Justine Elliot's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Defence Properties | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Deputy Prime Minister. How is the Albanese government delivering a future Defence estate for our Australian Defence Force, and what have been alternative approaches?
Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I too rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill is about making sure Australians can get the medicines they need...
I too rise to speak in support of the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill is about making sure Australians can get the medicines they need when they need them without unnecessary barriers standing in their way. It really builds on our government's investment in health care and Medicare over the past few years. Of course, as we've heard from many of the speakers, we did have a decade of neglect under the Liberal and National parties when they were in government. It's taken a long time to build back and invest in Medicare and in health services. This bill today is part of our reforms to make sure that people can access health care when they do require it, particularly those in rural and regional areas. Our reforms have made a huge difference, and I'll go through some of the details later on about that. This bill proposes amendments to the National Health Act 1953 and the Health Insurance Act 1973 to enable authorised nurse prescribers to prescribe certain medicines under the PBS. Under existing law, prescribing rights are confined largely to medical practitioners, dentists, optometrists, endorsed nurse practitioners and midwives. The reforms in this bill will mean that nurses are empowered to provide this care directly to the community, reducing the need to visit a GP or attend a hospital emergency department. It'll make a huge difference. The reforms in this bill support the broader health workforce reform agenda of ensuring that health professionals are enabled to work to their full scope of practice. For a health professional, 'scope of practice' means the activities which they are competent and authorised to perform. As identified in the Strengthening Medicare taskforce report and the subsequent Unleashing the potential of our health workforce review, removing barriers and increasing incentives for all professionals to work to their full scope of practice is necessary in delivering better health outcomes. These reforms recognise that, while our registered nurses are highly educated and skilled, their skills have been underutilised in the primary health care system. The reforms also recognise that empowering nurses to work to their full scope of practice will strengthen our healthcare system by removing barriers, easing pressures on the workforce and building long-term capacity and sustainability. Under state and territory legislation, some nurses are already prescribing medicines, particularly in primary care, community health and regional settings. But, without PBS prescriber status, their patients are forced to pay full price for their medicines. Two patients with the same condition, seeing two different qualified health professionals, should not face different out-of-pocket costs simply because one prescriber is recognised under the PBS and the other one is not. This bill closes that gap by creating a new category of prescriber under the PBS. The bill also contains very important safeguards to ensure that only nurses with appropriate training and professional qualifications are in fact authorised to prescribe. Improving access to health care has been a key priority of the Albanese Labor government. We know the demands on our health system continue to increase. We have an ageing population and a growing number of people living with complex and chronic conditions. It has been at the heart of so much that our government has done in reforming health care and providing more services. The changes that I refer to today in this bill build on the work that we've done to deliver cheaper medicines, a stronger Medicare and just greater access to health care across the board. In fact, just recently we increased hospital funding. Record funding is another initiative of our government that's making a huge difference. Of course, in 2022, we reduced the eligibility threshold for the PBS safety net to ensure that even more Australians had access to cheaper medicines and lower out-of-pocket costs. This included a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS safety net actually kicks in. We further slashed the cost of medicines in 2023, making the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the entire history of the PBS. This was the first time in 75 years that the general patient co-payment was reduced, and it saw the maximum cost of a general script falling about 30 per cent from $42.50 to $30. We also introduced 60-day prescriptions to enable Australians with chronic or ongoing health conditions to get twice the medication