Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Lyons, I remind members of the House that this is the honourable member's first speech and I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Rebecca White (Lyons, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would be kidding myself if I tried to pretend that standing here to give my first speech as the federal member for Lyons wasn't a little overwhelming, in part because I'm standing in the same spot so many of my political heroes have stood and in part because of the weight of responsibility that comes with the knowledge that I'm here to be the voice for my electorate. But it's also because I know all too well how significant this opportunity is—to be a member of a Labor government with the capacity to make profound impact on the lives of people right across our country. I'm going to strive every day to make sure that I don't waste a moment, because I know that all the moments add up, and I can assure those of you who have never been there—that's most of my new colleagues here—that the opposition benches are not the place you want to be if you're serious about making a difference. Timing in politics is everything, and I plan to make the most of my time here.

As I stand here and reflect upon my role in this House, I want to acknowledge the traditional and original owners of the land upon which we do our work, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people, and pay my respect to elders past and present. I extend my acknowledgement to my home state of Lutruwita/Tasmania and to the Palawa people, who, despite the worst oppression and dispossession, endure and continue to share with us their story, language and cultural practice. It's a lesson in generosity that we benefit from as a nation. Tolerance, inclusion, respect and indeed kindness are attributes that make as all better people and a stronger community, and fundamental to the reason why I am here is community.

When I was 18, I worked in hospitality, waiting tables and working in a bar while I was making my way through uni. I was working a shift one afternoon in a Hobart restaurant when I took the lunch order to a table and put the plate down in front of a man seated with a group of his friends. There were the usual friendly smiles, and then the man asked me where I'd gone to school. I told him I'd attended Sorell school, the local public school in my regional town. He looked at me and said, 'Haven't you done well for yourself?' In that moment, my polite country upbringing went into autopilot and I probably said something like, 'Thank you,' and smiled, but inside I felt the sting of his words not just because I felt judged by somebody who knew nothing about me but because I felt he had insulted my town and my school with his offhand remark. It triggered in me a need to protect the place and people I cared the most about and to stand up for them. It's a feeling that's never left.

I've always been incredibly proud of my community and the people who've supported me my entire life. I'm a country girl through and through, a fiercely proud Tasmanian and someone who was taught early on to never give up. I'm the daughter of a plumber and a teacher. My Mum, Anne Pitney, moved in with my dad, Lindsay White—he's here in the gallery today—on what would become our family farm, known as Redbanks. They lived in a run-down Federation-style weatherboard house that had been used by the previous farmer to store hay in. For the first decade of my life, I woke up in the winter seeing my breath, because it was inevitable that the open fire would have gone out overnight, and sometimes the frost on the ground outside was enough to put the water pump into hibernation. And as cold as that was, I still think Canberra is colder.

Mum and Dad then did a bit of a reno and we got a wood heater, which was a life changer. My brother, Jeremy—who's also here today—and I had a lot of fun on the farm. We climbed trees, rode our bikes, played cricket, kicked the footy and shot at tin cans with our air rifles. I rode horses and learnt how to drive in a tractor. We would help with the jobs of feeding hay out to the beef cattle, looking after the pigs or milking the dairy cows. We were taught the value of hard work and we were brought up with the motto that there is no such thing as can't.

My brother and I were taught a lot of life lessons on the farm. First among them was to feed the animals before you feed yourself. Farmers are stewards of the land and I've never met a farmer who didn't care deeply about the animals they look after or the land they work. The principle of feeding the animals before you feed yourself is a lesson in looking after those who need your help before you help yourself, and it's an ethos I carry with me to this day.

I was lucky that my family was so much bigger than the four of us. We were surrounded by people who loved us, from aunts and uncles and cousins to grandparents who were constantly in our lives. My grandma Ethel continues to play a role as great-grandma in the lives of my children, Mia and Hudson, and I'm so grateful to my big and wonderful family, who continue to be such an incredible support to me every day, especially Dad, Mum and Andrew. My most important job is mum to Mia and Hudson, and I love watching them both grow up—far too quickly, but it's incredible to see them learn about the world around them with such open minds and kindness. My favourite time of the day is reading a book to them in bed as they snuggle in for a cuddle. They remind me of what really matters and they motivate me to make the most of each day.

I realise how fortunate I am to be able to tell a story like this, a story of love and support and encouragement, and I try not to take it for granted. Life is big, and my philosophy is that we should fill it with as much as possible and always say yes to opportunities. I know that I've been able to feel capable of taking on new challenges because of the support that I've had not only from my family but also from my home town and local community. I grew up at Nugent, known for farming and forestry and our vibrant community hall. It's like so many of the regional towns right across the electorate of Lyons. It's full of doers who work hard, volunteer for the local fire brigade or community event or raise funds for charity.

The people who have shaped me and taught me the values of fairness and to look out for one another are the same people who taught me the value of friendship and loyalty. Whether it's working bees or hay carting, everyone helps out in the country, and I feel so lucky that I got to grow up in a place where everyone is like my extended family. Nugent will always be my home, and there's nothing that beats the smell of the bush or that feeling of walking into the community hall and seeing everyone again.

It's also a reminder for me of what really matters. People need people. Each of us has an innate need to be connected to something or someone who helps give us meaning and purpose to know that we matter, and it's important for me to hold that thought front of mind when we make decisions so that we build stronger and more resilient communities and empower people to live good and happy lives. Standing here in this place, I am humbly reminded of my responsibility to uphold the best of what my community has taught me—to act with integrity, to promote fairness, to work with others and to treat everyone equally.

My electorate of Lyons is my home. It's the place where I was raised, where I went to school and where I now live and raise my two gorgeous children. To be elected to represent my friends, my family, my neighbours, my community in the Australian parliament is the greatest honour and one that is deeply personal. The vast electorate of Lyons was jointly named after Joe Lyons, Tasmania's only prime minister, and Dame Enid Lyons, the first woman member of the House of Representatives.

I stand here in service of my community as the first ever woman elected to represent this seat in the federal parliament. I stand here with determination to work hard, to be a voice for my electorate, to fight for us and to represent our interests to the best of my ability—to elevate our story to the national stage. It is a story of a regional landscape that is wild and beautiful, of coastlines that are drawcards for tourists and playgrounds for children, of farmers who toil to produce the best potatoes and beef, of winemakers and distillers who win global awards, of renewable energy that is steeped in our state's history of hydro-industrialisation, and of people who are creative, resourceful and resilient.

But we have our challenges, too. There are struggles with access to health care, difficulty finding safe and permanent housing, concerns about whether our young people will realise their ambitions, and the ongoing problem that distance from services and employment creates for people living in regional areas. I'm here not only as a voice for my electorate but also to work as a problem-solver, to help find solutions to the things that hold us back. I put my hand up for politics because I fundamentally believe that politics is the best way to effect change at a population level and improve people's lives. And I'm so excited to be part of a government that has purposeful ambition to uplift the lives of Australians.

Thank you to everyone who has welcomed me to this place following the election, and particularly a big thanks to you who have helped to establish my office and help me find my feet. I've been humbled by the support I've received, and most notably from my electorate, who put their trust in me to represent them here. I value and respect the relationship I have with the people of Lyons, who I had the honour to represent in the Tasmanian parliament for nearly 15 years. My election to this place marks the sixth time they've placed their faith in me, and I'll do my very best to honour that responsibility.

But nothing I have ever achieved has been achieved alone. There are people in this chamber, in the gallery and back home in Tassie who've all helped me get to where I am today, including my fabulous girlfriends, who've been the strongest support to me over decades and continue to be a constant source of inspiration and advice. My friends, along with my community and family, are the reason I stand here today. But my family grew when I joined the Labor Party, and I've been incredibly lucky that I've made friendships that will last a lifetime, from bonds forged through campaigns and caucuses to those shared with people from across our movement as we've worked alongside one another to push forward a progressive agenda.

I will never stop finding it remarkable how people give their time, often in a volunteer capacity, to help support our movement and campaigns. I cannot thank enough the huge number of people who've been with me over the years and have given their time to support the 2025 campaign. I said on the day I stood alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese as he announced that I was the endorsed candidate for the seat that the contest would be won by the margin of our effort—and the effort was enormous.

Thank you to all the volunteers from the mighty Australian Labor Party, from the rank-and-file members who gave their time, to our union affiliates who put in an extraordinary effort, to my campaign manager, Celeste Miller, who's here in the gallery—and I'm going to point you out, even though I know you hate it!—and who skilfully juggled it all and did so with such poise and calm determination. There is not a person I have met who can say no to you, and it's not because you intimidate them into compliance—although you do sometimes give me a look that makes me think twice about whether my idea was such a great one! But it's because you have that rare ability to empower people to believe in themselves.

My campaign team was a powerhouse of the very best people who share a common passion to make a difference and have fun while doing it. I had the super-human efforts of Margaret and Greg Luckman, who led teams of volunteers as we doorknocked across the 35,000 square kilometres of Lyons, and the boundless enthusiasm of Martyn Summers, who was the first to put his hand up to help with any task. Thank you to Bronwyn for lending him to us. You are two of Tassie's finest Labor members.

There was the clever and creative genius of Heidi Heck. She put her hands up for more things than she probably expected to at this election, and she did it all with grace and professionalism. There was the ballast that is Stuart Benson, one of my oldest friends in the Labor Party, who weighed in when needed and kept things on track in a way that only someone with his experience and knowledge can do. There was the guidance of Michael Aird, who's been a reliable source of support and advice to me over the years and who was once again there for me during this campaign. Celeste Di Bar, with all her positive energy and practical effort, helped our fabulous volunteers engage with the campaign. To the fabulous and enthusiastic Joe Birch, who I know will be watching this speech and who demonstrates the most incredible dedication: thank you for your hard work as chief whip, always keeping us on track. Jane Atkinson, very ably and with all her trademark diligence, rallied volunteers and prepared booth kits for the 72 polling places across Lyons.

The same goes for wonderful people like Kate; the mighty efforts of Robyn, who was there for me everyday; the dedication of self-proclaimed president of our gang, Allan; and the absolute stars Paul and Jonathan, along with the pinnacle of organisation, Anne. There were the enormous efforts of Dave, Morris, Bish, Luke, Zac, Bron; the hard work of Ella, Lachlan, Lauren, Nick, Gayle, Lucy, Elias, Tahnee and Brad; and the energy of Richard, Rod, Scott, Ben, Casey, Craig and Lee and so many others who helped deliver mail, put up a poster, knock on a door, make a phone call, stand on pre-poll, hand out on polling day and even lend me a car. There were over 100 individuals who turned from supporters into active campaigners and joined us in having thousands of conversations across the electorate about Labor's agenda, not just for the election but for our country's future.

Thank you to the union movement, who were incredible in the way they provided support to our effort to hold the seat of Lyons. I would like to recognise the SDA, RTBU, CPSU, PPTEU, TFTU, UWU, ASU and MUA. It was an energetic and fun campaign, and this result has only been made possible by the effort put in by all of you. We are stronger together, and this time we were unbeatable.

There are just a few more important people I want to specifically acknowledge. To Gordon Luckman, Jarryd Moore and Stephen Briggs: thank you. I've been involved in many campaigns over the years and I know how much effort and time it takes to coordinate and rollout a statewide election strategy. We knew we could rely on you to meet every challenge. The entire team at NatSec were phenomenal, and my thanks go to Paul Erickson and Jen Light for the support and friendship they've shown me over many years.

Of course, to the Prime Minister: I'm honoured to stand here as a member of your team, to stand here in support of the Labor government's agenda and to do all I can to progress our ambition for this beautiful country and to uphold our shared values of fairness, equality and social justice. Thank you for encouraging me to be a part of it and for the trust you place in me as we deliver on our promises in this government.

The final thankyou goes to someone who has been my friend for nearly two decades: Brian Mitchell. Brian was elected as the federal member for Lyons in 2016 and served the electorate with distinction and pride. He loved the job of representing the people of Lyons here in Canberra, and I want to acknowledge the significant generosity of spirit he demonstrated to me as the federal candidate for Lyons at this election. As it turns out, we've done a bit of a swap, with Brian not yet officially but looking very likely to be newly elected to the Tasmanian parliament following the weekend's election, which is great news, an outcome for our community that I believe will help us deliver great results for our electorate.

For me, today marks the beginning of a great opportunity to put into effect the knowledge and experience I've gained over the course of my life to deliver improvements for the community who made me who I am. My job is to repay their investment in me by giving voice to the needs of regional Tasmania and to challenge the assumption that the best we can aspire to is limited in some way by the school we went to or the postcode where we grew up. I love my community and I'm a fiercely proud Tasmanian. I dedicate myself to telling our story and to making you proud as we build our future together.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Bass, I remind the House that this is the honourable member's first speech, and I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Jess Teesdale (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I believe that we learn through stories, so please me allow me to share mine. A little boy handed me a button. His name is Archie. No explanation, no big moment—just a quiet, unexpected gift at the door of a stranger. It was the final week of the campaign. I was tired, hopeful and stretched to my limit. And there he was, a small hand reaching out offering me something precious. Something small, yes, but full of meaning. Did he sense, maybe, at that point in time, I really needed a lucky button? Perhaps. I carried it with me through the final week. I kept it close on election night, and I brought it here with me today, because this button became a reminder of kindness, of trust—of why we do this. This chamber hears a lot of talk about policy, priorities and power. But it's the small human things that actually hold us together, especially when distant horizons feel like they begin to darken.

As I hold Archie's gift, I'm reminded that we walk in the footsteps of generations of his ancestors and on lands filled with deep stories far older than any of us. I acknowledge and pay my deepest respects to Palawa elders past and present, community members, their families and the Palawa people that passed too soon and did not make elder status yet who remain in the thoughts of their families and their community across Lutruwita/Tasmania. I acknowledge Palawa are the traditional owners and carers of country and sea country of Lutruwita that span millennia. There is a strong connection to country for Palawa, who continue to pass on cultural practices and knowledge to the next generation in my electorate of Bass.

I extend my acknowledgement and deepest respects to the Ngunnawal people, whose country we are standing on today. I recognise the enduring strength and wisdom of First Nations people and the importance of listening, being led and sharing decisions. I recognise the significance for truth telling, healing and justice to be part of Australia's future and a strong link to closing the gap for better outcomes for First Nations people.

I'm here today because of the people who stood beside me and those who came before. To Michelle O'Byrne, who stood in this chamber nearly 20 years ago and asked when it would reflect the true diversity of Australia: thank you for your service, advice and encouragement. It's taken time, Michelle, but this week we are finally taking a step towards a parliament that truly looks like its people. To Janie Finlay, who showed me how to make the most of every moment and turn it into the change that we want to see: thank you.

I'm deeply grateful to the many ministers who offered their support during the campaign and beyond. I took each moment as a lesson, and I look forward to learning and working beside each of you. Prime Minister, I particularly thank you for being present at key moments throughout my entire campaign, from introducing me as a candidate to hosting the major Medicare announcement in Launceston to flipping sausages for volunteers who had worked so hard to support our dream. Your presence, constant belief and support have made these moments particularly special for everyone who was involved.

To Bridget Archer: I know you care deeply for Bass and its people. You stood up for what you believed in even when that meant standing alone. I thank you for your service in this House.

To my small but mighty family: you show up. You ask for nothing and make everything better. Laughing with you is my favourite thing in the world. Thank you for working through every challenge and harebrained scheme together. To Liam, whose radiant smile and front-row cheerleading is the truest expression of love that I have ever known: thank you.

To my campaign team: we started small, just Luke and me, learning the ropes as fast as we could. What we built together grew into a team of some of the smartest, hardest-working and most dedicated people I now feel lucky enough to call friends. Seeing your joy on election night was a gift that I will never forget. Thank you.

To the unions who supported and engaged with us: thank you. Australia's union movement is something we can be rightly proud of, and many countries look on with envy at the hard-won conditions that it has secured.

To our intrepid volunteers: thank you. You show up with kindness, grit and good humour, no matter the weather. You keep us going, keep us fed and lift us up when we need it the most. I'll never stop being grateful.

When I think about people who shaped me, not just as a politician but as a person, I think of teachers. Only a few months ago I was a teacher too. For 14 years I worked in remote and regional schools teaching students from prep to year 12. Because of the diverse needs of the students in front of me, I kept studying. I became skilled in supporting students who were learning English as an additional language or dialect and those students with disabilities or additional needs. Teaching brings so much joy. There are days full of laughter and light and others filled with frustration—frustration in a system that too often feels inflexible and doesn't allow teachers to meet students where they are.

There are many moments I look back on with deep fondness, but my greatest passion will always be teaching people to read. There is nothing quite like helping someone at any age unlock the English language. To watch someone start to enjoy reading, to see their confidence grow as they engage with text, is one of the great privileges of teaching. It's not just about books; it's about science, instruction and conversation. It's about opening doors to further study, meaningful work and communication. Reading is one of the most important skills a person can learn, and I know so many teachers across the country who share the same joy in helping people, young or old, discover the power of reading.

