Gai Brodtmann's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Cook, The Hon. Adrian George Hingston, QC, Budget | Constituency Statements | House debates
It is an honour to be able to stand here today in my final days as a parliamentarian to remember the extraordinary life of Adrian George Hingston Cook QC. Adrian's intelligence was far beyond...
It is an honour to be able to stand here today in my final days as a parliamentarian to remember the extraordinary life of Adrian George Hingston Cook QC. Adrian's intelligence was far beyond normal. Adrian's teachers could see his potential from a very young age. He sat for his leaving certificate twice, as the first time he was too young to attend university. At the tender age of 17, he enrolled at the University of Sydney to study arts and pursue his dream of becoming a teacher. On completing his degree, again his age held him back. He was too young to graduate from university, because back then you had to be 21 to graduate. So what else was there to do but to apply for and accept a scholarship program to study law for a further three years. When Adrian did finally graduate, he did so with a double degree in arts and law. It is at the point of graduating university where this remarkable life story gets really fascinating. Adrian gained employment as a judge's associate and became a barrister when he was in his 20s. In 1963, he became the youngest barrister ever to win a murder trial at the Privy Council in London; he was just 33. This was an extraordinary man. Adrian spent a lengthy time working in the Australian Army Legal Corps, dealing mainly with complex and difficult courts martial during the Vietnam War. He was later appointed Queen's Counsel in 1977 and then a judge in the Family Court. He retired with the rank of lieutenant colonel in 1985. During his time as a judge, he made many landmark decisions and presided over cases that are still studied by law students today. Adrian eventually retired and moved to Norfolk Island, where he remained active in the community, providing legal advice and taking on the odd legal case. He also served as a minister in the Norfolk Island government and married his beloved wife, Lynn Quintal. Adrian was one of Norfolk Island's jewels. He was an asset to the community and he will be greatly missed. Vale Adrian George Hingston Cook QC. For the rest of my time, I will focus on the budget and the complete and utter contempt that this government has once again shown for Canberra. Once again we're seeing cuts to the Public Service as a result of decentralisation. Once again we're seeing huge job losses in a number of our agencies—Veterans' Affairs, Human Services, Agriculture and Water. And once again we are getting an insultingly small amount of the $100 billion infrastructure spend. Canberra: we get $50 million! Of that, $30 million is for upgrades to the Kings Highway. The Kings Highway isn't even in the ACT. This budget underscores once again that this government has no respect for our servants of democracy and no respect for our nation's capital.
National Capital and External Territories Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
by leave—As Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, I initiated this inquiry into Canberra's national institutions, and I initiated it...
by leave—As Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on the National Capital and External Territories, I initiated this inquiry into Canberra's national institutions, and I initiated it because it had been 10 years since the committee had taken a close look at the national institutions that so beautifully tell our national story, our national history. They are our national memory. A lot had changed in those ten years, particularly on the social media front and on the digitisation of the national institutions—the way we engage with the sort of immersive technology that is now experienced at national institutions overseas. The terms of reference of the inquiry were deliberately broad to ensure we had a clear read on the issues actually facing our national institutions in 2018 and 2019 in terms of funding, in terms of staffing and in terms of completing their legislative mandates to collect, to maintain, to preserve, to exhibit, to share, to engage and to tell our national story. Out of all of the issues considered and the 20 recommendations made in the report, there are two areas that I particularly want to focus on, and the chair has outlined a number of others. I want to focus on paid parking on national land and the efficiency dividend. In my first term, the decision was made to apply paid parking to national land in Parkes, Barton, Russell and Acton from 1 July 2014. If paid parking was to apply in these areas, it was only right, I believed, that the public servants who worked there received some return in terms of amenity, because there were no retail services or banking, and public servants were getting into their cars and travelling to other areas—Kingston, Campbell and Civic—in their lunchbreaks to access just basic general services. So I fought hard to get the inquiry into amenity in the Parliamentary Triangle to ensure that the NCA's planning arrangements enabled and encouraged retail space in new developments. And I successfully campaigned to get a mini-mart in Barton. The anticipated revenue from paid parking—upwards of $73 million—was to go into consolidated revenue. There were a number of proposals at the time that paid parking was introduced, and also in regard to this inquiry, for the revenue to be redistributed to Canberra's national institutions. The idea is great—but it's great in theory, because the devil is actually in the detail here. The committee is sympathetic to this idea, but it noted in its report the absolute complexities in implementing this type of arrangement. There is the cost of setting it up, compared to the modest amounts that would be redistributed to each institution. There are different arrangements already in place. The High Court has a legislative framework in place to recover its parking fees. The Australian National Botanic Gardens has arrangements to recover its parking fees, and it reviews its charges on an annual basis. But should these institutions not receive any additional revenue, should we adopt that model of the paid parking money going to the national institutions? And there is the case of the National Museum of Australia and AIATSIS, who share a parking area—how would the revenue be split between these two institutions, which are of varying size and varying footprint? It could also result in disproportionate benefit, with the largest and best located institutions receiving the same—or more—revenue as other institutions which perhaps may require more money. As I said, it's a great idea in theory, and at first blush you'd think, 'Yes, that's absolutely sensible.' But the devil really is in the detail when it comes to its implementation, and the report of this inquiry acknowledges that. The efficiency dividend has had a significant and detrimental impact on Canberra's national institutions. The impact has been such that a number of national institutions have struggled to fulfil their legislated mandate, within the funding envelope. They are struggling to record, they are struggling to maintain and they are struggling to tell our national story. In 2008, the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit considered the impact of the efficiency dividend on small government agencies in its report The efficiency dividend and small agencies: size does matter and recommended either that an exemption from the efficiency dividend apply to the first $50 million of all agencies' appropriations or that there be an exemption for the first $50 million of all agencies' appropriations where departmental expenses totalled less than $150 million. These options were also discussed in this inquiry, and I am pleased that, based on the evidence we heard, we have reconfirmed the JCPAA's recommendation. Recommendation 14 of the report into Canberra's national institutions urges the government to revisit the JCPAA's recommendation, with a view to adopting measures to offset the disproportionate impact of the efficiencies dividend on small agencies, including the national institutions. I strongly encourage the government to seriously consider the proposal in the report to set a threshold amount for institutions' annual expenditure, below which the efficiency dividend would be excluded or reduced. Throughout my time here, I have been a strong advocate for Canberra's national institutions. I have continually called out the government on the impacts the efficiency dividend and the ongoing funding cuts have on these institutions and on our national collections. We should not pretend that these funding cuts to our national institutions are about cutting fat; we should not pretend that they're about cutting bone. These cuts run so deep that they are now cutting into vital organs, which is why this inquiry and this report are so timely. Finally, I want to thank the committee secretariat for their work. This was a very complex inquiry and it covered a lot of ground, because it has been over a decade since these institutions have been reviewed. Well done to the committee for this report. Thank you to the chair of the committee, the member for Tangney. The chair is a friend and colleague, and we work very well together in a bipartisan way; it has been an honour. I love the fact that the member for Tangney is so invested in ensuring our national institutions are sustainable and well resourced. Thank you to all of those groups, individuals and institutions that contributed to the inquiry. Your submissions were gratefully accepted and we are grateful for the time that you've spent putting them together.
Valedictory | Parliamentary Representation | House debates
Speaker, it was day one as the newly minted member for Canberra. I'd just picked up the keys for my electorate office and I was opening it up for the very first time. I was on my own because none...
