Patrick Gorman's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Perth: Attack | Statements on Indulgence | House debates
I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition at the beginning of question time. For 45,000 years, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation...
I rise to associate myself with the remarks of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition at the beginning of question time. For 45,000 years, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar nation have cared for Boorloo—that is, what is now known as the electorate of Perth. On 26th January 2026, in Forrest Place, they and thousands of others gathered peacefully. Minutes into the gathering, there was an alleged attack on First Nations people, driven by racism and hatred. That is not who we are, nor is it what we will allow Australia to become. This was an alleged attack on all Australians and on Australia's democracy. A homemade explosive device that did not detonate was thrown into a peaceful crowd. There were First Nations leaders, children, people from all walks of life. I had friends who were there. My children had their friends there as well. Today's news confirming this was an alleged terrorist act is another level of devastation. I thank the AFP, WA police and ASIO officers who've worked tirelessly. I thank the civilians who responded swiftly and alerted police to the threat. We can all walk in the footsteps of these everyday heroes. If you see something, say something. The National Security Hotline is open every minute of every hour of every day on 1800123400. I want to speak directly to those who feel the pain and heaviness of this news today. To the First Nations community in Perth, I stand with you. This parliament stands with you just as we stand with First Nations people across Australia who are hurting. Every Australian has the right to a shared sense of safety. I thank the Prime Minister, the Minister for Home Affairs, the Minister for Indigenous Australians and all colleagues who've offered support to people affected in both my electorate and their electorates. Australia must continue to walk together to build a country free from terror, a country free from racism, a country where we are free to exercise our fundamental democratic rights.
On 26 January, people gathered in Boorloo, in Forrest Place in Perth. It's been the home of democratic expression in my electorate for more than a century. What followed was the most abhorrent...
On 26 January, people gathered in Boorloo, in Forrest Place in Perth. It's been the home of democratic expression in my electorate for more than a century. What followed was the most abhorrent attempted attack on people simply exercising their democratic rights. This was an attack on First Nations people. This was an attack on all Australians. Indeed, it was an attack on our democracy. This was a potential terrorist act designed to cause significant harm, to cause fear and to kill our fellow Australians. A weapon was thrown into the crowd: a homemade explosive device that was there to kill and harm innocent civilians. That breaks my heart. Any attempt to attack or intimidate First Nations Australians is completely unacceptable, and this indeed was a direct attack on the social cohesion which we treasure here in Australia. There is no place for hate, intimidation or racism in our country. It's not the sort of country that we are and it's not the direction in which we will head, because our democratic rights, whether for First Nations Australians or our newest Australians, are fundamental to who we are. Democracy must never be met with threats of violence or threats of terrorist acts. I'm so grateful that this parliament didn't have to deal with a condolence motion as the first item of business when we gathered today. I'm grateful that we've not had to have leaders and colleagues come and lay flowers in Forrest Place and that we have not had to attend funerals—but there is significant hurt in my electorate and across this country because what happened was potentially devastating for many of our fellow Australians. I want to talk a little bit about the crowd. This was not just a crowd; they were treasured members of my community, gathered in our peaceful town square. Noongar people have stood on and cared for that land for 45,000 years. At the event we had First Nations leaders and Australians from all walks of life. Young people were at this gathering, engaging in public debate. Friends and neighbours jumped on trains to attend a rally that's been happening in Perth for many decades. We had parents pushing their kids in prams. When I was a kid in a pram, my parents used to take me to Aboriginal land rights marches through the streets of Perth. Back then, there were horrible chants. As a baby, I was spat on for attending those marches with my parents. This was a thousand times worse. This was an attack on people who were simply having their say. It was not just a crowd; it was our community. It was Australia. This location, for those who don't know, sits between Perth's two CBD train stations—next to what we call the 'Cactus', a big piece of art in our city. Every day, 200,000 people go into Perth to work, to study and to spend time together. And that's why I thank the member for Curtin—because the Perth CBD belongs to all Australians. It is Australia's west-coast capital. It is where visitors come for tourism. It's our cultural capital, our nightlife capital, our business capital and a retail and hospitality hub. And I don't think there's any Western Australian who hasn't at some point found themselves in that very location. It's important that this motion passes through this House—and I also want to thank the member for Wentworth for seconding it—because it sends a very powerful message across this country. Our government has stood firm in condemning this disgusting attack. I first put out a statement just hours afterwards, thanking police and first responders, when details were still very unclear. But what was clear even then was the vile nature of this act. I want to again thank the WA police and, equally, the members of the public who spoke out when something didn't seem right—when they saw this explosive device thrown into the crowd. And I say, to all Australians: we all have a responsibility. If you have information that can keep your fellow citizens safe, please take action. Don't wait until it's too late. The National Security Hotline is there for all Australians on 1800123400, or there is Crime Stoppers on 1800333000. Shortly after this happened, I said to our First Nations community in Perth, 'I stand with you.' That commitment has not wavered. I stand with that community. And I stand with those who seek to uphold our democratic freedoms, even when, as has been said very well by other speakers, people are putting forward views that don't sit with our own. I've said very clearly that I want to see our town square in the Perth CBD be a place where people can express their views in the democratic traditions we've had since Federation. As the investigation continues, I hold firm in that view. On 28 January, it was announced that the Western Australian Joint Counter Terrorism Team would investigate this attack as a potential terrorist act. I thank WA police, the Australian Federal Police and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation for their continued efforts in this regard. I also note in this place that I've had a number of conversations with WA police commissioner Col Blanch. He's continually briefed me on the situation, and I thank him for that and thank his team, who have been working incredibly hard following this incident. I met with him again today, and yesterday I was briefed by the deputy commissioner of the Australian Federal Police, Hilda Sirec. Today I also met with Minister Reece Whitby, the WA police minister, as part of the ongoing work across Commonwealth and the state to make sure that this is a full, thorough investigation. We await the outcomes of the work that's underway. The WA government has shared in our commitment to keeping Perth the peaceful and vibrant city it has long been. In the words of Premier Roger Cook: … we must also recommit ourselves to making sure that we maintain a peaceful and safe community, doing everything we can … Indeed, we are doing everything we can. I also note that the Prime Minister firmly and clearly said, the day after the incident: This was an incident that is quite shocking. He's been charged with two serious offences and I look forward to him being prosecuted to the full force of the law. I couldn't agree more. I put on record my thanks to Minister Malarndirri McCarthy, who has engaged extensively with First Nations communities across Australia. As other speakers have noted, the hurt is real not just in Boorloo but across this country. Minister McCarthy said: I have heard from Elders who met with the West Australian Police Commissioner. They have been briefed on what took place on the day at the rally. They were certainly very pleased to be a part of that briefing. The WA Police are working closely with them to keep them informed. The response, while ongoing, has been clear. We've got law enforcement officials, the WA government and the Commonwealth government sharing a determination to keep Perth safe, to keep First Nations Australians safe and to keep our democracy safe from those who seek to harm it.
Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
The member is referring to an amendment that he has not tabled. I was just wondering if he could—
Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
Australians have broken hearts. Too many have broken dreams. But Australians refuse to let their society break, because that is exactly what the antisemitic terrorists of Bondi Beach want. They...