But, if you've been in a classroom lately, you know that teachers wear too many hats. They carry too many roles. They're educators, counsellors, snack providers, data collectors, resource creators, learners, reporters and event organisers, often all in one day. But through it all they focus on their students. They carry their hopes, their futures and their fears. Teachers walk beside us quietly, steadily, believing in us, even when we don't always believe in ourselves. During the campaign, some former teachers reached out. Many I hadn't seen in years. They were proud, encouraging and quietly cheering me on, and that's what great teachers do.

But too many of our teachers are burning out. They're being stretched beyond what's fair, and many are leaving. That's why I'm really proud to be part of a government that is listening. We're fully funding public education. We're delivering free TAFE, reducing HECS, expanding mental health support and taking bold steps to give our kids a break from the relentless noise of social media. It's not just about policy; it's about people and the future that we want.

This week, my family celebrated the arrival of my perfect niece, Willow. Hugh and Tara, thank you for the extraordinary gift of making me an aunt and asking me to announce her name here for the first time, for Willow's family and loved ones to be a part of this moment. Willow will grow up wrapped in unconditional love, surrounded by people who believe in her, who cheer her on and who will be there no matter what. But I wonder and I ask: What will define success for her generation? Will it be owning a home, or simply being able to afford rent? Will it be the freedom to choose her path, her work, her family and her future? Will it be growing up safe, supported and seen, no matter who she is or where she's from? I hope Willow learns from wise teachers. I hope she grows within a strong and kind community. I hope she's held by a world that prioritises keeping her emotionally and physically safe. I hope she knows that she belongs, that her voice matters and that fairness isn't something she has to fight for; it's something that she can count on.

This leads me to one of the most common questions I was asked during the campaign: why? Why would you put yourself forward for a job like this, and what makes you worthy? While hope is integral to us in our humanity, it is not enough only to hope for change; it must always be partnered with action. The truth is I had very little interest in politics growing up. Mum worked hard to make sure that I had what I needed, and I was happy. It wasn't until I began to travel and to really understand how systems work and how policy touches every part of our lives that I started paying attention.

My first teaching job was in Ramingining, a remote Yolngu community in Arnhem Land about 800 people strong. On a good day, it's a six-to-eight-hour drive to Darwin, and in the wet season you hold your breath as your tiny plane dances around storm clouds. Ramo is an extraordinary place. I loved my job and my time there, and I learned every day, from my students, my neighbours, my colleagues and the families who welcomed me in.

But, like many remote communities, Ramo faces real challenges. Housing was scarce; people had to sleep in shifts. Diesel didn't always make it off the barge to power the generators. When someone needed urgent care, getting to a hospital could take hours, if the weather allowed it at all. People learned to rely on one another; they had to. But, as independent as we tried to be, we also had to rely on funding and being heard and understood by those who control it. I watched politicians fly in, make announcements, take some nice photos with the kids and leave within the hour. But I also saw something different: leaders who sat, who listened and who asked questions to understand. That's when I started paying more attention, because that's what politics should be: community led, grounded in respect and driven by care.

When I came back to Tasmania, I joined the Labor Party, not because I had a grand plan—I certainly didn't expect to be here—but because I wanted to help inform good policy. I remember walking into my first Tamar branch meeting, nervous and unsure if I belonged, but I'm so glad that I did. I found acceptance. I found people who cared, who wanted to serve and who could share ideas and disagree respectfully. I know many of our Tasmanian branch members are watching today, and I thank you for your ongoing support.

I know politics can leave a bad taste for people, but I believe that, when more Australians get involved, we build better policy and a better country. So, if you hope for a different future, if you have an idea or if you want to help, find a party that fits your values. Go to a branch meeting, get involved and be part of developing a future that you want. That is why I am here. This is my purpose: to build a future where every child feels heard, seen, supported and free to dream big.

That question—what kind of future do we build?—is at the very heart of this role. After the election, I asked myself: What now? What does it actually mean to represent a place, to serve? The answer came quietly, as most good answers do: to connect—to connect people to services, to connect ideas to action, to connect the dots between problems and solutions and to make sure that, when someone walks into my office nervous, frustrated and out of options, they leave with something: a path forward, a next step and a sense that they were heard. That's what I want that job, this experience, to be, and that is how I will measure my success for this role as a federal member for Bass.

Eight generations of my family have called Bass home, near the beautiful Kanamaluka River. We've farmed, built boats and mined gold. I know Bass, and I know that Bass is exceptional. We have world-class vineyards, Australia's only UNESCO City of Gastronomy and some of the world's best mountain-biking trails. We have landscapes so breathtaking and so commonplace that we sometimes forget just how lucky we are. We also have grit, innovation and history. We were the first area in the Southern Hemisphere to use anaesthetic, the first city in Australia to be powered by public hydroelectricity and the first Australian city with underground sewers or to take an X-ray. Bass doesn't wait for the future; we lead it. And, today, we still do. We have cutting-edge manufacturing, renewable energy and incredible community organisations, such as the Benevolent Society, still operating after 190 years, with over 70 volunteers helping furnish homes and helping people feed their children. That's the spirit of Bass—bold, innovative, generous—and I was lucky enough to see the impacts of generosity from a young age.

I was raised by strong, hilarious and fiercely intelligent women: Marion, Kimbra and my exceptional mum, Ann. These women saw volunteering and supporting their community as a given—not even a question. Your community is what you make it, so give what you can to it. That's how, at age 13, I started volunteering at the YMCA. And what I learned is this: volunteering isn't just about helping others; it's about discovering and improving yourself and the way that you engage with your community. It builds us, it connects us and it makes us better, and I see it every day in Bass at Shekinah House, Strike It Out, parkrun, Rosie's Reading; in op shops, Men's Sheds, Neighbourhood Houses; in Rotary and Lions clubs; and in the quiet acts of courage, patience and dedication that never make the news but change lives all the same. This is the strength of our community.

But, even in our strong community, there are fractures that we cannot ignore. Tasmania has some of the worst health and education outcomes in the country. We have some of the lowest year 12 completion rates and some of the highest rates of chronic illness. Too many young Tasmanians are struggling with literacy, with housing and with hope. These aren't just statistics; these are people. They are your neighbours, your children and your friends. And that is not good enough. My job—our job—is to change that, to improve these statistics and to make sure that no-one in our community is left behind.

So, yes, I brought this button in with me today. It fits in the palm of my hand. It's not shiny. It's not worth anything on paper. But it's Archie's button—a child's act of kindness, a moment of connection and a symbol of what matters most. Leadership doesn't have to be loud. It can be gentle. It can be generous. And it can begin with a button. To the people of Bass, whether we've met yet or not, I carry this for you too. My promise is simple: I will listen, I will act and I will connect. And I will never forget what brought me here. Let's lead with kindness. Let's connect with courage. And let's build something better together. Thank you.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Bullwinkel, I remind the House that this is the honourable member's first speech, and I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Trish Cook (Bullwinkel, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I think I might need that lucky button, so you can pass it over! Hello, parliament. My name is Trish Cook. I'm from Noongar country of Perth, Western Australia, and I'm the very first member of the new federal electorate of Bullwinkel. Bullwinkel encompasses the lands of the Whadjuk and the Ballardong people of the Noongar nation, and today I speak on Ngunnawal and Ngambri lands. I offer my deepest respects to these First Nations people here, in the west and indeed all across this beautiful, peaceful country of Australia.

Speaker, one year ago, I sat in the visitors' gallery of the chamber, watching question time with curiosity and interest. I was here as part of my role as Deputy Shire President of the Shire of Mundaring, from the Perth Hills, where I'm deeply involved in the community as a volunteer as well as a councillor. For the previous three years, I had watched with gratitude as the Albanese Labor government steered Australia into a more secure, progressive society and reinstated the Labor values of fairness, equity, workers' rights, climate change action and public education—cornerstones of a healthy society that had been purposely neglected by the previous conservative government for over a decade. I had seen the Labor government over-deliver on their 2022 election commitment to provide 50 Medicare urgent care clinics around the country, impressively delivering 87 clinics. This improvement of accessible urgent health care reduces the pressure on emergency departments and the daily lists of general practice, both of which I have worked in. As I watched the frank exchanges and robust debates of the progressive legislation occurring in question time, I simply had the idea that I could be part of the democratic process at the federal level, with my eight years of service as a councillor in local government serving as the foundation.

As luck would have it, the new seat of Bullwinkel, some months earlier, had been created by the Australian Electoral Commission. Suddenly, here was a brand new electorate of Bullwinkel, which encompassed Darlington—my home of 17 years—and was named in honour of World War II nursing hero Lieutenant Colonel Vivian Bullwinkel. I took this optimistically as a sign of encouragement. I ignored my campaign naivety and threw my nurse's cap into the ring, and, to my delight, the Labor Party embraced my candidacy. I thank them for their incredible support and trust that they've shown in me.

I would like to acknowledge the wonderful and supportive Labor network that was afforded me during the campaign, and I would specifically like to thank my campaign director, Assistant Minister Patrick Gorman; WA Labor state secretary and now senator Ellie Whiteaker; Mark Reed and the WA Labor team; Helen Tuck and my branch members of Perth Labor Women; branch members of the amazing Kalamunda Zig Zag, Bassendean and Northam branches; my campaign manager, the remarkable and tireless Fiona Bennett; my friend and colleague 'fighter for Hasluck' Tania Lawrence; the WA federal Labor members; Premier Roger Cook and the WA state Labor members; the cabinet members, some of whom visited Bullwinkel and cheered me on; the President of the Senate, Sue Lines, who challenged and mentored me in her own netball-coach style; and the Deputy Prime Minister, Richard Marles. Both Sue and Richard walked alongside me as we doorknocked the people in the suburbs of High Wycombe and Wattle Grove in the Perth summer heat on several occasions. How grassroots can politics get!

Thank you also to the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, who believed in me from our very first conversation, who supported my nomination and who made time for me on his many regular trips to WA. Thank you. And thank you to all the selfless donors, volunteers and the campaign team members who worked on the Labor Bullwinkel campaign, many who I now know and love and many more who I haven't even met yet.

So I come to this role of MP, with all of these incredible members of the class of 2025 here today, with enormous gratitude and a joyful sense of responsibility to represent the people of Bullwinkel and with the hope that my skills as a nurse and midwife—pragmatism, problem solving and compassion—will contribute to the workings of this chamber and as a local MP.

My life can be summed up in the following numbers. I'm blessed with three incredible siblings: Lorna Cook, exceptional nurse and innovative business owner, having co-founded chemo@home; Dr Diane Parker, self-proclaimed 'best teacher in Australia'; and my brother, Russell Cook, truck driver, mountain climber and corflute-sign erector. I have one life partner, Greg, whose compassion, integrity and high personal ethics have raised my own standards; one deeply thoughtful and gentle, kind daughter, Grace, who is here today; one loving, slightly unpredictable kelpie-cross, Coco, who is not here today; and one loving, stable extended family of sisters-in-law, nieces and nephews. Another number is 10, because I'm the 10th nurse to be in parliament; No. 4, because I'm the fourth midwife to be in parliament; and No. 6, my position on the softball diamond.

I come to this parliament as a nurse, a midwife, an occupational health and safety consultant, a small-business owner, a community volunteer, a shire councillor and a PhD candidate and now, of course, a legislator. The first half of my career was as a remote-area nurse and midwife in the Pilbara and Kimberley regions of my beautiful home state of WA. I had the privilege of caring for and working with people in remote Indigenous communities, such as Ardyaloon/One Arm Point, Djarindjin/Lombadina, Bidyadanga/La Grange and Looma. This is where I first witnessed the impact that access to fresh food, local employment, education and housing, and connection with country, connection to culture and other social connections can have on the health of the community. These factors are referred to as the social determinants of health and, not surprisingly, parallel the social determinants of justice and the social determinants of mental health. And it is improving these factors that brings true investment and gains in community health as well as in the justice system.

I was also employed as a remote-area nurse-midwife in the mining towns of Pannawonica and Argyle and in other isolated corners of our state. Many times I had been the only clinician for hundreds of kilometres, and I relied heavily on the support of Aboriginal health workers, the tradies and truck drivers who doubled as the emergency response team, and, of course, the iconic Royal Flying Doctor Service. I have known the weight of responsibility when resources are thin on the ground. Later, my work in industry included construction sites, casinos, oil and gas production facilities at Karratha and Barrow Island, and some of the offshore oil and gas platforms in the north-west. It's not unusual for me to work FIFO to Canberra, having often caught aircraft and helicopters to work for many years.

It was during my time working as a nurse in industry that I obtained a grad diploma of occupational health and safety and also established and conducted a small business for 10 years, providing extraordinarily capable registered nurses to remote locations. I know the responsibility, the difficulties and the 24/7 nature of owning and running a small business. I extended my education to a Master of Occupational Health and Safety when my then young family did a yearlong stint in the Solomon Islands in 2007 as part of the AusAID and RAMSI mission, followed by four years in Kalgoorlie as a nurse-midwife. I also became a nurse educator, teaching the next generation of nurses at Kalgoorlie TAFE, Northam TAFE and, later, Edith Cowan University. In 2019 I was again inspired to take on tertiary studies, embarking on a PhD study. My thesis—which is just a few months off completion!—is a study on the patient experiences of receiving home based immunotherapy infusions for cancer and chronic diseases.

I'd like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the role of my beautiful parents, who raised four children in state housing in Eden Hill, only 16 kilometres from where I now live. Both parents were involved in the community at grassroots level and instilled in us Labor values and a strong sense of fairness. My mother, Mary Josephine Morgan, came to Australia in 1947. She was 12 years of age when she arrived in Fremantle on board the SS Asturias in the first batch of some of the 10,000 children who were sent to Australia from the UK under the British child migrant scheme. She was part of the lost generation of children who were sent here from the UK to help repopulate a depleted white population after World War II. Despite being institutionalised, having a limited education and enduring the trauma of a life in an orphanage, she chose a career in nursing. She cared about people, and I proudly followed in her footsteps, becoming a nurse. In 2009, in this very chamber, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the child migrants, and, while my mother did not live to see the apology, I would like, in this chamber today, to acknowledge all the British child migrants and their contribution to Australia. I would especially like to acknowledge my aunty, Dilys Budd, nee Winter, who is in the gallery today for my parliamentary speech.

My father, Terence Joseph Cook, whose ancestor was transported to Australia as a convict from England and whose own father was a decorated World War I veteran, was a proud and courageous defender of his working-class roots. He first began advocating for people who were being exploited when he became the voice for the Polish migrant workers who were silenced by their language barrier when working on the Tasmanian hydroelectric scheme in the 1950s. That experience eventually led him to a career in the union movement and his position as state secretary for the Australasian Society of Engineers union. He was a lifelong member of the ALP and lived his life always adhering to Labor Party values. My dad looked after workers from outside the companies through his union work, and I looked after workers from inside the companies as a nurse. I know that he would be proud of me as I stand here today as a member of the Labor Party, a member of parliament and a member of the mighty United Workers Union.

I would like to extend my thanks to the United Workers Union in WA, who supported me throughout the campaign. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Carolyn Smith, Dom Rose, Emily Knowles, Matt Clarke and all the wonderful, dedicated delegates, officials and volunteers who worked on the Bullwinkel campaign. Thank you. I would also like to thank the TWU, RTBU, ASU, UnionsWA and the broad union movement. UWU represents over 150,000 workers in more than 45 industries and every day fights to protect and support those workers in industries such as aged care, early childhood education and ancillary staff in hospitals. These workers are often from the lowest-paid jobs and highly feminised workforces. I'm proud to be part of the Labor Party, who recognises the value of the care industry and has recently acted to increase wages for aged-care workers and early childhood educators.

Bullwinkel is the first electorate to be named after a nurse, and it's the 18th electorate to be named after a woman, but I don't want anyone to worry over there—there are still 88 electorates named after men. Bullwinkel is the fourth-largest electorate in WA, and it consists of the foothills, the hills and the rural portion of the western Wheatbelt. The localities of the foothills and the hills include a mix of newly established suburbs, historic villages, large state water catchment areas, national parks, orchards and residential homes. It's beautiful. The rural area of Bullwinkel consists of four historic Wheatbelt towns: Beverley, Toodyay, York and the largest of the four, Northam, home of WA hot air ballooning. As well as the townspeople, these rural communities include passionate farmers who produce our food and our agricultural exports. They see the ever-changing impact of climate change, and, while they have thankfully and recently got their barley markets back, they are still transitioning to the ban on live sheep export by sea.

All three areas of Bullwinkel—the foothills, hills and rural areas—boast amazing communities along with stunning natural but sensitive and bushfire-prone environments. I look forward to working closely with the nine local governments across Bullwinkel to deliver improvements in line with their community strategic plans as well as our Labor Party commitments—commitments of a Medicare urgent care clinic and childcare centre in Mundaring, a Medicare mental health centre in Kalamunda, telecommunications improvements and upgrades to the volunteer bushfire brigades. And I look forward to working with and assisting the farmers of Bullwinkel as they transition away from the live sheep export trade.

