've put through the parliament envisages that and allows for that. This is always the way: every time workers get a new right, the Liberals come in here and threaten people and then threaten to take it away.
I want to place and record my thanks to Senator Barbara Pocock, who has pushed for some time for the right to disconnect. Senator Barbara Pocock chaired and led the country's first ever national Senate inquiry into work and care, which looked at how we could update our laws to recognise that people outside of work hours often have caring responsibilities and family responsibilities and update our laws protect that time, because protecting that time is important. Work has bled far too much into people's time outside of work, and we need to update our laws to give people protection. Senator Barbara Pocock pushed for greater protection for workers and carers, and she moved this amendment on the right to disconnect, on behalf of the Greens, in the Senate.
I want to thank the government for their support, and I want to thank the minister, and the minister's staff as well, for working constructively on this. The provisions that ultimately got through strike a pretty good balance. We introduced legislation back in March. We perhaps might have done it a bit differently then, but I think the legislation has been improved through discussions, including discussions with other crossbenchers. I want to place on record my thanks for the constructive way in which the minister, the minister's staff and the crossbench approached these negotiations.
We now have a situation where people know that, if they find themselves in front of the commission, they can't have their conditions cut. They know that they can ignore a call that comes after hours if it can wait until the next day. These are rights that people need, and that's why these amendments should be supported. I hope the opposition reconsiders between now and the next election, because, I tell you what, people want the right to switch off when they clock off. It is incredibly popular because it is necessary, and the Greens are proud to have secured it.
]]>Perhaps the member for Bradfield exercised his own right to disconnect over the weekend and decided not to read the amendments that were circulating. I know many of those opposite went and spoke about them publicly and gave media interviews about them, but these amendments have been available for hours. It is classic Liberals that they don't want to work over the weekend but they want everyone else to be available, to be on call 24/7! If he paid any attention, had perhaps not waited until this morning to read the amendment for the first time but had looked at it when it was in the Senate over the weekend, he'd have seen that there is the word 'reasonable' in there.
It's to be expected that politicians who turn up to work on a Monday might have done some homework over the weekend about the motion they're going to come in here and argue about—including perhaps reading the amendments that they now stand up and say can't be opposed. Classic Liberals. Not wanting to work over the weekend themselves, despite six-figure salaries, and saying we need extra time to do it, but demanding that everyone else in this country be on call 24/7.
The Greens have won workers the right to disconnect; the Liberals want to delay it and then take it away. Too many people have been putting up with an interruption to their family lives and their home lives for far too long. This is a practical, commonsense right that will give people the right to switch off when they clock off. And all of the matters that are being raised by the Manager of Opposition Business, if he'd bothered to actually read the amendment over the weekend rather than waiting until this morning, he would have found out those kinds of things were all addressed. They have all been addressed and are all part of the amendment.
I hope that we're able to have this debate, and I'd urge the Manager of Opposition Business to seriously reflect on whether it's a good idea to come in here on a massive politician's salary and say: 'Sorry, I didn't have a chance to read the amendments over the weekend. I want a bit of extra time.' Well, if you can't be prepared to do it yourself—if you're exercising your own right to disconnect, Member for Bradfield, then good on you, but don't deny it to the millions of Australian workers who are stressed, who want to be able to put their kids to bed instead of having to answer emails, who want to be able to watch their kids' footy games instead of responding to texts, who want to be able to enjoy time with their mates over the weekend instead of being asked by their employer to go and convert a Word document to PDF—all of those things are rights that everyone in this country enjoys, just as the member for Bradfield enjoyed his right to disconnect over the weekend, and this parliament should get on with legislating it and approving these amendments here.
]]>The corporations are making billions of dollars in revenue, and many of them aren't even paying a single cent in tax. You have to wonder how they're getting away with it. Well, last week, we discovered how. It was $863,000. That's how much money Labor took from the coal and gas corporations and their lobby groups in their first full year of office alone. Santos, Woodside and the Minerals Council of Australia all coughed up big. What did it get them in return?
