Julian Simmonds's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
New South Wales: Floods, Queensland: Floods | Statements on Indulgence | House debates
I rise today to speak about some of our heroes of the 2022 floods in the electorate of Ryan. I was in my community in the 2011 flood event as well. It was difficult to see many of the same people...
I rise today to speak about some of our heroes of the 2022 floods in the electorate of Ryan. I was in my community in the 2011 flood event as well. It was difficult to see many of the same people who had gone through the earlier flood event going through it again in 2022. The electorate is diverse and people were affected in different ways. The communities of Moggill, Bellbowrie, Pullenvale and Brookfield were cut off by floodwater for a number of days. People in Fig Tree Pocket, Indooroopilly, St Lucia, Toowong and Auchenflower were inundated by the river as well as by the rising creek levels. People in The Gap, and further afield in Mitchelton, were inundated by fast flowing creek water while the rain was falling. No matter how residents were affected, they have shown tremendous spirit and resilience. It has been a sincere pleasure, during my time as the member for Ryan, to be able to join them in their community spirit as they seek to rally around those residents who have been badly affected by the flood. In doing so, I want to pay testament to some of those community members who went above and beyond the call of duty for their fellow residents during the flood. I put out the call to the community to ask them to nominate people who had particularly assisted them but perhaps hadn't sought any credit. Of course, they don't do it for the recognition, but they rightly deserve it all the same. These were people who saw a need and, rather than waiting for somebody else to do it, simply pitched in and got it done themselves. So I would like to acknowledge a few of those. First of all, there is Damian Reynoldson. He is described by his neighbours as a family man and a quiet achiever. He has a friendly and compassionate nature, with many practical skills. With the support of his wife, Christie, Damian became known as 'the Witton Island hero.' His skills supported and enabled many in the flood-affected Witton Road-Twigg Street area to deal with the challenges thrown at them. For a time, as you can imagine from the name 'Witton Island hero', their little part of the world, those two streets, became an island cut off from the rest of the community, with floodwaters all around them. Moving furniture; getting essential supplies by boat; cleaning with pressure cleaners, shovels and brooms; and providing portable generators for power—the list goes on and on. These were some of the things that Damian was able to procure and assist his fellow residents with. Congratulations and thank you, Damian, the hero of Witton Island. Now to Anthony 'Herbie' Herbert. Herbie mobilised the blue and green army of GPS players, juniors and their parents to pitch in and help residents affected by the Enoggera Creek flooding. Herbie's fellow residents said he 'seemed to be everywhere'. He was carting around possessions out on the footpath, manning hoses, emptying pools of their mud—he told me he became quite an expert at this, unfortunately—and reassuring people that this was the worst part and, from now on, it was going to get better because they were all working together to chip in, piece by piece. He was there from first light until well after dark each day and until the job was done. So, well done to Herbie and all of those GPS players who went out to assist their community. And now to Shane Ehrhardt. Will lives on Macquarie Street in St Lucia, which is notorious for flooding. His property was flooded on the Sunday, leaving him no way to leave. But, thankfully, his apartment was still above the waterline when he went to bed that night. On Monday morning, with the water still rising towards his apartment, he had no choice but to evacuate. But the SES, as you can imagine, was busy helping others whose homes were currently being flooded. So Will and his family had a few hours of nervous waiting, watching the water continuing to rise and feeling helpless. Will's work colleague Shane suddenly appeared, coming to the rescue on their back stairs. He was climbing out of his own kayak that he had paddled to the apartment, holding a thermos of coffee. Will said that he had to hold tears back as he saw Shane. While Will and his family prepared their belongings to paddle out, Shane, not content with the rescue that he was already undertaking, popped out to rescue a pregnant woman and her partner who had called for help. After Shane came back and took Will and his family to safety, he then calmly got back into his kayak and paddled off. Shane ended up spending about five continuous hours on the Monday finding strangers in Macquarie Street in St Lucia who needed help, leading them and their belongings onto the kayak and paddling them out. Will said, 'Shane is a private person and would die if he knew I was writing about him here.' Well, goodness knows what Shane thinks of me reading him into Hansard! Will said: 'I bet he didn't even tell most of his friends what he did that day. He is my hero and probably a hero to many who met him for the first time in his kayak and will never see him again. Thank you, Shane.' Nathan Purcell is a young electrician with a new business, but he didn't hesitate to jump in by helping neighbours in his area to clean up or by doing countless electricity checks so that people could plug in gernies and fridges. Residents would mention a friend down the road who had lost power, and Nathan would be there within five minutes to check the electricity so that they could get their power back on and they could get back on with their lives and the clean-up. Thank you for your efforts, Nathan. Brad Colliss, the owner of the local Bellbowrie fruit shop, kayaked across a cut off road to his own shop to open it up, even though the shopping centre itself had lost power. Customers who didn't have cash on them—there was no power so there was no EFTPOS—were told they could pay later, or, if they were struggling with the flood, to just take the food that was there. This spurred on an incredible sense of community spirit that saw people paying it forward and leaving extra money to help others. Wendy nominated Brad and said: 'I know in the scheme of things this is only a small event while people lost their homes, but it certainly contributed to people's good mental health in sad times.' Well done Brad, and thank you for giving away your product. Dan 'The Tinnie Man' Hill acquired the name The Tinny Man because he spent a number of days using his own tinnie and his own fuel to ferry stranded community members across Moggill Road when it was cut off. His efforts reunited families, got people to important medical appointments, got essential hospital workers to their shifts and delivered essential medicines and supplies. When I met Dan out on Moggill Road, at the time we was taking aged-care workers across in his tinny, so they could cook and care for those at the RSL home at Pinjarra Hills who had been cut off by the flood. Likewise, I would like to thank the SES western group and all of the SES workers in the Ryan electorate. The 40 volunteers of the SES western group based in Toowong completed over 1,100 hours of service to the local community between them during the flooding event. Members assisted and volunteered their time for initial sandbagging and flood mitigation response, completed temporary repairs and evacuated residents who had been inundated—all while their own depot was going underwater. It was an absolutely extraordinary effort. These are just a few of the local 2022 flood heroes who have been nominated by their own community—by those they helped—because their efforts just meant so much to so many people, and I am so very proud of our community. I know what the community went through was horrible and will stay with people for a long time. But it should also stay with us that those residents rallied around each other and pitched in where they could. Likewise, I would like to thank the ADF and those members of the Defence Force who came out of Gallipoli Barracks in the electorate of Ryan to help others, particularly with the clean-up around St Lucia, Auchenflower and Toowong. The way they turned up in such great numbers day after day, to break the back of some of the most gruelling work meant an awful lot. A lot of them were sacrificing time away from their families. A lot of them had their own homes affected by flood, but they put that to one side so they could do their job and help others. Such is the spirit of our ADF. We know that the hardest time is not the flood; it's not even the initial clean-up, because there are a lot of people around then. We learnt that in 2011. The hardest time is when everybody has gone and residents, all of a sudden, find themselves by themselves with an uninhabitable home, trying to rebuild their lives. I want to remind them that we are here for them all the time if they need anything at all. There are plenty of people in our community willing to help. I encourage them to reach out, and I will stay in touch with them.