The name of Bullwinkel carries significant historical weight and a powerful legacy. As the inaugural member, there are a few things I'd like to tell you about the remarkable Lieutenant Colonel Matron Vivian Bullwinkel. In 1942, Vivian was one of 65 Australian nurses who fled Singapore in response to the Japanese invasion in World War II. After surviving a bombing at sea of the Vyner Brooke ship, she and her colleagues surrendered only to face atrocity. Vivian was the sole survivor of the infamous Banka Island massacre, whereby she and 21 of her fellow nurses were assaulted, marched out into the ocean and machine-gunned down. After surviving this war crime, she was forced to surrender several weeks later and endured three years of unimaginable hardship, suffering as a prisoner of war alongside 65 other Australian Army nurses. Vivian was only 26 years of age at this time, only a few years older than my own daughter. I cannot imagine the hardship of parents sending their daughters and sons off to a foreign country to fight for democracy and I thank them for their incredible sacrifices and services.

Not only did Vivienne survive World War II but afterwards she went on to testify against the Japanese at the war crimes tribunal in Tokyo. She spent the rest of her life advocating for her fellow nurses wanting to tell their story, not wanting them to be forgotten. She retired at 60 years of age, married and moved to Perth, where she lived for a further 24 years. In 1992, Vivienne bravely returned to Bangka beach, accompanied by WA Labor Senator Pat Giles—No. 2 nurse, incidentally—to open a memorial dedicated to her comrades on the beach.

One of her comrades who died in the terrible massacre was Sister Alma Beard of the Wheatbelt town of Toodyay in the electorate of Bullwinkel. Alma is remembered and honoured by her local community and relatives still residing in the region, including with a statue in her honour at the Toodyay medical centre. I acknowledge the ultimate sacrifice of Alma, who was only 29.

In addition to a distinguished military career, Vivienne had a remarkable career in the nursing profession, and there are just two things I'd like to share with you about Vivienne Bullwinkel's nursing history. First, in 1960, Vivienne became matron of Fairfield Infectious Diseases Hospital in Victoria, which has since closed, in 1996. Can you imagine a whole hospital dedicated to infectious diseases? A whole COVID ward, sure—but a whole hospital? And the reason, of course, why we don't now have infectious diseases hospitals in this country is the unarguable benefits of vaccination, and I take this opportunity to thank the Australian government for providing the free, comprehensive National Immunisation Program, which covers 19 vaccine-preventable diseases for all Australians across all age groups.

I have administered vaccinations for the past 40 years and agree with the position statement of the Australian College of Nursing and the Australian Medical Association that vaccination is the No. 1 best health dollar spend in this country. I'm so privileged to see the mass reduction of typhoid, diphtheria, polio, tetanus, whooping cough, measles, mumps, rubella, meningococcal and HPV in my lifetime. I'm sure Vivienne and the other past nurses would also be amazed by and grateful for vaccinations, as was my own father, who suffered from diphtheria as a child. Let us not forget what lies dormant and kept at bay by immunisation and high herd immunity levels. We need to continue to build trust and understanding about vaccinations, especially given the rise of misinformation and declining immunisation rates in some areas.

The second thing is that Vivienne was president of the Australian College of Nursing, and she's remembered as one of the most influential people within the Australian nursing profession. Vivienne helped elevate the standard of Australian nurses by transferring training of nurses from hospital based training to the tertiary trained profession that it is today, equal to other allied health professions. At the time of my training, young trainee hospital trained nurses worked in a role that was considered a vocation, where men were doctors and women were expected to do the role of the carer for the love of it, and, of course, the wages and conditions reflected that attitude. I know, having completed hospital base training as a nurse and midwife at St John of God Subiaco Hospital in the eighties, followed by a university degree of Bachelor of Health Science in the nineties.

Nursing remains a highly feminised workforce, and the Labor government's recent commitment to paid prac recognises the contribution of students, mostly women, who juggle study, clinical practice, part-time jobs and family, all while learning to care for us, and I note that this policy has been extended to student teachers and social workers, both equally deserving of financial support.

I have come full circle, from my training in the corridors of a hospital to the corridors of this House. The professions of nursing and politics both require great commitment, honesty and a great sense of wanting to help people and communities. As a nurse-midwife, I have cared and advocated for patients when they drew their first and last breaths and everything in between. As a volunteer I've cared and advocated for my wonderful and supportive community of Darlington by leading projects such as the local skate park extension, the construction of a pump track, a well-loved and well-used community garden and the environmental restoration of our local wetlands and a native-bush triangle area. As a shire councillor for the shire of Mundaring for eight years, I have supported community projects such as the construction of the Boya Public Library and the Mundaring Arena. And, as a federal Labor member, I pledge to care and advocate for the fair and equitable allocation of resources to target the social determinants of health, the factors which will improve life for those in Bullwinkel and for all Australians.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to acknowledge the traditional custodians on the land on which the parliament sits, the Ngunnawal and Ngambri peoples; the traditional custodians of the land on which I grew up, the Wilyakali people; and the traditional custodians of the land on which I live and work, the Yugambeh and Jagera peoples—the freshwater people of Canberra, the desert people of Broken Hill and the saltwater people of Logan and the Gold Coast.

My two favourite organisations in Forde are Jinndi Mibunn—an Aboriginal organisation who help with housing, community, language, everything—and Gilmour Space, a company about to launch the first Australia-made rocket ship. One has a vision of ancient Australia; the other has a vision of futuristic Australia. Together they represent Forde perfectly, just as Forde represents Australia perfectly. People have lived in Forde for tens of thousands of years. It was one of the first areas in Queensland to be colonised, as English and Germans, like my family, made an industry out of timber, cattle and sugar cane. Today, we have one of the most multicultural communities in the world. Forde is ancient Australia, old Australia and modern Australia. Forde is a perfect snapshot of Australia.

As a kid, when I began to think about the world, I was intrigued to know what it meant to be human—before agriculture, before the industrial revolution. I believe many people suffer from poor mental health today because we're disconnected from the way of life that we as humans evolved to live in. I spent many years working in farming, a lifestyle little changed over 10,000 years. Sure, we have motorbikes and gyrocopters and GPS, but when you're working on a farm—as I understand you did, Deputy Speaker Claydon—you feel an infinity with an ancestor a hundred generations past. Living with the rhythm of nature is infinitely more satisfying than how we live in the industrial age.

But Indigenous Australians have a link to an even more fundamental past. I still don't grasp what that means, although I yearn to know it. In Australia we are so fortunate to share our lives with the longest continuous culture on the planet. It is just a handful of generations since the colonisation of Australia began, and our Indigenous brothers and sisters have survived; they have kept alive a fundamental knowledge and way of life that one day, I believe, Indigenous Australians will share when the rest of us are open to receive.

And then there is Gilmour Space. If there is any company that symbolises the future, it's those legends. They have taken all the elements of the earth and transformed them into a rocket ship that will take us to the stars—well, technically, low Earth orbit, which may not sound as poetic as the stars, but it's heading in that direction. In this place, we're lucky to focus on the next three years, let alone the next 100. It's been only in the past 100 years or so that we've been able to stand on top of the foundations of science and look out to our past and see our future. Only in the past 100 years have we learnt that Aboriginal culture is more than 65,000 years old and that humans are about 100,000 years old. Only in the past 100 years have we learnt that our universe is not contained in a single galaxy but stretches over billions of light-years. For the first time, it is our generation that has a clear picture of our past and a good glimpse of our future.

When I meet with people who are struggling to pay for a home, struggling to afford medicine, struggling to pay for electricity, it reminds me that we are still living in the Dark Ages. One day people will look back on how we live, just as we look back on the Romans, and will think how clever we were to make do with what we had but that they wouldn't want to live in our time. Scientists today talk of a technological singularity, a point where advanced research in robotics, biology and energy production all come together to create a whole that is infinitely more powerful than the sum of its parts.

I believe science is close to creating a world where all of us have a material abundance beyond our wildest imagination. My core belief is summed up in the line 'On one hand technology, on the other hand democracy.' Technology has the power to create material wealth; democracy has the power to share it. My time as a parliamentarian will focus on helping our inventors, innovators and entrepreneurs to create and our community leaders to share. But, even in the midst of material abundance today, people suffer spiritual impoverishment, and to that I want to return at the end of my speech.

I was advised by my good friend Cameron Murphy to do the thankyous at the beginning of the speech and was cautioned against doing too many. Well, seeing as we're not at the start of the speech, I've already ignored the first part of that advice, so I may as well ignore the second part! The first group of people I want to thank are the people of Forde, who have given me an awesome responsibility and opportunity. Perhaps because I have a margin of 1.8 per cent, I keenly feel the temporary nature of the jobs we have been entrusted to do. I want to acknowledge former member for Forde Bert van Manen and thank him for the way he conducted himself during two campaigns.

The second group of people I want to thank are the people who make up the labour movement. Sometimes people say to me, 'Sorry, I can't support the Labor Party because you're too close to the union movement.' And I think to myself: 'Well, we aren't just close to the union movement; we are the union movement. We are the political wing of the trade union movement.' The Labor Party exists because there are some things you just can't achieve on the shop floor—workers compensation, free health care and free school education. To achieve these things you need control of the parliament. And, anyway, without laws that protect striking workers from the thuggery of an authoritarian government, you can't even fight on the shop floor for improved wages and conditions.

Paul Keating said that the history of the Labor Party is the history of Australia. It's little known that the world's earliest trade union activists, like the Tolpuddle Martyrs, were sent to Australia along with the convicts who were sent to Australia for stealing bread. It was because of political prisoners like them that Australia was the first country to have a secret ballot, the first country to allow men to vote regardless of wealth and property and one of the first countries to allow women to vote. It is because of union activists that we have progressed as a country today—people like AMWU state secretary Rohan Webb and executive officer Ann-Marie Allan, who have not only spent a lifetime backing in workers but also spent what seems like a lifetime backing in me! Queensland Meat Workers secretary Matt Journeaux and two unionists who have had a much bigger impact on me than they might have imagined, Harry Early and Stuey Trail, are continuing inspirations to me today. Thank you to the Labor Party's state secretary, Ben Driscoll, who, for his sins, ran my 2022 campaign for Forde, and to former state secretaries Evan Moorhead, Katie Flanders and the new member for Moreton herself.

The most important people are the ones who have showed up today. You are not only the ones who will give me the most grief if I leave you out but also some of the most important people to ever come into my life. To Emico, Ruby Rose and Riley, Lonnie and Ruth Nelson, Francis Bedford, Sharon Vallis, Elliot Lini and the Logan Afghan community, and Saeed Mujahid Hashimi and the Gold Coast Afghan community: thank you. Shannon Fentiman, Queensland's shadow Treasurer—friend, former boss, campaign director and fellow observer of the ridiculous—is here, and Joshua Lucey, campaign manager and hero of the cause, is not. Thanks also to the mighty Sharon Robertson and the Waterford branch, Kate Drysdale and the Slacks Creek Politburo, Fran van Gilst and the Beenleigh branch and Keenan McEwen and the Coomera branch. To say I couldn't have done it without you is such a statement of the obvious, but what I really mean is it wouldn't have been half as much fun. A special mention goes to the patron of Queensland Young Labor, Brianna Bailey, whose advice beyond her years and sense of humour below her years has got me through two elections and one preselection.

And there is one other person who has come along today. Advice given to us when preparing our first speech was that it wouldn't be a bad career move to put in a 'thank you' to the Prime Minister! Of course, I want to thank him for his performance during the campaign and his performance over the last term, where people came to see his vision and compassion. But I really want to thank him for being like a big brother. I met the PM when I was 14 and he was 24, when I went to my first, and his last, Young Labor conference. Even though I never really worked closely with him, he was like the big brother who'd grown up and gone off to work while I was still the kid at home. My political brothers who I did grow up with were the Young Labor president who succeeded the PM, Mal Larsen—who is a current adviser to the PM—and Damien O'Connor, a former adviser. Those two can never know the incredibly positive impact that they had on me then in the late 1980s and that they still have on me today. Like any big brother, the PM looked after me when he could. When I got a job as a 19-year-old with a former member for Makin, Peter Duncan—who I also want to acknowledge for his brilliance as a person and a campaigner—Peter told me that it was on the recommendation of Anthony Albanese. To the PM and his team, people like Tim Gartrell and Alex Mookareeka: I know I will always be the kid to you, but I stand in this place today because of you all.

While my core political belief is, on the one hand, technology and, on the other hand, democracy, it is rooted in my core political value, which I would like to explain in the context of my life. My dad met my mum in Mount Isa. I was born in Brisbane and I grew up in Broken Hill. While Barcaldine was the birth place of the labour movement—although New South Wales people will say it's Balmain—Broken Hill was for many years its spiritual home.

As a kid I got an interest in politics, sparked by the union's struggle for justice that I grew up around, and at the age of 14 I joined the party and went to my first Young Labor conference in Sydney. After school I moved to Adelaide and got a job working for Peter Duncan in the Keating government, from its glorious beginning until its spectacular end in 1996.

I went back to Broken Hill and determined to see a world outside of politics and wanted to do an apprenticeship as a fitter and machinist. I got a job as a labourer for a mining contractor, where I got my ticket in the metal workers union. Unfortunately, I couldn't fix the things I broke, and that job only lasted six months! What followed was two years of looking for work and doing odd jobs.

In the nineties the national unemployment rate got up to 10 per cent. It's hard to imagine it now, but those who were there remember what it was like. It was tough. In Broken Hill, like many regional communities, the unemployment rate was above 20 per cent. Twenty per cent unemployment is depression-level unemployment. So when a job came up in an outback pub in Wanaaring, about 300 kilometres north-east of Broken Hill, I took it.

From there I did some lamb marking on a sheep station, and the next thing I knew I had a bike and a ute, a pack of working dogs, and the will to win, and I became a station hand—the best job I ever had. It truly made me as a person.

There's something about farm work. I learnt a different set of values. My time in Labor politics had taught me collectivist values: the government has a solution to many problems. My time on outback stations taught me about personal responsibility and reliance on oneself. But it also taught me that you look after your neighbour. In the drought of the early 2000s, if it hadn't been for the government stepping in, all of those sheep and cows would have died, and all of those farmers would have gone out of business.

Then I turned 30, met a woman and we had a little baby. We moved to Tenterfield to be near her mum, and I got a job in a servo, flipping burgers and serving petrol. She gave me a book about a cashier at Woolies who got into self-improvement, got into sales and made millions. I started off thinking the book was a joke, but by the time I finished it I was hooked. It wasn't the money; it was the idea that I had so much more power over my own emotions and my own destiny than I had known.

There was one book I read—and I still remember it today—that talked about DEB and AAG, that you can either live in denial, make excuses and blame others, or you can take action, be accountable and be grateful for what you already have. And I thought: 'Well, that's fine for an able-bodied white guy like me, but what if I was born into real disadvantage? Wouldn't I have a right to make excuses and blame others?' I remember the night it hit me. I was scrubbing out the deep fryer at the servo in Tenterfield at 2 am in the morning and I had an epiphany: someone has every right to make excuses and blame others, but what good does that do them? The moment you blame others is the moment you put the solution onto others and the moment you disempower yourself. That single night, above all others, scrubbing out the deep fryer, was where my political values were formed, where it all came together.

The Left takes a collectivist approach. We think we can solve other people's problems, which is partly true. But sometimes we on the Left use that as an excuse not to empower the person with the problem to fix it themselves. The Right takes an individualist approach, that we all have the power in us to solve our own problems, and that is partly true. But that can be used as a justification by people on the Right to turn a blind eye to suffering. The answer—and everyone here probably worked it out earlier; it was just me that took so long—is not collective responsibility and it is not individual responsibility; it is individual responsibility for the collective. The greatest satisfaction that we can get comes from the greatest contribution that we can give, which is to help other people. So, seized by that idea, I moved with my young family to Southport on the Gold Coast, determined to live and spread that message.

I started a sales-coaching business. I wanted to learn how to sell, and because I knew the best way to learn is to teach—again, with the will to win—I went knocking on doors. There was one point I remember. I was walking across Scarborough Street in Southport and I had this amazing sense of freedom. I had no clients. I was on YouthStart. I'd just sold the ute and the bike, and I had nothing except this incredible sense of freedom. I didn't need the security of a nine-to-five job. Somehow I knew that I was going to be able to survive on my wits alone.