Australians have broken hearts. Too many have broken dreams. But Australians refuse to let their society break, because that is exactly what the antisemitic terrorists of Bondi Beach want. They sought to terrorise Jewish Australians. In response, Australians have stood shoulder to shoulder with our Jewish friends and fellow citizens, including the Jewish community that has its heart in the Perth electorate. We will not let these antisemites, these terrorists, terrorise from beyond the grave or from jail, nor will we allow their actions to encourage or inspire others—because Australia's choice is to choose hope over fear and to choose kindness over division, because we know that hope overcomes hate, and light overcomes darkness. The hope of all Australians combined is stronger than the hate of these evil terrorists. Sunday 14 December 2025 will be remembered as the darkest day in Australia's recent history. Australia at its best, with the celebration of Hanukkah on the iconic Bondi Beach, was shattered by the most un-Australian and inhumane of acts—an ISIS inspired terrorist attack on innocent Jewish Australians who were gathered in celebration. This violent expression of hatred towards Jews has affected every Australian. It changed our nation. The anger, pain and sorrow felt across Australia will be with us for the rest of our lifetimes. My thoughts are with those who are grieving, those who are injured and those who are traumatised. Any life lost was a life too many, and today the parliament honours those who are no longer with us. We honour Matilda, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Boris Tetleroyd, Boris Gurman, Sofia Gurman, Reuven Morrison, Edith Brutman, Marika Pogany, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Peter Meagher, Tibor Weitzen, Alexander Kleytman, Dan Elkayam, Adam Smyth and Tania Tretiak. I also pay tribute to the bravery of those who responded—police, paramedics and civilians rushing people to hospital, helping secure Bondi, providing crisis and counselling support—and to those who are there for the long term, providing the support that is needed not just over weeks or months but over years. It has been my sad honour to work with the Prime Minister and the Council for the Order of Australia to establish the Bondi special honours list so we can honour the heroes. Australians can nominate them, and they can shine a light on the good, shine a light on the best, of Australia. What happened at Bondi Beach affected all of Australia, and the conversations I've had have broken my heart. The fear and distress across Australia, including in my electorate of Perth, is significant. And I say again very clearly: I stand with the Jewish community in Perth. I want to thank all community leaders, including Dr Michael Levitt as President of the Jewish Community Council of Western Australia. The leadership from office holders in the Jewish community has been extraordinary. I join with them in saying once again: there is no place for antisemites, for terrorists or for hatred—no place in our schools or universities, no place in our workplaces, no place in the Australian Public Service and no place in our health and aged-care systems—because the Australia we build together is inclusive and welcoming for all. Australia welcomed thousands of Jewish people after the horrors of World War II. In the 1950s, in the heart of the Perth community, the suburb of Menora was created. The roads and paths are inspired by the shape of a menorah. It is a symbol of the welcoming community that you can see from space. In 1954 at the consecration of Temple David in the Perth electorate, Rabbi Dr Herman Sanger said the following: 'The storied past of the Jewish people is full of struggle, suffering and martyrdom, if we view it superficially. When more deeply and truly understood, our whole history is a monumental record of creativeness, from the Decalogue of Moses to the thought of Einstein. It is a unique story of stubborn survival that transforms 40 centuries into one saga of faith and hope and the triumph of life over everything.' That triumph of life over everything is what I carry in this place following this most devastating of acts. And for life to triumph, we must act. That's what I commit myself to, so we never again have to convene parliament as we have today.
Richardson, Hon. Graham Frederick 'Richo', AO | Condolences | House debates
I last saw Graham at the desk of the 2024 election coverage for the Queensland state election. We had a great chat together in the Sky studios. We compared notes. We sat and had a bit of a bite...
I last saw Graham at the desk of the 2024 election coverage for the Queensland state election. We had a great chat together in the Sky studios. We compared notes. We sat and had a bit of a bite as we fuelled up for some six hours on air. We admired the fight that Steven Miles and the Labor team had put into their election effort, but we agreed that the likely outcome was pretty clear for all to see. We did have some highlights during that night. We shared some smiles across the desk, as we watched the Greens struggle and then go backwards throughout the night. And there I was, admiring his determination to be a blunt, sometimes painfully honest, Labor champion, despite all of the health challenges he'd been so open about. His wife, Amanda, was there with him, supporting him and sharing her insights as well. To Amanda and to Graham's son, D'Arcy, I share my deepest condolences. Any family that shares a family member with the public spotlight pays an additional price, and I think we all know that Amanda and D'Arcy have lost someone who had so much more depth and so much more love than the 'whatever it takes' persona that many know of Graham in public. As the Attorney-General just referenced, Graham didn't mind picking up the phone to give some advice to various party officials. He didn't just do it for the New South Wales branch. When I was secretary of the Western Australian branch of the Labor Party, he was happy to reach both across the continent and across the factional divide with some at the time very welcome advice on how to defeat the Liberals in WA, as we did. If I think back to having read about the start of his engagement in politics, I can imagine the Monterey branch that Graham Richardson first joined. It's been described in many of the reports as 'sleepy'. I think we can all imagine that sort of dull party meeting that he must have walked into and thought, as a 17-year-old, 'I'm here to make a difference', and everyone's there to, probably, whinge about head office. But, just a few years later, there he was in New South Wales Labor headquarters himself. And before too long he was running what then became known as the New South Wales Labor machine. That was part of the passion and pragmatism that defined him. Despite being passionately from New South Wales and passionately from the right of the Labor Party, Richo was an Australian, first and foremost. The blistering opening to his first speech left you in no doubt of where he stood with a view that he was here to act in Australia's interests. He said: The rejection of Supply by the Senate in 1975 finally debunked all of the myths about this being a States House. And he went on then to reflect on the core Labor belief of ensuring employment for all who wanted to work, saying: The last election was won by the Australian Labor Party on the issue of unemployment. And then, some 11 years later, he gave his valedictory—an excellent contribution after many fine arguments in that Senate. But it was with humour, flair, honesty and a very proud plug for his forthcoming book, trying to encourage senators to go and buy a copy, he said: … Senator Faulkner and I had some … disagreements. I want you to know, Senator Faulkner that, for all the appalling things you have done, I forgive you. I want you to know … I harbour no grudge and that within 30 or 40 years they will all be forgotten. But, if I were you, I would be the first to buy the book in September, and I would look up the index, because I have got to tell you that you are there in large lumps. Which confirms, I think, what the Prime Minister said in his obituary, which was: Richo's life was often colourful, and sometimes controversial, but what lay at the heart of it was his sense of service, underpinned by his powerful blend of passion and pragmatism. He gave so much to our party, to our nation and to the natural environment that future generations will cherish. That passion and pragmatism gave us both Prime Minister Hawke and Prime Minister Keating—election wins that, in retrospect, looked easy and certain outcomes but were nothing like that at the time. They were very hard fought, earned and won. But it was in the environment portfolio, as many have reflected, that a man who loved politics and the political battle in all its dimensions really demonstrated his love for Australia itself. 'The greening of Graham Richardson' was the Sydney Morning Herald headline that would define his time in the portfolio, and in that they quote Graham as saying: Trees are the sexiest issue of the '80s. I'd like to say that some of those trees might be a little bit older now, in 2025, but those trees are equally as sexy today. And, if we think about those forests and the natural environment which he preserved—Kakadu, the Daintree—they are uniquely Australian locations forever attached to his legacy. The Leader of the House, who worked for then senator Richardson, shared an obituary for his friend, and he outlined that the 'whatever it takes' headline was not just about power. The Leader of the House said: I know the title of his book will always lead people to conclude everything was about power. I saw, up close, a fiercely loyal man try to drive a better health system and invest his capital before he left parliament in obtaining what was back then the largest ever investment in Indigenous Health. Graham Richardson was blunt about the realities of politics. He was equally blunt about the possibilities of what can be achieved, and only achieved, by Labor governments. He also realised that the time for members and senators in this place is always limited but the impact of their decisions can last forever. As the Prime Minister quoted in question time yesterday, Graham said: 'My memory won't be around for very long, but the rainforests of North Queensland will be around forever.' I extend my condolences to all who knew Graham Richardson, especially to those from the New South Wales branch of the Australian Labor Party and, most importantly, to Amanda and D'Arcy. Vale, Graham Richardson.