on a single prescription. This means a reduction in the amount that people pay for medicines, fewer trips to the doctor and fewer trips to the pharmacist as well. And we froze the cost of PBS medicines for pension and concession card holders so that prices will stay at a maximum of $7.70 until the end of the decade. For areas like mine—we are very fortunate to have a high proportion of seniors in northern New South Wales—it makes a huge difference to have the certainty that it is $7.70 they will be paying. So many locals have told me the difference that makes to them and to their health care. Starting from 1 January this year, we delivered even cheaper medicines for all Australians by reducing the PBS general patient co-payments from $31.60 to $25. It's so low. In my electorate of Richmond on the north coast of New South Wales, I'm very proud to have delivered on my 2025 election commitment, which was that a re-elected Albanese Labor government would deliver a Medicare urgent care clinic in the Tweed region. When I was campaigning, people were very keen to have this in place, knowing how well the urgent care clinics provide support and the difference that makes. When we talk about the urgent care clinics, we say that all you need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. That's the reality—just walk in there with your Medicare card. The one we have, the Tweed Heads Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, is based at the Tweed Health for Everyone superclinic. Our superclinic was delivered by a previous Labor government and provides wonderful services for the community. The urgent care clinic provides locals with the free, urgent care they need fully bulk billed, and it's open seven days a week from 7.30 am to 7.30 pm. We officially opened the urgent care clinic last December. Since then, so many locals have told me that it's really filled a very crucial gap in the provision of healthcare services in our community. I've been told that since it's opened, there's been a daily average of 38 presentations. They have been incredibly busy providing that service, and it is making a massive difference. Nearly 60 per cent of patients who visit the Tweed Heads urgent care clinic would have otherwise gone to the emergency department of the Tweed Valley Hospital to access the care they need. So this shows this clinic in Tweed is easing the pressure on our local hospital. That is the feedback that I'm getting from health professionals and locals. It is making a massive difference for so many people—locals, seniors and families. We're also delivering access to free walk-in mental health care for locals, with planning underway for a Medicare mental health centre in Tweed. The centre will be open for extended hours with no appointment or referral needed to access those services. A number of years ago, we opened the new headspace in Ballina. That's providing important support for younger people. We have an existing one in Tweed Heads, which does a remarkable job as well, but it's important that we have all these services here. As I said, that planning is underway for the Medicare mental health centre. It will make a huge difference in the community to have that operating. We're also delivering on our election commitment to expand bulk-billing, and this has been an absolute game changer in my electorate and across the country. It's part of the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation 40 years ago. For the first time, Labor has expanded bulk-billing incentives to all Australians and created an additional new incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient. We've tripled the bulk-billing incentive for people who need to see their GP most often—pensioners, concession card holders and families with children. From 1 November 2025, we expanded those incentives to all Australians. It has been a huge success in my area and, I know, right across the country. We also introduced a new incentive payment for practices that bulk bill every patient. Since 25 November, a new bulk-billing practice incentive program is supporting practices that bulk bill all their patients. This is on top of the bulk-billing incentive, so fully bulk-billed practices receive an additional 12.5 per cent loading on their Medicare rebates. Towards the end of last year, I visited the Wollumbin Medical Centre in Murwillumbah, where GPs informed me they were universally bulk billing, and that was due to two reasons. First of all, there were our increases to the bulk-billing incentives, but another major change that our government made was reclassifying the town of Murwillumbah from metropolitan to regional for healthcare services. I want to again acknowledge all of the community that worked so hard to make this happen. The fact that the previous Liberal-National government had classified it in that way, as a city, really inhibited a lot of people's capacity to access healthcare, so we changed that. I give special thanks to the health