I went doorknocking on Scarborough Street and Ferry Road in Southport and got a hairdresser as my first client, and then a real estate agent, a telemarketer, an aquarium store, a second-hand store and a mechanic. Then I got a construction company in Beenleigh as a client and did more and more work for them until I ended up being their director and running the company. Along the way, I learnt that good businesspeople aren't attracted to the money. In fact, truly successful businesspeople are more likely to live frugally, drive an old car, eat at home and holiday in Australia, but they have this amazing passion for an idea, an idea for something that helps other people. The money is a way of keeping score, but it's the act of creation and of following your passion and dream that is what entrepreneurialism is—because we are all different and we all have gifts that we have been given by our creator. As someone said, 'Gifts are things that we give to other people.' A life where we find and follow our passion is an indescribably fulfilling life, whether in business, politics, community service, raising a family, art or doing all of those things at the same time.

Here, at the end of my speech, I return to the point I left off at the start: that, in the midst of material wealth, many suffer from spiritual impoverishment. That is why I believe in, on the one hand, technology and, on the other hand, democracy; building public housing, like we used to; subsidising electricity, like we used to; protecting our environment to keep our air and water clean; and a health and welfare system that looks after the sick and vulnerable. And then, like Maslow's hierarchy, once those elemental needs are met—clean air, clean water, healthy food, shelter and energy—people can self-actualise with an education system that mentors not just kids but adults as well to find our passions and follow our dreams. We can become who our creator intended. I believe in an education system that teaches life skills, learning things like living frugally and within your means because, for most people, doing that is more than half the economic battle. None of us worked that out for ourselves. We all had mentors; we all had someone who showed us the way. That's what our education system should be about. These are the practical things that we can do as a parliament. If we get the material conditions right and mentor people to follow their dream and find their purpose, we get the spirit right too, just like the men and women at Gilmour Space. As we shoot to the stars, we can also nurture the spirit of what it means to be human, just like our Indigenous brothers and sisters at my other favourite organisation Jinndi Mibunn.

Just to completely break the rule of thankyous in a first speech, I'd like to end with two more: one to my mum, and the other to my dad. My mum taught me the lesson of frugality. How she managed to run a household on very little stunned me as a teenager and inspires me today. My dad lived to 93 and passed away two months ago. Just after I was elected, a journo asked me who my political heroes are. I was stumped! I've never really made a hero out of any politician. Then I remembered something my dad said to me when I was a kid. I said, 'Wow, it must be hard to be a pilot,' and he said, 'I bet it's not as hard as being a bus driver.' Another time, I said, 'Wow, it's amazing how radio presenters bring their shows to an end just in time,' and he said, 'Not as amazing as a teacher who brings their lesson to an end just in time.' Bus drivers and teachers—they're who my political heroes are. The FIFO worker who leaves his family to work on a mine for two weeks at a stretch and the childcare worker with small kids of her own who comes home and looks after an ageing parent are my heroes, so to are the folks who put their bodies on the line every day they get up and go to work—because, if you have to get up to go to work to pay the bills, whether you're a doctor, a childcare worker, a fitter, a machinist, a station hand or a small-business owner, if you have to be there or you don't get paid; you're working class. If you need to sell your labour to live but can't do that because of age or disability, you are working class. The working class are the people that we have been elected to represent, and, in my first speech, I make this commitment: I am here for us.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I call the honourable member for Moreton, I remind the House that this is the honourable member's first speech, and I ask the House to extend to her the usual courtesies.

Julie-Ann Campbell (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

NSEO—that was the reason my grandfather was given when he was rejected by the RAAF at the beginning of World War II. It stands for 'not substantially of European origin'. He was a Chinese Australian. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were also given this designation and often turned away when they tried to sign up to defend a country that did not properly recognise them. I acknowledge them and all First Nations people as the traditional owners of the land we stand on here today, the traditional owners of the land on which we walk in all of our communities and the longest continuing culture on the planet.

I have long stood astride two different worlds. My roots lie in an ethnically diverse background, and my professional work and purpose has been to stand up for everyday working people. Hey, babe! Both are often taken for granted—overlooked for their contributions to build this country. And sometimes, despite the common ground between them, they are pitted against each other by those who seek to divide us, when in reality they share the same struggle. Many of them are economic outsiders who rarely see the proportionate rewards of their labour. I'm here, Margaret. This speech is for everyone who feels like what they give isn't what they get back, and it's clearly also for my daughter, Margaret. To the ordinary working people in this country, who often feel like the economy does not work for them: I will work for you. Whether it's Indigenous Australians, who have an unbroken lineage in this country stretching back tens of thousands of years, or people like my gong gong, Harry Hoy Pang Moo, who was born here but was a Chinese Australian, many of the country's institutions, in a time not very long ago, simply were not welcoming of anyone who didn't fit the mould. For many, that is a perception that remains to this day.

As an Australian with a Chinese and Canadian heritage, I am the first person of colour and the first woman to be Labor state secretary in Queensland. I am an outsider who decided to take on politics and institutions. I am now incredibly proud to be the first person of colour and the first woman to be the member for Moreton.

The opportunity to bring my experience, formed over many generations, to positions of influence is emblematic of the Australian Labor Party. Only the Labor Party enables outsiders to put their hands on the levers of power, to deliver the structural economic change that gives everyday Australians access to the engine room of the economy. My story is a road map for that possibility becoming a reality.

My family, the Moo family, immigrated to this country in the late 1800s, to Darwin. We have a Hakka ancestry. Moo Yat Fah started out as a labourer working on the construction of the Darwin to Pine Creek railroad. My por por's family the Lau Gooeys, also immigrated from China around that time. Her mother came by ship as a maid, and her father worked as a slaughterman in Melbourne. Gong Gong always kept chooks in the backyard that he would defeather and butcher himself. He loved AFL, Geelong in particular, and when he settled in Brisbane he worked as a carpenter and helped establish the very first Chinese club of Queensland as one of its early chairmen.

Por Por loved to play the piano, and she devoted her life to making sure that every one of her four children got a great education. When I was older she would call me to drive her to the Bi-Lo to get cartons on soft drink when they were on sale, cementing our shared love of a cheeky Pepsi Max for the ages and also allowing me to put the words 'cheeky Pepsi Max' into Hansard.

Gong Gong was eventually admitted to the Air Force. He reached the rank of flying officer and completed over 50 sorties with the No. 31 Beaufighter squadron, a testament to perseverance. His memory—and that of his siblings who also served in the armed forces—is now preserved in the awarding of bursaries in their names to schoolkids in my local community, at St Thomas More College in Sunnybank and at Runcorn and MacGregor state high schools. The children who receive those bursaries will never experience the slight of being characterised as NSEO.

I doubt Por Por and Gong Gong, who were very much outsiders in this country for most of their lives, could have ever dreamed that their granddaughter would be standing in this place honouring their contributions as Chinese Australians. I am humbled and proud to be able to represent the most multicultural electorate in Queensland, one with over 39 per cent of people born overseas and almost 36 per cent of people speaking a different language in the home—from Mandarin to Cantonese, Arabic to Punjabi, Vietnamese to Korean and many more. I am one of the 15 per cent of people in Moreton with a Chinese heritage, and ours is a community that truly reflects modern Australia. Part of my mission as their representative in this place is to ensure everyone who calls our part of Brisbane home can reach their full potential regardless of their background.

Our community, on Brisbane's south side, has been fiercely represented in this place for the last 18 years by my dear friend Graham Perrett. Perhaps with the exception of literary prudes and parliamentary soccer referees, you would be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't like Graham. I give my heart-felt personal thanks to Graham, and I hope to continue his legacy—for clarity, not the legacy of his record-breaking ejections from this Chamber, but the legacy of a decent and kind member who cares deeply about our community and is focused on outcomes.

The opportunity of a federal Labor government is that we listen to ordinary people. We share their concerns as our own and we give them the opportunities to drive the economy and lead community. One night, in March this year, I found myself in a near-empty lot in the outer suburbs of Brisbane's south side, in the pouring rain and the dead of night, lit only by the spotties of a nearby ute. I had a shovel, and I was digging. No, this is not a privileged confession of misdeeds. It was a last-ditch community sandbagging mission. Cyclone Alfred was looming off Queensland's eastern seaboard, and we had been told just hours earlier that no more sandbags would be issued. So with more than 30 tonnes of donated sand, over a thousand donated bags and the help of a late call-up of the Yeronga devils AFL club, a spontaneous community led sandbagging operation began to help those whose homes needed protection.

This story is not unique—quite the opposite, in fact. It epitomises Brisbane's south siders. Through tough times and across the years, we are resilient, we muck in and we help each other. Our community knows the drill when natural disasters strike. Reverend Dave throws open the doors of the Oxley Uniting Church for respite. Karen and the Sherwood Neighbourhood Centre provide relief and waterproof document protecters. And, this year, Claire and the Sunnycare team opened their back lot to those who needed more last-minute sand. If our local communities understand instinctively that we cannot afford to leave anybody behind and that everyone matters, surely our national politics can do the same.

On my journey to this place I chose to study law. Fortunately, it was on the shortlist of professions that met with my Chinese mother's approval. I cut my teeth standing up for boilermakers, vehicle builders, printers, sheet metal workers, and fitters and turners, and I learnt a few things representing those working in the manufacturing industry. Firstly, the boilermaker is the natural enemy of the fitter and turner. Secondly, we must be a country that makes things. Thirdly, the contribution of working people to the economic story of this country is immeasurable and often overlooked.

In 2017, I was driving up the Bruce Highway. On this occasion my destination was the last bastion of the rail industry in our state, the old Walkers facility. When I walked into the shed, every hard hat represented a job under threat and a broader family hurting from the offshoring of train manufacturing. With those workers, we led a campaign to keep their jobs and to save their community, and a Labor government brought domestic rail manufacturing back to Queensland. It is a great example of an economic intervention that puts people first, rather than letting critical industries fail and skilled jobs go offshore.

In societies where governments have made different choices, we see that people have had enough and are using their power at the ballot box. We are witnessing a global phenomenon where economic inequality is rising, and trust in democratic institution is falling. But Australia has proven itself to be different, and now we have the opportunity to keep it that way. The people I now represent—like Maria, a teacher aide from Acacia Ridge, or Brian, a blind-cleaning company scheduler living in Annerley, or Ryan, an apprentice plumber in Salisbury—are the people who actually create the goods and provide the services that keep our economy moving. Too often they are denied the benefits of their own labour. Everyday workers have been asked repeatedly to bear the brunt of economic reforms in the national interest. The only times those reforms have succeeded are the laudable occasions when Labor governments have made sure that workers share in the benefits of reform by design and not as an afterthought. I am proud that this government has decided to tackle the economic reform challenge head-on and with a burning ambition to make sure that, in any reform, working Australians are deliberate beneficiaries and not unexpected casualties.

My dad is here today. Last December, Dad was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma and, after months of chemo, was given the all clear just in time to make it to my local campaign launch. My dad is a pretty stoic guy, but, like so many other families who face health challenges, it is a reminder of how lucky we are to be in this country and how important well-funded, accessible health care is.

My mum is here, too. When I was a little girl there was a red hardback book on the shelf. It was totally off limits, and I wasn't allowed to touch it. I found out its title later, 'A Review of the Promotional Hopes and Aspirations of Women in Queensland Primary Schools'. It was my mother's thesis. It was a time when the vast majority of teachers were women but most school principals were men. Women were the outsiders in our education systems even though they were doing most of the work. Her central hypothesis was that, while there were plenty of well-intentioned programs designed to support women into leadership roles, none of them had the teeth to actually make a difference. I think of this not as a lesson in affirmative action or women's participation—although those are both incredibly important—but as instructive on the need for teeth and guts to get things done.

Talk without action is the natural enemy of progress, and the hard bit of reform is doing the work to bring people with you. This is what Labor does. As an aside, my dad's thesis sat next to that book, but, frankly, I couldn't find a relevant life lesson linked to 'Comparative study of adult sexual behaviour and larval ecology of three commercially important portunid crabs from the Moreton Bay region of Queensland'! Sorry, Dad—but thanks for opportunity to put 'important portunid crabs' into Hansard!

My partner, Mark, and I moved to Acacia Ridge because we knew that Brisbane's south side was a great place to raise a family. We welcomed our beautiful daughter, Margaret, in 2023 and now live in Corinda doing just that. Mark is my best friend. He is one of the best humans I know. His favour is famously hard to earn, but I have come to know his stoicism is a function of saying only what deserves to be said—a lesson many in politics could heed. He is the Barbara Hershey to my Bette Midler and the Bogey to my locomotive—that's one reference for each of us, and I'll let you decide which is which. Also, thanks for the opportunity to put Bette Midler into Hansard! During the campaign Mark was and always has been a practical supporter: clothes laundered, dinner cooked and grounding advice at the ready. Conversely, I would describe Margaret's approach as loving but deeply indifferent—as we have seen today! Regardless of the good or bad of the day, I was greeted with a cuddle delivered without judgement. In politics, there is something very comforting about knowing that my mere presence in her eyes is enough. Thank you to both of you.

To those with the largest non-refundable investment in my success—Mum and Dad—thank you. To the cooker of many thousands of sausages—my brother, John—thank you. To the chief Margaret wranglers and givers of countless hours of support—my mother-in-law, Jenny, and her partner, Owen—thank you. To those who taught me about finances through cattle auctions and sixpence stories—my dearly departed grandparents, Cloriece and Jack Campbell—and to all of my extended family that supported me: thank you.

To my hardworking campaign volunteers, led by the bedrock of south side Labor, Sasha Maron: Thank you. To those who doorknocked in the blazing Queensland summer, hit the phones night after night, stood beside roadsides with pictures of my face and forced my participation in many a social media trend—Angus, Seth, Kane, Caleb, Lenne, Sebastian, Rudolf, Matt, Tom, Lesley and Marg, Kash, Martha, the Sottiles, the Gibson-Haynes, the Cunninghams, the Elverys, Uncle Jeff, Karleigh, Clare, John, Jane, Emma, Jen, Kylie and Sandy: thank you. To the world's best emcee, Lewis Lee: thank you. To the often-unsung Labor campaign directors, my friends Paul Erickson, Katie Flanders and the newest senator for WA, Ellie Whiteaker: thank you. To my union, the AMWU, and its Queensland leadership, the perpetually supportive parental figures Rohan Webb and Ann-Marie Allan: thank you. To the trade union movement, particularly Sally Gunner and the CPSU, Wendy Streets and the FSU, Peter Allen and the RTBU, Matty Journeaux and the Meaties, Gary Bullock and the UWU, Alex Scott and Together, Peter Ong and the ETU, and Josh Millroy and the TWU: thank you.

To my friends in no particular order—the supplier of my personal phone banking couch, the person who dressed as a rabbit for our Easter event, my political confidant of 20 years, Margaret's earliest play date, the smartest person I know, my canine contemporary, my late night phone call sounding board and she whose personal safety is always paramount in my mind—Shannon Fentiman, Alana Tibbitts, Ben Driscoll, Jackie Trad, Anika Wells, Evan Moorhead, Zoe Edwards, and Nino Lalic: thank you. I will let you decide who is who.

To my sisterhood of supporters, Laura Fraser Hardy, Emily Brogan, Cynthia Kennedy, Nita Green and the new member for Maribyrnong, Jo Briskey: thank you. To Labor leaders who have helped me along the way, Steven and Stacia, and to Senator Murray Watt: thank you. To my fellow Labor representatives on the south side—Peter Russo, Mark Bailey, Leeanne Enoch, Jess Pugh, James Martin, Barbara O'Shea, Steve Griffiths and Emily Kim—thank you.

Mr Speaker, I'd also like to take the opportunity to thank a very special electoral neighbour of mine—you. I thank you for your support and congratulate you on your well-deserved re-election to the high office of Speaker. Most importantly, to the richly diverse, fiercely resilient and extraordinary people of Moreton, I am excited to work with and for you every day. For your support and trust, thank you. Lastly, I'd like to thank the Prime Minister. My apologies for your unceremonious mobbing when we visited Sunnybank's Market Square during the campaign. This is notable because the normal practice of Queenslanders is to run people from down south out of town, as evidenced by our recent State of Origin victory. Your warm embrace by our local community goes not only to the endorsement of your vision for this country but also to your accessibility as a leader who everyday people trust and outsiders can root for.

I know that the Prime Minister also believes that the economy must work for everyday people every day. If you're an Australian with an ethnically diverse heritage like my gong gong, the economy has to work for you. If you're a boilermaker working in the industrial precincts of Coopers Plains, the economy has to work for you. If you're a nurse raising a family and working shiftwork to care for someone like my dad, the economy has to work for you. When I joined the Labor Party, people who looked like me did not get to be campaign directors. When I was growing up, people who looked like me did not get to walk these halls—that is, until Penny Wong came along. My daughter Margaret entered this world as an Australian with a blend of heritages from Chinese, Canadian, Italian and British origins. Unlike my gong gong, she will grow up not with the weight of discrimination but knowing that the diversity of her background is a strength. Our job now is to make sure that her generation reads about the economic outsiders of this country in the history books, not the newspapers. Only Labor has the will, the teeth and now the opportunity to make that dream a reality.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to be able to stand again in the House of Representatives chamber following my sixth election as the member for Wannon. This will be the sixth parliament that I have participated in, and this is the 48th parliament that this great nation has ever held. It's quite incredible when you look at those numbers—48 parliaments. It shows in many ways how young our democracy still is and I think is a lesson to all of us as to how important democracy is. We should not take for granted in any way that we have the greatest opportunity globally to be able to form government, and that is through democracy, because the sad reality is that, as we look internationally, more and more tyranny is coming to the fore again. If we're not vigilant and if we're not careful, all those long-term gains that we've made in ensuring that liberty goes to the heart of forming governments around this nation will be eroded away. I think that call to be ever vigilant is as prominent now as it ever has been.