Speaker, it was day one as the newly minted member for Canberra. I'd just picked up the keys for my electorate office and I was opening it up for the very first time. I was on my own because none of my team had started yet. And as I opened the door, I heard the phone ringing. At the end of the line was a very distressed woman, a single mother, living with her three daughters in her mom's two-bedroom home, sleeping on the couch, doing it tough, desperate for a home. I got Lee a home and she is just one of the many Canberrans my team and I have helped to secure that most fundamental of needs—safe shelter. And it's those days that are the very best days of this job. Because as another single mother said to me, 'My whole life turned around once I got a house.' It's a reminder that there is no greater office in this chamber than that of local member. When I spoke for the first time in this chamber, I said: I admire anyone who takes up the challenge of politics and who honestly tries to improve the lives of his or her people, no matter what political lights they follow. In the end, it's about improving people's lives and, at its best, politics is about building a better community and a better nation. But politics is a contest of ideas and there is a reason why I am Labor. I come from a working-class matriarchy of single mothers, just like Lee. My great grandmother was a domestic. She brought up 13 children on her own in a house with dirt floors and paper walls. She spent her life bent over a copper, cleaning the clothes of the wealthy and she left school when she was just 11. My grandmother worked three cleaning jobs. She brought up seven children on her own in a housing commission home. She spent her life with an abiding fear that the state would take her children away because she was poor. She left school at just 13. My mother was dragged kicking and screaming from school at 15. I'm not looking at you, Mum! She brought up my sisters and me on her own when my father left us, when I was 11, with $30 in the bank. Those early years after he left were really tough. We ate out every second night at relatives' and friends' homes. There were no school camps, and my desk was borrowed from my school—my public school. Each and every day, Mum lived with the fear that the cycle of poverty and disadvantage would continue for yet another generation. But her world and mine changed forever because of Labor. I got a quirky but quality public education and became the first woman in my family to go to university. I got to go to university thanks to the Labor government, the Whitlam Labor government, who ensured my tertiary education was free. Thanks to Gough and with the support of friends and family and my mother's determination and tenacity, my sisters and I broke free of that cycle of disadvantage. We are living proof of the transformative powers of education. My middle sister, Meg, is Australia's first female Master of Wine and an internationally renowned winemaker. My baby sister, Amy, is an internationally acclaimed neurologist, specialising in stroke and dementia. And I am the enormously proud member for Canberra and a shadow assistant minister. Unlike our female forebears, Meg, Amy and I have had choice and opportunity. Unlike the long line of sisters stretching back through history, we are empowered. Labor gave us education. Labor gave us universal health care. Labor gave us fertility control. That has given us financial independence that has allowed us to lead bold and fearless lives. I want that for every Australian. I want that for every Canberran. I want every Australian, I want every Canberran, to have the opportunities that we have enjoyed, even though we didn't come from wealth or privilege. Our opportunities came from the social policies of the 1970s and the 1980s. Our opportunities came from Labor. I sought a career in politics after careers in public service and small business for many reasons—to serve and represent my community; to fight for my beloved Canberra, particularly after being one of the thousands of public servants who lost their job in the Howard government cuts of 1996; and to influence and shape public policy. Now, as I leave this place, I like to think I've achieved some of that, despite two of my three terms being in opposition. It's not a boast; it is the recognition of a great gift. I know that few get the opportunity I have had to serve, and I will be forever grateful that ACT Labor, many of whom are here today, chose me to do that on their behalf. Leadership is not about the power of one; it's about how one person can harness the power of many, how one person can amplify the hopes of many in solidarity with others. I serve because I truly and deeply love my community. It's one of the continuing follies of this place that MPs think they can score cheap political points by claiming that Canberra isn't part of the nation. Without Canberra, there would be no Australia. To borrow the words of Sir Henry Parkes, 'The crimson thread of kinship runs through us all,' and those threads are drawn together here in this city. If I've succeeded here, it's because I've helped Canberrans stand up and fight for everything that makes this city great and helped the people who live and work in this city, particularly our proud servants of democracy, who make this nation great. The Prime Minister likes to talk about the Canberra bubble, and I want to tell you, Speaker, what that bubble actually looks like. There, in that bubble, are public servants who protect our national interests, who make sure our cities and towns are safe, who make sure our food is clean, who help the sick, who help the aged, who help the disadvantaged and who help the disabled. There, in that bubble, are public servants who keep our history alive, who keep our story alive. The husband and daughter of one of the finest public servants that I've ever worked with, my dear friend Liz O'Neill, are here today. Thank you so much for coming, Wayne and Lucinda. Liz died in the line of duty in the Garuda crash in Yogyakarta in 2007, when Lucinda was just six months old. It's wonderful that you're here today, Lucinda, that you've taken the day off school—your first year at Kincoppal—to be with me and to hear this valedictory speech. We all miss your mum very, very much. We think about her each and every day. Thank you, Wayne, and thank you, Lucinda, for coming. Public service is a noble calling and should be lauded and not derided, and I've been proud to take up the fight for public servants and everyone else in my community. It's one of the favourite parts of my job: having the platform to bang on about Canberra, having the platform to advocate for Canberra, having the platform to celebrate and share the achievements of my community, to sing the praises of local and school legends, inspirational volunteers, inspirational leaders and quiet achievers. Speaker, as you know, I am not the queen of 90-second statements for nothing! I've been proud to take up the fight against cuts to the Public Service and our national institutions, against cuts to our public and Catholic schools, against next to zero federal investment in infrastructure in our national capital in the last six years, and against injustice—injustice like that experienced by Lachlan, whose NDIS plan slashed his core supports so vital services were taken from this child, whose uncontrollable seizures led to him having one-third of his brain removed when he was just 12 months old. I've fought against the hate that saw the Canberra Islamic Centre vandalised, and I helped summon the better angels of this town for the clean-up. I've summoned those better angels so many times to support domestic violence services, to support rape crisis services, to support Foodbank, and sanitary product and back-to-school drives. I've fought against the sexism that debases women and girls and robs them of opportunity and I've fought against indifference and fought against ignorance—like the wall of silence experienced by up to one million Australian women suffering from endometriosis. I want to thank the Endo Warriors, the endo activists, the members for Forrest and Boothby, the Minister for Health and the shadow minister for the work that we've done together on ending the silence on endometriosis. We have made a difference on endo. It is palpable. Finally, these women are being heard, so thank you, sisters, for being part of that fight. I also want to thank the member for Higgins, Senator Hanson-Young, Ovarian Cancer Australia, Sabra Lane, Eliza Borrello and Jane Norman for the work that we've done together on this deadliest of women's cancers. Thank you so much. When I was elected in 2010 I came to parliament with a very long list of things to do: to improve organ and tissue donation rates in Australia; to empower girls and women to be confident, to believe in themselves and to have the courage of their convictions. I've done this empowerment with women with gusto and it has been one of the highlights of my time here. I've mentored hundreds of girls and women, fought hard for housing for single mothers and older women and repeatedly underscored the fact—and I'll repeat it again, sisters: a man is not a financial plan! Being the beneficiary of the charity of others in my seminal years, I was also keen to encourage giving and altruism, but with dignity and respect. The Salvos gave that to my grandmother during hard times. So much of the work I've done in Canberra has been done quietly. It's been done without fanfare and it's been done without media, unlike so many in this chamber. After running my own microbusiness for 10 years before coming into politics, I wanted to improve the understanding among decision-makers and government agencies about the lived experience of a small-business owner. There's still a lot of work that needs to be done on this front, particularly on the basics—like government agencies actually paying the bills on time and government agencies giving small businesses and microbusinesses access to government work. Just buy one—that's all I ask! Before small business, I served Australia as a diplomat. I worked with brilliant men and women—some of them are here today—and learned that, if we are to flourish as a nation, we have to be outward looking and generous. In an interconnected and uncertain world we cannot be indifferent to what happens beyond our borders. A peaceful, prosperous Australian future hangs on a peaceful and prosperous future for our region and our world, and that will not happen by accident. It will be built on diplomacy, it will be built on the rule of law, it will be built on norms and it will be built on defence. Diplomacy demands a strong and modern Defence Force, because sometimes we have to defend our freedom and that of our friends. We have to have an understanding of what