minister for that. Having that change is so important. That, combined with our bulk-billing incentives, means that places like Wollumbin Medical Centre fully bulk-bill everyone. I also invited the Minister for Health and Ageing back to the North Coast in October to visit the Tweed Banora Medical Centre in Tweed Heads South and speak to GPs who also started bulk-billing all their patients on 1 November. Thanks to all these changes that our government's made, we now see right throughout the North Coast these wonderful signs in front of GP practices. They say, 'Medicare bulk-billing practice'. How great is it to see that sign? People know it's there. They know they can go in. They know they'll be bulk-billed. Those signs are now in the front windows of more than 20 bulk-billing practices, so it has expanded very quickly. That's going from Tweed Heads to Byron to Ballina, right throughout my electorate. We're seeing more and more practices that are fully bulk-billing. Of course, on 1 January this year we also launched 1800MEDICARE, a free, nationwide, 24/7 health advice line and after-hours GP telehealth service. And now, of course, we're seeking to make health care more accessible through all the measures that we have in this bill. The reforms that are contained within this bill will also make a huge difference, and it's important because registered nurses are the most geographically dispersed health profession in Australia and comprise around half of the entire Australian health workforce. By enabling authorised nurse prescribers to prescribe certain medicines under the PBS, people will get better access to medicines closer to home. They won't have those associated costs with travelling further to see a doctor, and the delays in waiting for an available appointment will all be reduced. Again, this will also be another game changer when it comes to delivering health care. Of course, preventable hospitalisations that result in delayed access to medicine will also be reduced as well, and these reforms are the result of work already undertaken to improve access to timely, affordable and safe medicines and alleviate pressure on our health workforce as well. Of course, there's been extensive research and the consultation that's been led by the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Offices. This work led to the development of new standards for designated registered nurse practitioners, and in December 2020 for Commonwealth, state and territory health ministers approved the new registration standard to enable nurses to become authorised prescribers. From July 2026, it's expected the first cohort of nurse prescribers will complete their additional education and receive endorsement. That's just great news, particularly, as I say, for those of us in regional and rural areas. The reforms in this bill help align our health legislation with modern clinical practice. They strengthen patient access to subsidised medicines and support the evolution of the health workforce. And, of course, the bill complements existing practice by enabling a broader range of health providers to contribute effectively to patient care. And this is very important in context where medical workforce shortages can lead to delays or inefficiencies. Ultimately, this whole bill is about putting patients first, and that has been our whole agenda with all of our healthcare reforms making sure we are putting patients first. It also, very importantly, recognises the skills of our nurses. And I do want to compliment all of our nurses in my region and across the country—both nurses and health professionals—for the remarkable work that they continue to do all of the time. This is a recognition of that. So it recognises the skills of our nurses, trusts the evidence and removes barriers that, quite frankly, don't make sense. It doesn't make sense that this had not been in place before. It's about ensuring that where a person lives or which qualified health professionals they see doesn't determine whether they can afford the medicines that they need, that they need then and there. By modernising our laws to reflect contemporary practice, we're strengthening Medicare; supporting the health workforce; and making our health system more responsive, more equitable and more sustainable into the future, because we do have that ageing population and we do have increasing clinical and complex care needs that are there. These investments right across the board are vitally important. I commend the bill to the House.
Workplace Relations: Gig Workers | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering a better deal for gig workers, and how does this compare to other approaches?
Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 | Constituency Statements | House debates
I rise to call on the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens political party to support the Albanese Labor government's environmental protection bills. At the election, Australians endorsed our...