Employment | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is also to the Treasurer. Well he remind the House of the Morrison government's strong record in creating jobs and reducing unemployment, particularly through our investments in...
My question is also to the Treasurer. Well he remind the House of the Morrison government's strong record in creating jobs and reducing unemployment, particularly through our investments in skills and apprenticeships, and how this will help secure a stronger future, delivering on our long-term economic plan?
Type 1 Diabetes | Adjournment | House debates
It's budget season, of course, and there are always a lot of requests and calls made on the public purse. But there's one particular request that I am passionate about, many members of my...
It's budget season, of course, and there are always a lot of requests and calls made on the public purse. But there's one particular request that I am passionate about, many members of my community of Ryan are very passionate about and I know many of my colleagues are passionate about. As we head into the next few weeks and into the budget, I want to put in a particular plug for this government to consider further funding as part of the upcoming budget to assist people with type 1 diabetes. At the end of 2021, there were 129,211 people registered with type 1 diabetes in Australia. As people would know, type 1 diabetes is often developed quite young, as a child, and is quite different to type 2 diabetes, which is more based on lifestyle factors. In October last year, I, along with 12 other coalition colleagues—and, between us, we represented every state of this great nation—wrote to the health minister asking for support to increase access to type 1 diabetes technologies. Our ambition is that all people living with type 1 diabetes have equitable access to the most effective diabetes management systems, regardless of age or income. This means increasing coverage of insulin pumps and glucose monitors. That's the good news out of this. The good news is that, despite how difficult it is for young people, and people of all ages, to manage type 1 diabetes, the advances of technology are giving them that option. The technology that we have available now through continuous glucose monitors and insulin pumps allows a set-and-forget response where people can just get on with their lives without having to worry about constant testing or the constant highs and lows. I'm so very proud to have been part of this government and particularly initiatives led by the health Minister, Greg Hunt, that have seen this government go further than any before it, making important, groundbreaking initiatives accessible for people with type 1 diabetes. With a little bit of further investment, we can ensure that those technologies that we're already funding for young people are available to all sufferers so that they can stop planning their lives around how to manage their symptoms and instead plan their futures with confidence. So our ask is this: an extra investment to support expanded access to glucose monitors for adults, who currently miss out, to expand access to insulin pumps to people of all ages with a low-income healthcare card, and, in addition, to make sure that our investment in new technology is fit for purpose so that as new technology becomes available that can be deployed in the fight as well. This investment would allow continued access to subsidised glucose monitors and insulin pumps for those who have already had access to them. Currently some kids living with type 1 diabetes have either their monitor or their insulin pump taken away at either their 18th or 21st birthday, depending on their circumstance, because they're no longer subsidised. A teen entering adulthood should be planning their studies. They should be starting their career. They should be thinking about how to make a home of their own. They should not be trying to relearn how to manage their diabetes without continuous monitors or pumps. Likewise, parents who have watched their kids excel because of this technology want to see their kids continue to excel. They don't want to see them face extra pressures at an already pressured time, turning 18 or 21, and having the worry of their kids learning how to manage this disease all over again. That's what struck me about JDRF's Access for All campaign. It's the opportunity to relieve some of the burden of these young Australians during what is an already challenging stage in their lives. It's why I'm enthusiastically supporting their campaign. I know that JDRF ambassadors have reached out to MPs from all across this chamber. I really want to thank them for sharing their stories on living with type 1 diabetes. This extra investment would make financial sense too. Type 1 diabetes currently costs the Australian community $2.1 billion each year. We can reduce that cost by keeping people out of suffering hypoglycaemia or long-term health effects by managing their type 1 diabetes better using this technology. I really want to thank Minister Hunt and the PM for engaging with me and other backbench colleagues on this important issue. I sincerely encourage the government to deliver the funding this initiative needs prior to the upcoming budget. I look forward to the community and the government getting behind the campaign.
Morrison Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
I'm pleased that Labor members have seen fit to bring forward this matter of public importance, because it talks about the plans that both of our parties have for the future. They're quite right:...