it is that we are prepared to fight for, what it is that we cherish and the values on which we will never compromise. Yes, it is an uncertain age, but it provides us with an opportunity to have a conversation about how we will operate and engage in the national interest. It's an opportunity to articulate the principles that will operate inside our borders and how they will translate to our approach beyond them. It's an opportunity to acknowledge that we are indeed a middle power but a middle power that is confident in asserting how we will engage at home and abroad and how we think others should engage in Australia and abroad. It's an opportunity to say, 'This is who we are, this is what will guide us, this is what we will discuss and these are the no-go zones.' In the time I've been here, I've also seen the rise of a new threat. Our interconnected world has brought great wonders but it's also brought adversaries into our offices and our homes. We need to be doing much, much more on every front on cybersecurity. To be quite frank, I am alarmed by the complacency on this issue in some circles—complacency around skills, standards, empowerment, government agency, critical infrastructure, cyber-resilience, innovation, research, industry cooperation and the fact that only 11 per cent of the cyber industry workforce are women. We have got to grip this up, Australia. We are falling behind the rest of the world, and the urgency on cybersecurity is now. In an age that is more connected than ever, in an era where that connectedness is meant to enhance democracy, Australians seem more disengaged and disillusioned and, through that, disenfranchised. We in this place, in the media and in the community have been the first to call for behavioural and cultural change in our schools; in the corporate world; in our boardrooms; in our cultural, sporting, academic and religious institutions; in the Public Service; and in the ADF. Yet we are particularly quiet, particularly coy, when it comes to the need for behavioural and cultural change here in this place. We all know parliament is a contest of ideas. That contest, rightly, should be rigorous and robust, but that contest should not be personal and it does not need to be a blood sport. Please, in my final days, can we have more policy and less posturing in parliament. Over the course of my three terms, I've lost too many friends and loved ones. Vale again to Brendan Morrison, Kurt Steel, Garth Pilkinton, Liz Dawson, Jayson Hinder, Yah Menzies, Amanda Cavill, Michael Byrne, Chris Grady, Mary Uhlmann, Ian Uhlmann and my father, Graeme Brodtmann. I know the danger of thanking people means someone gets left out, so I seek forgiveness in advance for the fact that the list that follows will be too long for some and too short for others. Thank you to the member for Fowler and the member for Lalor for being model whips, supporters and shoulders. Thank you to Stephen Conroy and the member for Corio for giving me the licence and freedom to develop policies in the defence and cybersecurity portfolios. I have loved every single minute of it. Thanks to David Feeney and member for Eden-Monaro for your advice and assistance. As a junior frontbencher, I have been truly, truly blessed to work with people like you. Thank you so much. Thank you to the many members of the ADF that I've met on ships and bases here and overseas. We are also blessed as a nation to have a highly trained and committed ADF and defence department, and it's been a privilege to meet and work with you. Thank you to the members for Cunningham, Greenway, Parramatta, Newcastle, Richmond, Lingiari, Wakefield, Kingston, Melbourne Ports, Blair, Gippsland, Wannon, Tangney and to my colleague here. Thanks to Senators Pratt, Kitching, Reynolds, McKenzie, Dean Smith and Deb Biggs for your friendship. Thank you to Michael Forshaw, Simon Crean, Martin Ferguson and Gary Gray for your mentoring in my first term. Thank you to Gail Morgan, Narelle Luchetti, Simon Tatz, Alison Byrne and Paul Scully for getting me here. Thanks to the many members of my team—hi to Madeleine Firth and Alicia Turner, who are watching from Scotland—for keeping me here and helping me serve the people of Canberra so well. Thank you to my current team: Vic, Drew, Steph, Neda and Martin. Canberra is the largest electorate by population in this country, and you have given your all to provide the highest level of service in a busy high street office and to work with me on policies. Particular thanks to Eva Cawthorne, my first chief of staff, who helped me set up my office from scratch, which was a very steep learning curve for both of us—a steep learning curve not helped by both of us being in the throes of the hot flushes, night sweats, endless periods, sleeplessness, anxiety, mood swings and depression that is the wonderful hormonal ride of perimenopause. This is something else we should be talking about, Australia! Thank you to Norfolk Islanders Mike King, Mel Ward, Sue Menzies and the Banyan Park girls for your wisdom, guidance and friendship on the journey of reform. Thank you to Canberra's multicultural community, particularly Sandi Mitra, Diana Abdel-Rahman, Natalie Mobini and Chin Wong. Thank you to ASPI's Peter Jennings, Fergus Hanson, Danielle Cave, Lisa Sharland, Anthony Bergin and Stephen Loosley for your sage advice and for being my brains trust. Thank you to the Canberrans who've tirelessly served on many grants panels, particularly Steve Rowan Jones, Anthony Corder and Louise Bilston, who've been there with me from the start. Thank you to Diana Atkinson, who has kept our house in order for more than 20 years. You always give above and beyond, most recently when it became the house of horrors and was filled with hundreds of blowflies after a rat died in our roof when we were away at the coast over summer! Thank you, Diana. I think a round of applause is due to Diana for that effort. Thank you to my patient, patient girlfriends, who've always been there for me even though I haven't always been there for them. Special thanks to my best mate, Virginia Stanhope. Thank you to our deputy leader, for your tireless commitment to advancing the cause of women. Thank you to the Leader of the Opposition for your friendship and support, particularly at the beginning of this term. There is daylight between my first term and the last two terms. You have led a truly united team and you've encouraged us all to be bold in our thinking and our ideas, and to advance our great Labor tradition. Thank you. Thank you to my wonderful sisters, who, unfortunately, can't be here today. Meg's in the middle of vintage and Amy is in the middle of clinic. Neither of them wanted me to go into politics, but they've given me boundless loyalty and merciless honesty—which they've been giving me all their lives. Thank you to my beautiful nieces and nephews and godchildren. Thank you to my mum, a champion campaigner, who, contrary to popular belief—which was not helped by my media release—is actually alive and well! She's up in the gallery. Sorry, Mum, for frightening all your friends and your current affairs, cryptic crossword, Move It or Lose It and Zumba classmates, with the unintentional suggestion that you were dying! Thank you for teaching Meg, Amy and me to be strong and confident feminists, to be proud of our womanhood. Thank you for teaching us the importance of education, fertility control, financial independence and for teaching us to treat everyone with respect and dignity. Thank you to my beautiful husband, Chris Uhlmann. I'm not going to lose it here! I know our relationship has been an endless source of fascination for so many in the past years, which we have both found rather curious. You are the love of my life, and my love only grows stronger for you each and every day. Thank you so much for your support, which has allowed me to give to the people of Canberra my heart and my soul for three terms. I have chosen to leave my political career at this point because I now want to give my heart and soul to my family and friends. Mum turning 80 this year and the loss of too many close friends too young has made me realise that life is short and life is precious. When you're saying goodbye over the phone to a friend in his 50s who has just two weeks to live, or you're saying goodbye to a friend in his 60s who has hours to live, which we did over the summer break, you do really focus on what's important in life. For me, that is my husband, my family, my friends and my godchildren. It's now time to change down a few gears, so I'm closing this chapter of my career, and I'm looking forward to the next one, knowing I will always serve my community—just not at the same pace! Representing the people of Canberra has been an enormous honour and privilege and has brought me great pride and joy. I want to thank you, Canberra, for putting your faith in me for three terms. Above all, I want to thank my Labor family for your support and for allowing me to be part of—to play a small role, admittedly—in our great Labor story. I'm not a blind partisan, and I have many friends of all political dispositions, but I am Labor to my bootstraps. In 1983, I handed out my first how-to-vote cards in the election that saw the Hawke Labor government sweep to power. Thirty-six years on, I'm looking forward to handing out how-to-votes for a Shorten Labor government. To those who now take up Labor's fight for Bean and Canberra, to Senator Dave Smith and Alicia Payne: I am with you. We are in the battle of ideas, and I believe it's vitally important that we win. When we win, our prosperity is shared and our children get the chance of a world-class education. Australia is a country that supports the weak, a nation that uses its wealth to help the poor. When we win, individuals are encouraged to excel, but never at the expense of the common good. Workers get a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We fight for jobs. We fight for the environment. When we win, our nation is outward-looking and engaged with our allies and the forums of the world. We demand from each the best they can give and offer to each the chance to be the best they can be. A Shorten Labor government will change Canberra and it will change the nation for the better, offering equality, choice and hope to all, no matter what their postcode, no matter what their background and no matter how much their parents earn. It will offer opportunity for people like Meg, Amy and me to realise their potential, to contribute to their community and to lead bold and fearless lives. I thank the House.
Closing the Gap | Ministerial Statements | House debates
I begin by acknowledging the Ngambri and Ngunawal people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, in my electorate of Canberra, and I pay my respects to their elders, past, present...