I rise to call on the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens political party to support the Albanese Labor government's environmental protection bills. At the election, Australians endorsed our government's plan to keep building Australia's future—including our ambitious plans to protect our environment and act on climate change. We want to reform our national environmental laws to ensure we're protecting nature for generations to come. We know that the current laws are not delivering for the environment or for business or for the community. These measures address the critical issues identified by Professor Graeme Samuel in his 2020 independent review, which found that our national environmental laws are fundamentally broken. This isn't about making a choice between protecting the environment and protecting the economy, jobs and business. We know we can have both. We can do both. And that's exactly what we're proposing. The reforms in these bills will deliver stronger environmental protection and restoration, more efficient and robust project assessments, and greater accountability and transparency in decision-making. We want to see decisions made faster with less duplication between state and federal processes. Too many projects, from housing developments to renewable energy projects, are just caught up in a tangled web of red tape. We want to modernise our environmental laws and establish Australia's first ever independent federal Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA. A federal EPA will be a tough cop on the beat, with real teeth. The creation of the federal EPA will bring together the regulatory and implementation functions of our national environmental laws under a single independent agency. The federal EPA will also be empowered to issue environmental protection orders, stop work orders and utilise expanded audit powers. These reforms will also include the creation of a new ministerial power to make national environmental standards, which will improve environmental outcomes and give proponents greater certainty and clarity by establishing clear, enforceable standards for regulated activities. It will make clear that projects with unacceptable impacts cannot be approved if they do not meet specific national interest tests. Greater clarity for proponents and decision-makers will be achieved through these reforms. That's exactly what we're doing with all of these changes. Now the challenge turns to for the Liberals, Nationals and Greens political party to support these bills. Australians are sick of the Liberals and Nationals climate change denialism; we've seen it over and over for so many years. And they're sick of the Greens enabling this by consistently teaming up with them to block vital reforms. I call on them to support these important measures. In closing, I'd really like to thank the many environmental activists throughout the nation who have championed these reforms. Locally, I'd like to acknowledge the North Coast Labor Environment Action Group, LEAN, for their commitment and strong advocacy. We are delivering. Australians voted for an Albanese Labor government committed to protecting our natural environment, and we are absolutely committed to delivering on this commitment in this parliament.
Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I too rise to speak in support of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025. This bill delivers on...
I too rise to speak in support of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025. This bill delivers on the Albanese Labor government's commitment to introduce an Australian content obligation on streaming services, ensuring that, no matter what screen you're watching from, you have guaranteed access to Australian stories. Our National Cultural Policy—Revive, which is wonderful—recognises that our greatest cultural asset is Australia's people and their stories—our stories. It also acknowledges there have been major changes in the way audiences access and consume film and television content; we've all seen that over the past few years. Australia's television landscape has evolved to include not just public broadcasters, commercial broadcasters and cable but, increasingly, a huge variety of streaming platforms and services. Australian content quotas for commercial television were first introduced in the 1960s, showing we have long known how important it is that the content of our screens reflects our culture and identity as Australians. These content requirements were updated in the 1990s to capture free-to-air and other television broadcasters, and this ensured a minimum level of Australian content was produced every year. Of course, both the ABC and SBS acknowledge in their respective charters that their functions include informing, educating and entertaining audiences with content that represents our diverse identities, values and experiences. While streaming services derive very big profits from Australian audiences, often the content they deliver does reflect someone else's experience and someone else's identity. What these laws do is level the playing field. Just as free-to-air networks and pay television have long supported Australian stories through content requirements, streaming giants will now be required to invest in our people, our places and our perspectives. Australian audiences are engaging with streaming services because these services produce some fantastic, wonderful and engaging shows, including the production of great Australian content—only a minority of services are yet to produce any Australian content—and we want to ensure that that quality Australian content continues on those services. This bill is not intended to criticise the operation of streaming businesses, but to acknowledge the fantastic content they produce and to ensure that Australian audiences invested in watching on these services are also able to continue to access important Australian stories. The bill represents a significant step forward for Australia's creative industries as well as our cultural identity. This bill amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 to introduce a clear and enforceable Australian screen content requirement for on-demand streaming platforms that millions of Australians are using every day. It does this by guaranteeing a minimum of expenditure on new Australian content on those services. This is really important because, as we say, our stories matter. They reflect who we are, where we've come from and the values we all share. They showcase our unique voices to the world and ensure that future generations grow up with access to content that speaks of their own experiences. It also highlights the immense talent and creativity of Australian actors, writers, directors, artists and other creatives. We have so many creative industries and people that we're incredibly proud of. It's not just our Aussies that want to see Australian content on their screens; we all know, worldwide, how well regarded Australian films are. Indeed, we've seen, over the