I'm pleased that Labor members have seen fit to bring forward this matter of public importance, because it talks about the plans that both of our parties have for the future. They're quite right: at the next election, coming up in the next few months, Australians will face an incredibly stark choice. There is a gulf of difference between the plans that this government have for the prosperity of our nation and the plans that Labor have for Australians, and Australians need to know the difference. I think Australians understand what this government are about. They have seen us in the trenches over the last three years, keeping them safe from a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. They have seen us keep people in aged care safe. They have seen us roll out vaccines to vulnerable communities. They have seen us roll out booster shots. They have seen us close the borders quickly. And they have seen us take the hard decisions when needed so as to keep Australians safe. They have seen us support hundreds of thousands of jobs through the JobKeeper program, a program that has enabled us to have the economy firing as we come out of the pandemic, including heading towards a record low unemployment rate. They have seen us keep Australians safe when it comes to standing up to the coercion of other nations. And they have seen us tackling the difficult security environment that we face—one of the most difficult security environments faced by any government in a long, long time. Meanwhile, Labor's plan for the future, Labor's plan for Australians, is a dark and depressing one. It's one where Australians don't feel safe. They don't feel safe to make choices for their families. They don't feel safe to plan for their future. They don't feel safe that their kids will have opportunity and hope. It's a future where a future Labor government have lost control of our borders, just like they did the last time they were in government because the opposition leader doesn't have the ticker to personally turn back a boat. As a consequence, people will die at sea—women and children. Australia's law enforcement and border patrol officers will be fishing bodies out of the sea on a daily basis. Billions is being spent locking up those who have been trafficked by people smugglers in their evil trade—just as Labor did when they were last in government. To pay those billions of dollars to lock people up because of people smugglers, because they've lost control of the borders, Labor are ripping it out of defence. They're ripping it away from Australia's serving men and women, just like they did when they were last in government, when defence spending was at the lowest levels since the 1930s. They took money out of ASIO, the AFP and the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission—the very agencies working to keep Australians safe on the front line every single day. In Labor's plan for the future, Australians are now less safe from foreign interference and less safe from criminal gangs and bikie gangs who would seek to do them harm. It gets worse. As those groups are allowed to flourish because Labor is ripping funds out of ASIO, the Criminal Intelligence Commission and the AFP, Labor is lacking the ticker to revoke visas of convicted criminals and send them back to their home nations where they hold citizenship. So these people continue to commit crimes against Australian citizens. This government has revoked 10,000 visas of convicted criminals. Labor couldn't manage even a tenth of that. I haven't even got to Labor's vision of our economic future—one where they add taxes, like inheritance and death duties, the retiree tax and housing tax; where they undo the economic policies of this government that have created jobs; where they undo the HomeBuilder scheme, which is putting record numbers of first home buyers into their first homes; and where they undo our infrastructure investment, which is creating jobs and getting people out of traffic congestion and back to their homes and their families more safely and more quickly. The unions reign supreme again, causing inflationary pressures and cost increases that families have to deal with in the supermarket aisles. This is Labor's vision for the future. It's bleak and it's dark. Australians at the next election in the next couple of months have a stark choice. Re-elect this coalition government to keep unemployment low, to keep our economy strong, to keep Australians and their families safe, and Australia's borders safe and standing up against economic coercion from other nations. (Time expired)
Defence, National Security | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Defence: Will the minister please inform the House how the Morrison government's strong and certain record on defence and national security keeps Australia and...
My question is to the Minister for Defence: Will the minister please inform the House how the Morrison government's strong and certain record on defence and national security keeps Australia and Australians safe and secure, and is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?
Law Enforcement Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, I present the committee's report entitled Vaccinerelated fraud and security risks. Report made a parliamentary paper in...
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, I present the committee's report entitled Vaccinerelated fraud and security risks. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). by leave—I present the final report of the Joint Committee on Law Enforcement's inquiry into COVID-19 Vaccine related fraud and security risks. The report builds on the committee's interim report for this inquiry, which was tabled in August 2021. This inquiry was conducted in response to concerns that as part of the COVID-19 pandemic and as part of the vaccine rollout and the rollout of vaccine certificates that this may be open to individuals or organised crime gangs to perpetrate fraud against the Australian populous or to otherwise coerce individuals by means of corruption or crime. The interim report last year found that, due to the early, strong and coordinated action from law enforcement agencies across all jurisdictions, Australia, pleasingly, did not experience the anticipated levels of scam or fraud activity related to the COVID-19 vaccination rollout. In particular, the government's decision to make the vaccine available for free in a timely manner to all Australians limited the ability of fraud or coercion to take place. The interim report also highlighted concerns vaccination status fraud could manifest in the future as we move past the initial vaccination stage and as individuals sought to avoid, potentially, the consequences of not being vaccinated. So the final report contains the committee's considerations, particularly on this matter and its investigations as such. I'm pleased report to the House that the committee has found that although there have been some instances—widely reported in the media—of fraud, these are extremely limited and the total amount of vaccination related fraud conducted has been extremely small. I am further pleased to report that although Australia's vaccination registration system was tested during the rollout the existing integrity mechanisms were found to be fit for purpose and robust in protecting the health and welfare of Australians. They've held up extremely well. This success is not just due to those government service agencies who have rolled out these robust systems that have prevented fraud; it's also due to our law enforcement agencies, particularly Border Force and the AFP, who have done an outstanding job in being proactive in tackling any fraud related risks. It's also through the great support of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the work of our medical institutions and all of our frontline doctors, nurses and pharmacists, who, every day, are making sure that the safety of the Australian public is front of mind and, in particular, that the consistency of the systems and preventing any fraud related activity is safeguarded at the frontline level. With that, I would like to thank very much the deputy chair, Dr Anne Aly, for her support. As part of the report, I'd like to thank all committee members, all witnesses and, of course, the secretariat for their outstanding work.
Member for Boothby, Ryan Electorate: University of Queensland | Adjournment | House debates
I just want to comment on the issue of the day in the time I have remaining. It was an absolute privilege today to watch the valedictory speech of my colleague the member for Boothby, Nicolle...
I just want to comment on the issue of the day in the time I have remaining. It was an absolute privilege today to watch the valedictory speech of my colleague the member for Boothby, Nicolle Flint, in this chamber. She is a courageous and tenacious member of the House, and as a new member I have learnt so much from the upstanding way she has carried herself. I've worked with her on issues involving funding for endometriosis treatment and research and seen the effective way she advocates and secures real change in the place. I've also seen the way she holds her head high and refuses to be diminished by the abhorrent behaviour that has been directed at her by political opponents. Nic, thank you for the service you have given your community and this place and for your support of colleagues like me. You are a great loss to our parliamentary party room. In her speech, the member for Boothby called out commentators, political operators and activists of the Left who preach tolerance and support for women in politics but then direct at their female political opponents the most horrendous and vile abuse. Lo and behold, the Left were at it again today. We saw a terrible display of vandalism and violence from members of the Left at the University of Queensland in my electorate of Ryan. Today was market day, and young volunteers including young women were volunteering at the UQ Liberal National Club tent. They were attacked and had their property defaced with red paint and were labelled Nazis for simply expressing their political opinions on campus. Members of our Australian Defence Force also had their own tent at UQ's market day, and the same thugs were videotaped spray-painting the front of the ADF tent and hurling expletives at these service men and women. I am a fierce defender of free speech, but time and again we see the Left seeking to silence conservative men and women on university campuses through the use of violence and intimidation. Shame on these leftist criminals for using violence to try and silence free speech! If my Labor and Greens opponents in the Ryan electorate had any ticker, they would call out this disgusting behaviour by their supporters. I'll be contacting the UQ vice-chancellor to demand an investigation to identify these thugs and expel them from their studies on campus. Students should be able to go to market day and choose clubs and societies to be a part of, free from violence and intimidation. House adjourned at 20:00
Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2021; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I'm very pleased to rise to speak in support of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2021. Unfortunately what those watching will have just seen from the member for...