I begin by acknowledging the Ngambri and Ngunawal people, the traditional owners of the land on which we meet, in my electorate of Canberra, and I pay my respects to their elders, past, present and future. I'm grateful for the opportunity to once again speak on the Closing the Gap report. Like the member for Indi, this is my last opportunity to do so. I've been speaking on these reports since I became the member for Canberra, and it is a great honour again to be able to speak on this latest report. Reading these reports, we see that there are incremental gains every time. There are some significant gains, and in some sectors there are no gains at all. It does make for poignant reading. It's a poignant reminder of the work that we have yet to do to ensure true equality for the diverse First Nations people across the country. The overall message of Closing the Gap this year is one of hope, and that's what we need to take from this report. As I said, while we haven't achieved all the targets set in the majority of sectors, we are making significant progress in many others. We've seen improvements in the education sector, and we're on track in early education, with 95 per cent of First Nations children enrolled in preschool in 2017, which is a fantastic result. In the ACT we've achieved universal enrolment for all First Nations children. We're also on track in year 12 attainment, with the gap narrowing from 36 per cent in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2016. These achievements are significant and they should be celebrated, particularly that extraordinary achievement on early education. Once you get the children in at that early age, they're more likely to continue right through to secondary and then onto vocational or potentially tertiary education. While the overall literacy and numeracy rates are not improving at the pace we need them to, there have still been some significant gains. First Nations students in year 9 are on track in numeracy across every state in Australia, and there's been an 11 per cent increase in the number of students who are at or above national standards in years 3, 5 and 9. In the ACT, all year groups are on track, reaching key literacy and numeracy targets. It's no wonder I'm proud of this community! It's no wonder I bang on about how wonderful it is all the time. These are fantastic figures. They're fantastic figures for the nation, particularly, as I said, that 95 per cent for early education. That's a significant achievement. And there's also the year 12 achievement and the year 9 literacy and numeracy achievement. Yes, there are gains being made, and we should applaud and celebrate those gains. But we can't take our eye off the ball. There is still a lot more work do be done, and not just throughout the rest of the country but also here in the ACT, despite these very good figures. We know there is a link between education and employment, and improved education outcomes for First Nations people can only lead to greater job and economic security in the longer term. There are also links between improved education outcomes and improved health outcomes, and this is evident here in Canberra. We've got that fabulous record on early childhood, on year 9 literacy and numeracy and on year 12 attainment, and we see those knock-on-effect benefits in terms of employment and health outcomes. What's really helping with the health outcomes here is the Winnunga Nimmityjah, the community health service down in Narrabundah, which has been providing primary health services to our First Nations people not just here in Canberra but also in the capital region. It has been providing primary healthcare services for 30 years. We celebrated this in style last year at the National Portrait Gallery. The member for Lingiari was there. The Minister for Indigenous Health and Minister for Aged Care was there. Senator Malarndirri McCarthy was there, as was Senator Pat Dodson. It was a wonderful night in celebration of this achievement. It was definitely a celebration of the fact that from little things big things grow, because when Winnunga first started it had a $200,000 budget and it was being run out of a tiny little office, from memory. Now it's this amazing facility, this amazing health service, that's right in the guts of our community, right in the guts of Narrabundah, and it just keeps growing. I've spent the last nine years, the last three terms, trying to get funding so that it can grow, so that we can get more health facilities and services and more discreet entry points for sensitive counselling and sensitive drug treatment services. We've been blessed by the fact that the First Nations people of Canberra have had access to this wonderful service, this tailored service, for 30 years. In the Aboriginal Wiradjuri language, 'winnunga nimmityjah' means 'strong health'. Winnunga is one of more than 160 organisations nationwide that is focused on delivering primary health care to First Nations people. Winnunga is really special in so many different ways. It's very much tailored to the needs of the First Nations people of Canberra and the capital region. It provides a culturally safe, holistic healthcare service for people all around this area. Depending on the service, between 30 and 40 per cent of the capital region uses it, in addition to people who are living here in Canberra. The range of services varies dramatically. We've got counselling services, dental services, diabetes services and services for kidney health. We've also got maternal health. That's a relatively new service. There's a maternal health centre there, which looks after infant welfare and also reproductive health. It provides a broad range of services from trying to fall pregnant to pre- and post-natal care. This is all provided down at Winnunga, in addition to a range of other services. It's a great facility. The team there is wonderful. It's run by Julie Tongs and a fabulous board of committed leaders. The medical team, the nursing team, the dental team, the counselling team and the other staff there are all wonderful. They've been there a long time. They're all deeply committed to improving the health of the First Nations people of Canberra and the capital region into the future, and they've made some significant gains. All power to them. Canberra is also home to the Khaamburra Netball Tournament, which is a tournament for First Nations people. It was originally set up by the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netball organisation and the Tuggeranong Netball Association. I am the proud patron of the TNA. The tournament provides participation and it also provides culturally safe and inclusive education and training opportunities in line with the Netball Australia pathways. Since 2015, Khaamburra Netball has helped First Nations girls gain confidence and self-awareness of their history and community, and the pathways program allows for representative development and the opportunity to compete in the national Indigenous schoolgirls netball tournament. I'm a proud patron of the TNA, as I said, but also of the Khaamburra Netball Tournament. Engagement in this tournament, which I have supported since its inception, grows every year in terms of bringing in Indigenous girls, women and boys to come and compete in a national tournament. People from Queensland and New South Wales come to compete in this tournament, which I think is a very rare tournament. It may not be the first of its kind, but it is one of a handful of its kind. An essential aspect of closing the gap is recognising the strong community ties in First Nations communities and finding a way to partner with and rely on the community to enact positive change. Winnunga and Khaamburra Netball are very good examples of community engagement here in Canberra, but this engagement needs to be much, much broader. The pervasive message of the Closing the gap report this year is one of hope, as I said earlier. While we still have work to do, we have seen improvement in the lives of many First Nations people, particularly here in Canberra and in the capital region, and significant improvements in areas like education. As a community, we must work tirelessly and commit to working tirelessly to ensure the history and culture of our First Nations people are not lost, to ensure true equality for all and to create a better, more united Australia. Debate adjourned.
Aged Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
Across Australia, more than 127,000 older people have been waiting for more than a year to access the care that they've been promised—to access the care for which they've received approval....
Across Australia, more than 127,000 older people have been waiting for more than a year to access the care that they've been promised—to access the care for which they've received approval. When the last Home Care Packages Program data report was released, covering July to September last year, there were 735 Canberrans who were waiting to access their approved home care package. These are services that help them stay in their homes—services that allow them to continue to live with dignity to retain their independence. These delays are causing uncertainty and stress for many of these older Canberrans. An older Canberran has been trying to get assistance for standard gardening and home maintenance services. And she has asked not to be named, so I will call her Margaret. Margaret's My Aged Care package was approved in July last year. Since then, every time she tries to get some help, she's been told that all service providers are at capacity, that they're full, and she has to wait until there is an opening. Service providers have also told Margaret to call in the new financial year. And she did that—this was last year—and she got nothing. They also told her again to call, after Christmas, six months later, and she still got nothing. Margaret is still waiting—she doesn't know for how long—and she doesn't know if she'll ever receive the services for which she is entitled and for which she has approval. Another story, this time from Janne. Janne and her husband are both My Aged Care participants and have been using DUO, a service provider here in Canberra, for over five years for gardening and home maintenance services. At the end of the last year, Janne was told that DUO was no longer able to provide yard-tidying services, as their books were full. This was despite Janne being an existing client for more than five years. Janne is not a new client. She's been using this service for five years. She's been registered with Duo for five years. So how can they suddenly say that their books are full? Shouldn't Janne already be on those books? Janne has not been able to find another provider to take on those gardening and home maintenance services. Again, Janne has been told that all other service providers are fully booked. It's appalling that it has come to this—that this has come to be a standard practice across the ACT. This is outrageous, and I call on the government to actually look after these people. There are more than a dozen reviews and hundreds of recommendations on aged-care issues that have been ignored by this government. It's just not good enough. Older Australians deserve more. They deserve to be treated with respect, love, care and dignity. (Time expired)
Broadband | Statements by Members | House debates
Elliott's NBN saga part 2: Elliott tried to get an NBN connection. He has been trying since September last year and here's a summary of what he's been enduring since then—hold on, it's...
Elliott's NBN saga part 2: Elliott tried to get an NBN connection. He has been trying since September last year and here's a summary of what he's been enduring since then—hold on, it's quite a ride! Between September and October, NBN Co wouldn't and couldn't accept that the equipment needed to connect his apartment complex to the NBN was already installed so photos were sent to NBN Co to show the installed equipment. In November, Elliott and his body corporate couldn't get NBN Co to respond to them. Three weeks later, NBN Co emerged from its radio silence, once again requesting photos of the installed equipment so the photos were resent. Now the NBN connection was finally turned on—great rejoicing, much excitement! However, the excitement was short-lived. NBN Co cancelled the order and turned the service off. It beggars belief. Two weeks later and leading up to Christmas, an NBN technician arrived on site to install the service and was shocked that all the equipment was already installed. The service went live again yet in January NBN told the ISP to turn off all connections because work is still being required by the developer. This is the same work that was completed months ago, the same work that was shown in the photos sent to NBN Co six times—count them, six times. This is absolutely farcical. (Time expired)
Canberra Electorate: Broadband | Statements by Members | House debates
Elliot's NBN saga part 1: on 10 September 2018, Elliot placed an order with an ISP to get his apartment connected to the NBN. After three weeks of NBN Co's confusion over whether NBN...
Elliot's NBN saga part 1: on 10 September 2018, Elliot placed an order with an ISP to get his apartment connected to the NBN. After three weeks of NBN Co's confusion over whether NBN infrastructure was already installed in the apartment building, Elliot's request for connection was advanced no further. On 2 October 2018, Elliot placed several calls to NBN Co who asked him for information he was unable to provide. They wanted the development number. The body corporate didn't have a record of this, and at this stage other apartments in the same building were already connected to the NBN. On 17 October 2018, Elliot contacted me frustrated about his experience with NBN Co. I spoke about the issues, the delays and the confusion that he had experienced in parliament many times. At least it sparked some action. A senior staff member called with an update, and I quote: Some remediation is required from the developer. On 19 October 2018, the developer made all the necessary changes, installed the vent and labelled the NBN terminal with a warning to not suffocate the NTD and sent the images to NBN Co. The tenants and landlord also sent the photos to NBN Co—that is, photos from three separate accounts. Now, NBN Co has asked to be advised of any outstanding work, and there's been no response—no resolution from NBN C. (Time expired)
Tuberculosis | Private Members' Business | House debates
I, too, would like to join with my colleagues to commend and congratulate the member for Leichhardt for his constant advocacy on this issue for many, many years. He is keeping it at the forefront...
