Justine Elliot (Richmond, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Can I say what an honour it is to be here and to have been elected to this parliament, the 48th Parliament. I really want to thank the people of Richmond for putting their trust in me for the eighth time. It is, as I say, an incredible honour and, indeed, a massive privilege to be elected to the federal parliament, and I take that on very seriously. To have been elected for the eighth time—again, I want to thank the people of Richmond for putting their trust in me.

Of course, nationally, Labor won the election and won with a very large majority. We won 94 seats, more seats that any political party in Australia's history. Right across the country we saw that people voted for Australian values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity, and these are the values that drive our government, the Albanese Labor government. Our caucus is much bigger and so much more diverse, with 56 per cent women and our new members being incredibly diverse and bringing a whole range of different skills and histories to our caucus and to the parliament. It's wonderful to see—I think we'd all agree—from the first speeches, the incredible array of people that have been elected to the 48th Parliament.

Since we've been back here, our government has been extremely busy delivering on, particularly, many of our election commitments, like reducing HECS debt by 20 per cent. This was a huge issue in my electorate, as I heard out and about talking to locals who had those huge HECS debts. Having that decreased by 20 per cent will make such a big difference to them. Since we've been back, we've been ensuring that medicines are cheaper—again, vitally important in areas like mine, the far north coast of New South Wales. We have a large proportion of elderly people, so ensuring their medicines are cheaper and ensuring it's cheaper for families is all vitally important. Also since we've been back, we've been working to protect penalty rates. That was one of our many election commitments, because we know how important it is to have penalty rates in place. Australians know that they can only rely on Labor to deliver for them when it comes to their working conditions and, particularly, protecting their penalty rates.

In terms of my seat of Richmond, I really want to thank all those that worked so hard for Labor to retain the seat, and I really want to thank those that assisted on polling day and with prepoll, doorknocking and the phone calls. I say a big thanks to all my wonderful staff, all of our local Labor members and those other Labor members that came and assisted us. Thank you to the wonderful union movement, our New South Wales head office and the national secretariat for their great work and to all those volunteers and supporters that provided help to us. Together, we made more than 50,000 phone calls and doorknocks in this campaign. We were out and about every day, talking to locals about the issues that are important to them. I want to thank everyone who assisted. Of course, I say a special thanks to all of my family—my husband, Craig, and our children—and to our extended family as well. Thanks to all of you for your continued support over the last eight terms and throughout this campaign as well. It means the world to me.

In Richmond, we ran a very positive and optimistic campaign the whole time, and we were focused on delivering real cost-of-living relief for locals, including the tax cuts for every taxpayer—incredibly important in my area; strengthening Medicare—an issue that comes up all the time; fixing our housing crisis, which has made it so difficult in terms of people being able to access a house and rentals; and also investing in renewables and boosting wages. Free TAFE has been a real game changer across the country, and, in my seat of Richmond, more than 5,000 people have been able to access our free TAFE plan. What a difference it makes, not just for them getting increased education but also for their capacity to find work, and it strengthens our economy as well. As I referred to earlier, we're cutting HECS by 20 per cent. We've got more than 19,000 people in my electorate who will benefit from that.

The Cheaper Home Batteries Program, as we know, is being taken up at a huge rate across the country—indeed, Richmond is one of the electorates with the highest take-up rates on that, which is great to see. Other policies like energy bill relief for every household, cheaper child care and medicines, and more rent assistance are, again, making a big difference. We've also always had a very strong focus on strengthening our economy, creating more than a million jobs in that last term of government, keeping our economy strong so we can keep delivering on all the vital services that we do.

The campaign was like all tough campaigns—on one hand we had the Liberal and National parties who were in disarray and talking most of the time about their nuclear policy. After speaking to all those people in my community, I know they totally rejected that—the cost of it, the danger of it. They honestly thought it was quite absurd, and clearly that's what Australians thought right across the board. Also in my electorate, the Greens were rejected as well, because of the extreme nature, particularly blocking so many good initiatives like housing. Everywhere I would go, people would say to me they were done with the Greens in terms of the fact they were blocking really good initiatives that we have. I think both the Greens political party and the Liberal and National parties did pay the price for constantly blocking our initiatives. I think the Australian people have said very loudly and clearly to both those political parties that Australians don't want to see constant blocking—they want to see improvements. They wanted to see in place the improvements that we had, particularly when it comes to housing.

Throughout the campaign, full credit goes to our wonderful prime minister. He was out there every day, focused on building Australia's future and talking about Labor's positive policies. I made it very clear to my community during the campaign that they could always count on me to keep delivering for our region as part of an Albanese Labor government. At the election, there was a very clear choice between building Australia's future with us or taking Australia backwards with the Liberals and Nationals—which we know would have left us all worse off. We pointed out—and I point out every day in my region—that our cost-of-living relief was all at risk under the Liberals and Nationals, because they opposed every single one of Labor's cost-of-living measures, even voting against tax cuts. People found that absolutely appalling. I pointed out many times that Peter Dutton, when the former opposition leader was health minister, wanted to scrap bulk-billing and introduce a tax on every single visit to the GP, started a six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, and cut $50 billion from our hospitals. Locals know that when the Liberals and Nationals say that they'll cut public services, that affects Medicare, bulk-billing, our cheaper medicines, veterans' claims, and the age pension as well. Indeed, Peter Dutton had said there were too many free Medicare services. Locals completely rejected any of the measures from the Liberals and Nationals when it comes to health care, because they don't trust them.