I place on record my thanks to the people of Wannon for once again placing their trust in me. It's not a trust that I take lightly. It's one which, to me, gives a great level of responsibility. I've always sought to fulfil that level of responsibility to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so in this, the 48th Parliament.

I've seen the highs and lows, in my time as the member for Wannon, both on the government benches and on the opposition benches. Obviously after this 2025 election I sit on the opposition benches, and I look over at the government benches and it is quite overwhelming, the decision that has been made by the Australian people as to who should govern this nation. But that doesn't mean that on the opposition benches we don't have a huge responsibility, because good government relies on good opposition. You only have to look at some of the examples of state governments and territory governments around the country, both past and present, to see that if you do not have good oppositions you do not get good government. That is not good for states, for territories or for this nation.

One thing I commit to the people of Wannon is that even though we're in opposition I will be working just as hard as I always have. Whether we've been in opposition or in government, I've always sought to work hard to represent the people of Wannon to the best of my ability, and I will continue to do so, because I see my job now as probably more important than it ever has been. Especially in representing a rural electorate, one of the things we have to ensure is that this government does not get arrogant, does not get full of hubris and does not forget that it needs to govern for all Australians.

Sadly, in the state of Victoria we aren't seeing that. We are seeing more and more complete and utter neglect of those outside major cities. This is to the detriment of the state, and I do not want to see this occurring nationally. Every single day I will be reminding government that good government of this nation means governing for all people, no matter where they live. That is going to be a big challenge but one that I'm looking forward to taking on.

I thank not only the people of Wannon for putting their trust in me but also those who helped and supported me to win the last election. The last election was a full-on battle in the seat of Wannon. We have calculated that my opponents spent roughly $2 million trying to win the seat of Wannon—an extraordinary amount of money. Yet, through fantastic grassroots community campaigning, we were able to ensure that that $2 million did not lead to the outcome my opponents wanted. To those 1,700 people who supported me in one way or another in grassroots community campaigning, I say thank you, one and all, for your efforts. It's funny: I bumped into someone in the corridors today and they said their great aunt is one of my biggest supporters. Their great aunt is 105. To her, who I think is my oldest supporter in the electorate of Wannon, and to all those young people who supported me: just a huge, huge thankyou. It is a team effort that gets you to this place.

With that in mind, I also thank my wonderful office staff. I have two offices, given the size of the electorate. My office staff work tirelessly. They worked harmoniously, and they did a fantastic job. So, to all my staff, including my shadow ministerial staff, for the way you came together as a team to back and support me: I will not forget. A huge thankyou to you all as well.

Can I also take a moment to thank all the candidates who ran in Wannon. Democracy requires people to want to stand up and put themselves forward for election. To all those who stood, I say: thank you for being prepared to put yourself forward and for being prepared to participate in the democratic process. It is that preparedness to participate which ultimately is so important for us to have a proper functioning democracy. As I said earlier, it has never been more important that we have people who are prepared to put themselves forward.

I also commend everyone who was elected to this place for the first time at the 2025 election. I point to the member for Monash, who is here with us today, and say: well done to you and all the class of 2025. Being elected to this place is something which is incredibly special. It's a great honour. To everyone who achieved that, I say: well done.

To everyone who was re-elected, I also say: well done. Whether you are with the Liberal Party or the National Party—like my good friend here, the member for Mallee—or our political opponents, well done on your election as well.

I say to the people of Wannon that one of the fantastic things about campaigning is being out and about, meeting people and hearing about the needs of our communities and seeking to deliver on those. Over the last three years, I was out and about, and I did countless listening posts. We were racking up 100 listening posts a year and doing numerous community events to find out what the needs of the local communities were. As we know, roads are the No 1 priority. I say to those opposite: never ever forget or underestimate how important roads are to rural and regional communities right across this nation. One of the things I have great pride in is having fought to get significant road and rail infrastructure funding for my electorate. It's not going to stop and it will never stop, because those needs continue to grow, sadly, because we've had a Victorian state government who has failed to invest into our road and rail infrastructure. Sadly, what we saw over the last term of the Albanese Labor government was a reduction in that investment as well. Since the election, I have been doing everything I can to make sure that our want, our need, for more road investment and for more road maintenance funding continues. As a matter of fact, there was $60 million that the last coalition government put into the Princes Highway between Warrnambool and Port Fairy that was finally enacted upon; that road was upgraded to an extent. Yet by the time it was finished there were still large sections which hadn't been fixed. There were large potholes that were still there on the side of the road, and my constituents, rightly, were wild.

I embarked immediately after the election on writing a letter a day to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, Catherine King; to the Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan; and to her roads minister, Melissa Horne. I finally got a response from Melissa Horne, the Victorian Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and Minister for Health Infrastructure. I've got to say, I was incredibly disappointed. She said, 'Even though there are still large amounts of work which need to be done on this section of road, I've been advised by the Department of Transport and Planning that the works are now complete and that no further works are scheduled for this section of the Princes Highway in the 2024-25 maintenance program.' Can I say to the minister: that is simply not good enough. If you do a job, do it properly. Surely, that has to be a fundamental principle of any good governing. So I would ask her to pop down the road. Get outside of your office in Melbourne, and drive along the stretch of road between Warrnambool and Port Fairy. I think you'll clearly see that that response isn't good enough for my community. You have to do better. I hope you will, because, as I've said, we should be governing for all people, no matter where they live. Can I say to the Minister for Infrastructure, Catherine King: federally, $60 million of federal money went into that road, and you should be ensuring, as well, that that money is spent efficiently and effectively.

It's not just that section of road where you have to make sure that that happens. The Western Highway between Ballarat, your home town, and Beaufort, where we've also invested heavily, is deteriorating before our eyes as well. Potholes keep popping up every single time it rains, and we need to ensure that that bit of road is fixed properly, plus the duplication. I know the member for Mallee is hot to trot on this as well. The duplication between Buangor and Ararat needs to be finished, and it needs to be finished quickly, because, sadly, that piece of road had seen growing tragedies occurring on it, and there is no reason. We've run out of excuses. The money's there. We need to get that finished, because, sadly, people are dying as a result of it not being finished, and that is simply not good enough. Not only that: we can then get on to the further duplication between Ararat and Stawell, and onwards. I know the member for Mallee absolutely supports that call as well.

I say to my communities as well that for every one of my election commitments that I made—and they were numerous—I want to try and make sure that we do everything we can to keep them on the government's agenda, both federally and at the state level. I want to place on record what those commitments were. For the Portland multipurpose indoor sporting facility's changerooms and amenities—that's the Portland Basketball Stadium—there was $1 million. For the Beaufort Bowls Club's female-friendly facilities, there was $112,000. For female-friendly facilities at the Birregurra Football and Netball Club, there was $450,000. For Dartmoor's female-friendly change facilities, there was $350,000. For the Warrnambool Football Netball Club's women's shelters and female-friendly facilities, there was $300,000. For the redevelopment of the Elliminyt Recreation Reserve, there was $3.3 million. For the Port Fairy Football Netball Club community sports hub, there was $1.5 million. For the Skipton community and recreation hub redevelopment, there was $2.35 million. For the construction of a purpose-built lifesaving facility at Warrnambool, there was $7.65 million. For the Cavendish Football Netball Club's female-friendly change rooms, there was $1.28 million.

For Ararat Headspace—incredibly important for Ararat—there was $3.1 million. For the Sikh Community Centre's Warrnambool meals service, there was $90,000 for construction of a commercial kitchen. For CCTV at Lava St in Warrnambool between Liebig St and Banyan St, there was $55,000. For CCTV at Lava Street opposite the Kermond's and Coles entrance, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the Port of Warrnambool breakwater, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the corner of Raglan Parade and Fairy Street adjacent to Max Hotel and Macy's Bistro, there was $55,000. For CCTV for the Beaufort Fire Brigade, there was $8,787. For an upgrade to the Timboon Demons' multipurpose netball courts, there was $496,000. For the Colac Imperials Football Netball Club's new netball court, there was $389,000. For CCTV for Portland, there was $250,000.

For the Cobden Recreation Reserve redevelopment, there was $1.45 million. For the Colac Bike Park, there was $300,000. For Derrinallum skateboard park, there was $300,000. For fencing for Premier Speedway Warrnambool, there was $350,000. For the Western Eagles' female-friendly facilities, there was $450,000. For the Portland Football Netball Cricket Club playground, there was $69,295. I thank all the community groups that worked with me to advocate for those funding commitments, and I say to you all that I will continue to work tirelessly to get outcomes for you. I have written to all relevant ministers federally asking them to prioritise these projects so that we can make sure that we can bring them to fruition. I will not stop, through the next three years, doing everything I can to work with you to make sure that we can get investments into these much needed programs, because they are critically important.

I will end on this note. What we're seeing in our communities in regional and rural areas is a feeling that government, at both the national level and at the state level, have forgotten us. We do not feel that we are part of the national agenda. We feel like, in many ways, we are being used in so many ways it's not funny, whether it be for the energy transition or whether it be for fixing society's problems. Crime is becoming an ever-more-present issue in our communities when it wasn't there. The services are not there for our populations at this time, and there is a real need for a focus again—and I made this point earlier—on making sure that governments at both the national and the state levels know and understand that you have to govern for everyone, for all people. Immediately after the federal election, I was on a fire truck heading to Spring Street because of unfair taxes being placed on community volunteers in my electorate. That is just one of many issues which are becoming more and more apparent, of the complete misunderstanding of how our communities work and function. You need to know and understand it, and I'm going to make sure, in this parliament, that I'm here to remind you of that.

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Deputy Speaker, congratulations on your election to that high office. I want to start my remarks by thanking the community of Burt, across the cities of Gosnells and Armadale and now the Shire of Serpentine-Jarrahdale, for putting their faith and trust in me to continue as their elected representative in this place. I'd also like to congratulate the newest members of the Labor caucus from Western Australia: the member for Bullwinkel, Trish Cook; the member for Moore, Tom French; and our newest WA senator, Ellie Whiteaker. I congratulate them on coming to represent their communities here in this federal parliament. Particularly, I'd like to call out the new member for Bullwinkel, who, with the creation of that new seat, absorbed some of the suburbs that I represent. Indeed, the house that I grew up in and many of my family have moved into the electorate of Bullwinkel due to the redistribution. I know she'll be a fantastic representative for that community—one that I hold very dear to my heart as well. It was great to hear her first speech here earlier today.

When we went to the election in May, the issue of the cost of living was an incredibly important one, especially for my community in Burt. What our government promised to deliver were further rounds of tax cuts, a 20 per cent reduction in student debt—importantly including apprenticeship debt—$150 of further energy bill relief and new Medicare urgent care clinics being delivered. We have one in Gosnells now, and even I have used the Medicare urgent care clinic in Gosnells. During the election campaign I managed to dislocate my toe. It just goes to show that fitness is not all it's cracked up to be! Importantly, we've also delivered two Medicare mental health centres. Now, these are incredibly important for the service that they provide, but they're also a great demonstration of community advocacy and need.

Since I've been the member for Burt—for some nine years—I have run, I think, eight Burt Young Leader Forums, which involve inviting student leaders from all of the high schools across my electorate to come and present on issues important to them, to decide amongst themselves the most important of those issues and to discuss what actions could be taken to resolve them and what action could be taken by not only federal government but also state government, local government and even themselves as student leaders. One issue that has been raised time and time again has been mental health and, in particular, supporting student mental health. That is why I'm really pleased that our government has been able to deliver these two Medicare mental health centres to my community, making sure that mental health care is even more available to the students and the community in my electorate—something that's been raised with me so many times.

In the course of the election campaign, I was also very proud to be able to make a number of commitments supporting a broad cross-section of the community that is Burt. This included a $1.4 million commitment for a roof, basically, over the bowling greens at the Thornlie Bowling Club. I've been working with the Thornlie Bowling Club for many, many years—indeed, before I was elected to this place—about the need to expand the community facilities at the club, and we've now been able to deliver a whole new clubroom building. That's not just about supporting the club; it also supports the tennis club that was previously next door, as well as providing additional community meeting facilities that were not available there before. Covering the greens there will mean that they'll be able to operate all year round, and not just through rain; importantly, as you might have heard, Perth gets pretty hot, and being able to put those greens under cover means it will be a much more accessible community facility. The Thornlie Bowling Club is one that hosts many competitions, metropolitan and statewide, and it will allow them to continue to do that on an even larger scale.

We also committed a million dollars for the building of a multipurpose community facility for the Tigray Orthodox community. This is a rapidly growing community in my electorate, one that has been somewhat overlooked. It's great to be able to provide them with a facility that will provide sporting options and the capacity to host large community events, something that they need and that our broader community in that area of Kenwick needs as well. It will include an indoor basketball court.

We've committed $50,000 to the Chinmaya Mission in Perth. Again, this is a growing, vibrant community, located in Forrestdale. It will make sure that they are able to continue with their community lessons, education programs and support, which they provide across the age ranges, I must say. Having the playground will enable them and their families to be able to do that in a much greater way.

We also committed $50,000 to support a new playground at the Armadale Community Family Centre, and that will be shared with and be accessed by the childcare centre that's located next door. The Armadale Community Family Centre provides a very important resource to support families in Armadale. Armadale and the suburbs around the community centre have a very high saturation of public housing and low-cost and community housing. A number of services are provided to support families in the community to connect to other services and to have the support of one another. Providing them with a better playground is much needed and long overdue.

We're also providing a million dollars to the Hindu Association of Western Australia. This is an incredibly important association for the entirety of Western Australia and particularly for Perth. They used to be located in my electorate. They are now located in the electorate of Tangney, quite literally over the road from my electorate. But their community expands throughout the electorates of Burt and Tangney and across the entire metropolitan area. We are providing them with funding to support classrooms, a multipurpose hall and additional parking. The facilities they currently have are so well used that the road they sit on has quite possibly one of the worst traffic snarls in the entire community, and so having that additional parking is desperately overdue and, I know, also supported by the City of Gosnells for that reason.

These are very important additions and commitments that we've made to our community in Burt, and I've been happy to be able to make those commitments as the local member, but I'm very proud to be able to be doing that as a minister in the Albanese Labor government—being able to be part of our focus on addressing cost-of-living-concerns and making sure that we're delivering for people where they need it. The reforms that we've made through changes to the Fair Work Act to make sure that people are protected in their workplace and have greater security in their employment, where we have seen not only inflation coming down but real wage growth as well, whilst maintaining high levels of employment, is incredibly important. My community is often the first to see an increase in the unemployment rate and the last to see increases in the employment rate, so being able to maintain unemployment at a low level while seeing wages grow in real terms under our government is incredibly important,. and I know everybody in my community is very happy to see that interest rates are starting to fall as well.

As part of the Albanese Labor government, I'm incredibly proud of what we have been able to deliver in my portfolios of veterans' affairs and defence personnel as well. Over the last three years, we've been able to achieve great change when it comes to how we support our veterans and their families. We've invested in the Department of Veterans' Affairs' frontline claim-processing capability, which has included a huge investment in increasing the number of staff—and not just the number of staff but also making sure they are public servants employed in ongoing employment jobs. That's meant that we've reduced the reliance on labour hire. It's meant that we've reduced the rate of churn in the department. It's meant that the efficiency and effectiveness of how we're able to process those claims has increased incredibly. The Department of Veterans' Affairs is now the best resourced that it has been in three decades.

We also undertook one of the most significant reforms to veterans' entitlements legislation in four decades with the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025. This will see, from the middle of this year, a movement where three separate, complex schemes of veteran support will converge into one scheme going forward. This will mean that it's easier for veterans to understand and navigate the system that is there to support them, it will make it easier it for the advocates that work with our veterans to be able to provide that advice and support, and it will make it easier for the department to be able to process those claims by simplifying the system that underpins it, which means that veterans and families will be able to get access to the support that they need more quickly.

This is all part of us delivering on our responses to the interim report and the final report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This was a royal commission that we called for when we were in opposition, and in September of last year we received the final report from the royal commission. By December, in almost record time—in fact, it probably is record time—we'd provided the government's response to all of those recommendations. This came on the back of the work that we had undertaken in relation to all of the recommendations that had been made in the interim report of the royal commission, which we received in August of 2022.

We are now in the process of working through the implementation of those recommendations from the final report of the royal commission. This started with the establishment of a taskforce in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to provide that integrated advice across government, Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs on how we stage out and implement the 122 recommendations that were made by the report.