Santos donated over $110,000 to Labor last year. Santos also wants to open up the new Barossa gas fields and faces staunch opposition from the local First Nations community and millions of people around the country. Are the donations to Labor the reason why the resources minister announced her decision to change the rules for Santos to fast-track their project and ignore the concerns of the locals? Labor also rammed through the sea dumping bill, so that Santos could dump their emissions in East Timor's waters, and approved 116 new gas wells to be fracked by Santos in Queensland. What a return on Santos's dirty donation to Labor. It was a big return on investment for Santos.
Next on the list is Woodside. They donated $55,600 to Labor. Woodside wants to open up one of the world's most polluting projects, the Burrup Hub, off the coast of the Kimberley. It's an existential climate threat that will release six billion tonnes of emissions and that requires the approval of Labor's environment minister. I bet Woodside reckon that they'll get it. Then there are the lobby groups—the ones who are always crawling over parliament urging Labor to keep backing new coal and gas mines and threatening anyone who doesn't with public campaigns funded by coal and gas. To keep the doors of the ministerial suite open, APIA, the key lobby group, and the Minerals Council both gave Labor $68,000 and $85,000 respectively.
These corporations are driving the climate crisis, but they can't do it without Labor, and they're getting Labor's support. These corporations are driving the extreme heat, the floods and the fires that people are living through right now. But Labor is giving them the go-ahead. Labor's pipeline of over 90 new coal and gas projects will ensure that the heat will be worse, the floods will rise faster and the fires will burn hotter. Labor's policies mean insurance will cost more—if you can get it! More households will have to be rebuilt. More lives will be destroyed. Labor is giving these greedy, dangerous corporations the go-ahead to mine and burn more coal and gas. Labor is not only complicit in the mining and burning of coal, the leading causes of the climate crisis; it's colluding with companies who want to burn down the world for profit.
The Minister for Resources now flies off around the world spruiking our coal and gas—these dangerous products which are currently cooking the ocean, melting the glaciers, killing off endangered species and threatening people's lives. So many former Labor ministers now work for the coal and gas sector, tucking into the gravy train of an industry which we don't need, which doesn't employ as many people as people think, which doesn't pay much tax and which is threatening our environment, our food, our water, our air and our lives. Did you know this, Deputy Speaker? Every formal resource minister in this country of the last 20 years now works for coal and gas corporations or their lobby groups. That's where they went after they left.
This industry doesn't pay enough tax, and some in this industry pay no tax at all. Labor could make this industry pay its fair share of tax and could use it to ensure everyone has mental and dental care covered fully under Medicare. Instead, Labor's tearing up the Beetaloo basin, shipping it offshore and not even getting the tax that could be used to help wipe student debt, ensure that no-one lives in poverty or ensure that everyone has an affordable home.
Labor loves to wax lyrical about national security as much as the coalition, but there's no national security in a climate crisis. Former heads of the Defence Force have been telling us that the No. 1 threat to our national security is the climate crisis because it will spark massive instability in our region and set off a cataclysmic chain that will threaten our very security. And what is the response? Our nation is under threat, and the politicians are in bed with the enemy. The enemies are coal and gas corporations. They are mining and burning our future, and they are getting support from Labor and Liberal.
We are tough in this country; people are tough but people have a limit. How long could you live in a tent or a shipping container while you try to rebuild, nervously listening to the weather forecast to see if there's a rising river or if there are catastrophic fire conditions on the cards? There are thousands of people around the country who are still building back from the fires and floods of years gone by, and more and more people will join them thanks to the new coal and gas mines being opened by Labor.