Since the election, unfortunately, we have seen no reflection or change of policies from those opposite, or from the Greens political party. No lessons have been learnt. They haven't listened to the community right throughout the country in terms of why they've been rejected, and I think they all need to be doing that and reflecting upon the policies and their actions as well. The fact is, Labor is strengthening Medicare, and we're very proud of that, with more bulk-billing and training more doctors, as well as increasing the Medicare rebate—it's so important.

In my region, I made a number of election commitments, like the free bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinic, the Medicare mental health centre, the crime action plan, and funding for the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital—again, initiatives that I'll detail in a minute that will have positive improvements for the New South Wales North Coast. Throughout the campaign, I talked about my record of delivery, of working very closely with the community and what we have delivered. Indeed, I've delivered more than $3 billion for our area, including all of my previous election commitments from the 2022 election. I'll run through those in a bit more detail in a minute—we've got the new animal pound, the new veterans' hub, the social enterprise laundry and the Lennox Head village upgrade. People know that when I make a promise I will always deliver on it, and we've seen all of those election commitments delivered.

Now to the 2025 election. Earlier this year, I announced that a re-elected Albanese Labor government would deliver a Medicare urgent care clinic for the Tweed region. We're now delivering on that, with the tender process started and under way from 22 August. That will identify a provider to operate that Tweed urgent care clinic. This clinic will give more locals access to the high-quality, free, walk-in urgent healthcare that they need. I've said to many people in our community: as your local Labor MP, you can count on me to deliver that urgent care clinic in the Tweed region, so you can get the free, fully bulk-billed urgent care you need—all you'll need is your Medicare card, not your credit card.

The new Tweed Valley Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be open over extended hours, seven days a week, with no appointment needed, and all patients will be fully bulk-billed. And what a difference it will make. The clinic, of course, is also intended to take pressure off the Tweed Valley Hospital and will fill an important gap in services across extended hours and over weekends.

A tender process, led by the North Coast Primary Health Network, has commenced, as I said, to identify the provider to operate the new clinic. It'll be open to general practices, community health centres and Aboriginal community-controlled health services. This really does extend on the Albanese Labor government's commitment to strengthen Medicare. And, of course, we've made the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation more than 40 years ago, and we are very, very proud of our continued investment in Medicare.

I also announced earlier this year that a re-elected Albanese Labor government would establish a Medicare mental health centre in Tweed Heads. When we have that, it will mean that locals will have access to free, walk-in mental healthcare when that centre is open. Again, it'll be open for extended hours, with no appointment or referral needed to access those services—just walk in, and they are free. It'll be staffed by qualified mental health professionals to provide the support people need. Again, there will be a tender process through the North Coast Primary Health Network, who will commission the Tweed Medicare mental health centre.

This is really important because, as we've discussed here—and as we discuss a lot at home too—the mental health needs of my community, indeed throughout the country, are quite extensive, particularly in our region after the devastating 2022 floods. There are still many people who require support as a result of that disaster. Having this service in place will be vitally important, particularly because people can just walk in and it is free. Again, it builds on all of the things that our government does to provide health services.

Late last year I was very pleased to announce—actually in Lennox Head, with the Prime Minister there for the announcement—that, if re-elected, we would deliver $3 million for a North Coast crime prevention infrastructure action plan. I want to note and thank the whole community. Again, this is a real community victory. Labor always listens and acts, and our community had called for this. I thank the Prime Minister for coming to Lennox Head to make that announcement late last year.

This $3 million commitment will fund infrastructure measures for crime prevention and community safety in our North Coast communities. It includes a million dollars for each of the three local government areas, Tweed, Byron and Ballina. As a former frontline police officer, I know firsthand how important it is that we have more resources, including CCTV, to combat crime on the North Coast. Of course, it's up to each of the councils to decide how that money is used in terms of community safety, but it could be used for CCTV, lighting, bollards, fencing or landscaping to improve community safety, reduce crime risks and enhance the vibrancy and usability of shared community spaces. Again, this is a community victory, and I thank everyone who advocated for it.

Another very exciting election commitment was $2 million for the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital. They are fantastic. They opened in 2020 and operate seven days a week. They've treated more than 9,000 native animals, including hundreds of threatened species. The Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital operates inside a custom-built semitrailer, making it Australia's only mobile wildlife hospital. It can also be deployed during natural disasters to treat impacted wildlife. They do an amazing job, and I want to acknowledge the whole team at the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital for their important veterinary work rehabilitating native animals, for leading the way in wildlife protection across our region and for their strong community advocacy as well. Thank you. Again, it is another community victory that I was able to announce that election commitment, and I very much look forward to delivering on it.