I'm very pleased to rise to speak in support of the Migration Amendment (Strengthening the Character Test) Bill 2021. Unfortunately what those watching will have just seen from the member for Scullin is a classic example of Labor having an each-way bet when it comes to protecting Australians and keeping Australians safe. There are no such wobbles on this side of the chamber; we will continue to stay strong and make sure that we employ the powers needed in order to keep the Australian community safe. The member for Scullin rightly pointed out that Senator Keneally was only telling half the story when she went on Sky News this morning and claimed Labor would be supporting the bill. It was a bit of a fib; while they might be supporting the bill in the House, they're going to try to amend it in the Senate. As a government, we have made it really clear that this bill is required in order to deport people who do serious harm to Australian citizens. These are convicted criminals. These are not just people we think might be of bad character; they have been convicted of a serious offence. Yet the Labor Party, in the amendments they're going to put into the Senate, are saying: 'We think it goes too far. We think somebody can be convicted of a serious offence but still not meet the threshold for deportation.' It goes to show that they simply can't be trusted to make the hard decisions required to keep Australians safe. We heard from the member for Scullin a couple of examples where Labor take issue with this bill and think the powers are out of step with what is required. He said Labor was worried that this bill would catch up low-level offenders. Let's just think about which offences this bill deals with. These are people who have been convicted of an offence punishable by jail time of over two years. They have been convicted of offences like stalking, domestic violence, assaulting police officers, breaching AVOs, possessing weapons, concealing child abuse offences, and date rape offences. Which of these would the Labor Party nominate as too low level an offence against Australian citizens in order to justify these people remaining in the country? Breaching an AVO? Stalking a partner? Drugging someone on a date and raping them? This is ridiculous. These are people who have been convicted of these offences. These are not low-level offences by any means. The member for Scullin claimed that we didn't understand the nature of family violence, that this might stop people from coming forward. But this isn't about people coming forward; you don't just get to make a report and have a partner's visa cancelled; they have to be convicted of an offence. And then, even if they don't get the full sentence of over two years, the government can say the person is not of good character and is deemed a risk to Australian citizens. When it comes to domestic violence, does the member for Scullin really think that someone is not going to come forward in a case where somebody has committed a domestic violence offence—to the extent that they can be convicted—and they can be convicted of an offence that warrants more than two years in jail? Does the member for Scullin really think that, simply because they don't get the full two years in jail from a judge, that person should stay? Because that's the loophole we're trying to close: people are being convicted of these serious offences punishable with more than two years in jail, but activist judges are not giving them two years jail. They're giving them less. I know the imputation it carries when I use the word 'activist' about judges, but there is a level of activism involved in this. In Queensland—I can only speak for my jurisdiction; that's the jurisdiction that I know—judges can take into account, as part of sentencing, the fact that a person may be deported. So we have judges making decisions about whether or not someone should be deported, and they do it by saying, 'Well, this person will be deported if I give them two years jail, so I'll give them a year and a half,' or, 'I'll give them 12 months'. Well, that's not in keeping with the community's expectations. The community's expectation is that they elect a government to keep them safe and to set rules, and somebody should be deported if they're convicted of a criminal offence, particularly against an Australian citizen. It's not in the hands of judges to decide that they can circumvent that law by giving them a lesser sentence, on the understanding that that will prevent the government from deporting that person. That's the loophole we're trying to close. Finally, the member for Scullin used the example of New Zealand. Well, New Zealand might be upset that their criminal citizens are being deported back to New Zealand. So what? Why is Labor expecting this government—elected on behalf of Australian citizens—to care more about the feelings of the New Zealand government than they do about Australian citizens against whom violent and heinous crimes are being committed by visa holders who we can't deport because Labor won't support us in closing this loophole? I see it time and time again: the Labor opposition wanting to side with foreign governments and wanting to side with the feelings of foreign diplomats and foreign government officials over what's in the best interest of Australians. We will not do it. We on this side of the chamber will take the side of Australians every single time, in their best interests. And how can Labor argue that it's not in the best interests of Australian citizens to have visa holders who are committing serious crimes, being convicted of them, and not being deported—not having their visas cancelled! And we're serious about it. We've shown that we're serious about it. We've cancelled over 10,000 visas during our time in government—that is 10,000 individuals convicted of serious offences who, if their visas weren't cancelled, could have gone on to commit more harm against Australian citizens. Certainly, in my electorate, I know if I was walking down the street and I said that to someone, they'd say, 'Well, of course—that's just your job, to get rid of these people who are convicted of crimes and might undertake further crimes against Australian citizens.' Except that it contrasts so starkly with the Labor Party, who didn't do their job. They didn't do their job of protecting Australians. During their last government, the Rudd-Gillard government, they refused or cancelled a total of 1,128 visas—a tenth less. Does anybody on the street think that we only had 10 per cent of the crime that we have today, under the Rudd-Gillard government, that it was some kind of utopian period where people didn't commit crimes and violent crimes? Of course not. People were committing crimes, they were being convicted, and the Rudd-Gillard government—of which many, many members still sit as Labor Party members in this chamber and were involved in that cabinet—didn't have the ticker to cancel those people's visas. And, as a result, Australians were put at risk. We've cancelled over 10,000 visas. And, just to give people an idea of what we're talking about, in Queensland—again, the jurisdiction that I know best, so that's where I'm going to talk to—we have cancelled 1,800 visas. That's in Queensland alone. Let me give you an idea of some of the offences: 154 visas cancelled from child sex offenders, including those who hold child pornography; 46 murderers; 88 rapists; 119 armed robbers; 316 drug offenders and 633 other violent offenders. Those are the visas that we've cancelled because we've got the ticker to do it, unlike the Labor Party when they were in government. Now, the government that's got the ticker to do it, to cancel these visas, is coming to this chamber, coming to parliament, and saying: 'We'd like to close a loophole.' It's not good enough that somebody