Australian Public Service; Reference to Federation Chamber | Statements on Significant Matters | House debates
I move: That further statements on the State of the service report 2024-25 be permitted in the Federation Chamber. Question agreed to.
Gay Games, Bayswater Bowling & Recreation Club, East Perth Common Ground Project | Constituency Statements | House debates
It's been a massive few weeks in the Perth electorate. I want to share with members a few things that have been happening and that make me particularly proud to be the federal member for Perth....
It's been a massive few weeks in the Perth electorate. I want to share with members a few things that have been happening and that make me particularly proud to be the federal member for Perth. Firstly, Perth has been officially selected to host the Gay Games in 2030. This is the first time that this global celebration of sport, culture and inclusion will be held in Australia. I want to congratulate the organisers, who have put together an outstanding and successful bid. I want to say thank you to Pride WA for the work that they have done in putting this bid together. I'm looking forward to seeing the values of participation, inclusion and respect ring loudly through the streets of Perth as our world class city hosts that event. Secondly, I want to share with this chamber an exciting moment that happened just this weekend. There was a massive milestone for a much-loved community club in my electorate. The Bayswater Bowling & Recreation Club celebrated their 90th anniversary. They were formed just after the Great Depression and just after Western Australia voted to leave the Commonwealth. They have gone from strength to strength to strength. They kept their community together during World War II, and they have become an inclusive and welcoming club in the heart of Bayswater that now boasts more than a thousand members. They embody the community spirit of the community which I represent, and I want to congratulate all of their life members and all of the club committee for the outstanding work that they do in building an inclusive sporting club of which anyone is more than welcome to be a member. Finally, Monday of this week saw the opening of the East Perth Common Ground project. The common ground model, as many would know, has been a huge success in Brisbane, in Melbourne and around the world. We didn't have one in Perth, but that has now changed thanks to investment from both the Albanese Labor government and the Cook Labor government. It makes sure that this 14-storey complex with 112 self-contained apartments can provide support for the most vulnerable in our society—people who are living on the edge or on the street, or who have been at serious risk of homelessness. It's got 24/7 support services. It brings all of the services that people need to an excellent location in East Perth. It is right where it makes perfect sense and is connected to some of the other good services that are provided to those doing it tough in my electorate. I want to thank all who've made it possible, those who've helped build it. I was there with Minister Clare O'Neil just a few months ago seeing the final bits being poured, and now it's open. It's a tribute to everyone who has built it and, now, everyone who runs it. I'm very pleased that that additional support is now available.
Telecommunications | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
Every Australian relies on triple 0. This essential service is not one that any Australian ever wants to call, but every single one of those calls should be connected, every time. It is the most...
Every Australian relies on triple 0. This essential service is not one that any Australian ever wants to call, but every single one of those calls should be connected, every time. It is the most critical service of Australia's telecommunications system. I know so many in this place have been in that situation, as I have, where you do have to call triple 0 because a loved one or just a fellow Australian citizen is in a time of need. I remember having to make that call to triple 0 for my young son, Leo, when he was having a horrible allergic reaction to some food. That's when we discovered that he had severe anaphylaxis. But we were so fortunate. That call was connected, paramedics arrived and he got the public health care that he needed. That is what every Australian should expect when they call our emergency services. It connects Australians to emergency health, fire and policing services. I think in this debate it is worth pausing for a moment to thank all of those who make those services work—the emergency communications officers who are there at the end of the phone line, the paramedics, the firefighters and the police officers. I want to say a big thank you to every Australian worker who is behind Australia's triple 0 service. They keep Australians safe. Every day, hundreds of Australians rely upon that service, which is saving lives, protecting livelihoods and maintaining social cohesion. That's why I share the Australian public's outrage at the conduct of Optus. Optus should be rightly criticised in this place. They have failed. Optus's failures resulted in a loss of life. It was completely unacceptable that they failed their customers in this way. Hundreds of calls were not connected, and it came after previous failures that severely eroded trust, including this parliament's trust, in Optus, because Optus failed to manage their network and they failed to comply with the law. Now, for the benefit of the opposition, I want to read some of the quotes from the Chief Executive Officer of Optus. This is what the Chief Executive Officer of Optus, Stephen Rue, said: On the first night of the upgrade, the steps taken on past successful upgrades of a similar nature were not followed. That's Optus admitting their failures. Further, the CEO went on to say: This issue occurred because there was a deviation from established processes. Again, that's Optus acknowledging that they had failed. And then, further, the CEO said this: Regardless of where a process is conducted, the issue was that a process was not followed. And to be very clear, the accountability for that rests with Optus. I think, if that's the CEO of Optus acknowledging the accountability rests with Optus, maybe those opposite could spend a little bit more time demanding proper accountability from the CEO of Optus and the providers of Optus. I just sat through the remarks of the member for Lindsay, and I thought I'd just address some of the interesting contortions of fact that were in those remarks. Firstly, the member for Lindsay acknowledged that the minister gave a press conference on Saturday 20 September. It is very clear from the speech we saw from the member for Lindsay that she neither watched nor read the transcript of that press conference. Then we had the member for Lindsay undermine ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority. The member for Lindsay walked in here, in her MPI, and said ACMA was 'part of the problem'. Right now, ACMA is conducting an investigation into what went wrong. To have the member for Lindsay come in here and undermine the authority is a very interesting choice for the opposition leader to have allowed to be made. Then we had the member for Lindsay acknowledge that the custodian has in fact been in place since March. Again, you wouldn't know that from some of the remarks in the other parts of the speech from the member for Lindsay nor the questions we've seen from those opposite. Then, apparently, legislating to put further protections and further obligations onto the telecommunications companies wasn't good enough for the member for Lindsay. We saw the opposition in this chamber just a few minutes ago complaining that they had only had 24 hours to read the legislation. Either they want us to act on the first day of parliament since this failure from Optus—that was the choice that we made. That was the choice the government made. We came here in the first sitting of the parliament to act—to legislate. If that's not what the opposition want to do, they should just come out and say so. In fact, what the member for Lindsay said—I wrote down this quote and reflected on the idea that the government wanted to legislate within the first sitting day of parliament and that those opposite complained about only having had 24 hours to read the legislation. I've read the legislation. A number of people on this side have. If the member from Lindsay can't read it in 24 hours, that's interesting. She said that this requirement was 'pretty much insane'. I don't think that it is 'pretty much insane' for the government to want to strengthen accountability. The member for Lindsay also—and credit to her on this—did acknowledge that, previously, the minister had already introduced legislation on penalties for telecommunications companies. I think it was an MPI speech that will not stand the test of time. I want to reiterate. Every telecommunications provider has obligations. This week, the minister had those companies here in this parliament and outlined the existing legislative obligations on those companies, the basic human decency that every telecommunications customer should expect and our expectations as government that Optus, Telstra and TPG Telecom ensure their services are complying with current laws and ensure they are ready for the coming disaster season. But we're comfortable going further, and that's what these laws—which the shadow minister, the member for Lindsay, said were 'pretty much insane'—are about. As the minister said when introducing the bill: … while telco outages may occur, the law is clear: carriers must always make sure that triple 0 calls still connect by being redirected to alternate mobile towers or infrastructure. I think it's clear everyone in this place wants accountability from Optus. That's what the Australian public want—for Optus to do their job. That's what the investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority—undermined by the member from Lindsay just now—is about, and it will look at Optus's compliance with emergency call service regulations and related rules. And, as ACMA has said, these are the same rules that ACMA found Optus breached in 2022 during a nationwide outage. I think it's important to note in this debate that these regulations and rules already exist. There is the Telecommunications (Emergency Call Service) Determination 2019, is the Telecommunications (Customer Communications for Outages) Industry Standard 2024 and Industry Code C536: Emergency Call Service Requirements. They already exist. I outline that because it's important to note that this is about ensuring that things that Optus should have done but did not do are thoroughly investigated, even if those opposite seek to undermine this investigation, which I think is a very interesting choice to have made. We learnt two things about the opposition today. First, we learnt from the opposition that they are determined to let Optus off the hook for Optus's failures. We are seeing excuse after excuse for Optus from those opposite. Second, we learnt from those opposite is that they are obsessed emails that have been in the public domain for weeks. We saw, in the final questions from the Leader of the Opposition, questions based on opinion not on quotes. Again, I think even the opposition would agree that Optus should have told the government on Thursday afternoon. That did not occur. We also want to make sure that we enforce existing laws to telcos. Again, this is about making sure that the existing laws are enforced—something that those opposite are seeking to actively undermine. Some of those opposite were here in May 2018. That's when an outage happened that affected some 4,000 calls. Did we see any legislative change from those opposite at that point? No. There was not a single legislative change when there was a failure on their watch in 2018. They had a choice, and they chose to do nothing. The Albanese government has a decidedly different approach. We on this side hold Optus to account, and I believe the opposition should start doing the same.