I, too, would like to join with my colleagues to commend and congratulate the member for Leichhardt for his constant advocacy on this issue for many, many years. He is keeping it at the forefront of our conversations and keeping a focus on it amongst colleagues here. That is vitally important, particularly given the statistics we've heard during the course of today's discussion. I also want to thank him and commend him for his leadership on this issue. There are others on the other side of the chamber, and on this side, who have also shown leadership on this, but the member for Leichhardt has actually been at the forefront of this and the lead champion. I congratulate and thank him. I want to also thank the member for Leichhardt for bringing this motion forward because it highlights the work that is being done and what we still need to do to both prevent the spread of TB and cure people from this insidious preventable disease. Because TB is largely non-existent in Australia, many people do not know or remember what the symptoms of TB actually are—and the speech from the member for Macarthur was very useful in reminding us of those symptoms. This disease has a long history. It was recognised in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance periods, during the 17th and 18th centuries and beyond. With medical science advancing over time, we did have TB on the run for a while. But then the drug-resistant variety of the virus emerged, causing the World Health Organization to declare a global health emergency in 1993. While TB is largely wiped out in Australia, in Asia more than 8,000 cases are diagnosed across the continent and archipelago every day. That's not every week, that's not every month; it's 8,000 cases every day. TB is known as the disease of the poor, spreading through overcrowded neighbourhoods and poorly ventilated homes and workplaces. Importantly, for Australia, it is our closest neighbours to the north who are detecting the largest growth in new cases of TB. The World Health Organization has reported a 32 per cent increase in Papua New Guinea, a 17 per cent increase in both Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, a 13 per cent increase in Nepal, a 12 per cent increase in Timor-Leste and a seven per cent increase in Indonesia. When diagnosed, the treatment regime is intensive, requiring a person to commit to a full six-month daily treatment program. As the member for Macarthur has mentioned, that can last up to three years. For most of us living here in Australia, where we have universal Medicare, completing a health program like this sounds like an easy thing to do. But imagine not having access to world-leading health care or having to make a choice between earning a living and seeking medical treatment. This is the choice that many people in our region affected with TB have to make each and every day. The poverty of many people means that they either do not seek treatment in the first place or discontinue treatment halfway through, usually after starting to feel better. The risk to people who discontinue treatment is the possibility of contracting a more serious drug-resistant strain of TB. The WHO's statistics show that someone who does not seek treatment or discontinues it halfway through will go on to infect 10 to 15 more people over the course of a year. The prevalence of this insidious disease means we must help our neighbours and we must act now. We must take action now. That's particularly the case in terms of vaccinations but most importantly in terms of transportation of those vaccinations. There are a number of NGOs that are coming up with fabulous, flexible solutions to allow those vaccinations to be transported in non-refrigerated vehicles in little eskies. For anyone who is interested in this disease and supporting this cause, I encourage them to get behind the fundraising for these little eskies that deliver fresh vaccinations to really remote regions. Last year I met with representatives from Results, who spoke about the need for Australia to be represented at the inaugural UN high-level meeting on TB, held in New York last year. I wrote to the Prime Minister, and he confirmed Australia would be represented. The outcome of that meeting saw a pledge to reach 40 million people with treatment by 2022, a goal to secure $13 billion in annual new funding, and a commitment by the US government to increase impact and support countries to reach everyone. Next month, on 24 March, we will mark World TB Day. This is a day dedicated to raising public awareness and, also, highlighting what actions need to be taken. With a renewed global commitment to act on TB, the theme of this year's World TB Day is 'It's Time'. It definitely is time.
Canberra Electorate: Drones | Statements by Members | House debates
A commercial drone operated by Evoenergy was shot down over a rural property. Actually, it was across the weekend; it was that recent. The wariness and distrust of drones by rural property owners...
A commercial drone operated by Evoenergy was shot down over a rural property. Actually, it was across the weekend; it was that recent. The wariness and distrust of drones by rural property owners is shared by Bonython residents in my electorate in response to Project Wings drone delivery trial. But at least none of Wings' drones were shot down. Instead, two of them fell from the sky for no reason but they weren't actually shot down. A local community group, Bonython Against Drones, presented a petition of 1,024 signatures to the Australian Capital Territory. Remember, there are 1,685 households in the area. And this result was replicated in larger surveys from the Canberra Times, the RiotACT and Canberra ABC Radio. In December, the Canberra Times published a poll canvassing a broader range of people than just the residents. The result was 68 per cent against drones, 17 per cent for and 15 per cent unsure. The RiotACT's online poll on the delivery drone services showed 66 per cent of respondents said 'keep them out of my backyard'. ABC Radio's poll on 13 February with 793 participants showed 65 per cent were against the drone delivery trial or the service in general. It is clear there is a disturbing lack of regulation on this issue, and we need more investigation.
Canberra Electorate: Operation School Supplies | Statements by Members | House debates
Canberran students went back to school last week, and in anticipation I made a call to action to my community—a call to action to take part in my Operation School Supplies campaign; a call...
Canberran students went back to school last week, and in anticipation I made a call to action to my community—a call to action to take part in my Operation School Supplies campaign; a call to action to help families doing it tough, particularly after Christmas; a call to action to ease the pressure on those families through donations of stationery, drink bottles, lunch boxes, backpacks and calculators; a call to action in response to the real need identified by the Gordon Community Centre and the YWCA Mura Lanyon Youth and Community Centre. A few days after I dropped off a mountain of supplies, I received this beautiful letter from Gordon Community Centre: We have been able to give out so many of the items already. In particular we were able to help a mother of a large family with one child in hospital. She's struggling with the expense of getting back and forth from the hospital and hadn't bought any school supplies. We were also able to help a single dad who has just got housing for himself and his three children—he's sleeping on the couch so each of his children has their own room. Their faces lit up when I let them know we had a supply of brand new, back to school items. I also sent off a backpack with one of my colleagues which will be given to a young carer who is supporting a member of their family. I want to share my thanks with the people of Canberra. Thank you for taking part in this campaign. A big shout-out goes to Georgina Warren, who interned in our office and helped me and my team coordinate it. (Time expired)
Last Friday heralded the end of the drone delivery trial in Bonython and the community is rejoicing. From Irena: The drones stopped flying last weekend and I can tell you the peace and quiet we...
Last Friday heralded the end of the drone delivery trial in Bonython and the community is rejoicing. From Irena: The drones stopped flying last weekend and I can tell you the peace and quiet we have had in the past week has been sublime. We (and our pets) have been seriously traumatised by living with and fighting the drone trial. We are so relieved that they are gone. Our thoughts are now with the residents of Gungahlin. The drones should not be allowed to fly over there until a government body is made responsible for the noise, and the issues about privacy are addressed. Irena, I am with you. The Bonython trial has thrown up lots of questions. That's why I've been calling for and I continue to call for the minister to conduct an independent review before the Gungahlin pilot—an independent review led by CASA and the Privacy Commission and involving the relevant federal and territory government agencies; an independent review that is publicly released and looks at the regulatory framework, particularly for commercial operators; an independent review that looks at the privacy issues, particularly regarding where the data is being stored, what data is actually being captured, what happens to the data and at which location it is being stored; an independent review that looks at the economic benefits to the ACT, particularly for local small businesses. If we're going to have a place where we have fast food delivered by drones, as a nation we need to have a conversation about this, and that starts with an independent review. (Time expired)
Canberra Electorate | Statements by Members | House debates
This is my final 90-second statement for 2018. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me serve and advocate for the Canberra community over the course of the year. On...
This is my final 90-second statement for 2018. I want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped me serve and advocate for the Canberra community over the course of the year. On this International Volunteers Day, I want to thank Jack McCaffrie, Kerry Burton, Eva Cawthorne, Ian Pieper, William Pieper, Anne Gardiner, Jenny Nicholson, Jacob Biggs, Deb Biggs, Chris Siedl, Liz Morris, Sandi and Diya Mitra, Alex Wang, Shannon Cook, Tim Dobson, Maryam Khazaeli, Mal Larson, Robyn McIntosh, Sam Wilson, Joann Khaira, Eric Topp, Lucy Topp, Charlotte Corbyn, Helen Fraser, Toni Skyy, Ian McLure, Gerry Lloyd, Jen Newman, Georgina Vallance, Chris Lang, Nick Wheeler, Jay McLinden and Cath Byrne. I also want to thank my part-time team of Martin Geng, Neda Fereidounkhan, Catherine Moggach, Benjamin Magrath, Robert Potter and Byron Nagy, and my ANU intern Kate Dawson. Finally, I thank my tireless fab full-time team of Vic Robertson, Steph Brimson and Drew Eppelstun. Enjoy the break, Canberra. Enjoy the time with your family and friends and the opportunity to reflect on what is important. And please, if you're travelling interstate, travel safely—and stop, revive and survive. Please enjoy the break.