who is holding child exploitation material, child pornography, is allowed to stay in this country as a visa holder just because they don't get two years in jail, because an activist judge goes, 'Well, I could give him two years in jail, but then they'd deport him, so I'll give him a year and a half.' How is that fair on Australian citizens for the largesse they provide to visa holders—because they know that the vast, vast majority of visa holders come in and contribute something to Australian society and contribute exceptionally positively—to have somebody have an activist judge who decides to try and circumvent the law because they don't want somebody to be deported, even though they've been convicted of a serious offence punishable by over two years in jail. That's what this bill does. The bill changes the test from being based on the actual jail sentence somebody has received when they've been convicted to anybody convicted of an offence punishable by at least two years in prison. Just because they are convicted of these offences doesn't mean they automatically get their visa cancelled. The government still has to look at it. There's still a certain period of appraisal, as you would expect. Every case is different, and all of that. We'll hear all of that from the Law Society, and we'll hear it regurgitated from Labor—lots of excuses. There's still the opportunity for the government to look at it, but the government has to be satisfied they've been convicted of this offence punishable by at least two years imprisonment, they've received a lower imprisonment than that two years and that they pose a risk to Australian community. And who would argue? Which of these Labor politicians who are going to try and amend this bill would have the guts to stand up and say that somebody possessing child exportation material and didn't get two years should deserve to stay? That material might be of an Australian child, or that might lead to further offending, or that material is possessed by any— Quite right, member for Herbert. It's just not acceptable. So what the Labor Party should be doing is not having an each way bet, not talking out of both sides of their mouth, not saying on one side of their mouth on Sky News: 'We support the bill. There isn't a wafer of difference between us and the government when it comes to keeping Australians safe,' and then sending the member for Scullin in hear with his very low voice, nice and quiet, to say, 'We support you, but actually we're going to amend it and we're going to amend it so it doesn't cover some of the offences that you'd like it to cover, and we're also going to amend it just to make sure New Zealand aren't offended when we send back their criminal citizens to their country.' That's called having a bob each way. That's called not having the ticker to make the decisions that you need to in order to keep Australians safe. We know that the Labor Party members have form on this—right? We know they have form on this, because it's not just about the fact they won't support this bill so that we can deport convicted criminals. There is a lot of difference between this government and the Labor Party when it comes to our willingness to keep Australians safe. Look at examples Labor Party members have given us, the character references they've written for foreign criminals. The Leader of the Opposition, himself, in 2020—this is recent history, right?—wrote a reference for a violent outlaw motorcycle gang member facing deportation. He wrote to the minister: 'I seek your assistance in finding a solution for this man.' This is a member of a violent outlaw criminal gang responsible for drug importation, responsible for harm against Australian citizens, and the Opposition Leader, just like he wouldn't have a ticker to turn back the boats—that's his own admission; that's not me—writes we just need 'a solution for this man'. Well, there is no other solution for a member of an outlaw motorcycle gang, for this government, than deporting him so that he is away from Australian citizens so he cannot cause harm. The Manager of Opposition Business here in the House likes to be outraged all the time when we try and insinuate we keep Australians safer. In 2014 he wrote a reference for a drug dealer facing deportation, alleged to have imported five kilos of cocaine and 140 kilos of ice. This is a person the Manager of Opposition Business saw fit to write a reference for, to implore the government on—when he had been convicted of importing five kilos of cocaine and 140 kilos of ice! Think of the damage that would do on the street to Australian citizens partaking in that. It is beyond belief. To Australians who might be listening, I say: judge the Labor Party on what they do, not on what they say. There is a gulf of distance between the opposition Labor Party and this government when it comes to keeping Australians safe. We are the ones who have cancelled 10,000 visas for criminals. They only did a tenth of that. We need these changes to keep deporting criminals to keep you safe, and the Labor Party should support them.
National Security | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is the outstanding Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison government's Operation Sovereign Borders is continuing to keep our borders secure...
My question is the outstanding Minister for Home Affairs. Will the minister update the House on how the Morrison government's Operation Sovereign Borders is continuing to keep our borders secure and people smugglers out of business, and is she aware of any alternative policies?
National Security | Statements by Members | House debates
NDS () (): It's very clear to me that the biggest threat to Australia's security and the safety of Australians is the Leader of the Opposition and his very good mate the member for Melbourne....
NDS () (): It's very clear to me that the biggest threat to Australia's security and the safety of Australians is the Leader of the Opposition and his very good mate the member for Melbourne. Last time Labor were in government, they were in bed with the Greens and, together, they cut Defence spending to its lowest level since 1938. And now, as they look to rekindle their love affair and weave friendship bracelets together, their plan is clear—rinse and repeat. The Greens have already announced that they will cut our Defence spending in half. The Greens also don't believe in protecting our borders, and they have a fellow traveller in the Leader of the Opposition. This is a Leader of the Opposition who proudly declared in between shedding tears for Kevin Rudd—what a loss that was!—and declaring that he wanted to fight Tories that he could never personally turn back a boat. He's a Leader of the Opposition that when he was last in government was part of a team that cut funding to ASIO, the AFP and the Criminal Intelligence Commission. Along with cutting funding to Defence, it cut funding to every major organisation that keeps Australians safe. The member for Melbourne proudly produces his videos outlining how he would dictate terms to a Labor government and how he would play with them like a puppet master. At a time of increasing global threat and uncertainty, Labor and the Greens would together endanger Australians. I want to thank the members of the Defence Force and law enforcement community in my electorate. They have my support. The Leader of the Opposition may have the support of the mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party, but he doesn't deserve the support of Australians.
Australian Defence Force Cadets | Private Members' Business | House debates
It is a great pleasure to speak on this motion this evening. Firstly, I'd like to thank the member who moved the motion in my absence in a previous sitting week, because debating this motion...