Consideration of Legislation | Business | House debates
On behalf of the Leader of the House, I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring in relation to proceedings on...
On behalf of the Leader of the House, I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the following from occurring in relation to proceedings on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026, Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026: (1) on Tuesday, 7 October: (a) when Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026 is called on, the questions being put without delay or debate on any amendments moved to the motion for the second reading and on the second reading; and (b) the bills standing referred to the Federation Chamber; (2) when the order of the day for the further consideration of Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026 is called on in the Federation Chamber, consideration of the schedule being in accordance with the following order, and the question 'that the proposed expenditure be agreed to' being put for each portfolio in accordance with the timeframes indicated below, or earlier if no further Members rise to speak: (a) Education Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 6 pm on Tuesday, 7 October; (b) Defence Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 6.45 pm on Tuesday, 7 October; (c) Foreign Affairs and Trade Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 7.30 pm on Tuesday, 7 October; (d) Treasury Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 11.15 am on Wednesday, 8 October; (e) Finance Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 12 noon on Wednesday, 8 October; (f) Employment and Workplace Relations Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 12.45 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (g) Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 1.30 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (h) Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 4.45 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (i) Attorney-General's Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 5.15 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (j) Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 6 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (k) Industry, Science and Resources Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 6.45 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (l) Home Affairs Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 7.30 pm on Wednesday, 8 October; (m) Social Services Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 11.15 am on Thursday, 9 October; (n) Health, Disability and Ageing Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 12.15 pm on Thursday, 9 October; and (o) Prime Minister and Cabinet Portfolio, at the first opportunity after 12.45 pm on Thursday, 9 October; (3) any questions necessary to complete the consideration in the Federation Chamber of each of the bills being put immediately without debate; (4) the bills returning to the House and, when reported, any question or questions necessary to complete the remaining stages of each of the bills to be put without amendment or debate; and (5) any variation to this arrangement being made only on a motion moved by a Minister.
Australian National Flag; Reference to Federation Chamber | Statements on Significant Matters | House debates
I move: That further statements on national symbols be permitted in the Federation Chamber. Question agreed to.
Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
Before I begin my remarks, can I say how wonderful it is to see you, Deputy Speaker Mascarenhas, in that chair, chairing the Federation Chamber and making an incredible contribution not just to...
Before I begin my remarks, can I say how wonderful it is to see you, Deputy Speaker Mascarenhas, in that chair, chairing the Federation Chamber and making an incredible contribution not just to the parliament but also to the running of the parliament. You and I share an electorate border, the beautiful Swan River, and we've shared a friendship of some 20 years. It's great to see you there. I begin by thanking the Governor-General for her remarks at the opening of this 48th Parliament. Her Excellency highlighted: Our democracy is the golden thread that unites Australians across geography and generations. I could not agree more. In my electorate of Perth, I see that golden thread in action in every community group, in every person who turns up to vote and in everyone who finds their unique way to have their voice heard. Democracy doesn't just happen in parliament; it happens in the values of the people of Australia and the people of Perth. Her Excellency said: The government is ready to return to the task—of building Australia's future. That's what we were elected to do. That's the promise that we made to the Australian people when they chose to support us on 3 May. That spreads across a wide agenda, including helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn, strengthening Medicare, making medicines cheaper, making education and training more affordable by protecting the investments we've got by fully funding our public schools and making sure that free TAFE isn't just something that happens for a period of time but is there permanently for the future. We made commitments in Perth, where you, Deputy Speaker Mascarenhas, and I attended Labor's launch. There was a launch in the electorate of Swan in 2022. They went one better in 2025 and launched in the electorate of Perth, where the Prime Minister stood up and made a commitment that we would make it easier for people to buy their first home—with just a five per cent deposit. We deliver on that in October this year. I don't know whether the Dockers will win the grand final on 27 September. That is for the players to determine in their excellent work. But what I do know is that, on 1 October, every first home buyer will be able to buy their own home with just a five per cent deposit. I'm really excited to be part of that agenda, just as I am to be a part of the work that we're doing in making sure that we protect the penalty rates of some 2.9 million Australians. That's something that's currently being slightly held up by the opposition, but we are determined to get that done, because we know that working Australians work hard, deserve those penalty rates and deserve to have that money in their pocket. Similarly, we continue to do the work that we committed to around making sure that Medicare is more accessible. It is a universal health system, but it's not always easy for people to get to the doctor or nurse that they need to talk to. That's why we committed to create 1800MEDICARE. You can simply pick up the phone and call 1800MEDICARE and get access to the health care that you need within minutes of realising that you might need some medical assistance. Not just that but 1800MEDICARE will be free, like so much of the Medicare system. You will not have to pay a cent. The first question you'll be asked when you call 1800MEDICARE will not be, 'What's your credit card number?' It will be, 'What is your Medicare card number?' if you've got time, or they'll get straight on to referring you to the appropriate services. We said that we also wanted to build on the success of the excellent Medicare urgent care clinics, including the one on Rudloc Road in my electorate, by having Medicare mental health centres. I went down with the Labor candidate for Forrest, Tabitha Dowding, to announce that we would have that in Bunbury, a growing region with such huge potential when it comes to renewable energy and when it comes to the future of manufacturing in Western Australia and indeed the rest of Australia. Just on that, when you come and have the privilege of giving an address-in-reply, you reflect on the fact that you are fortunate to get here, but not everyone you might campaign alongside does. So I want to pay a little tribute just to those from my party who stood in Western Australia for seats and may sometimes, through no fault of their own—I don't want to live in a country where everyone votes the same way, but some of them worked incredibly hard and gave up weeks and weeks of their time. But I just want to pay tribute to the Labor candidates who stood in WA. Tabitha Dowding ran an excellent campaign in Forrest, and I don't think it's the last we'll see of Tabitha. Jarrad Goold in Canning did an outstanding job. Jarrad had an interesting challenge in that he was running against a Liberal who didn't want to use any Liberal branding and was trying to pretend they were an Independent, but Jared did a great job, despite those odd circumstances. Darren Moir stood in O'Connor. He's a great farmer and did an excellent job there. My friend Karen Wheatland stood in the seat of Durack. City of Perth councillor Viktor Ko stood in the seat of Curtin, and Deep Singh stood for the Senate. It really is a contribution to democracy that people stand even if they know they may not succeed in getting into parliament. They stand because they want to make sure that, wherever people are in this country, people can choose to vote for a Labor candidate. One of the reasons so many people did was that this is a government that, after a decade of inaction, took housing seriously. We stood there saying that the idea that you want to own your first home should not be out of reach for any Australian. We put a huge focus on first home buyers, and we saw that through our Help to Buy scheme, which is going to help some 40,000 people over the next four years. We saw that in the agenda we took of building 1.2 million homes in the next five years. Those opposite said: 'That sounds hard. Why try?' We say, 'It's worth trying to do the hard things to make sure you deliver for the people who sent us here.' And we do this all against the backdrop of huge global uncertainty. We don't know where some world events will go. We know that we've had huge inflation challenges coming in from overseas. We know that there's more we can do when it comes to building economic resilience and supporting Australians' prosperity here at home, recognising that part of that is about how we engage constructively in the affairs of our region. It's also about recognising how we show to people here in Australia that our engagement with the world helps us at home. The Prime