The first step to fixing a problem is to stop making the problem worse. You can't put the fire out while you're pouring petrol on it. Every new coal and gas project that is approved by this Labor government puts people's lives at risk. It puts their livelihoods at risk, it pushes up insurance premiums and it threatens our precious natural environment. In 2024, as so many people are struggling, literally, to keep their heads above water, as massive climate fuelled disaster after climate fuelled disaster make so much of our country unliveable for so many people and pushes people to the brink, we cannot be opening one more new coal and gas project. These massive projects that Labor is approving could spark off a climate chain reaction, a tipping point, after which it will be impossible to reverse the damage. That is what the scientists fear: that we will pass the climate tipping point and future generations will not be able to unwind the damage they face. That is why what we do now will reverberate for decades to come and will set the course for future generations.
We are in the critical decade. We are in a climate emergency. We are in an era of global boiling according to the UN Secretary-General. In response to that—yes, we need to have a debate about how quickly we're going to cut our emissions in this country, but the first thing we should do is stop making the problem worse. There should be no new coal and gas projects—no more excuses and no more lies, Labor.
]]>We're living in a country where a block of Bega tasty cheese is $20 a kilo at Coles and petrol is $2.20 a litre and where, waiting for you in your inbox, there is an email from the landlord telling you the rent has gone up $200 a month or more. We're seeing people living in tents, kids skipping meals and people unable to afford to see a doctor, let alone a dentist or a psychologist, yet, in this place, Labor and the Liberals have been arguing about whether politicians should get a $4,500-a-year tax cut or a $9,000-a-year tax cut. And you wonder why people are fed up with politics.
The Greens' view is straightforward: Labor should not be giving billionaires and politicians a tax cut while people are struggling to put food on the table or keep a roof over their heads. But this point seems to be missing from the debate. So listen up. We are in a full-blown cost-of-living crisis. People are really struggling to keep their heads above water, and the water is rising. Young people's lives are being delayed and constrained. The fastest growing group in our society who are becoming homeless are children. Some young people are stuck living with their parents well into their 20s and 30s, as they struggle to afford to move out of home. Others are forced to sleep on couches, to skip meals and medication, to travel further to and from work and study, and to do less with what they earn. This used to be a country which looked after people. Now, Labor looks after property moguls and gives billions to big corporations and the billionaires, while everyday people suffer.
This week, Nadine got in touch with my office for advice about her mum. She was living in a home under the NRAS, which provides affordable accommodation for people who need it. But Labor have cruelly, in the middle of a housing crisis, decided to defund this scheme, and in January her rent went from $300 to over $500 a week. We're talking about a 65-year-old woman who has to take out of her superannuation and sell her car to afford the basics. Now she's homeless, bouncing from motel to motel, and neither she nor her daughter know what to do.
I want everyone in this place to imagine that she's your mum—unhoused and living out of a suitcase, with no security and, sometimes, no safety. Too many people in this place have lost the plot and are in denial about what it's like for everyday people out there trying to get by. Our tax system is stacked against Nadine's mum; just like it's stacked against every renter and every first home buyer. Our tax system makes it easier to buy your seventh property than your first. Everyone deserves a home. Everyone should be able to afford to eat. These are really the basics of a dignified life. Nadine says they feel powerless and lost, and that her mum is a beautiful and empathetic person who loves helping others but is now being left behind.
Labor could get Nadine's mum a house, but they're choosing not to. Labor could stop out-of-control rent increases, but they're choosing not to. Labor could build the public housing that we need, instead of defunding the ones that people like Nadine rely on. Labor could change the tax system so that first home buyers aren't losing out to cashed-up property moguls at auctions around the country every weekend. Labor could raise the income support rate and end poverty and homelessness in this country. But they're not doing that. They're choosing not to do that. Until Labor stops tinkering around the edges and fronts up to the challenges of our time, more and more people like Nadine's mum will be left behind.
People have had enough. They've had enough of letting big corporations drive-up costs and make massive profits while getting huge handouts from Labor. The big corporations and the big, wealthy property moguls need to pay their fair share of tax. Enough of the rivers of gold of public money going to property moguls. We need to freeze and cap rents to stop people being kicked out of their homes. Enough of letting people on income support become homeless and hungry. This year, things need to change.
]]>