decades, films that have had massive international success, like Picnic at Hanging Rock; Mad Max; The Castle; Crocodile Dundee; The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert;Strictly Ballroom; and Muriel's Wedding, which not only was a reflection of my area in northern New South Wales but was filmed in parts of it as well. We have recently seen some other Australian made content achieve global success. We see it all the time—from Rake to Mr Inbetween, Colin from Accounts and, of course, Bluey. We all love Bluey. Australian film and television have a global reputation for innovation and emotional honesty, and these Aussie made shows have been hugely successful, reaching international audiences, and we want to see more of that. In the words of Bluey, 'Coconuts have water in them'—sorry! Wrong quote. In the words of Bluey, 'If you can imagine it, you can play it.' This bill guarantees that streaming services will invest in telling those stories by setting a minimum level of expenditure on new Australian content. Under these reforms, on-demand streaming platforms will be required to dedicate at least 10 per cent of their total program expenditure to commissioning or acquiring first release Australian drama, children's programs, documentaries, arts and educational content, and these are the genres that shape our culture and inspire us creatively. This bill also allows providers to meet their obligation on a revenue basis, investing at least 7.5 per cent of their gross Australian revenue in eligible Australian content. This approach ensures fairness whilst maintaining strong support for local production. Importantly, the bill adopts existing definitions from the Australian content and children's television standards, providing consistency across the industry. It also includes practical measures, such as three-year carry-over period for expenditure and a statutory review after four years, to ensure the framework is effective and responsive to change. Oversight will be provided by the Australian Communications and Media Authority, ACMA, which will administer the Australian screen content requirement and receive reports from streaming services on their compliance with the requirements. These reforms will futureproof our screen sector. As traditional broadcast consumption declines, we know streaming platforms dominate how Australians, especially young Australians, consume media, and, without these laws, there's a real risk that Australian voices could become increasingly marginalised on platforms that prioritise high-volume international content. This legislation ensures that future generations grow up seeing people that represent them, in towns and cities like theirs, telling stories that reflect Australian humour, character and resilience, of course; and ensures that Australian stories will not be lost in an ocean of overseas content. The development of the content requirements in this bill reflects the extensive and genuine consultation that the Albanese Labor government has undertaken with industry stakeholders. We arrived at a policy that will achieve meaningful outcomes in ensuring the representation of Australian voices and perspectives on screen—one that's also consistent with Australia's international trade obligations. Of course, these reforms are not just about entertainment; they're about jobs, investment and employment opportunities. As the member for Cunningham said too, for regional areas like hers and like mine, it is a game changer when we have productions occurring in our regions and a lot of employment as a result of Australian made television and film. These opportunities will strengthen our screen industry, create work for thousands of Australians in production and postproduction and help our stories reach audiences both here and overseas. Economically, these reforms will, importantly, drive job creation, particularly in regional areas, where film industries are emerging as major contributors to local economies. That's certainly the case in my area in northern New South Wales. More Australian productions means more work for writers, actors, directors, set designers, lighting specialists, camera operators, caterers, accommodation providers and transport services. In my electorate of Richmond, we have a growing film and production industry. We also have so many elements that really contribute to making it a great location for film and television. We know that we've got so many versatile locations, with pristine beaches, subtropical rainforest, stunning hinterland, historic towns, agricultural properties and coastal villages all within a short driving distance. We have a growing network of film and television production professionals, supported by organisations like Screenworks, which plays a pivotal role in building local talent capacity, connecting regional crew with inbound productions and offering really important training for screenwriters, producers and directors. Also in my electorate, FIN Ballina is a visual effects studio. Their VFX artists, designers and producers work with some of the biggest names in film, television and other visual mediums. We also have so many international film festivals. The Byron Bay International Film Festival, running since 2006, showcases Australian and international film talent for thousands of film lovers throughout our region. Film By the Northern Rivers, another annual film festival in my electorate, showcases the work and filmmaking talent of New South Wales public school students, from kindergarten to year 11. The festival is aimed at promoting storytelling through film, and it's a really great celebration of the creativity of our young future filmmakers. We also consistently see the secondary impacts of productions in my local area and the huge economic benefits for our local community through the demand for accommodation, catering, transport, hiring and tourism. We could never underestimate that ongoing benefit that it brings, from Hollywood blockbusters that we've had filmed—like Aquaman, which was filmed in our region, and many more—to lots of TV shows, including the very long-running British version of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!,which has actually been filmed in a place called Dungay just outside of Murwillumbah for more than 20 years. Having that in place—the economic benefits that flow on from that are absolutely massive. We consistently have—and I couldn't name all of the movies and the television shows that are made in our region. We certainly want to encourage that and encourage more local job creation because of it, in both those industries and the industries that support them in doing that. In conclusion, this bill ensures that Australian content remains front and centre, and that's what our government is committed to doing. It's about protecting our culture, supporting our economy and guaranteeing that Australian stories continue to be told on the platforms that Australians enjoy and watch all the time—on our streaming services. I commend the bill to the House. Debate adjourned.