Minister, when he was in Western Australia a number of times, brought out the fact that one in four jobs in Australia rely upon trade. We did excellent work, and I want to commend all ministers involved, especially the trade minister, in removing some of those impediments to trade, especially the work that was done to support some of the industries like barley, crayfish and wine in Western Australia. We'll continue to do that work to expand Western Australia's and Australia's trade relationships, making sure that we have an economy that does provide those additional opportunities that come from our engagement with the world. Deputy Speaker Payne, I want to talk about something that I know is close to your heart, which is the importance of our public service workforce. You are an excellent advocate for standing up for public servants and the important work they do, whether it be clearing backlogs, preparing us for natural disasters or providing support for people at times where they may have lost everything and the only thing they want is for a public servant to pick up the phone and give them some financial assistance so they can get back on their feet. We've got an outstanding public service in this country, much of it—but not all of it—here in the nation's great capital. I was really proud to stand with you and Labor colleagues across the country, including the Minister for the Public Service, in advocating for the important work the Public Service does. It was deeply disappointing to see—and I hope we don't see it in another election campaign any time soon—the mean, nasty, inappropriate attacks on the Public Service that came from the Liberal Party as they sought to campaign their way into office. The Australian people rejected their attacks on work from home. They rejected their attacks on the Public Service. They rejected the idea that the Liberal Party and the National Party have put out there that somehow it's acceptable that veterans were waiting months, if not years, for their packages. That was the proposition that was put by those on the opposite side. I was proud to stand against the plan put forward by the now leader of the opposition and others to cut 41,000 jobs from the Public Service. If we were standing here now and that plan had gone through, it would have resulted in chaos. It would have resulted in huge blowouts in wait times and terrible-quality policy advice. It would have been deeply destructive across the country, and not just here in Canberra. Thousands of Commonwealth public servants come into my electorate every day, working at home affairs, the tax office and Services Australia, doing excellent work supporting their fellow Australians across the country. It would have been a wrecking ball across the country for the services Australians rely upon. One of the other highlights of the recent election campaign was the number of times we were able to welcome the Prime Minister to the great state of Western Australia. We welcomed him for the campaign launch in my seat of Perth and, over the course of the last term of government, Western Australia welcomed the Prime Minister 35 times. I got to stand with him during the campaign to announce a massive investment in the Perth ferry network, which is currently just from Perth to South Perth and back—lovely trip, great if you want to go to the zoo—but we know that we can do more. Let's start doing the work to bring it up to Claisebrook, bring it up to Maylands, get it over to the Optus Stadium and give Perth the ferry network that the Swan River rightly deserves. I mentioned the candidates that didn't quite make it to this place despite their excellent campaigning efforts. I do want to say, there are three great new Western Australians in this parliament. First is my friend Trish Cook, who had a very long wait for the results on the seat of Bullwinkel. At the time, when she was being asked, 'How do you feel, waiting for this?' she replied: 'I'm a midwife; I'm used to long waits. I don't mind at all.' As a result, we now have our tenth nurse in the parliament. It's great to have the member for Bullwinkel here. Equally, we have Tom French joining us. Both a lawyer and a sparky, he brings a full spectrum of skills, and it will be very handy having him in the parliament. I know he'll make a great contribution to building Australia's future. There's also my friend Senator Ellie Whitaker, who spent most of 2025 campaigning for others as party secretary but has also joined us, which is great to see. One of the things you couldn't avoid during the federal election campaign was the debate around the GST. When I was first elected to this place, I said, 'Every Western Australian is sick of debating the GST.' I still believe that. The reason I believe it is that I think we finally have a set of policy settings that appropriately recognise the interests of every part of the Commonwealth, and the No Worse Off Guarantee that our government has extended has meant we can keep the GST debate off the front pages, allowing us to focus on the serious challenges Australia faces. It will also implement the 2026 Productivity Commission review, as was agreed between the McGowan-Cook government in 2018. There are a lot of things I'd like to cover, but I'll just touch on a few things that make me really proud of the work this government is doing. The first is the partnership we've got when it comes to the Collie Battery Energy Storage System. This is significant investment in battery storage. I've been down there to see it myself. It's going to make a huge difference to the stability of the WA grid, but it's also making a huge difference in reducing WA's emissions. In the last term, I had the joy of riding on the Perth-based Morley-Ellenbrook train line. I'm looking forward to further investments in METRONET that will get more people into our CBD, supporting the businesses of Perth. The other one that is great for everyone who is young or young at heart is Labor's $100 million commitment to invest in the future of Scitech. Scitech is the Questacon of the west. It's a fantastic science education facility that has serviced generations of Western Australians and inspired them to go on to careers in the resources industry, science, technology and so much more. However, its home at City West is looking pretty shabby these days. It's time for a new forever home for Scitech. The Albanese government will be there in partnership with the state government to get that done. Similarly, we will be there when it comes to the urban forest project turning what was a tip, or a dump, in Bayswater into a new urban forest next to the Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary, making sure we've got the urban forest and the urban tree canopy we rightly need. At the same time, down the road in Hyde Park, a park that is loved by my community, we've seen a huge removal of trees because of the horrific impact of the shot-hole borer, which is killing trees throughout the Perth metropolitan area. I must say I hope it never comes to this beautiful part of the country on the east coast. We're partnering with the Mayor of the City of Vincent, Alison Xamon, with a significant investment in the replanting of Hyde Park. In my final moments, I want to quickly thank some—and I can't do all—of those who I've been fortunate to have support me to continue to serve in this place. Firstly, I want to thank my family. My wife, Jess, has gone through four elections with me. Every election is its own unique challenge. The incredible support that she provides both humbles me and makes me feel incredibly loved, and I'm really glad that she's been with me for all those elections. As a result, at the end of this sitting fortnight, we will celebrate our 10th wedding anniversary. I want to thank our children, Leo and Ruby, who both enthusiastically demanded their own mini campaign shirts and enthusiastically sat at the front when the member for Sydney came over and launched the campaign. They only interjected around seven times during her speech, but it was great to have their support. To my family—to my mum and dad, Wendy and Ron, who were there at prepoll in Morley pretty much every day, and to my brother Joey: I'm very grateful for your support. My mother-in-law, Diane, handed out at an election for the very first time. I'm really grateful for that support, as I am to my brother-in-law Andrew. I want to say thank you to the team that I work with: Daniel Sutherland, Anna Churack, Kiani Mannon-Bakaj, Raz Abdullah, Kelly Ovens, Marissa Williams, Shai Macpherson, Martina Ucnikova, Katelyn Stubberfield, Rukshan De Alwis, Matilda McCagh and Harry Saunders. They all made an outstanding contribution and were fantastic campaigners. People are very proud, and rightly proud, of the results that they achieved. One of the other joys if you're in this place long enough is to see your staff make big life decisions, and we got to welcome Baby George. Congratulations to Martina for adding Baby George to the broader office family, and, similarly, congratulations to Daniel Sutherland for adding Baby Daphne to the broader office family. Those were two really exciting and nice moments. It's always good to have a campaign baby in tow. I'd also like to say a special thankyou to Marissa Williams, who left my office at the conclusion of the term to spend more time with her two excellent and lovely children, Jude and Henry. Marissa has done an incredible amount of service, not just to me but to the Labor team in Western Australia, and I wish her the very best. I'd like to thank equally the campaign committee who were there to tell me the hard truths and to make sure I stayed on message and kept my diary of commitments and everything else. Thank you to Ali Vaughan, Bob Kucera, Jimmy Murphy, Marije van Hemert, Megan Anwyl, Rachael Roberts and Steven Graves, and thanks to Marije for bringing along Baby Iris from time to time. I'll finish my comments there. It is an absolute honour to serve in this place alongside so many talented members. We had an excellent contribution of members before the election. We added to that at the election, while retaining everyone who wanted to recontest their seat on our side of the place. That is a unique outcome in Australian electoral history, and it is one that I'm proud to have played a very small part in achieving. I'm looking forward to the work of the 48th Parliament.