It is a great pleasure to speak on this motion this evening. Firstly, I'd like to thank the member who moved the motion in my absence in a previous sitting week, because debating this motion gives me a great opportunity to express my unwavering support for the Australian Defence Force Cadets, their vital service to the country and the work that they do instilling values into our young people. Service, courage, respect, integrity and excellence—these are the values of the ADF Cadets that underpin their mission to lead and serve our local communities and our nation. In particular, I'm very proud that the Ryan electorate has a number of ADF Cadet units, including at the Gallipoli Barracks at Enoggera but also located in a number of schools within the electorate. It's of course a community based youth development program, which focuses on preserving the customs and traditions of the Australian Defence Force. That's incredibly important for the Ryan community, because the Ryan community is, as I said, home to the Gallipoli Barracks, so it is home to many serving Defence personnel but also ex-Defence personnel and veterans who have chosen to stay located in the local area and those who have located there as part of their service at the Amberley barracks, further down the highway. We have a very proud tradition in the Ryan electorate of supporting our service men and women and veterans, and promoting the values and the ethos of the Australian Defence Force in the cadets is a tremendous way to do that. Last year in May—I'm just trying to get my dates right; with COVID, things tend to blend together—I was very pleased to have the Assistant Minister for Defence, Andrew Hastie, come to the electorate. It was one of the few visits that he was able to successfully complete given the on-and-off border openings in Western Australia. He came to look at the site and to have discussions with those who are helping me lead the charge for the new Brookfield cadet unit in the electorate of Ryan. The Morrison government, at my urging, has already committed some $100,000 in funding to help get this new cadet unit off the ground. There is significant need in the local community. Brookfield is some distance from the existing cadet unit over at Enoggera, and already, since the call was put out that we were looking to establish this unit, over 40 young people have put up their hands and said they are keen to become cadets as this unit is started up. Assistant Minister Hastie is revered for his own service, but not many people would know that he was a cadet himself and he credits the cadets with instilling in him that love of service and that love of country and encouraging him as he got older to then join up to serve in the ADF. It was great to have him there to talk all thing cadets because not only is it his portfolio but he embodies everything we're trying to achieve with the program in terms of instilling those values in our young Australians and then, hopefully, inspiring them to go on to a career of service with the ADF. I really want to give a shout-out to the local residents who are helping in this endeavour to put the new cadet unit together—that is, the president of the Kenmore-Moggill RSL Sub Branch, Lieutenant Colonel Rick Maher; and the sub-branch treasurer and a former officer in the Royal Engineers of the British Army, Richard Ponsonby; and Leonie Smith. These individuals have been instrumental in getting this cadet unit started. It was their initiative. They came to me and said, 'We'd really like to start this up. Can you secure some initial funding,' which indeed we have been able to do. As the unit progresses, ultimately, to its establishment, all three of them are working incredibly hard. Rick and Richard are obviously both servicemen themselves and are devoted to bringing that to our local youth, as I am. So I give a shout-out to them. I also give a shout-out to the 129 Australian Army Cadet Unit, which, as I said, is based at the Gallipoli Barracks, at Enoggera. They have 144 currently serving cadets, so that unit is going very strong. Despite the COVID-19 restrictions, they've still been able to conduct regular parades and weekend activities together, including obstacle courses and other ways to build their skills as part of the cadet training program. It has been a pleasure to deliver that $100,000 worth of funding. I very much look forward to welcoming our very first cadets in the very near future to the Brookfield cadet unit and to helping to see those values instilled in even more young people within the Ryan electorate.
Ryan Electorate: headspace | Statements by Members | House debates
I rise to update the parliament on a very important day for the young people of the Ryan electorate, and I talk not about St Valentine's Day but the fact that today we have a brand-new headspace...
I rise to update the parliament on a very important day for the young people of the Ryan electorate, and I talk not about St Valentine's Day but the fact that today we have a brand-new headspace centre opening its doors—a new, expanded centre. Headspace Taringa was one of the busiest centres in the country—the second-busiest in the whole nation, in fact—throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and demand for the support centre has skyrocketed. Now, they had a fantastic team there, but the simple fact was that, because they had outgrown their facilities, they were faced with the problem of having to cut off their waiting list because they had a wait time of over eight weeks. Thanks to a $780,000 contribution that I secured from the federal government, headspace Taringa has now been able to relocate to a brand-new, much larger facility in Indooroopilly. It's far more fit for purpose, not only for the staff but also for the numbers of young people who they need to service there. Those staff have worked tirelessly to keep up with the additional demand, and I know that the new larger facility will help them to reach even more young people in the Ryan electorate. Its doors are open today for young people to visit, and I encourage anybody who needs a hand to reach out to headspace Taringa. I want to congratulate Jamie and the whole team—now, headspace Indooroopilly; formerly, headspace Taringa. I can't wait to visit the new centre and officially launch it, but, in the meantime, I'm delighted that the doors are open and it's servicing and helping young people in the Ryan electorate.
Education | Private Members' Business | House debates
I rise to speak against the motion today, obviously, and I'd like to pick up where the member for Dunkley left off, speaking particularly on apprenticeships. This motion is yet another example of...
I rise to speak against the motion today, obviously, and I'd like to pick up where the member for Dunkley left off, speaking particularly on apprenticeships. This motion is yet another example of how Labor will disregard the facts in order to try and fit their political narrative. We see them do it time and time again. Nowhere is it more evident than in this motion when it comes to apprenticeships, because this government has long been a very keen supporter of apprenticeships. We understand that it's a vital part of education and skills training out there in the community. It's also a recognition that we, unlike the Labor Party, understand that it's not the government that is creating jobs in Australia. Rather, it is Australian businesses, and we need supportive policies that will help Australian businesses to grow their workplaces and grow job opportunities, especially when it comes to apprenticeships. I had a look at the member for Dunkley's own electorate because I thought this motion must be driven from someplace. How bad is it on the ground in Dunkley that the member is so concerned particularly in terms of the way she was talking about apprenticeships? I had a look. In Dunkley, trade training apprenticeships are up 41 per cent since Labor was last in office. Apprenticeships are up 41 per cent in the member's own electorate, and such is her disgust that she has come in and moved this motion. We can only assume that, if we were to go back to a Labor government, as she would wish, we would see those apprenticeships fall again because those are the policies of the party of which she is a part; whereas, under the coalition government, there are 41 per cent more apprenticeships in her own electorate, for the young people in the area of Dunkley, than there were when Labor last left office. It's part and parcel of our government's JobTrainer fund: a $2 billion investment in skills supporting over 463,000 low-fee or no-fee courses in areas of skill shortages through TAFEs and registered training organisations. We are on track to make our target of almost half a million job-ready, skilled-up apprentices ready to take on the career of their choice. Let me say that again: half a million young Australians are going to be skilled up and ready to take on jobs because of the apprenticeships provided by the Morrison government. With our extended JobTrainer fund, as outlined in the budget, any Australian can enrol in qualifications in aged care, digital skills, disability care or child care and access a JobTrainer place regardless of their age, employment status or prior qualifications. Not only are we supercharging the economy to provide more for jobseekers but we are actively investing in the industries of the future to ensure that we don't have skills gaps when it comes to priority workforces—in particular for qualifications in digital skills, aged care, disability care and child care. That is because we want young Australians to be able to pursue their dreams and pursue a job in their chosen field, but we particularly want to make sure that, as they complete their skills training, there are those important jobs for them to go into. In those industries where we might face skills shortages in the future, this presents an opportunity not only to provide them with the training that they need but also to make sure that those industries are catered for. So while Labor come into this place and talk down these important initiatives, talk down the state of the economy and talk down the skill training initiatives, over half a million Australians are going to be job ready because of the JobTrainer Fund. In fact, there will an increase of 40 per cent who are job ready in the electorate of the member who is moving this motion for political purposes. I want to speak quickly about the out-of-pocket costs of child care. Encouraging greater workforce participation as the economy recovers is particularly important for young families in my electorate of Ryan. Since we came to government, there are more than 280,000 kids in child care than before as a result of us making child care more affordable and accessible. This is every family's own choice to make. But, as a government, we want to make sure that, if parents wish to get back into the workforce and access child care, childcare places are both accessible and affordable. So we will continue with these practical measures—not the political grandstanding of those opposite—to make sure we get Australians into apprenticeships and reduce the cost of living for Australian families.