As I said, locals can always count on me. I've delivered all of my 2022 election commitments, and it's great to see them all in place: the $1.5 million towards the completion of the Lennox Head village upgrade—a wonderful village, one of our most beautiful coastal villages. We have many in my region, and this investment makes a huge difference to local infrastructure.

Last year, the Prime Minister and I officially opened the Beacon Laundry in Bangalow. It's a jobs-focused, not-for-profit social enterprise run by White Box Enterprises, who run similar projects across the country. Our election commitment was $750,000 to help fit out that laundry. That laundry is now up and running and employing more than 100 locals. It provides vital job opportunities for long-term unemployed locals, who get to gain work experience and receive ongoing training in a fully supported environment. But it's also of huge benefit to our local tourism industry, as we didn't have a large-scale commercial laundry on the North Coast. But now we do. Beacon Laundry provides that laundry option for businesses in tourism, and they are very, very busy and constantly employing more people.

Also, there was my election commitment of $5 million for the veterans hub. The temporary hub is now open, and it's fantastic. It's in Tweed Heads. I really want to acknowledge RSL Lifecare Veteran Services and RSL NSW, who we worked closely with to get that open. It's located on Wharf Street, Tweed Heads. The temporary hub is there, and the permanent hub is opening in the same spot. They've got tailored supports and services for veterans, and that's so important for improving the health and wellbeing of local veterans and for providing whatever services they may need. It's important to provide that for those who have bravely served our nation and for their families as well. I know that these veterans hubs have been a great success across the nation, so I'm very proud to have one in our region.

The last of my 2022 commitments I wanted to speak about is the Tweed Shire Council pound—the new pound we're going to be opening up very soon. It's a new pound and rehoming centre in South Murwillumbah. I want to acknowledge the Tweed Shire Council, who advocated strongly for this and who are currently finishing it off. My election commitment in 2022 was for $1 million for the pound, building upon the $1.76 million in federal funding we had already secured. That's a massive federal funding initiative for the pound. The design and build of the facility is in line with the latest in animal welfare guidelines; features new dog kennels, catteries and facilities; and replaces the old pound at Stotts Creek. I especially want to acknowledge the remarkable people at Friends of the Pound, who do such a great job in looking after our animals. I've told the House this before, but, when we made the announcement about our election commitment in late 2021, Friends of the Pound brought along some wonderful animals, including some rescue dogs, and I met and fell in love with Teddy—a half chihuahua—and we adopted him. Six months later we adopted his sister Cindy-Lou. I know that locals would want to know that they're very doing well, and we keep in constant contact with Friends of the Pound. I acknowledge the remarkable work they continue to do, and having this new facility will add to that great work.

In the time I have left, I'd like to speak about all our initiatives around housing. Indeed, this is one of the biggest issues we face in our region and right across the country. I was pleased to hear the announcement the other day that in fact we are as a government helping more Australians realise their dream of homeownership sooner by launching the five per cent home deposit scheme for first home buyers on 1 October this year, instead of next year. What a response there has been to that! It is so important that so many people, including younger Australians, can buy their home sooner, and it builds on all of the initiatives that we've had in place in terms of providing housing support and access to it. We need to have more houses built. We need to have all these initiatives in place, and we are absolutely committed to doing that.

Earlier this year I announced a very important initiative for my region, which is that the Albanese Labor government is delivering 15 new affordable units in Brunswick Heads through the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. We're committed to approving more social and affordable housing. These particular homes are for renters, first home buyers, women and children fleeing domestic violence and those at risk of homelessness. That's why having these units will make such a big difference. We know the needs for social and affordable housing are quite extensive, so I was very proud to have that announcement in place. We'd previously announced 26 safe places for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Tweed Heads as well, but as a government we are totally focused on improving the housing situation across the country, whether that be through home deposits or Housing Australia or one of our many other initiatives. It is a strong focus, I know, for the Prime Minister and the entire government.

Lastly, I want to mention yet another great initiative from our government that helps so much in terms of health care. There was a reclassification of Murwillumbah from a city to a regional area, which was a game changer for local GPs and patients. It meant they could bulk-bill more and they could also attract more doctors. I really want to thank the Minister for Health and Ageing for visiting Murwillumbah and seeing that it's not a city but a regional area and that this needed to be changed. We corrected a mistake by the previous Liberal-National government, which had made it previously impossible to get bulk-billing in Murwillumbah. The Albanese Labor government listened, and we changed it. There are now so many more doctors that are bulk-billing. In fact, we have a practice that now is universally bulk-billing everyone, ahead of our 1 November changes. It shows that we are a government that really does listen to communities, acts on their concerns and improves things. The fact that now so many people in Murwillumbah and surrounding areas can get a bulk-billing doctor is so important, because they couldn't do that under the previous government.

We are a government with a big agenda, and, as I said, it's an absolute honour and privilege to have been re-elected, for the eighth time, and one that I take very seriously. I certainly want to thank all the people from Richmond for re-electing me.

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