National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
On 3 May 2025, Australians voted for cheaper medicines, and they voted for a government that will always protect Medicare. One of the reasons they did that was that they'd seen what had happened...
On 3 May 2025, Australians voted for cheaper medicines, and they voted for a government that will always protect Medicare. One of the reasons they did that was that they'd seen what had happened over the three years prior. They had seen those opposite vote against cheaper medicines not once, not twice, not three times but six times. We saw the Australian people have their say. They supported our cheaper medicines programs and they rejected the view that those opposite put, which was the view that our medical urgent care clinics were, to quote those in the opposition, 'wasteful spending'. The Australian people had a very different view. They saw the investments that we had made in Medicare urgent care clinics as essential for the primary health of our nation. I put it very clearly to my electorate in Perth. I said, 'Vote to save the Perth urgent care clinic,' and, indeed, they did. What we've seen when it comes to cheaper medicines is that these policies are broadly supported by the Australian public, so much so that even those opposite who absolutely hate the idea of cheaper medicines eventually brought themselves to having to adopt some of Labor's policies during the 2025 election. What we've seen as well is that there's really strong support for the outcomes of these investments. I had the joy of going down to the Bunbury Medicare urgent care clinic with then Labor candidate, my good friend Tabitha Dowding, to hear about the impact of what's happening as a result of these investments. What they told me as I was standing in their excellent Medicare urgent care clinic there in Eaton was that they estimate there have been some 10,000 diversions from their local emergency department. That's 10,000 people who didn't have to go through the public hospital system and 10,000 people who were able to get the urgent care they needed, and for those 10,000 people the only thing they needed was their Medicare card. One of the other things we saw at the most recent election was that my great state of Western Australia sent another health professional here, to this place. I'm talking about the member for Bullwinkel, who becomes the 10th nurse to enter the Australian parliament. One of the first bills that the 10th nurse in the Australian parliament will vote for is our bill to make medicines cheaper. As the Prime Minister said in this chamber just a few hours ago, it's so often remarked that you never hear of prices going down; they only ever seem to go up. Isn't it amazing that in this bill we are actually seeing not just real cost-of-living relief but also real healthcare assistance and prices going down? And it's a significant reduction, a more than 20 per cent reduction, in the cost of medicines—medicines that people are prescribed by a doctor, that they need to keep themselves healthy, that they need to stay outside of the other parts of our health system. Most of us need medications from time to time, and we are so fortunate in this country to have the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. I know that the PBS was there for my family. I was a kid with really chronic asthma and we purchased more than enough Becotide, Ventolin and other asthma medications and steroids to treat that asthma. Again, this was all supported by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. Again, I think of the kids and the parents who are dealing with asthma today. It will be cheaper for those things that they're going to be buying for years and years, as a result of these changes combined with our 60-day script changes, which have made a huge difference. It did take those opposite six votes against cheaper medicines to see the error of their ways. There were six votes where they said that they wanted Australians to pay more for their medicines, but, while they were voting against it in the last term, it didn't discourage the Albanese government from doing more when it comes to cheaper medicines. I want to say that one of the people who have given us excellent advice on the importance of making sure that we make medicines cheaper for Australians is the member for Dobell, who's the only pharmacist in this parliament. She gives us excellent advice on making sure that we have the medicines that people need. It's an honour to sit with the member for Dobell, who is just slightly on the wrong side of the chamber these days. The PBS has been a very long policy battle. Just as we had to fight through the last parliament, against vote after vote where those opposite chose to vote against cheaper medicines, Labor has been putting this case for a very long time. It was in 1944 that John Curtin realised, in the depths of World War II, that Australia needed to be able to get medicines to the entire Australian population, not just to those who could afford them. There was a desperate need for a range of antibiotic drugs to be given to the Australian people—things like penicillin—which would take pressure off other parts of the Australian economy and other parts of the Australian health system by people getting the medical assistance they needed. Unsurprisingly, when Curtin put this forward in wartime, in 1944, before he went to sleep that night, the opposition had opposed it. There were two High Court challenges to Labor's first attempts to have a broad based pharmaceutical scheme that supported the Australian people. We had to go to two referendums and have one constitutional amendment, but the system that we have today is thanks to those who fought that fight, and I'm proud to be here as part of the Albanese Labor government, fighting the fight not just for Medicare but for cheaper medicines. The reality is that the inability to afford the health care you need doesn't just result in worse health outcomes; it has a huge impact on people's social and economic outcomes. One of the things that we know about Medicare is that it completely changed the nature of bankruptcy in Australia for this reason. Prior to 1984, the leading cause of bankruptcy in Australia wasn't people overextending themselves, and it wasn't people having their businesses reach financial challenges. The leading cause of bankruptcy in Australia, up until 1984, was people who could not pay their medical bills. Medicare ended that overnight. It made sure that people could get the health care they needed, no matter what walk of life they came from, because we believe, on this side of the House, in universal health care. In the extensive information that's given to us by the excellent Minister for Health and Ageing in putting this forward, there's a document that doesn't get enough attention in this building, which is the impact analysis statement. It was done by excellent officials, in this case, from the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, in collaboration with some great officials from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, in the Office of Impact Analysis—a shout out to them! That impact analysis tells us something about the policy benefits that come from this beyond just the cost-of-living relief. It says that this option that we are pursuing will initially reduce cost barriers for general patients to access PBS medicines. But it goes further, to say that there are other benefits over time. Those other benefits over time are: it will reduce the proportion of patients who are delaying or not filling their PBS scripts due to cost; it will reduce unavoidable hospitalisations from unmanaged conditions; it will reduce pressures on our aged care, disability and social welfare services; that it will slow the growth in chronic disease; and it will increase workforce participation because more people will be more healthy and able to attend work. It does, as many have remarked, take us back to prices in 2004. That's a long time ago. It's back when Facebook was launching as 'The Facebook'; the Morley Blockbuster was doing a roaring trade, hiring out Freaky Friday amongst other movies; the minister who's here would probably have been on his Motorola flip phone, because he's a high-tech guy and would have had the latest tech; and Franz Ferdinand won the Triple J Hottest 100 with 'Take Me Out'. But it wasn't all good news back in 2004. There was, of course, the last episode of Cheez TV, which was very disappointing for some. But it was also a time when medicines cost just $25, and that's what we seek to do with this bill—to make sure that Australians can get the health care that they need at a reasonable price, giving real cost-of-living relief to millions of Australians. We know that the measures we have taken so far have already saved Australians some $770 million. To save people money on something that is essential and to save them money on something that they often have no choice but to purchase is, I think, really smart policy. We saw that it benefited the Australian people over the last few years. We've got through the roadblocks put in our way by those in the opposition, and we want to go further with this bill. I'll conclude my remarks by thanking all of the patient and social advocacy groups who've continued to help us advocate for these changes. They do make a real difference. I want to thank the Australian people, who voted to protect Medicare on 3 May. I want to thank the Australian people, who voted for cheaper medicines. I'm really proud that we repay that trust by coming in here and—one of the first things we do in the first months of this 48th Parliament—delivering on that promise for cheaper medicines for every Australian.