Climate Change | Statements by Members | House debates
Acting on climate change is so vitally important. That's exactly what our government, the Albanese Labor government, is doing. It's a really important issue for my community, as it is right...
Acting on climate change is so vitally important. That's exactly what our government, the Albanese Labor government, is doing. It's a really important issue for my community, as it is right across the nation. It's so important for our environment and for the economic opportunities that it brings, particularly to those in regional Australia. In the regions, we are at the front line of climate change when it comes to natural disasters. In my area we had the severe 2022 floods. People in my region know we have to see action on climate change, and that's what the Albanese Labor government is doing. It's so important Yet what we see from those across from us, the Liberals and the Nationals, is the National Party now abandoning net zero. That is just appalling and disappointing. People in my community are really annoyed about that because we know it's the regions that have so much to gain from acting on climate change. It's about the economic opportunities that are there as well as protecting our environment. It's only the Albanese Labor government that's taking that firm, decisive action when it comes to climate change. You can particularly see it in our Cheaper Home Batteries Program. In my electorate we have one of the highest take-ups for New South Wales. I think, as of a few days ago, it was 1,233 and growing every single day. People right across my region and across the nation know that we need to act on climate change. Yet, disappointingly, we see the Nationals abandoning that and we see more infighting after a decade of inaction from them. They just keep continuing with their negativity when it comes to one of the most important issues of our time.
Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How will the Albanese Labor government's record investment in bulk-billing make it easier to see a GP for free, and how will the investments...
My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How will the Albanese Labor government's record investment in bulk-billing make it easier to see a GP for free, and how will the investments that kick off this Saturday make a difference for Australians after a decade of cuts and neglect?
Natural Disasters | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Emergency Management. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to prepare communities, particularly in regional Australia, for more intense natural disasters...
My question is to the Minister for Emergency Management. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to prepare communities, particularly in regional Australia, for more intense natural disasters as a result of climate change? And what other approaches has the government been asked to consider?
Emergency Services | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. In the lead-up to National Police Remembrance Day on 29 September, how is the Albanese government honouring police bravery, and why is strong...
My question is to the Minister for Home Affairs. In the lead-up to National Police Remembrance Day on 29 September, how is the Albanese government honouring police bravery, and why is strong leadership so important in supporting our police?
Housing | Questions without Notice | House debates
My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering new social and affordable homes for Australians in...
My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering new social and affordable homes for Australians in need? Is the minister aware of any obstacles?
Police Week | Private Members' Business | House debates
I too rise to speak on the private member's motion on Police Week put forward by the member for Wide Bay. I note his and indeed all the speakers' commitment to honouring those police who have...