Canberra Electorate: Local Sporting Champions | Statements by Members | House debates
Canberra lays claim to producing some of the world's greatest sporting stars. This year I have had the honour of presenting 63 awards to our local sporting champions. I know we will be seeing...
Canberra lays claim to producing some of the world's greatest sporting stars. This year I have had the honour of presenting 63 awards to our local sporting champions. I know we will be seeing many of these names up in the bright lights on the world stage before too long. Keep an eye out for Angus Alford, Chloe Arnold, Madison Arnold, Joshua Arnold, Marcus Bateup, Jeremy Blick, Lily Bray, Georgia Bryant, Sophira Bryen, Oliver Bryson, Noah Budd, Kai Calloway, Matthew Cameron, Tara Cannon, Nicholas Coghill, Lachlan Cunanan, Max Curry, Patrick Dunn, Sean Edwards, Zoe Evans, Joshua Grovenor, Poppy Hancox, Lachlan Hope, Chloe Ives, Lucy Jalland, Sophie Jung, Georgia Keane, Kiara Keane, Jordyn Kearney, David Kidd, Clare Kwiatkowski, Noah Le Lievre, Chandler Leydon, Taine Lockton, Olivia Malone, Samuel Manton, Samantha Mcalister-Scott, Alexander Mcdonald, James Micallef, Eloise Millington, Laura Monterosso, Ryan Navin, Ada Nebauer, Emily O'Brien, Benjamin Paton, Gabrielle Petersen, Riley Proudfoot, Rebecca Rainey, Zachary Rauter, Alexander Sangah, Jonny Sheridan, Catherine Smith, Charlie Snow, Mitchell Thomas, Lauren Thomas, Ally Thornton, Georgia Tongs, Sofiya Vakar, Minski Wade Quayle, Dylan White, Georgia Willey, Eric Wong and Lucia Zarak.
Fair Work Amendment (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2018; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
Violence and abuse against women exist in many forms. They can be physical. They can be emotional. They can be financial. Now, in the information age, they can also come in new forms like the...
Violence and abuse against women exist in many forms. They can be physical. They can be emotional. They can be financial. Now, in the information age, they can also come in new forms like the non-consensual sharing of intimate images. We've heard these statistics endlessly. On average, one woman is killed every week by a current or former partner; one in three women have experienced physical and/or sexual violence perpetrated by someone known to them; one in five women over the age of 18 have been stalked in their lifetime; and domestic violence is the principal cause of homelessness for women and their children. This compares to one in 16 men. Violence against women is a national tragedy. It's a national disgrace. It is a tragedy, but it's also a disgrace. It is a national crisis and it is a national shame. Do you want to know what else is a national shame? The dismissive response that women who are victims of violence or harassment receive from those who are in a position to help. Last week I stood here in this very spot, and I was sharing experiences of Canberrans in relation to housing stress and homelessness. Straight after my speech, a woman from Victoria called my office to thank me for speaking out and explained why she identified so closely with that speech. The woman receives the disability support pension and she lives in a rental property. The property has no heating. Fancy being able to rent a property with no heating! I remember that one of the first places I rented in Canberra in the early 1990s had no heating, but I would have thought that 30 years later things would be a bit better. So this property has no heating, and that was the first point my caller identified with. The second was the dismissive attitude of real estate agents. My caller shared her story. She had been the victim of an attempted rape in the previous fortnight and, since then, had been trying to break her lease so she could move somewhere where she could feel safe. The response from her property managers—this is real cute!—was, 'It will cost her $2,000 because of the length of time it will take to find someone to take on the lease.' So, here she is, this woman in the Latrobe Valley in an unheated home, in 2018—I won't say anything to identify her. As someone who spent their very early years in the Latrobe Valley, where I went to kindergarten and to primary school, and where my little sister was born in the hospital at Yallourn, I know that it can get pretty cool and pretty bleak in winter. The fact that this woman is living in an unheated home is a disgrace to the landlord. The property managers then asked her to pay $2,000 to break the lease, which she wanted to do because she had been a victim of a rape attempt and she was trying to find somewhere safe. That is a disgrace. The figures we have on this scourge of domestic and family violence in this nation are an absolute shame and disgrace. It is something we should all hang our heads in shame over. But here we have this woman who is going through really tough times, and the property manager is saying, 'That'll be $2,000.' She explained the situation to the property manager—she shared the intimate details of something so very personal and traumatising that happened to her—and there was no empathy, no understanding and no appreciation of what she was going through. This is a woman who is on the DSP and who has been the victim of a crime, and who is trying to do what she can to feel safe. Where is she going to find $2,000? That's one story. Over the course of this debate, we have heard countless stories of women fleeing violent situations; in many ways, they are degraded and made to feel lesser in the process of escaping violence, or made to feel even more vulnerable than they were when they were experiencing violent situations. This is just one of the stories outlining the experience of Australian women today going through violence in their homes. The reason I share it with you is to show just how hard it is for women to escape, or to do something to deal with the impact of violence, especially if they are already at a financial disadvantage. So many women are at a structural financial disadvantage as a result of pay inequity. Pay inequity drives the huge gap in women's super and it is one of the reasons that older single women are one of the fastest-growing groups of people falling into homelessness. I have spoken extensively about that and I will continue to speak about this issue until I finish in this place. The inherent structural financial disadvantage that most women face is the reason that I'm adding my voice to the discussion on this bill, the Fair Work Amendment (Family and Domestic Violence Leave) Bill 2018. It's a bill that is meant to provide a safety net for those in the workforce who experience family violence. The bill implements a decision made by the Fair Work Commission in March to include a clause in all modern awards to provide for five days unpaid family and domestic violence leave. The bill we're talking about today will amend the National Employment Standards to ensure the entitlement will apply in full to all employees—full-time, part-time and casual workers. According to studies by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, women are at a greater risk of family violence than men. The Australian Bureau of Statistics estimates that around two out of three of all women who experience domestic violence are in the workforce. Given this, it only makes sense that any response to domestic violence includes an appropriate workplace response. Yet Australian women effectively work the first two months of every year for free, compared to their male colleagues. And when they face the most traumatic experiences in their lives, under this bill they are expected to undertake life-changing decisions and make arrangements for their safety, all while being unpaid. The structural economic disadvantage for women continues. It is built in. It continues and continues and continues. I'm having conversations and I'm seeing the reality, as are so many people in this place. We are seeing the reality of this disadvantage—this inequity—continuing through a lifetime. We see it when women come to us who are in the private rental market, trying to make ends meet on the pension. They are facing a very, very bleak retirement future. While this bill is a nod in the right direction, it simply does not go far enough. What those in our communities disproportionately affected by family violence really need is paid family and domestic violence leave. The Australian Law Reform Commission noted in its 2011 final report: There are strong arguments in favour of the need for paid family violence leave, or a combination of paid and unpaid leave, to avoid provision of a 'hollow' entitlement, risk further disadvantaging victims of family violence, or to fail to achieve the objects underlying its introduction. The ACTU argued: Until 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave is a universal … employment standard, vulnerable employees will still be forced to make an unacceptable choice between their safety and their pay check. How invidious is that? Here we are putting these women in the position where they actually have to make a decision between their safety—not only their personal safety but the safety of their children—and their pay cheque. Paid domestic violence leave provisions are not new. The Philippines introduced legislation providing up to 10 days paid domestic violence leave in 2004. These arrangements are appearing in Australian workplace agreements in both the private and the public sectors. My colleague the member for Kingsford Smith outlined in his speech not just a range of states and territories across Australia that have introduced similar legislation but also organisations in the private sector and the public sector, including some of our very large companies. He also outlined the range of countries that have introduced this kind of legislation. The ACT might be small, but it's leading the way when it comes to raising awareness of domestic and family violence and engaging the community in a response. The most recent ACT Policing crime statistics showed that there were 2,150 incidents of family violence reported from January to October 2018, and in the same period there were 603 family violence assaults. These statistics were somewhat reduced from the same period the year before, which had 2,414 family violence incidents and 773 family violence assaults. The ACT has had 20 days paid family and domestic violence leave in workplace arrangements for the public sector since 2013, and it has pushed hard at COAG for paid leave to be included as a national employment standard. The ACT government has implemented a $30 annual levy, paid by each ACT ratepayer, which is used to help fund future prevention and early intervention programs and to assist with demand for crisis housing, health and legal support. The reduction in ACT Policing crime statistics shows that these strategies are having some effect. In the ACT, there are avenues of support for low-income victims of domestic violence. There are fewer options available for women in the middle-income bracket. These domestic violence survivors make up a missing middle here in Canberra. In the ACT, we have the Assistance Beyond Crisis loans scheme, which was established in 2017 with the help of the Snow Foundation, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers. Since then, 27 women and 80 children have received financial help under the scheme. Women have been able to secure new homes and furnish them, afford medical bills, pay legal fees and keep their kids in the schools they've been in since kindergarten, which is really important. These are things we might take for granted, but they're things which help maintain a sense of normalcy and stability. These interest-free loans have helped survivors build new lives. There's a misconception about domestic violence survivors that, if you're earning a certain amount of money, you've got your life together. But just because some women are on generally high incomes doesn't mean they can afford the same things that they did when they were with a partner. Nine times out of 10, their financial circumstances are far more complex than this, and this complexity is yet another reason why women need paid family and domestic violence leave. A number of submissions from private