Powering Communities Program | Constituency Statements | House debates
An important part of my plan for Ryan is protecting our local lifestyle, protecting our community so my kids and their kids grow up enjoying everything I did and more. The local environment is...
An important part of my plan for Ryan is protecting our local lifestyle, protecting our community so my kids and their kids grow up enjoying everything I did and more. The local environment is one of the most important aspects of this incredible lifestyle that we enjoy in Brisbane's western suburbs. Over the last few years I have worked to keep our local environment clean and green as well as contribute to our national targets to transition to renewable energy. Investing in clean energy sources is an important part of Australia's long-term emissions reduction plan to deliver net zero emissions by 2050. Australians are already playing their part in that. We have the highest rooftop solar uptake in the world. One in four Australians have solar on their home, and I am pleased to be one of them. We're also putting practical solutions into the hands of local community groups and businesses as well as households—solutions that not only reduce our carbon footprint but also lower electricity costs so that Australians can get back to the things that matter most and not worry about their power bills. Local not-for-profit organisations are the heart of our community in the Ryan electorate. I am proud to have secured $67,000 for these organisations to improve their energy-efficiency practices and technologies. The Morrison government's Powering Communities Program provides funding to not-for-profit organisations to reduce their energy use, improve energy productivity and reduce carbon dioxide emissions. These organisations can use these funds to upgrade equipment to reduce energy consumption, to invest in energy monitoring and management systems and to invest in on-site renewable energy and solar connected batteries. These are some of the upgrades that I have fought hard to see funded in our local area. The West Toowong Bowls Club has purchased energy-efficient equipment. The Bellbowrie Moggill Men's Shed, the Pullenvale Progress Association, the Riverside family church, the Toowong Uniting Church, the Kenmore District Kindergarten and C&K Indooroopilly—a very diverse group of community organisations—have all installed brand-new solar panel systems thanks to the support of the Morrison government. It was particularly fantastic to hear that the Kenmore District Kindergarten was not only getting benefit from its solar panels on emissions and reducing its energy costs but using them to help educate our next generation on the important steps you can take to protect the local environment. I myself have these conversations with my son, Theo, who at four is already a bit of an expert. Last week I was pleased to show the Assistant Minister to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction, the member for Goldstein, the McIntyre Centre's new solar panels and to speak about the impact these new solar panels will have for the centre. It takes money out of power bills and invests it in those community groups that need it the most.
Economy, National Security | Questions without Notice | House debates
Will the Prime Minister please update the House on how the Morrison government is securing our recovery and building a stronger Australia by delivering on our plans to grow the economy, securing...
Will the Prime Minister please update the House on how the Morrison government is securing our recovery and building a stronger Australia by delivering on our plans to grow the economy, securing jobs and strengthening our ability to counter threats to our national security?
Ryan Electorate: Infrastructure | Statements by Members | House debates
At the last election I made a commitment to fix our local roads and I'm happy to report on important milestones for these key projects in the electorate of Ryan. This week I visited Sir Fred...
At the last election I made a commitment to fix our local roads and I'm happy to report on important milestones for these key projects in the electorate of Ryan. This week I visited Sir Fred Schonell Drive and Coldridge Street in St Lucia where work is underway to fix this notorious black spot. With the funds I secured from the government's Black Spot Program, this dangerous intersection will now be made much safer. The works underway will see improved safety by upgrading the existing right turn from a Sir Fred Schonell Drive into Coldridge Street from a filtered arrangement to one with a dedicate the turning lane. The northbound turning lanes on Coldridge Street will also change to improve bus movements and create a better traffic flow. I move now to The Gap, where next week we will see the decking laid on the new Gresham Street bridge. Late last year we saw the temporary bridge put in place as part of the works to rebuild the existing 90-year-old original bridge. I committed $700,000 to this jointly funded project with Brisbane City Council to improve flood immunity, upgrade the vehicle load limit and improve safety for all road users at the Gresham Street and Waterworks Road intersection. Finally, at the Indooroopilly roundabout site, residents driving Moggill Road every day will see work well underway on this vital corridor. The car dealership is removed and work is occurring to prep the site. These projects are game changers for our local community, for too long put in the too-hard basket but, with my and the federal government's support, we're getting on with the job of fixing up these roads and getting you home sooner and safer.
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, I present the committee's report entitled Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act 2019. Report made...