Importantly, what we also did at the beginning of this year was to legislate the establishment of the oversight body that the royal commission itself said was the most important recommendation that it had made—a body that will oversee the work undertaken by Defence and the Department of Veterans' Affairs in supporting our serving personnel and veterans and their families, making sure the government delivers on the intended outcomes from the recommendations of the royal commission. Earlier this year, we legislated the establishment of that body, which will be the Defence and Veterans' Services Commission. It will commence legislative operation from September of this year, and we have already appointed an interim commissioner who is starting the work of that commission, which will be incredibly important and give confidence to the veteran community around Australia that governments, not just now but into the future, will continue to have a focus on delivering on the supports that our veterans and their families not only need but deserve.

As part of the government's response to the royal commission, we've also funded the Department of Veterans' Affairs to undertake important co-design work with the veteran community, firstly, in relation to the establishment of a wellbeing agency within the Department of Veterans' Affairs. This represents a critical shift in the approach that has been taken in supporting our veterans and families. Largely, the support provided to veterans and families has been focused on medical support, mental health support, processing claims and access to compensation. But the broader wellbeing of our veteran community, whilst having been something often spoken about, has not been the key focus of a government agency. The establishment of a wellbeing agency, on which the department has been undertaking consultation with the broader veteran community around the country for a number of months now, will be an incredibly important change in that approach, to make sure that we have that broader aspect of connection when it comes to housing support, employment, mental health and physical health—a connection which is so important.

A number of these things have been done for some time within the department or by other organisations and services, but bringing them together in a more coordinated way will be incredibly important. It will allow us to bring together, in an important way, the veterans and families hubs that we have been rolling out since our election in 2022. I was very happy to be able to join the member for Brand in Rockingham last week to announce the location of a new veterans and families hub, the Goldsworthy Veteran and Families Centre, in Rockingham. That will be an important contribution to the network of veterans and families hubs that we've been rolling out in an area where we have located Australia's biggest naval base.

The department is also doing work with our ex-service organisations in relation to the recommendation for the establishment of a peak body for ex-service organisations. This has been something that has been much talked about for a long period of time. It was raised with me as soon as I came into the portfolio some three years ago. It was something that had been spoken about by many but had never been able to be delivered upon. It's fair to say that it is a broad church in the veteran community. We funded the Department of Veterans' Affairs to undertake this work with the veteran community. I say to the veteran community engaged with this work: the royal commission made the recommendation because it saw the benefit that can come from having a unified peak body representing the interests across the broad cross-section of the veteran community and the ex-service organisations that represent it.

For such a body to be a success, it will, of course, be incredibly important that it represents that broad cross-section appropriately, in terms of geography, across our federation, in terms of the three different services of Navy, Army and Air Force, and in terms of those that represent those who served in the Second World War, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the conflicts and peacekeeping that have occurred since. Making sure that all those different interests and others across the veteran community are represented will be the thing that ensures the success of an ex-service organisation peak body. It will need to be a body that is owned, not in a legal sense but in a tangible sense of connection, by the veteran community. That will be the thing that will ensure its success and ensure the delivery of that recommendation by the royal commission. So the work of DVA in engaging with the veteran community to make sure we find a model that is supported by the veteran community for this will be incredibly important.

DVA is also supporting the ex-service community in the establishment of an independent institute of veteran advocacy. Through public consultation that occurred last year, this is a sector led institute that will be responsible for training and accreditation for compensation and wellbeing advocates working with veterans and families as they engage with DVA. This is about lifting the standards in the sector. It will enhance governance standards across the advocacy sector and ensure that there is a focus on approved advocates that have undertaken the required training to support our veterans, making sure that veterans are not taken advantage of by some unscrupulous actors that exist in this ecosystem. I say to all veterans and their families: if you need support and advocacy support in engaging with the DVA system, please make sure that you choose an accredited advocate on the register. You can access the register at www.advocateregister.org.au.

I'll be working to continue the momentum on what we have already achieved when it comes to improving our supports for our serving personnel, veterans and their families. We campaigned for the royal commission, and I'll work tirelessly to ensure that our government's response to its recommendations are implemented so that all of those that have selflessly served our nation in our uniform receive the services and supports not only that they need but, frankly, that they deserve.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the address-in-reply be agreed to. I give the call to the member for Mallee.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party, Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I join my colleagues in congratulating you on your well-deserved election to Deputy Speaker for this House.

As we begin the 48th Parliament, I am deeply aware of the honour that every member who sits in this House on both sides has in representing the electorates that they come from. It's a very serious position to take to be able to represent, in my case, the 130,000 people living in the region of Mallee. I want to thank all of those who spent their time, their energy, their money backing me for this third time to take up this position to represent the people of Mallee. I want to thank my family, of course; my staff, many of whom have been here this week and those back home in my two offices—two, given the size of Mallee; and especially my husband. I don't think we spend enough time thanking our wonderful partners. My husband of 48 years, this year, is my rock and remains my rock.

I rise today, this afternoon, in the very privileged position as the sworn-in representative of Mallee. I'm humbled that they bring their stories to life and that I have the opportunity to bring their stories to life in this House.

Mallee extends, for those who don't know, from Maryborough in the south to Cohuna in the east, Edenhope to the west and Mildura to the north of Victoria. The electorate covers 83½ thousand square kilometres, over a third of the state of Victoria—if you look at it, it is quite frightening—and it boasts prime agricultural and horticultural land that grows stone fruit, grapes, vegetables, wheat, legumes, olive, almonds, dairy, sheep and beef, just to name a few.

Cropping land makes up 43 per cent of that north-west Victorian region. Mallee is an essential part of Australia's food bowl and a key to the country's food security. Why do I say that? Because the public policies developed in this parliament—and, of course, in the Senate—are not just words on paper to be filed away; they have a huge impact on people's lives every day, and that impact can be positive or negative; hence, I would like to reflect, over the course of my speech, on the importance of good policy and the perils of poor policy as they relate to constituents in regional electorates across the country, especially Mallee.

While I applaud good policy and bipartisan commitments to defence, such as AUKUS, and to ensuring that our Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is not used as a bargaining tool to fight US tariffs, there are too many examples of bad policy from the last three years under the Albanese Labor government that I must call out. This is my job. In my home state of Victoria, we have state and federal Labor governments who are zeroing in on my electorate of Mallee as a dumping ground for bad policy—namely, railroading and dividing small regional communities and farmers with unwanted wind turbines, solar panels and transmission line projects. This is all in the name of a 43 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2030 and net zero by 2050.

These communities, my communities, many of them made up of multigenerational farming families, are sick and tired of their private-property rights being eroded, their land values and income-generating capacity being put at enormous risk, their children's future being played like pieces on a chess board and their communities being torn apart as neighbours are pitted against neighbours. As Andrew Weidemann of the Dunmunkle Land Protection Group, a farmer in Rupanyup in my electorate of Mallee, said at an event in Horsham last night, 'Net zero was meant to be about making the world a better place.' That is true. But I tell you what: in practice, on the ground, this policy is not making life better for people in Mallee or indeed improving the budgets of every Australian household. Check your latest energy bill.

I encourage you to take a look at the wonderful way the Institute of Public Affairs has captured some of the stories of the people in communities across Mallee who are affected by this reckless renewable rollout in their video titled The Faces of Net Zero, released today. I commend those courageous people who were part of that project, and other leaders, for their tireless work and ongoing fight in their communities to protect their way of life. I would like to mention Marcia McIntyre, who features in the IPA video and whose farm in Kanya is in the line of the proposed VNI West transmission line. Marcia is a tireless advocate for her community. I also want to mention Ben Duxson, who generously hosted my event at his farm, also in Kanya, late last year, where I took the shadow treasurer, Ted O'Brien, then the shadow minister for energy, and the Victorian opposition shadow energy minister, David Davis, to hear from Wimmera locals about their opposition to renewable projects and especially the imposition of the VNI West transmission line.

These people represent the many in Mallee and beyond who feel as though they have no voice. Communities in the Wimmera are facing the imposition of large-scale projects with a total lack of information transparency, token consultation and, therefore, a complete lack of social licence. While I have long advocated that renewable energy and mining projects in the regions must have social licence and tangible community benefits, the emerging themes of a recent electorate-wide survey undertaken across Mallee suggest that the majority of respondents expect much more than just token community consultation as a mechanism for gaining social licence. They object to the imposition of energy or mining projects on farming land altogether and, indeed, would like a right of veto to these projects, as exists in Western Australia.

I again reiterate the important role this part of Mallee plays in food production and therefore food security. There is a relative scarcity in this country of prime agricultural land and a blatant disregard for agricultural value from both the state and federal Labor governments in their drive towards net zero. It is no coincidence that the Victorian state energy minister, Lily D'Ambrosio, visited Kerang and Wycheproof recently and that VicGrid's chief executive, Alistair Parker, was also in the region—both, at times, receiving justifiably prickly receptions. Farmers who object to the Victorian government representatives entering their properties without the farmer's consent risk a $12,000 fine for refusing access. This is a dystopian nightmare coming to life on Victorian farms. The newly legislated government controls over private property are unprecedented.

Mallee farmers, who are a down-to-earth bunch, know better than anyone that this drive towards net zero is an impossible task that will destroy not only pristine landscapes and prime agricultural land but the nation's economy and our livelihoods more broadly as well. The constituents survey I mentioned earlier highlighted that almost 60 per cent of respondents in Mallee oppose both the 2030 renewable targets and net zero by 2050. They prioritise affordability and reliability in our energy system and are not willing to pay a dollar—68 per cent of them, at that—to fund the energy transition. Think about that. If 68 per cent of my electorate is representative of the rest of regional Australia, that is millions of people who are not willing to put one dollar towards this energy transition, yet we know that Australians are already paying for net zero. Not only have Australians not seen the $275 reduction in energy bills repeatedly promised by the Prime Minister in the last term of government but electricity bills have increased by 32 per cent and gas bills by 34 per cent, driving the persistent cost-of-living crisis that is crushing household budgets.

Labor are not content just to railroad regional communities to tick the boxes on their unachievable political targets for city votes; Labor—both the Albanese and the Allan governments—are raiding farmers for money too. Victoria's so-called emergency services and volunteers fund levy is a tax on land values, and it took the protests of farmers like those I've mentioned in Spring Street to get Labor to realise that there's a drought on in western Victoria. So, in their benevolence, they've given farmers just one year of reprieve.

On top of that, the Albanese Labor government, with the Treasurer's customary smirk and shrug of the shoulders, say, 'Too bad, mate; we need your money.' They're now coming for farmers' unrealised capital gains. It's a simple and offensive proposition. Your farm value or your small-business value goes up, but that's only on paper. You haven't realised that gain. You haven't sold the business or the farm to earn that money, but Labor want to tax farmers and small-business owners for those gains every year.

Nowhere in the world has a government been as brazen as the Albanese Labor government in raiding money from people who are in drought—in drought! As farmers are telling me, they will have no option but to sell land to pay the new taxes every year with the new super tax. It is outrageous. Farmers are asset rich but cash poor. Wimmera farmer Ross Johns has asked: why is the government destroying the farming future of his 30-year-old son?

And let's remember that Labor's raid on self-managed super funds won't end there. In question time yesterday, they would not rule out taxing the family home or family trusts. In their hubris and their triumph at outgreening the Greens, they've turned the politics of envy up to maximum and are raiding small-business owners and farmers for money that simply is not there. And let's not forget the Henry VIII clause, the power the Treasurer wants to give himself to tweak the dials harder to bring in even more revenue for Labor's reckless spending priorities without any checks or balances in this House. Make no mistake: this radical Labor government is determined to bleed Australia dry and then some more. Small businesses and farmers are the engine of our economy, but Labor only want their chosen winners—their union affiliates—to succeed and to increase in productivity in this country.

Another example of horrible policy from this government is water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin. Our food security is in deep trouble. I was speaking with AUSVEG about this yesterday here in Canberra. We cannot assume traditional supply chains from overseas will continue to hold strong, as they once did. Labor seem to have forgotten the food supply shocks we experienced during the pandemic and as a result of natural disasters. The common theme here, whether it's railroading regional communities with utterly unachievable energy rollout targets or buying back water from farmers to please radical environmentalists, is that Labor puts our food security at risk.

And the risks don't end there. We have had some level of bipartisanship with the government in acknowledging that local government is not sustainable. I have called and called again, as shadow minister for local government, for this government to resume the parliamentary inquiry into local government sustainability. My own councils in Mallee have dire sustainability issues, and this comes back to risk and, of course, local roads. Councils are struggling to maintain their local roads, getting no funding from federal or state governments. The Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program the coalition established in government has ceased, and councils loved that program. It gave them money every year to spend on their priorities. Regional councils got more out of this program than city councils, so, yet again, we see Labor raiding regions to buy votes in the city by scrapping the program. Labor is bleeding regional Australia dry, pretending they don't exist so they can railroad their transmission lines and their turbines and raid farmers for money so they can celebrate more electoral triumphs in the inner city.

To that end, I want to commend the Daily Telegraph and other media outlets like Sky News and organisations like the Institute of Public Affairs for joining me and my Nationals colleagues in giving a voice and a face to these farmers, the collateral damage—or, as Premier Chris Minns implied in that story, the sacrifice for Labor's agenda. For two days running this week, the Daily Telegraph has profiled farmers in the firing line of a wind project in Binalong and Bowning, and I can tell you that Emma Webb and her father Angus Oberg's stories from that farming community are all too familiar to me as the member for Mallee. I've been talking about it here, in the media, wherever I can, because these are the human stories, the Australian stories, the real people whose lives are being turned upside down by Labor rewiring the nation and bleeding the country dry for tax revenue. I will continue to stand and I will continue to fight through this parliament, the 48th Parliament, for the people who live in regional Australia so that they get a much better deal than they're getting right now.

Shayne Neumann (Blair, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's wonderful to be back in this place having been elected for a record seventh term in my electorate of Blair. I'm humbled by the election result and indebted to the people and communities of Ipswich, the Somerset region and the Karana Downs area for their support. It's an honour and privilege to represent an area in which my family has lived for seven generations, but I couldn't have done it without the hard work and dedication of so many volunteers and supporters. For me, the highlight apart from increasing my majority in a marginal seat was seeing Labor re-elected. I'm immensely proud to have come through what was a very bitter and hard-fought local campaign. At the same time, I'm encouraged to see so many new Labor MPs and senators elected. I take this opportunity to congratulate them all on their success. The future of our party, our government and our country is indeed bright. I also want to congratulate my neighbour in Ipswich, the member for Oxley, on his re-election as Speaker, and I look forward to working with him and all the deputy speakers over the next three years. Thanks, Speaker, for the cooperation on all the joint booths in Ipswich.

Again, I want to thank the good people of Blair for putting their faith in me to continue to represent them in federal parliament. I look forward to continuing to work hard for my local community as part of a re-elected and re-energised Albanese Labor government. It was a hard-fought victory for Labor in Blair and ultimately a rejection of the coalition and its former leader, Peter Dutton. You didn't have to be very long in a polling booth to meet people coming through saying that they couldn't bring themselves to vote for Mr Dutton. It was a negative for the coalition. As they always do, the LNP talked up a big game in Blair and talked up their chances, but in the end their message struggled to gain traction.

For our part, we ran a disciplined, well-organised grassroots campaign, and I'm confident we had the right message for voters. At the end of the day, you don't win a rugby league grand final by just turning up in the semifinals. You have to work hard and campaign continuously. Our campaign focused on cost-of-living relief, health and delivering the road and community infrastructure needed in my rapidly growing electorate. We made numerous election commitments during the campaign—things like $200 million in funding a long-term fix for the notorious Amberley Interchange, major upgrades to the Brisbane Valley Highway and the Mount Crosby interchange, a new rugby league and sports centre in the Ripley corridor, upgrades to the Ipswich basketball stadium and Fernvale Sports Park, expanding the Chuwar Koala and Native Fauna Conservation Park, a new headspace mental health centre in Redbank Plains, a new House of India community and cultural centre in Springfield, a major upgrade to the Lowood pool and upgrades to the Springfield Central YMCA. At a national level, voters connected with the Albanese government's clear plans for the nation's future: delivering cost-of-living relief with tax cuts for every taxpayer, more affordable health care, help for first home buyers, free TAFE, cheaper child care and cuts to HECS debt.

Ipswich is one of the fastest growing cities in the country. We're grappling with infrastructure needs, housing pressures and youth unemployment, so our positive policies and local commitments really resonated with Blair's booming suburbs like Ripley and Spring Mountain. The result reflected the strong local support for our agenda in areas like this.

In contrast, the coalition shot themselves in the foot by running one of the most negative and nasty campaigns I've seen anywhere in all of my 40 years of local campaigning for the Labor Party—that cuts across 15 federal campaigns. I make no apology for describing the LNP's 2025 campaign in Blair as toxic and a new low in local politics. The LNP engaged in disgraceful personal attacks on me. There was no record of me anywhere, verbally or personally, attacking the LNP candidate, yet they spent much of their campaign caricaturing me, alleging false things about me, even accusing me of being responsible for alleged rising crime in Blair.