sector organisations to the Senate committee's inquiry into this bill noted that the time needed by affected employees to sufficiently organise alternative arrangements—living arrangements, financial arrangements and legal arrangements—was between five and 11 days. So 10 days of leave absolutely makes sense. We know that this government has moved way too slowly. The minister first committed to unpaid leave at the end of March, yet it has taken until September for the government to introduce the bill. Since coming into government, the coalition have tried five times to slash paid parental leave. They've opposed increases to the minimum wage that disproportionately benefit women. They've supported cuts to penalty rates. They've introduced changes to child care, leaving one in four families worse off and meaning that some women working four days a week will actually lose money if they increase their workforce participation. They cut $35 million from community legal centres that provide crucial legal services to family violence victims. They abolished the annual women's budget statement to hide the harmful impacts their policies have on women. Contrast that with Labor. We've already committed to a $400 million boost to women's superannuation balances for a more secure financial future, which includes paying superannuation on Commonwealth paid parental leave. We have committed to taking action to close the gender pay gap, including greater transparency and accountability for business and government. We have committed to investing $88 million over two years in emergency housing and, most recently, to investing $18 million over three years to ensure that the Keeping Women Safe in Their Home program is able to continue after the government cut funding for this program. This is an amazing program. It provides expert safety advice and upgrades to women to keep them in their home. Why should women and children have to leave the family home as a result of a violent partner forcing them out? Why should they leave the comfort and safety of their own home, the whole school environment and the whole community environment because someone is instilling fear of violence in them? Why should they be the ones who leave? That's why this program is so fantastic in trying to keep those women and their children in their own homes. We're coming up to Christmas, and this is a particularly bad time for family and domestic violence. So I encourage all Australians, all Canberrans, to please reach out to your support services and ask them what they need. I know that, here in Canberra, women are often having to flee family violence around the Christmas period and particularly on Christmas Day. They need bags full of goodies—phone cards, toys and games. They're going to be in a bleak hotel room, on their own, with their children on Christmas Day. Please, Australia, please, Canberra, reach out and provide every support you can to make Christmas Day for these women and their children that much better.
A local charity in Canberra contacted me recently about their experience trying to connect their premises to VDSL2. The local charity asked the telco provider the question, 'Is VDSL2 definitely...
A local charity in Canberra contacted me recently about their experience trying to connect their premises to VDSL2. The local charity asked the telco provider the question, 'Is VDSL2 definitely available at our address?' and the response was: 'VDSL2 is available at that site. Yes, that is the case.' Based on this, the local charity proceeded with the connection, but to no avail. Despite the plans showing a cable at the premises, no such cable existed. The telco provider then quoted nearly $2,800, excluding GST, to install a cable to the building. Even though the telco provider had said an NBN connection was available, suddenly an NBN connection was not available, and the expensive connection to VDSL2 was the only option. Due to the generosity of a couple of local Canberra businesses, the charity is being helped through the connection process. But my concern is that the telco provider is being rewarded after some rather questionable, dubious, commercial ethics. I've checked the NBN rollout map, and it shows that fibre to the curb is available. Telco providers need to ensure that their customer and business relations staff act with integrity and provide the best possible outcome and experience for their customers, not just price gouge.
International Human Rights and Corruption (Magnitsky Sanctions) Bill 2018; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I second the motion and reserve my speak.
Here is Elliot Crighton's NBN saga, part 4. On 19 November, NBN Co advised me that Elliot Crighton's apartment in Coombs was finally activated for service. After 10 days, it wasn't activated. I...
Here is Elliot Crighton's NBN saga, part 4. On 19 November, NBN Co advised me that Elliot Crighton's apartment in Coombs was finally activated for service. After 10 days, it wasn't activated. I sought an update from NBN Co, and they've decided to provide Elliot with a case manager. Hurrah, hurrah! I let Elliot know, and he said: 'I appreciate the update; however, I'm not riddled with optimism, as I had an NBN case manager around one to two months ago that was extraordinarily unhelpful and was unable to answer any questions or issues. That particular case manager also took almost two weeks just to report they had no information.' Elliot's provider, Aussie Broadband, told him his apartment has a location number that is provided only after NBN is connected. The apartment developer has no outstanding requests from NBN Co and has tried to contact them on multiple occasions to find out why there is the delay, and all it's been is absolute crickets. From Elliot: 'One possible solution is that the case manager finally advises what needs to be done by the developer before the address is listed as activated, or they simply change the status of the resident from phase 0 to phase 3.' I'm calling on the minister to pay attention to the NBN rollout and pay attention to Coombs, because this is a greenfields site. (Time expired)
Higher Education Support Amendment (VET FEE-HELP Student Protection) Bill 2018; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
Thanks very much for that; I'm talking about VET. Those opposite wasted $24 million on a bungled apprenticeship IT system and failed to meet their apprenticeship targets. For more than one year,...
Thanks very much for that; I'm talking about VET. Those opposite wasted $24 million on a bungled apprenticeship IT system and failed to meet their apprenticeship targets. For more than one year, those opposite failed to spend one cent of its flawed Skilling Australians Fund on an apprenticeship. Those opposite have provided no leadership on vocational education and training. Those opposite have ignored the underlying flaws in the system and instead continued to cut funding and continued to cut support to skills formation. Contrast that to Labor—and this isn't just Labor's opinion either—in terms of what those opposite have done, in terms of the decimation of the VET system in this country. The Productivity Commission called the system 'a mess', the OECD has found Australia doesn't have the skills to engage effectively in global value chains, and an independent report by Terry Moran, one of the original architects of the national scheme, says that it's fragmented and devalued, that there is no effective governance, that the funding arrangements are chaotic and that there is no national strategy. VET plays a vital role in our skill formation system. It is essential—absolutely vital—to Australia's future prospects and to our domestic and international competitiveness. We have an obligation to ensure that VET is excellent. We used to be world leaders on VET. We were one of the few countries that had a really sophisticated VET system going. There was the polytechnic system in the UK, the Germans and us—we were the world leaders. And now this is a world-leading system that has been starved in every way thanks to those opposite, including The Nationals. We have an obligation to ensure that VET provides an environment where students flourish, where they achieve things they've never imagined and where they reach goals they may never have felt possible given their personal circumstances and experiences. This cannot be achieved if, when it comes to cost cutting, VET continues to be treated as the poor cousin of the university sector and the scapegoat of governments. We need a VET system that equips people more appropriately for a rapidly changing world and encourages people to take part in that world and continue that process of lifelong learning. The way forward will be complex and challenging intellectually and practically. And a clear example of the need to equip people for a rapidly changing world is evident in the area of cybersecurity. As I've mentioned, the cybersecurity industry is only 11 per cent women, and we are screaming out for skills. We will need 19,000 cybersecurity experts for next year alone. There is an international and national cybersecurity skills shortage: six million jobs in cybersecurity globally and only 4½ million people with the skills to fill those jobs next year. We need cybersecurity experts yesterday and we need them in a broad range of fields, from coders to policymakers. So how do we get them quick smart? We need to think creatively and we need to think laterally. We need to learn from other nations. We need to think about compressing undergraduate degrees into two years, including industry experience. We need to think about intensive degrees, where the student studies throughout the year with no break, completing the degree in 12 months. We need to think about pathway degrees, diplomas and certificates, which can be completed in a summer school. We need to think about pathways through primary school and secondary school to cybersecurity careers, identifying that talent early and fostering and nurturing it through the education process. We need to think about managing the security risk of newcomers awaiting their positive vet: getting them into the workforce but keeping them on less sensitive work until they're cleared, or graduating them up the scale as their positive vet progresses. We need to think about starting the positive vetting process during high school, TAFE or university so graduates aren't stringing a living together through a series of part-time jobs for two years while they're waiting for their clearance. And we need to think creatively and laterally about how we accredit these courses, certificates, diplomas and degrees. Cybersecurity is the new black. It is the Y2K of the 2000s, and there is not a day that goes by where an institution doesn't come up with a new cybersecurity course. But at the moment we only have an assurance mechanism to accredit some of these courses, not all of them, which means we have quite a large blind spot over the skills, quality and readiness of many of our cybersecurity graduates—and I say 'not all' these courses because, while I understand the Australian Computer Society accredits undergraduate and postgraduate ICT courses, the push now is for cybersecurity graduates from multidisciplinary backgrounds, across a range of disciplines—that is, those with a combination of ICT and international law, risk management and coding, or psychology and ethics. We now have a national curriculum in TAFE on cyber, and that is being rolled out, and I applaud that. That said, we need more of this and we need it now. We also need to be assured that the courses that are rolling out across TAFEs and across institutions right throughout the nation are actually accredited. Labor believes no-one should be excluded from access to vocational education and training as a result of financial disadvantage, course cost, fear of debt or regional disadvantage. The inquiry into postsecondary education will build on the best of Australia's vocational education and training system and repair the damage done by shonky providers and the neglect of those opposite, including the Nationals. Labor has always championed quality apprenticeships and will continue to ensure more Australians can follow that trusted path into decent work.