Appointment | Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Trust | House debates
by leave—I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act 1948, Mr Violi be appointed a trustee to serve on the Parliamentary Retiring...
by leave—I move: That, in accordance with the provisions of the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act 1948, Mr Violi be appointed a trustee to serve on the Parliamentary Retiring Allowances Trust. Question agreed to.
by leave—I move: That Members be discharged and appointed as members of certain committees in accordance with the following list: Standing Committee on Petitions—Mr Wallace be...
by leave—I move: That Members be discharged and appointed as members of certain committees in accordance with the following list: Standing Committee on Petitions—Mr Wallace be discharged and that, in his place, Mr Caldwell be appointed a member of the committee; Committee of Privileges and Members' Interests—Mr Wallace be discharged and that, in his place, Mr Pike be appointed a member of the committee; Publications Committee—Mr Small be discharged and that, in his place, Mr Pike be appointed a member of the committee; Selection Committee—Ms Chaney be appointed a member of the committee; Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission—Mr Pike be appointed a member of the committee; Parliamentary Joint Committee on Parliamentary Standards—Mr McCormack, Mr Pike and Mr Wilkie be appointed members of the committee; Joint Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs—Mr Gee be appointed a member of the committee; and Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters—Mr Caldwell be discharged and that, in his place, Dr M Ryan be appointed a member of the committee. Question agreed to.
Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water Committee, Health, Aged Care and Disability Committee; Membership | Committees | House debates
by leave—I move: That: (1) Ms Boele be discharged from the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water; and (2) Dr Scamps be discharged from the Standing Committee...
by leave—I move: That: (1) Ms Boele be discharged from the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water; and (2) Dr Scamps be discharged from the Standing Committee on Health, Aged Care and Disability. Question agreed to.
Appropriations and Administration Committee; Membership | Committees | House debates
by leave—I move: That Ms Chesters be discharged from the Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration and that, in her place, Ms Coker be appointed a member of the committee....
by leave—I move: That Ms Chesters be discharged from the Standing Committee on Appropriations and Administration and that, in her place, Ms Coker be appointed a member of the committee. Question agreed to.
Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I speak in support of the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025, as introduced by the minister, because millions of workers will benefit from that bill. Penalty...
I speak in support of the Fair Work Amendment (Protecting Penalty and Overtime Rates) Bill 2025, as introduced by the minister, because millions of workers will benefit from that bill. Penalty rates are not an optional extra; they are essential to the household budgets of millions of Australians. People across this country rely on penalty rates, and that is why the minister and this government seek to protect them. It shows the priorities of this government, a Labor government, that wants to deliver for working Australians. As the Prime Minister said, when announcing that this would be one of the first pieces of legislation introduced into the 48th Parliament: Our number one focus is continuing to deliver cost of living relief to Australians. Protecting penalty rates for millions of workers is an important part of that – making sure Australians can earn more and keep more of what they earn. This is about people who are currently earning money, who are relying on that, and who have been compensated for their hard work, often at unsociable hours, for many years. It is about giving them certainty for their household budgets, making sure that these penalty rates that have been relied upon for many in my electorate and across this country are there for the future. It's not that long ago, and it's in my memory and the memory of pretty much everyone in this place, that we had a Liberal Party determined not only to cut penalty rates but also to sack 41,000 public servants, because the Liberal Party and the National Party are always finding new cheeky, sneaky ways of attacking working Australians. We remember when WorkChoices fell over, and they said that they'll never go back to it. They then sat in government for nine long years, where they put low wages as 'a deliberate design feature' of their economic plan. In the lead-up to the most recent election, we saw the Liberal Party send one of their senior frontbenchers to the launch of the HR Nicholls Society's paper The employment act: a modern blueprint for the future of work. What is that modern blueprint that the Liberal Party was so enthusiastic to send senior frontbenchers to cheer on? It was a paper that called for the abolishment of all awards. It called for award pay rates to be abolished and to for one lower minimum adult pay rate to be set. It called for the abolishment of the Fair Work Commission and of the Fair Work Ombudsman. And who was there as this paper was launched but senior members of the then Liberal opposition, cheering on as that was released. Thankfully, the Australian people knew what was at stake when they made their decision on 3 May, and they knew which side of this House backs working Australians. They know that 2.6 million Australians will benefit from this bill when it passes this House. It builds upon a very proud record of achievement in our first term. It was this government who, in the lead-up, in 2022, backed a $1-an-hour pay rise for minimum and award wage earners. At the time, that was roundly criticised by those opposite, but, as we saw and as the history books will show, it was good for working people, particularly at a time when we had high inflation driven by global events. Over the last term we've brought in legislation to reinvigorate our bargaining system, meaning that employers and workers can reach agreements in their workplace, resulting in higher wages, better conditions and better productivity. That's what the enterprise bargaining process is all about. We introduced and passed legislation that put gender equality and job security as new principles of the Fair Work Act. We banned pay secrecy clauses, which we know were disproportionately affecting women and holding wages back. We criminalised wage theft, making sure that some of the practices we'd seen were well and truly outlawed under the laws of this land. We stopped the underpayment of workers through labour hire loopholes. Some in this place still advocate for those loopholes to be reopened. We closed them, and proudly so. As I was doorknocking during the election, I bumped into someone who had benefited from the closure of those loopholes around their work in the aviation industry. They said, 'Thank you,' not just for them but for their colleagues. They hadn't felt comfortable being in a workplace where people had unfair pay differences when they were doing the same work. They now have a workplace where everyone is paid the same amount for doing the same work, as it should be. We also gave workers the right to clock off—the right to disconnect—meaning that work doesn't follow you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Again, our government, is very proud of having introduced that and very proud of recognising that while there is a time for work and there are reasonable expectations that the employer can have about contacting their employees, that doesn't mean that every hour of the day you need to be bombarded by phone calls, text messages and everything else. So, for millions of Australians, at about five o'clock tomorrow they will be able to clock off, disconnect from their workplace and enjoy their weekends, but, if they are working over the weekend, then they will have access to the compensation that is appropriate—that is, penalty rates for weekend and overtime work. That's what this bill does. It delivers on our government's key election commitment to protect penalty rates. The bill ensures that if you rely on the modern award safety net, if you work weekends, public holidays, early mornings or late nights, then you will have your wages protected. You deserve laws that ensure your pay will not go backwards. Penalty rates matter, and overtime rates matter. They are an essential part of the modern award safety net, which supports some of the lowest-paid workers in our country and some of the hardest workers in our country. Relative to all employees, we know something about those who rely on the award. What we know about those who rely on the award is that they are more likely to be women. They are more likely to work part time. They're more likely to be under the age of 35, and they're more likely to be employed on a casual basis. For many modern award reliant employees, penalty and overtime rates are not optional extras. They are a critical part of their take-home pay. They do rely on this money. If I think about my electorate of Perth, where you've got huge employment in retail and hospitality, servicing some of the busiest workers in our country in some of the most culturally important parts of our city, I think of those workers, and I think I wouldn't be able to look them in the eye if we were to be, in this place, allowing their take-home pay to be drastically cut, especially when they're working in the CBD or Northbridge, late nights, on a Saturday night or on a Sunday, servicing people while others are enjoying their leisure time. That's why it's important that this bill does pass. I'll go to the specifics of how this bill will operate. What the bill does is add new section 135A to the act to establish a very clear principle that, when exercising its powers to make, vary or revoke modern awards, the Fair Work Commission must ensure that the specified penalty or overtime rates are not reduced and that modern awards do not include terms that substitute employees' entitlements to receive penalty or overtime rates where those terms would have the effect of reducing the additional remuneration that any employee would otherwise receive. In simple terms, for those of us who don't follow industrial relations legislation as closely, it's about fairness. It's about fairness for people who work those unsocial hours. It's about fairness for people who have relied on these penalty rates for years and years and are now seeing some seek to remove that certainty that they've otherwise had. It's also about having incentive for people to do those unsocial hours. It's about making sure that we can have the labour that we need for the services Australian people rely upon in our economy. Fairness is a fundamental Australian value. We do believe that people should be paid appropriately for the work they do, and we do believe in compensating people for those unsocial hours. Sadly, we have seen a sustained effort from certain employers to roll penalty and overtime rates into a single rate of pay, leaving some employees worse off. We know that the Fair Work Commission is currently considering proposals from employers in the retail, clerical and banking sectors to cut penalty rates of lower-paid workers who rely on modern awards. This bill ensures that, where we have applications like these, no worker sees their pay packet reduced. It protects the integrity of the modern award system and ensures that workers are properly compensated for their work. It also seeks to protect Australia's low-paid workers from future wage cuts. It's about respecting the millions of Australians who work those public holidays, weekends, late nights and early mornings to keep Australia going. It's about making sure the safety net does what it needs to do—protect those most in need. In my final comments, I want to put this in the context of what we've been able to achieve over the last three years. We are a government that has proudly backed pay rises for those on the minimum wage. We've proudly backed those pay rises. We saw on 1 July of this year a 3.5 per cent pay rise, welcome news for some three million Australians who rely on that national minimum wage decision. But I want to put that in context of what it means over the last three years. Since Labor came to government, we've seen the national minimum wage increase by $4.62 per hour. That's $4.62 more going into the pockets of people every hour they work. Over a year, that's $9,122. That's the cumulative impact of what we've been able to achieve over our first three years in office, and that's a 22.7 per cent increase in wages for those on minimum wages. It makes a real difference. It's real cost-of-living assistance. This is a government that is proud to back working Australians, proud to back pay rises for working Australians and proud to be standing here in this place today to legislate protection for their penalty rates.