There's been extensive national media reporting on the role of the fringe Plymouth Brethren Christian Church—also known as the Exclusive Brethren—in this election. Perhaps what is less well known is their presence in the LNP campaign in Blair. There was a clear arrangement, a quid pro quo, between the LNP and the Exclusive Brethren.

What did the LNP get out of it? In Blair, they recruited the Exclusive Brethren in their hundreds—up to 20 people on a polling booth—to campaign on issues like road funding. I doubt, by the way, very few of them could even name five streets in Ipswich or in Esk. Not only that, we saw bullying, and aggressive, intimidating and offensive behaviour at polling booths by the Exclusive Brethren in LNP paraphernalia. Exclusive Brethren members stood in front of Labor volunteers and verbally abused them—men and women—physically blocked them from handing out how-to-vote cards, filmed Labor volunteers and other volunteers on their phones and made petty and vexatious complaints to polling booth returning officers. Yet they themselves refused to obey lawful directions by the AEC at pre-polls, and I saw this myself.

The Exclusive Brethren even harassed and stalked me and my campaign staff during the campaign. On election day they even followed me and my car at one point, from booth to booth. They followed my campaign workers at night, doing laps of polling booths, heckling and yahooing. When I went to Ipswich State High School, on the last day, they abused and abused and abused me as I walked in to hand out how-to-vote cards for the Labor Party. On top of this, they regularly defaced and destroyed my campaign signs and plastered the electorate with LNP signs, which really just succeeded in annoying voters.

In the social media space, several times during the campaign, my posts appeared to be swarmed by coalition, Advance and other extreme-right trolls and bots from all over the country. To be clear, there is no issue with people of faith or no faith campaigning. After all, I'm a Christian by faith and a member of my local Baptist church.

They flooded the pre-poll. A number of female voters told me and my Labor volunteers they felt intimidated by these hordes of Exclusive Brethren men, in LNP garb, haranguing and yelling at them as they attempted to make their way into polling booths. This is backed up by voters on social media posts in Ipswich.

I believe the coordinated conduct of the LNP and the Exclusive Brethren in this campaign in Blair and elsewhere—all around the country—highlights why we should consider a truth-in-political-advertising framework at a federal level, like they have in South Australia and the ACT. We also need stronger and better electoral rules and laws around groups like the Exclusive Brethren operating as an unofficial third party.

I certainly hope that parliament's Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, JSCEM, takes these issues up as part of its post-election inquiry.

Yet, despite everything we had to put up with in terms of the final result, these ugly tactics backfired and blew up in the LNP's face. Critically, the LNP wrecked their voter base by preferencing One Nation and doing a deal for second preferences. As a result, they lost many moderates, middle-of-the-road voters, who want a centrist, liberal free enterprise party.

I was proud that Labor put One Nation last—as we always do—in Blair. The LNP should have done the same thing.

I was fortunate to have so much help from so many quarters during the campaign. I thank the Prime Minister for his support and leadership. Congratulations on an historic victory. There were so many people involved, and I want to thank them. There are probably too many to name, but I want to do my best. First of all, I want to thank the voters of Blair for putting their faith and trust in me. I won't let you down.

I thank the traditional owners of my area, the Yagara and Yuggera and Yugarabul people, and pay my respects to the work that they do and to their elders past, present and emerging and also to the fact of the tens of thousands of years they have cared for country in my area.

I want to thank all the local Labor Party branches and unions who supported me and the local residents and community activists who helped me on the ground. To the ALP national secretary, Paul Erickson, and assistant secretary, Jen Light: thanks for your leadership, your extensive research and the resources provided to me. I also want to thank former Queensland state secretary Kate Flanders and assistant secretary Zac Beers for their support. I look forward to working with the new incoming state secretary, Ben Driscoll. It's fair to say the incredible results we got in Queensland reflect the strong leadership and directions that Kate and Zac provided at the state level.

I want to thank my Queensland Labor organiser, Bella Scattini, and my field organiser, Jeremy Wong, for their work on the ground and behind the scenes in keeping me on the straight and narrow. I want to thank the unions as well, including the Queensland Council of Unions and the general secretary, Jacqueline King, who came and handed out our how-to-vote cards for me at prepoll and on election day.

I've been a member of the Services Union for a very long time. Thanks to Jen Thomas and Neil Henderson for their ongoing support, and thanks to all the ASU members who came out to stand on polling booths for me.

Thanks to Stacey Schinnerl, Joey Kaiser, Luke Richmond, Max Braddy and the mighty AWU and all their members who provided such hands-on support. Stacey even worked through election eve with her team, setting up election booths. Thanks to Gerard Dwyer, Justin Power and the SDA, the shoppies, for their generous support for members who doorknocked and letterboxed whole suburbs and country towns and worked polling booths across Blair, with Justin spending election day in the country town of Esk with Lionel and Doreen Shaw. Thanks to Josh Millroy and the TWU for providing valuable personal and logistics support, especially setting up and staffing polling booths. Thanks to Sally Gunner and the CPSU for their help. Thanks to the Queensland Teachers' Union and those teachers who fought for public education at polling booths.

I had amazing support from so many Young Labor members who mucked in and did high-visibility campaigning, doorknocking, letterboxing and making phone calls. I recognise the valuable work of people like Chris, Jacinto, Kyall and Brodie, whose dedication and youthful exuberance were inspiring. There are many hundreds of branch members across Blair. I want to thank them all, including those in my own branch, the Raceview Flinders branch, which is the biggest Labor Party branch west of Brisbane. These people are the backbone of the campaign. I want to thank the local branches from Somerset to the greater Springfield area.

I especially want to thank my campaign director, Madonna Stott, for her relentless work ethic, campaign discipline, wise guidance and strong leadership. Madonna was the point person who worked with me to develop our campaign plan and then liaised with everyone from party office to campaign HQ, ministers' offices, unions and branch members just to make it all happen. Thanks, Mad, you were absolutely fantastic. Madonna transformed her house into a campaign staging post, the nerve centre of the operation, possibly to the chagrin of her local neighbours. I've known Madonna for decades, and I thank you for your friendship and leadership in the Blair campaign.

My constituent and community liaison manager, Cate Oliver, kept the administrative side of things running smoothly and provided huge logistical support on election day, keeping volunteers fed and watered—also known as Cate's café. Both Cate and Nicole Chapple from my office organised the booth rosters and handled the prepolls. Blair has over 50 booths; it's a big regional and rural electorate. Despite having to deal with a range of challenges, Nicole and Cate ensured we had the best booth rosters I've ever seen in Blair. Nicole is secretary of the Blair federal organising council and, along with the treasurer, Nick Hughes, ensured the t's were crossed and the i's were dotted. Thanks, Nicole, and thanks, Nick.

A big thanks to my diary manager, Kerry Silver, who kept the electorate office going and made sure I knew where I needed to be. She was an indispensable part of the campaign and fundraising team. Kerry worked closely with my former electorate officer, Janice Cumming, who still is much loved in the local community, on postal votes and aged-care facility voting.

To my then media adviser and the former award-winning journalist Brian Bennion: thanks mate. To policy adviser Chris Condon, who helped pull together my election commitments and campaign announcements: I don't know what I would've done without you, Chris. Chris was vital in prepping me for the many candidate forums we had in Blair. They seemed to go on forever—right to the eve of the election. He made sure I was on message and well briefed. He was an indispensable part of our campaign team. I can't thank enough Paul Cantrall and William Hartley from my office. They made tens of thousands of calls to constituents and volunteered much of their spare time.

Thanks to Jeremy Wong, who worked with me in doorknocking and calls, organised the young people and made sure I was always up there on the leader board of the Labor candidates around the country and certainly up near the top of the leader board in Queensland. Jeremy became the campaign hi-vis whiz, ensuring teams of people were standing on street corners, engaging with commuters and passers-by months out from the election.

Thanks to Mick Watkins, who worked with a small team to get the signs up and keep them up in the face of daily vandalism across the electorate. Once again Mick transformed his ute into a mobile billboard and became a regular troubleshooter.

Thanks also to the many campaign volunteers, supporters and branch members. I want to thank local state Labor MPs Wendy Bourne, Charis Mullen and Lance McCallum; and Ipswich councillors and Labor members Jacob Madsen, Marnie Doyle and Paul Tully for their support. Paul, to you on the loss of your wife, Lisa: my deepest condolences. In addition, I thank councillors Andrew Antoniolli and David Martin for their support and friendship. Thank you as well to Somerset Regional Council member Michael Bishop for his wisdom and support in the rural areas and also to Bud Smith for his corflute help and constant campaigning in the Somerset region.

We are blessed to have a number of former MPs who give so much back to the party. This is why the Labor Party believes in lifelong calling. There are people like former state environment minister Pat Comben, whose withering biography of Peter Dutton helpfully came out during the campaign. There were former state member up in Gladstone, Neil Bennett, and the former federal member for Ryan and first female member for Ryan, Leonie Short, while former Ipswich state MPs Rachel Nolan and David Hamill provided useful sounding boards. These are some of the elder statespeople whose wisdom and advice I find invaluable, along with my mate, the head of the Clem Jones Foundation, Peter Johnstone.

To my good friend and supporter, Everald Compton, who spoke at senior forums and provided personal support and good company. He's a great raconteur. He's one of Australia's true independents, according to Wayne Swan. Thanks for your support, Everald. Meanwhile, Beryce Nelson, who served as a cabinet minister in conservative governments at state level but is now a supporter of mine in Toogoolawah, is a fierce community advocate and wonderful supporter. The Toogoolawah booth was staffed entirely by community members, like Charlie and Jade Lewis, along with people like Carolyn Barker. Thanks to Paul Whewell in Raceview, Arthur Needham in Karana Downs, Geoff Beattie in Glamorgan Vale, Malcolm Scott in Kilcoy, the greater Springfield 'cartel' of the Labor Party branch members, the wider multicultural and refugee communities across Ipswich and Springfield and all the regular and first-time volunteers.

Thank you to my praetorian guard from the Bundamba branch of the Labor Party, especially Alison Young, Lachlan Enshaw, Brad Snow and so many others. Thanks to the North Ipswich Tigers rugby league club for hosting a jubilant election night. It certainly was when Antony Green announced the result so early. To the Witch Hotel in West Ipswich, a place where all the journalists from the Queensland Times used to hang out, for hosting a volunteer thankyou function as well.

Thank you to all those who helped me fundraise and contributed financially in any way.

Finally, a big thanks to my family for their love and moral support. To my wife, Carolyn, who's been my biggest backer. Next year we celebrate 40 years as a married couple. Despite her ongoing health battle, she has provided ongoing family support. Thanks, Carolyn. To my daughters, Alex and Jacqui, and their families: thank you for your love and support. To my brothers, friends and confidants, Regan and Darrin, together with Darrin's wife, Claire, and their children, who provided great support up in Kilcoy and Mount Kilcoy: a big thankyou. They know the local LNP people and get on quite well with them up there.

Also, a big shout-out to my mum, Joy Butler, and her husband, Rob, for their ongoing support and home cooking. My mum is like the godmother of the Labor Party in Ipswich.

Thank you to all those wonderful individuals. My victory is a victory for you, as I am just the front person. I am just the representative. This is a victory for the true believers in Blair, a victory for the Labor Party and the union movement. I go into every campaign holding two tickets in my pocket: (1) a Labor Party ticket and (2) my services union ticket. I don't forget that the Labor Party has all been for the trade union movement. I thank all the unions for their fantastic support.

In closing, I thank my colleagues, particularly those ministers who visited my electorate and my colleagues with whom I spend so much time in Canberra—you become good friends with so many! I especially want to thank the Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, for launching my campaign, and Senator Anthony Chisholm for making a number of announcements in Blair. So many of them could have rented a flat in Ipswich! I also want to thank Senator Deb O'Neill for her constant support, encouragement and financial help. Thanks to now Senator Corinne Mulholland for her pre-poll help and regular campaign assistance. They are more than just colleagues; they're friends, brothers and sisters in arms—comrades. We share similar values and a desire for a better future for our communities and for the nation. We believe in social justice, equality of opportunity and a fair go for all. That's what I've believed in all my life.

I remain energetic, enthusiastic and excited about representing my local community and the people of Blair for another three years. I look forward to delivering on my election commitments and I've already hit the ground running. I look forward to this coming term and getting those much-needed projects I've talked about going for the people of Blair, so we can build a better future for my local community.

Simon Kennedy (Cook, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Firstly, in my address-in-reply, I want to congratulate an extraordinary group of individuals who have made exceptional achievements in my community, particularly in surf lifesaving, and who have kept my community safe by patrolling our beautiful Bate Bay. We have four proud and active surf lifesaving clubs in my community: Cronulla, North Cronulla, Elouera and Wanda. All recently held their annual presentation awards. There were a number of individuals honoured.

The Elouera Surf Life Saving Club awarded the Surf Sports Awards, recognising members of this club for their athletic prowess. The under-15s athlete of the year received the Constance and Colin Toll Award; that went to Nate Robertson. The under-17s athlete of the year received the Daile Banning Award; that went to Jake Hughes. The under-19s athlete of the year received the Terry Trevillian Award; that went to Nick Hughes. The open athlete of the year received the Rick Pallister Award; that went to Alex Duggan. The water man of the year received the Robert Chapman Award; that went to Nathan Neale. The water woman of the year received the Sharon Muddle Award; that went to Mikaela Mead. The most outstanding male beach athlete received the Gilchrist Family Award; that went to Peter Thoroughgood. The most outstanding female beach athlete received the other Gilchrist Family Award; that went to Natalie Hay. The most outstanding masters competitor was Robert Humphries.

They next had the boat awards, recognising members who display exceptional skills in manning the club boats. The Most Outstanding Boat Competitor Award went to Jessie O'Mahony. The Most Outstanding Boat Crew Award went to Jessie O'Mahony, Edwina Wright, Gabby Ferris, Terani Inoke and Grant Wilkinson. The Most Improved Boat Crew Award went to Tahlia Ingram, Casey Mood, Caitlin Smith, Isla Lawson, Mia McCarthy and Grant Wilkinson. And the rookie of the year received the Tim Nesbitt Award; that went to Lincoln Rommel.

The club's training awards recognise work undertaken to upskill club members in ensuring beach safety and surf lifesaving. The winner of the Most Outstanding Trainer Award was Rob Van der Sanden. The Most Improved Trainer Award went to Byron Watson.

To the lifesaving awards: the junior lifesaver of the year received the David Chandler Award; that went to Natalie Hay, as the most outstanding junior patrol person of the year. The Patrol Person of the Year Award went to Caitlin Smith. The Rookie Life Saver of the Year Award went to Nicola Dorling. The Most Outstanding IRB Member Award went to Neill Hunt. The Most Improved IRB Member Award went to Khristina Verstraete. The Most Outstanding Under-15 Club Person Award went to Ruby Kelly. The Most Outstanding Under-17 Club Person Award went to Jake Hughes. The Most Outstanding Under-19 Club Person Award went to Angus Jarolimek. The most outstanding club person received the President's Trophy; that was Neill Hunt. The Belinda Emmerson-Franke Encouragement Award went to Tim Grant. The Ted Brooker Memorial Award for most outstanding contribution in club competition and service went to Ruby Kelly. Congratulations to all the winners from Elouera Surf Club.

The Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club is our oldest lifesaving club and one of Australia's oldest and most iconic surf lifesaving clubs, established in 1907. Cronulla awarded Silver Medallion Patrol Awards in advanced surf lifesaving that equipped members with skills and knowledge to confidently manage beach patrol, especially in challenging situations. This year, there were a number of winners, including Bridget Cole, Brandon Leelong, Freddy Obitz and Kim Williams.

There were 100% Award winners. These winners must have been on patrol for the entire season and performed all their rostered patrols as per the roster without any time missed or any changes. This year, the award winners were Alessio Polimeni, Amelie Sanchez, Angelo Palamidis, Annette Tasker, Freddy Obitz, Benjamin Paton, Brian Dalgarno, Bronessa Smith, Catherine Rubbi, Chloe Teuma, Chris Barber, Claire Pierse, Craig Timbrell, Chris Ordenes, David Dalla-Camina, Damien Carlton, Diego Ordenes, George Ordenes, Phillip Hamilton, Jacinta Watson, Janine Paton, Justine Woolveridge, Kenneth Anderson, Kenneth Rosebery, Levi Stateski, Lew Cochrane, Ludovic Catherine, Maddie Stanton, Maj Sibai, Mark Teuma, Nader Saleh, Nick Rubbi, Noah Duchet-Catherine, Olivier Sanchez, Pablo Azurdia Webb, Paul Spratt, Richard Pinker, Robert Short Junior, Rodd Sanchez, Samuel Easton, Saoirse O'Brien, Sascha Stewart, Stewart Rodham, Tahlia Comb, Tiffany Crompton, Kim Williams, Zack Pontey and Zane Watson.