I want to commend the member for Bass on that speech. I want to commend him for the fact he actually underscored the fact that TAFE is there for various parts of your career. It is the journey of...
I want to commend the member for Bass on that speech. I want to commend him for the fact he actually underscored the fact that TAFE is there for various parts of your career. It is the journey of life, in many ways, in terms of education. I know this from my father, who was an electrician. He studied at TAFE in the 1950s, and then he decided he wanted to go back and get a further qualification and so moved from being an electrician into becoming an accountant. It was TAFE, or technical colleges as they were called then, that trained him as an electrician and it was TAFE technical colleges that trained him as an accountant. That's the beauty of TAFE: it can provide you with an entry point into a career and then it can provide you with a pathway into a new career. It can provide you with an update on your current skills. It can provide an endless range of opportunities throughout the course of your life. As the member for Bass said, it provides lifelong learning opportunities, which is why I am a huge fan. It's not just because of that story of my father but because I did go through the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology myself. I did my second degree there. I was also union president there. I also tutored out at the University of Canberra before I went into politics. Again, I'm a huge fan of vocational education. Just yesterday, I met a group of 18 amazing young women from regional, rural and remote Australia. They were in Canberra as part of the Country to Canberra 'power trip'. These women had come from all over Australia, from Nhulunbuy, Tasmania, Victoria, remote parts of New South Wales, remote parts of WA and Queensland. I met two young women whose stories really stuck with me. The first was Chloe. Chloe is really excited about taking part in this program. Chloe has been going through her own personal journey in trying to work out what she wants to do. She's in year 11 in north-western Tasmania. She has finally settled on studying hairdressing, and so she's going off to study that. She's choosing to use it as an opportunity to move from her home town and to forge a new path in a new town. I commend her for that. Also, I met Hannah, who works on a fourth-generation dairy farm and naturally wants to go into dairy farming. So, next year, she's also heading off. They are both of them in year 11 and yet they're going on a new pathway next year. Hannah is going off to study a cert and then ultimately a diploma in farming and agriculture, and she's really excited about that. That's the beauty of TAFE: it opens up so much opportunity for people right across Australia. That is why the Nationals should get behind TAFE and the endless possibilities it provides for those two Country to Canberra women—Chloe from Tasmania and Hannah from down in Camperdown, Victoria. The Nationals should be behind the endless possibilities and range of learning opportunities that TAFE provides. If anyone in this country is going to be behind it, it should be the Nationals. Labor welcome any opportunity to strengthen the integrity of the vocational education and training sector because we are great fans of VET and apprenticeships. The original intention of the VET FEE-HELP loan scheme was to enable a pathway to higher education for eligible students. We have since learned that lifting restrictions on what type of provider could arrange credit transfers with universities essentially opened the system to the market and made the system vulnerable and, worse, made thousands of VET students vulnerable. According to the Department of Education and Training, between 2009 and 2015 the number of students accessing VET FEE-HELP jumped from 5,262 to a whopping 272,000. This is a 5,000 per cent increase. In the same period, the average course cost tripled from around $4,000 to $14,000. This resulted in debts to students. It has Commonwealth borrowings blowing out from $26 million to $2.9 billion. They're extraordinary jumps in figures—a 5,000 per cent increase. Because of these impacts, a number of changes were implemented to the system in 2015, including banning the use of inducements to encourage students to enrol in a course—and who could forget the enticement of iPads?—limiting allowable marketing and recruitment practices, clarifying students' rights and obligations, and introducing stricter provider eligibility and charging requirements and a civil penalty regime. In 2016, the VET FEE-HELP scheme was replaced with VET Student Loans, again tightening provider eligibility requirements and lending controls. The new VET Student Loans scheme has shown an improvement in course completion rates of 16 per cent not because of a program name change and not because of whatever government was in charge at the time but because we're starting to get the regulatory settings right. We still have some way to go, unfortunately. The OECD Survey of Adult Skills examines the strengths and challenges facing the skills system and what can be done to enhance basic skills through education, training or other workplace measures. It's relied on by governments, academics and advocates for research and to inform policy development on skill formation. The outcome from the 2017 survey identified a number of policy recommendations for Australia, and these included increasing women's participation in STEM fields—I know from my own experience in the cybersecurity area that only 11 per cent of the cybersecurity profession are women—addressing underperformance of postsecondary VET students and preventing dropout, improving pre-apprenticeships, enhancing mathematics provision within secondary education and tackling poor access to childcare facilities for young mothers. These recommendations were made using internationally recognised, quantifiable data analysing the literacy, numeracy and problem-solving skills of Australians. But, just last week, Labor shadow minister for skills, TAFE and apprenticeships stated he had received advice that the Morrison government has withdrawn Australia from this Survey of Adult Skills. Why? It's absolutely staggering. If Australia withdraws, there will be no way of benchmarking Australia's skills internationally or assessing whether we are actually meeting national targets. Why would we want to avoid scrutiny on how our skill base is developing, particularly when we have a skill shortage in this nation in nearly every profession? There's a skill shortage, particularly in the trades. I can tell you right now we have a skill shortage of 19,000 in the cybersecurity industry, and that's just for next year. Why would you want to avoid scrutiny of this skill shortage? We should be getting a greater understanding of how skill bases are developing and identifying areas where target assistance may be required. It should beggar belief but it is so typical of those opposite. Those opposite—and I count the Nationals in on this—have cut more than $3 billion from vocational education and skills, which is just staggering. Those opposite have cut a further $270 million over the forward estimates in funding for apprenticeships. Those opposite, including the Nationals, are now 140,000 apprentices fewer than when they took over government. And those opposite, including the Nationals, have cut 75 per cent from the infrastructure budgets for TAFE. Those opposite closed down the Workplace English Language and Literacy program. They've cut funding to the Skills for Education and Employment program.
Girls Take Over Parliament | Statements by Members | House debates
Today is the day that Girls Take Over Parliament. Girls Take Over Parliament is a program organised by Jasiri Australia, in partnership with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and Girl Guides,...
Today is the day that Girls Take Over Parliament. Girls Take Over Parliament is a program organised by Jasiri Australia, in partnership with the Alannah & Madeline Foundation and Girl Guides, to enable girls aged between 12 and 20 to be politicians for the day. This year I'm paired With Ella Ezergailis from Girl Guides ACT. Here she is, in the chamber. Ella is in year 6 at Gowrie Primary School in my electorate of Canberra. She is a school vice-captain and class representative on the student representative council. Earlier this year, Ella was awarded the Gowrie Cup for being an outstanding citizen of Gowrie Primary School. I asked Ella why it was important for her to take part in this program, and she said: I wanted to have a say in my country plus see how it is run. I also wanted to show Australia that girls and young people want to have their say. I would like to change the acronym STEM to STEAM because you also need artistic flair to solve problems, think outside the box and build marvels of the world. It is important to me that everyone is represented equally, no matter who they are. I am proud to have a change-maker taking over my office today, and she's earning plenty of Tim Tams too. I hope that as a future leader, should she get into this place, or if she inspires others as an arts teacher, she will empower the next generation of girls to realise their true potential and to live a bold, big life, free of fear, in true equality.