Parliamentary Business Resources Legislation Amendment (Machinery of Government Change) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today the government introduces the Parliamentary Business Resources Legislation Amendment (Machinery of Government Change) Bill 2025. The bill...
I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Today the government introduces the Parliamentary Business Resources Legislation Amendment (Machinery of Government Change) Bill 2025. The bill will delay the transfer of the administration of certain parliamentary resources from the Department of Finance to the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (IPEA) by 12 months, from 1 July 2025 to 1 July 2026. The bill will amend the Parliamentary Business Resources Legislation Amendment (Review Implementation and Other Measures) Act 2024. Extending the current framework for the administration and provision of parliamentary resources beyond this financial year will minimise the degree of change and disruption following the 2025 election, where there will be heightened activity and need for advice and support to both ceasing and commencing parliamentarians and their staff. It will also allow time for the government's substantial Commonwealth parliamentary workplace reforms to mature. This includes the establishment of the statutory Parliamentary Workplace Support Service (PWSS), the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission (IPSC) and legislative amendments to the Members of Parliament (Staff) Act 1984. A transfer date of 1 July 2026 will still allow sufficient time for IPEA to settle its administration of the transferred resources prior to the next independent statutory review of the Parliamentary Business Resources Act 2017, scheduled to occur in late 2027. IPEA will retain its current functions relating to the provision of travel resources to current and former senators and members under the PBR Act and other legislation. This includes the administration of those resources, including processing claims, paying or providing resources, and providing personal and general advice. IPEA's transparency and accountability functions include reporting and auditing resources and giving rulings relating to the public resources IPEA administers under the PBR Act. Parliamentarians and their staff have access to a range of resources, which are provided by multiple entities including the parliamentary departments and portfolio departments, as well as the Department of Finance and IPEA, under the PBR Act and other mechanisms. I commend this bill.
Albanese Government, Western Australia State Election | Adjournment | House debates
Our job in this place is to take the local values of our communities and turn them into national results. Every day that I've been in this place that's exactly what I have sought to...
Our job in this place is to take the local values of our communities and turn them into national results. Every day that I've been in this place that's exactly what I have sought to do—taking my community's values of opportunity, fairness and democracy and turning them into national results that don't just lift up my community of Perth but lift up the nation. That's what we've done when it comes to education, opening the doors of opportunity by literally building new doors for a new university in the CBD in the heart of Perth, where we'll see, later this year, Yagan Square open up with a brand-new university, the Edith Cowan city campus. We've seen the commitment that we've got going through the parliament right now for our littlest learners, making sure we open the doors of opportunity to make sure that we have a fairer system of early childhood education. We've opened the doors of the Rudloc Road urgent care clinic, making sure that the people of Perth can walk through the doors and get health care based on what they need, not how much they can afford. Equally, we've opened the doors, in this term of government, of headspace Osborne Park, making sure that young people in Perth can get the mental health support that they need and deserve. At train stations in my electorate, including in Bayswater and Morley, you can walk through the doors onto the train of the Perth Morley-Ellenbrook Line, which is connecting so many suburbs across the Perth metropolitan area and making sure that more people can get the benefits of a great public transport system—a public transport system that I want to commend Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti for, for making it cheaper for Western Australians, meaning that we don't have unfair zones that put all the costs onto those in the outer suburbs, making it cheaper and more affordable to catch one of the most sustainable forms of transport ever created: public transport. We will see, soon, the doors open at the revitalisation of the WACA, turning it into a true community facility for all to use. Similarly, my community values our local parks. Making sure that we've used the power of democracy to deliver, I'm pleased with the upgrades we've delivered in lighting for Axford Park and the brand-new playground for Joondanna Reserve. It was an honour to be there last year with families who, some 40 years ago, had planted the first trees of that reserve and were there to see the upgrades we had made. Just a few days ago, I went and helped plant the first trees at the new Bayswater Urban Forest, making sure that what once was bushland and became a tip now returns to bushland in my community. I'm pleased at the support that we've given when it comes to the announcement I joined the Prime Minister in making on the Holocaust Institute of Western Australia, for their education centre in Yokine, with some $2 million to ensure that that vision is fully realised. That is on top of the longstanding commitment I have had for what is now the very proud world-class facility known as the JHUB, the Jewish community hub in Yokine. I also commend them for their foresight in ensuring there was child care on that site. We've made sure that we have serious support for local councils in the electorate of Perth to deliver when it comes to our community's determination to make sure there is housing for everyone who wants to live in the wonderful inner city of Perth. That includes the $1 million that we have delivered for housing studies in the City of Vincent to make sure we can do the planning work to get more housing into our inner city. It has been great to work with the City of Vincent mayor, Alison Xamon, in delivering that. It was similarly great to see the longstanding commitment of this government to the Ruah community centre turned into action. I was able to join the Premier at the end of last year for the opening of the new Ruah centre. What I know is that, when you take your local values and bring them here, determined to get results, you can therefore be confident that you are delivering for your community and that you're doing the right thing in our fundamental job of representing the people whom we are here to represent—those who send us here. In my last few moments, I want to talk about when democracy goes really wrong. I want to talk about when democracy gets really sick and twisted. In 2017, I remember former Premier Colin Barnett and the WA Liberal Party—I think it was more those in the WA Liberal Party than Premier Barnett, to be fair—signing a comprehensive preference deal with One Nation. It shocked people at the time and, as a result, led to an absolutely catastrophic defeat of the Liberal Party in Western Australia. It was so bad that Scott Morrison, when he was Prime Minister in 2019, put One Nation below Labor on every ballot across the country. But what we learned today is that the Liberal Party of Western Australia is going down, digging into the One Nation rejects, and has chosen Sean Butler to be its state candidate in Perth. It is an absolute disgrace that the partnership between the Liberal Party and One Nation has rejoined— (Time expired) Federation Chamber adjourned at 11:32