Special recognition goes to Chris Barber for achieving the 100% Award for over 20 years—how outstanding, 100 per cent for 20 years. The Outstanding Patrol Attendance Award went to Anne Crane and Richard Pinker. The winning patrol of the year was captained by Zoe Duchet-Catherine and comprised a number of surf lifesaving members: Alessio Polimeni, Alicia McCullouch, Andrea Fantechi, Angus Griffin, Anna Cox, Bob Sagar, Brent Gaddes, Brooke Edwards, Darryl Easton, Darryl Gaddes, Dylan Ingram, Harrison Clarke, Isabella Ingram, Joanna Panter, Levi Stateski, Ludovic Catherine, Melvyn Guilbert, Niclas Rogulski, Noah Duchet-Catherine, Freddy Obitz, Rebecca Ingram, Samuel Easton, Sascha Stewart, Sophie Guilbert, Titoan Guilbert, Vincent Guilbert and Wojciech Rogulski.

This year, the individuals with the greatest number of points for each sport were Ricky Crompton in the open swim, Paul Cox in the masters swim, Scott Phillips in the vets swim, Chris Ordenes in the open ski and Greg Oldfield in the open board. The Auxiliary Trophy winners were Tiffany Crompton in the opens, Scott Phillips in the vets and Stephen Parkes in the masters. The President's Trophy winners were Daryn Metti in the opens, Rob Walker in the vets and Paul Cox in the masters. The Captain's Trophy winners were Baden Green in the opens, Carolyn Macauley in the vets and Mark Franklin in the masters. The 2025-26 Nipper Leadership Team and winners were the captains, Jackso Swingler and Charlotte Diver-Tuck; the vice-captains, Fletcher Sellick and Madelyn Watts; and the leadership team, Catherine McCulloch and Liana Ellis.

I now turn to the ironperson swim and let champions, who excelled in the swim portion of the overall ironwoman or ironman competition. This year the club recognised Saoirse O'Brien in the under-15 females, Melvin Guilbert in the under-17 males, Amelie Sanchez in the under-17 females, Jay Furniss in the open males, Paul Cox in the over-50 males and Chris Freeman in the under-50 males.

In the surf race, the under-15 male was Dylan Cooper and the under 15 female was Amelia De -Jongh. The under-17 male was Melvin Guilbert, and the under-17 female was Amelie Sanchez. The under-19 male was Brent Gaddes, and the open male was Will Bannister. The open female was Zoe Duchet-Catherine. The under-50 male was Chris Freeman, and the over-50 male was Baden Green. In the belts, the under-17 male was Ethan Maclachlan. The under-19 male was Jake Boyle. The open male was Jack Robinson.

I now turn to this year's board and ski championship winners. The under-15 male board winner was Diego Ordenes. The under-15 female board winner was Saoirse O'Brien. The under-17 male board winner was Chris Ordenes. The under-17 female board winner was Amelie Sanchez. The under-19 male board winner was Brent Gaddes. The open male board winner was Will Bannister. The open female board winner was Zoe Duchet-Catherine. The under-50 male board winner was Chris Freeman, and the over-50 male board winner was Robert Walker. The under-17 male ski winner was Melvin Guilbert. The under-17 female ski winner was Sophie Woodrow. The under-19 male ski winner was Hobbie Smit, the open male ski winner was also Hobbie Smit. The open female ski winner was Zoe Duchet-Catherine. The under-50 male ski winner was Chris Freeman. The over-50 male ski winner was Daryn Metti, and the over-50 female ski winner was Kelly Mountier.

In the beach championships, the open male flags winner was Levi Statevski, and the open female flags winner was Telia Ellis. The under-17 male flags winner was Melvin Guilbert, and the under-17 female flags winner was Sophie Woodrow. The under-19 male flags winner was Hobbie Smit. The under-15 female sprint winner was Saoirse O'Brien. The under-17 female sprint winner was Sophie Woodrow, and the open male sprint winner was Levi Statevski.

The Australian championships is a major national event where surf lifesavers from across Australia compete in a wide range of events. This year's participants were Nikki Jones in the over-35 sprint and over-35 flags, Jon Lavers in the over-70 boardriding longboard and over-70 boardriding shortboard.

There was also another set of special awards that I would like to draw attention to. The Masters Competitor of the Year was David Brukmann. The Ken Brown Award went to Zara Lammers. The Nick Dixon Memorial Boatman's Trophy went to Declan Bourke. The Outstanding Contribution to IRB Section went to Greg Oldfield. The Outstanding Official went to Carlo Villanti. The Bill Marshal OAM Memorial Award for the patrol person of the year went to Lachlan Waring from patrol 2. The Tony Purcell Memorial Award went to Jack Robinson. The Instructors Award went to Rodd Sanchez.

The junior club person for the under-15 males went to Diego Ordenes and the junior club person for the under-15 females went to Amelia De Jongh. The junior club person for the under-17 males went to Melvin Guilbert. The junior club person for the under-17 females went to Sophie Woodrow. The junior club person for the under-19 males went to Hobbie Smit. The junior club person for the under-19 females went to Joanna Panter. The Most Improved Member went to Thomas Woodrow.

The Ken English Patron Emeritus Award for efforts in instruction and/or training of club members went to Rodd Sanchez, and the Luke and Jack Gibson Memorial Award for most inspirational member went to Chris Barber. The Barry Ezzy OAM Patron Emeritus Award for fundraising or innovation went to Ken Rosebery. The Geoffrey Forshaw OAM Patron Emeritus Memorial Award for efforts in enhancing the reputation of the club went to Anna Crane and John Tangohau.

To all of this year's recipients: your contribution to the safety, the sport and our community of Cook is deeply appreciated. You make Cook proud.

I also want to celebrate the Southern Sydney Business Awards in my local community. Small business is the backbone of our country and our economy. Small and medium-sized businesses make up nearly 70 per cent of employment and almost 98 per cent of businesses, and while small business hires, large business fires. Small and medium-sized businesses that grew made up 100 per cent of net job growth in the Australian economy. Not only are they the backbone of the Australian economy; they're the backbone of my local community in Cook. This year's winners in Cook were, for excellence in large business, Geoff Bannister from Betty's Burgers, Miranda, and, for the most outstanding community organisation, Karen Johnston from BFF 4 Change. The outstanding new business award went to Esther Goh from Marketing Jar, and the outstanding visitor experience business award went to Jim Winchester from Quest Woolooware Bay.

We also had the Local Business Awards, which celebrated more outstanding achievements from these vital small businesses in my local community of Cook. Again, they make up the backbone of Australia, the backbone of Cook, and the backbone of employment. This year's winner from Cook in the automotive services category went to Stephen Melton from Southern Sydney Mechanical. The best bakery/cake business award went to Bastian Gab from Miranda. The best beauty services award went to Wafaa Karim from Cronulla Skin Sanctuary. The best brows and lashes beauty services award went to Lauren Conway from Lauren Elyse & Co, Sutherland Shire. The best cafe award went to Zee Cheikho from Dolce Aroma. The best community services award went to Dani Christie from the Family Co. The best delicatessen/gourmet food award went to Michael Haddad from Nina's Chocolates—a beautiful place, which has an outlet just near where I live, in Gymea Bay.

The best early childhood centre award went to Carissa Blizard from Antara on Wyralla Childcare and Preschool. The best education service award went to Lindsay Smith from Excite Safety. The best fashion award went to Melissa Bennetts from Bay Road Clothes. The best food/takeaway award went to Abdul Chowdhury from Chargrill Chicky. The best fitness services award went to Sophia Chantharawiphak from SPC Muay Thai Gym. The best florist award went to Stephanie Jordan from Nunu Designs. The best fresh food award went to Christina Basile from Panetta Mercato Kirrawee in South Village. The best hairdresser award went to Joanne Beards from Karizma Hair Kreations in the Civic Arcade. The best health improvement services award went to Rachel Dorman from shire hearing and implant centres. The best holiday and travel award went to Susie Potter from the Africa Safari Co in Sutherland. The best jewellery store award went to Julie Heta from Prouds the Jewellers in Sylvania Southgate Shopping Centre. The most inclusive employer award went to Mike Parker from Commercial Freight and Logistics. The best performing arts award went to Zoe Karatzovalis from Infinite Abilities Performing Arts. The best pet care award went to Jacqueline Bell from Cronulla Veterinary Clinic. The best pharmacy award went to Ramy Hanna from TerryWhite Chemmart Caringbah. The best plumbing services award went to Jeremy Atoui from Jeremy's Plumbing Meats at Southgate—a great business and a great entrepreneur as well.

The best professional medical services award went to Sarah Anis from Spectrum Medical Imaging Miranda. The best professional services award went to Jodie Jamieson from Gibson Howlin Lawyers. The best real estate agency award went to Peter Green from Laing+Simmons in Miranda. The best family restaurant award went to John Hatzikiriakos from the New Chambers Restaurant. The best services and trade award went to Ivana Josic from Boyan Built. The best sole operator award went to Andrew Woodward from the Investors Way. The best specialised business award went to Ben Browning from 1800 Projects. The best specialist retail business award went to Tracey Morrison from Crockers Paint and Wallpaper. The best businessperson of the year award went to Tahlia Carlyle from Tahlia Carlyle Empowered Living Care. The youth award went to Kyra Holloway from Kyra Holloway, Antara on Wryalla Childcare and Preschool. The best business of the year award went to Jodie Jamieson from Gibson Howlin Lawyers, and the Sutherland Shire access and inclusion winner was Jasmin Moffitt from Dust Devilz.

I'd also like to acknowledge a tragic accident. My condolences and prayers go out to the boys and families involved in the tragic jet ski accident on Tuesday evening on the Georges River in Sylvania. Tragically, this accident claimed the life of 15-year-old Mitchell Irvine and left his friend, 14-year-old Noah Watkins, seriously injured. Mitchell's loss and Noah's injuries have devastated my local community and serve as a heartbreaking reminder of how fragile life is. To Mitchell's family: we mourn with you—me and the rest of our beautiful community in Cook. To Noah and your family: our thoughts and prayers are with you for a speedy recovery. I would also like to pay special tribute to police officer Jesse Hockey and paramedic Scott McNamara, who showed extraordinary courage diving into the cold, deep, dark, murky water to help Noah and save his life. Their bravery reflects the best of our emergency services and reflects the community spirit and bravery that all of our community in the seat of Cook exhibits.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

[Kaurna language] Ninna Marni. Ngai nari Louise Miller-Frost. Ngai kartinya ngarri. Ninna marni ngadlu Kaurna yerta. Ngadluku Ngunnawal and Ngambri yerta, ngadlu tampinthi, parnku yerta, ngadlu Ngunnawal and Ngambri yartangka tampinthi. What I just said was: 'Hello. My name is Louise Miller-Frost. I am the first-born female in my family. I come from Kaurna land, and I acknowledge that I am on the land of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people. I respect their land and acknowledge that they are the traditional owners of the land.' This is the language of the Kaurna people, the First Nations people of the Adelaide Plains, the place where I am privileged to live and work and that I represent here in Canberra.

As I speak these words into Hansard, I reflect on the history of the Kaurna language. The lands of the Kaurna people are the Adelaide Plains, and they extend to the north of Adelaide, around Crystal Brook, and to the south, at Cape Jervis. When European settlers came to South Australia and founded Adelaide, the Kaurna people were pushed off the fertile plains. They were sent to missions on the lands of the Ngarrindjeri people near the Coorong and the Narungga people of the Yorke Peninsula, and their culture was suppressed. The language was lost and completely died out. It was only through the work of school principal Aunty Alitya Wallara Rigney and linguist Dr Rob Amery in the 1980s, who researched through written records and letters written home by German missionaries, that the language was rediscovered and rebuilt. I reflect on practices that eliminated something as important as culture and language, and the impact that colonisation had and still has on First Nations people. But I also reflect on the importance of written records, without which we would not know the Kaurna language today. I reassure Hansard that I will be providing them with the text of the words.

It's my very great honour to represent the people of Boothby in South Australia. I was first elected in 2022, the first Labor member for Boothby in 73 years, and now I am very honoured to have been returned by the people of Boothby in 2025. It's wonderful to be back here in Canberra with my colleagues. We have a larger majority in the House and two additional senators. Every single member of the Labor class of 2022 has been returned, and, with the exception of those retiring at the last election, every single one of my colleagues has been returned. The former member for Higgins, Michelle Ananda-Rajah, whose seat was eliminated in a redistribution, is back as a senator for Victoria. Moving in the other direction, former senator Anne Urquhart stepped down as a senator for Tasmania and has successfully won a seat in the House of Representatives. We welcome her as the member for Braddon.

South Australia was a very exciting place on election night. We had birthday cake at the Boothby election party for Charlotte Walker, who turned 21 on election night and, shortly thereafter, discovered, as third on the Labor ticket, that she had been elected as the youngest-ever senator. Senator Walker is a great addition to the Labor caucus, building on an important aspect that the Prime Minister often comments on. We are a caucus that reflects modern Australia: diverse in gender, cultural origin, career paths and age. Every voice is important.

I also welcome my friend Claire Clutterham as the new member for Sturt. The Sturt electorate voted for Claire, returning the electorate to Labor for the first time since 1972 and with a female representative for the first time ever. It still shocks me that we have to say 'the first female' so often and in so many spheres of life. The people of Adelaide have put their trust in Labor, and we will work every day to ensure they know that their trust and their vote was well placed.

I'd like to put on record my thanks to the many volunteers who supported me in the Boothby campaign—doorknocking, phone calling, supporting me at events, letterboxing and of course prepoll. Day and night, in good weather and bad, they came out day after day after day because they knew it mattered. They knew that only a Labor government would look after our community and our economy, that only a Labor government will do the necessary work of energy transition that is vital for mitigating climate change.

The catastrophic algal bloom that is currently ravaging the coastline in my electorate as well as much of metropolitan and regional South Australia coastlines is not an early sign of climate change; it's a late sign—maybe a too-late sign. The algal bloom is twice the size of the ACT and up to 20 metres deep in places. For years—decades—we've been warned about the impact of climate change on our oceans, rising ocean temperatures, changed ocean currents, failing ecosystems and catastrophic die-offs of marine life, and now we are seeing it in the fish, the rays, the dolphins and sharks, the grasses, the sponges and the shellfish being washed up on our shores, dead.

Climate change should no longer be a debate. Net zero by 2050 is the bare minimum, and the idea that it is still being debated and that there still might be political points to be made by casting doubt, working against it or delaying it, as we saw with environmental legislation in the last parliament, in this place and the other, is shocking. We are elected here to do what is right for our country and for Australians, not to score political points at their expense. A liveable climate is the bare minimum.

Only a Labor government will do the necessary work of energy transition that is vital to mitigating climate change. In the last term of government, 80 large-scale renewable projects were approved, and another 130 were in the process of approval. This is really important work. We need to decarbonise if we are going to have any possibility of maintaining a liveable environment. We are already decades behind where we should be. We cannot have further delays. And we invite those opposite and those in the other place to join us on this most critical fight and to do what is right for our environment, for our country and for our planet.

Only a Labor government will protect the rights of workers and ensure that everyone gets to share in the prosperity of our country—a fair day's pay for a fair day's work. We passed a number of really important pieces of legislation in the 47th Parliament: closing the loopholes that meant some got paid less for doing the same job; increasing paid parental leave; enabling multi-employer enterprise bargaining; and backing increases in the minimum wage in some of the low-paid sectors, such as child care and aged care. Only a Labor government sees gender equity as something worth fighting for. We should all be entitled to an equal playing field—equal pay for equal work, equal opportunities in work, in sport, in our life choices and in politics.

But gender gaps don't close by accident. The same conditions that generated a gap aren't going to magically produce a different result because you wish it. As with everything in life, gender gaps close only when there are deliberate accountable strategies that are designed to close them. I'm pleased to be part of a Labor caucus that: is 56 per cent female; has overseen a record closing of the gender pay gap in Australian society; introduced additional paid parental leave, including a 'use it or lose it' clause so that both parents take leave and that encourages shared responsibility for parenting; applied superannuation to paid parental leave; and reintroduced the women's budget so that every budget measure has a gender lens placed on it.

Only a Labor government will continue to heal our relationship with our overseas trading partners and our neighbours in the Pacific—so important for our security and prosperity. In the last term, we saw a normalisation of relations with China, and I know, in my home state of South Australia, winemakers are particularly pleased with the resumption of trade—and I imagine Chinese consumers are pleased to see our top-quality reds back on their shelves.

Only a Labor government will protect Medicare and the NDIS. Only a Labor government—

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Apologies. The debate is interrupted in accordance with standing order 43. The debate may be resumed at a later hour, and the member will be granted leave to continue speaking when the debate is resumed.