I too rise to speak on the private member's motion on Police Week put forward by the member for Wide Bay. I note his and indeed all the speakers' commitment to honouring those police who have lost their lives in the line of duty and the shared commitment of all members of parliament in honouring that. All Australians were deeply saddened and heartbroken by the tragic events that unfolded in Victoria last week. On Tuesday we learnt that two Victorian police officers, Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart, were cruelly and senselessly killed in the line of duty. I honour these officers, recognise their dedication and courage, and share in the grief felt right across our nation. I extend my heartfelt sympathies to the families of these officers as well as the entire police family. Police officers understand the risks they face every time they put their uniforms on. They know these risks can have an absolutely devastating impact, yet, despite this, police show up. They show up during the darkest moments in people's lives, and they do what needs to be done. In Victoria, these families have faced the worst nightmare imaginable: the fear that someone they know who is so dedicated and so selfless could be taken from them so suddenly. The families of the two Victorian police officers who lost their lives in the line of duty and another who was seriously injured are now enduring a form of grief that no-one should ever have to face. Our thoughts are also with the emergency services who responded to this unthinkable crime, and our hearts go out to the families, friends and colleagues of all those officers. Of course, this tragedy underscores the significance of Police Week 2025, which begins across Australia on Saturday 13 September with the 16th annual Wall to Wall Ride for Remembrance. On Monday 29 September, we will observe National Police Remembrance Day, and on that day we honour the men and women of the service who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Together we must ensure that their legacies are preserved. As a former police officer, I have seen firsthand, as I know have many of my colleagues who are former police officers, the challenges, complexities and confronting situations that officers face daily whilst serving their communities. Police are often called to dangerous and traumatic incidents, including fatalities and horrific tragedies. Indeed, these challenges are especially pronounced in regional areas and close-knit communities, like mine on the New South Wales far north coast. Police Remembrance Day is a time for all of us to reflect on the very real risks our officers face every day. It is a moment to honour the lives and memories of those who lost their lives, tragically cut short whilst protecting others. It is a very solemn and deeply important day for police officers, their loved ones and the wider police family. I also pay tribute to the enduring work of Police Legacy, an incredible organisation that provides support to police legatees across the nation. Police Legacy was set up to provide support, services and financial assistance to the families of police officers who pass away, whether it's on or off duty, whatever the circumstances may be. The services and programs led by Police Legacy are designed to meet the needs of those they support and provide specialist care to ensure that legatees do not face grief, bereavement and life challenges alone. I also wish to acknowledge the tireless efforts of all police associations, unions and the Police Federation of Australia, who work to represent and support Australian police officers. In my electorate of Richmond, I acknowledge all our local police, who serve and protect our community. I know firsthand the outstanding work they do. On Police Remembrance Day, I encourage everyone locally and across the country to take a moment to reflect on the vital role police officers play in all of our communities across all of our states and territories and, indeed, right across the nation. I ask everyone to take that time to reflect, because Monday 29 September is a day for all of us to recognise their service, appreciate their dedication and, most importantly, remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice to keep all of us safe. We must always remember that it's with honour they served, and we will never forget their service. I commend the motion to the House. As I said, I thank the member for Wide Bay for putting forward this motion. To all of my colleagues who have spoken: it's important that we all remember the outstanding work of our local police and reflect and remember all of those who've lost their lives in the line of duty.
Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
Can I say what an honour it is to be here and to have been elected to this parliament, the 48th Parliament. I really want to thank the people of Richmond for putting their trust in me for the...