On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement, I present the committee's report entitled Criminal Code Amendment (Sharing of Abhorrent Violent Material) Act 2019. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). by leave—Thank you to the opposition for the opportunity to speak to the report. This inquiry was undertaken at the request of the Attorney-General. The law enforcement committee has been examining the effectiveness of the AVM Act in reducing the exploitation of digital platforms by extremists and terrorists. The act was originally introduced, as members would know, as an immediate response to the live streaming of the Christchurch massacre. The committee has heard from law enforcement agencies that, since that event, the risk of harm to the community from AVM remains as prevalent as it did then and that the growth of AVM in online environments continues to challenge law enforcement and industry participants alike. This threat environment necessitates a robust online safety framework, such as this one, to help prevent extremists and terrorists from using online platforms to advance their objectives and their hideous ideologies and to protect Australians from exposure to abhorrent violent material and extremist propaganda. The legislation provides an effective framework for ensuring that quick action is taken in relation to AVM, both by deterring misconduct by industry and by providing regulators and law enforcement with the appropriate tools in their efforts to respond to cases where extremists or terrorists have sought to exploit online platforms to promote violence. The committee determined that the AVM legislation continues to play a vital role within Australia's broader online safety framework. The legislation has also encouraged the development of safer systems and helped foster valuable working relationships between the eSafety Commissioner, law enforcement and the tech industry. The committee concluded that the legislation strikes the right balance between granting flexibility to providers, who are making complex judgement calls, and the need to prevent the viral nature of abhorrent and violent material and facilitate the quick action of law enforcement in the subsequent disruption of crime. The most prevalent feedback the committee received from industry related to their requests for more prescriptive definitions and time frames. I for one was not convinced by this argument. The tech industry's desire for prescription stemmed, in my view, not from a desire to see more AVM removed from their platforms or to protect Australians but from the tech industry's desire to facilitate easier decision-making on their part and to prevent them from having to be the arbiter of content, despite it being on their own platforms. This is another example, in my view, of how the tech industry and social media platforms are putting the safety of Australians second to their own interests, and it exemplifies the exact need for legislative intervention, like the AVM Act, by government. As a committee, we were not convinced that amending the legislation would address the issues raised by the tech industry. Rather, an overly prescriptive approach to defining AVM in the legislation could have reduced the flexibility and utility of the current framework, which is doing a great job to keep Australians safe from this kind of material. However, the committee did identify that industry, in particular small platforms, would benefit from increased consultation and guidance from the government on the operation of the AVM Act. To this end, the committee has recommended that the government establish a forum for regular and ongoing consultation with the industry. This forum should focus on ways that industry can be more effective in enacting the AVM legislation and ensure industry has the guidance and support it needs to do so. In recommending this report to the chamber, I would like to thank my fellow committee members, especially the deputy chair, for the quick consideration in undertaking this inquiry. Thank you to all the witnesses who appeared and those who provided submissions. Thank you also to Sean and the secretariat for their hard work in preparing the report draft.
Aukus | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison governments partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom is ensuring that...
My question is to the Minister for Defence. Will the minister please update the House on how the Morrison governments partnership with the United States and the United Kingdom is ensuring that Australia can meet the threats posed by the changing strategic environment, and is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?
Online Safety | Statements by Members | House debates
This government is lifting the veil of secrecy from cowards that are online trolls. I, along with many of my colleagues, have been advocating for reforms that would give Australians the same...
This government is lifting the veil of secrecy from cowards that are online trolls. I, along with many of my colleagues, have been advocating for reforms that would give Australians the same rights online as they have in the real world. The recent announcements made by the Prime Minister and the Attorney-General do exactly this. They will further protect Australians from harm online and hold big tech accountable. It sends a strong message to those who wish to send violent toxic content and slurs online. Let's be clear about what we are talking about tackling. It's not about the slings and arrows of public debate or censoring the Left and the Right, as those opposite want to do. It is about predators targeting and bullying a 14-year-old into suicide. It's about vile predators who harass a person about their looks to the point of them developing anorexia. This is what we are tackling, and Australians have every right to go online without being abused or trolled. Those across from me should support it. Under these new powers social media companies will be declared as publishers, meaning they are liable for the defamatory remarks unless they actively assist in identifying anonymous trolls. This important reform will help those parents who feel helpless to protect their kids online or to unmask the bully or predator that is targeting their children. For too long social media companies have taken massive profits and turned a blind eye to the effects on the end users. Along with our other measures, we are going to continue to act to keep Australian families safe online.
COVID-19: Economy | Private Members' Business | House debates
I thank the member for Warringah for moving this motion, as it gives us all the opportunity to talk about Australia's recovery from the COVID pandemic and the ongoing recovery efforts. The member...
I thank the member for Warringah for moving this motion, as it gives us all the opportunity to talk about Australia's recovery from the COVID pandemic and the ongoing recovery efforts. The member for Warringah is quite right when she says that Australia has done a remarkable job throughout the COVID-19 pandemic on measures relative to the rest of the world. But it's Australians who have done the heavy lifting. This wasn't just luck. They have rallied significantly. They have followed directions and requests to get the jab and to take other measures. It wasn't just fate. It was this government moving swiftly to put in place support measures that helped them get through the early lockdowns and uncertainty of the pandemic and then allowed us to get through the further lockdowns of the last 18 months. JobKeeper and JobSeeker have been lifelines for Australian businesses. I was reflecting earlier on in this place about the practical impact that they had had in seats like Ryan, at popular pubs like the very famous Regatta Hotel, particularly for young people, who tend to work in hospitality establishments. For them, having JobKeeper there was an absolute lifeline. We've seen the results of that. We have seen youth unemployment drop significantly. The RBA is forecasting economic growth at 5.5 per cent next year as well as for the unemployment rate to be sustained at five per cent for the first time in 50 years. Three hundred and fifty thousand jobs have been created since the start of September. We were the only nation, of comparable economies, to be able to say that we had more jobs after the pandemic than we did at the start. That's because, at all stages, the government has moved swiftly to put in place support packages as needed. I agree with the member for Warringah that businesses do need certainty, and that certainty is the most important thing in helping them plan for the economic recovery. But the remarks she has made today, and that the Labor Party are making today, are trying to stoke fear of new variants. She's trying to jump a couple of steps ahead before we truly understand whether this new variant is going to lead to lockdowns or anything like that. We are in a different position now. We do have one of the highest vaccination rates in the world because of the vaccination program this government has been able to roll out and because Australians have been willing to roll up their sleeves. That gives us the opportunity to provide more certainty for businesses that rolling lockdowns aren't going to be required. The other way we can provide certainty is to, again, reinforce with the state governments that the agreements they made as part of the national plan, to open up their borders when certain vaccine benchmarks are reached—they have now well and truly been reached—are stuck to. That's what will help the travel industry more than anything else that the member for Warringah has specifically raised. It gives Australians the ability to make plans without concerns that they might change at a moment's notice because of a border closure or of new quarantine requirements. Although nothing can be exactly certain, if we have premiers out there—Liberal and Labor; I'm from Queensland, so I know the example of the Queensland Labor government best. If we had our Labor Premier in Queensland reinforcing that she will meet the national plan requirements that she has agreed to and that the border will definitely be reopened at 80 per cent vaccination rate in our state, then the tourism industry that Queensland is so heavily reliant on—people travelling from the southern states, which the Queensland tourism industry is so heavily reliant on—can have more confidence than they have at the moment. We have a planned reopening date, on the 17th, but already today, with the new variant, we've seen the Labor state government start to equivocate on that. We will continue to ask state premiers of all political sides to stick with the national plan as we continue to support Australians into apprenticeships, into jobs and into new homes through programs like the HomeBuilder scheme that has been so successful. We will be nimble and quick as support is required, as we have always been throughout the pandemic.