Can I say what an honour it is to be here and to have been elected to this parliament, the 48th Parliament. I really want to thank the people of Richmond for putting their trust in me for the eighth time. It is, as I say, an incredible honour and, indeed, a massive privilege to be elected to the federal parliament, and I take that on very seriously. To have been elected for the eighth time—again, I want to thank the people of Richmond for putting their trust in me. Of course, nationally, Labor won the election and won with a very large majority. We won 94 seats, more seats that any political party in Australia's history. Right across the country we saw that people voted for Australian values of fairness, aspiration and opportunity, and these are the values that drive our government, the Albanese Labor government. Our caucus is much bigger and so much more diverse, with 56 per cent women and our new members being incredibly diverse and bringing a whole range of different skills and histories to our caucus and to the parliament. It's wonderful to see—I think we'd all agree—from the first speeches, the incredible array of people that have been elected to the 48th Parliament. Since we've been back here, our government has been extremely busy delivering on, particularly, many of our election commitments, like reducing HECS debt by 20 per cent. This was a huge issue in my electorate, as I heard out and about talking to locals who had those huge HECS debts. Having that decreased by 20 per cent will make such a big difference to them. Since we've been back, we've been ensuring that medicines are cheaper—again, vitally important in areas like mine, the far north coast of New South Wales. We have a large proportion of elderly people, so ensuring their medicines are cheaper and ensuring it's cheaper for families is all vitally important. Also since we've been back, we've been working to protect penalty rates. That was one of our many election commitments, because we know how important it is to have penalty rates in place. Australians know that they can only rely on Labor to deliver for them when it comes to their working conditions and, particularly, protecting their penalty rates. In terms of my seat of Richmond, I really want to thank all those that worked so hard for Labor to retain the seat, and I really want to thank those that assisted on polling day and with prepoll, doorknocking and the phone calls. I say a big thanks to all my wonderful staff, all of our local Labor members and those other Labor members that came and assisted us. Thank you to the wonderful union movement, our New South Wales head office and the national secretariat for their great work and to all those volunteers and supporters that provided help to us. Together, we made more than 50,000 phone calls and doorknocks in this campaign. We were out and about every day, talking to locals about the issues that are important to them. I want to thank everyone who assisted. Of course, I say a special thanks to all of my family—my husband, Craig, and our children—and to our extended family as well. Thanks to all of you for your continued support over the last eight terms and throughout this campaign as well. It means the world to me. In Richmond, we ran a very positive and optimistic campaign the whole time, and we were focused on delivering real cost-of-living relief for locals, including the tax cuts for every taxpayer—incredibly important in my area; strengthening Medicare—an issue that comes up all the time; fixing our housing crisis, which has made it so difficult in terms of people being able to access a house and rentals; and also investing in renewables and boosting wages. Free TAFE has been a real game changer across the country, and, in my seat of Richmond, more than 5,000 people have been able to access our free TAFE plan. What a difference it makes, not just for them getting increased education but also for their capacity to find work, and it strengthens our economy as well. As I referred to earlier, we're cutting HECS by 20 per cent. We've got more than 19,000 people in my electorate who will benefit from that. The Cheaper Home Batteries Program, as we know, is being taken up at a huge rate across the country—indeed, Richmond is one of the electorates with the highest take-up rates on that, which is great to see. Other policies like energy bill relief for every household, cheaper child care and medicines, and more rent assistance are, again, making a big difference. We've also always had a very strong focus on strengthening our economy, creating more than a million jobs in that last term of government, keeping our economy strong so we can keep delivering on all the vital services that we do. The campaign was like all tough campaigns—on one hand we had the Liberal and National parties who were in disarray and talking most of the time about their nuclear policy. After speaking to all those people in my community, I know they totally rejected that—the cost of it, the danger of it. They honestly thought it was quite absurd, and clearly that's what Australians thought right across the board. Also in my electorate, the Greens were rejected as well, because of the extreme nature, particularly blocking so many good initiatives like housing. Everywhere I would go, people would say to me they were done with the Greens in terms of the fact they were blocking really good initiatives that we have. I think both the Greens political party and the Liberal and National parties did pay the price for constantly blocking our initiatives. I think the Australian people have said very loudly and clearly to both those political parties that Australians don't want to see constant blocking—they want to see improvements. They wanted to see in place the improvements that we had, particularly when it comes to housing. Throughout the campaign, full credit goes to our wonderful prime minister. He was out there every day, focused on building Australia's future and talking about Labor's positive policies. I made it very clear to my community during the campaign that they could always count on me to keep delivering for our region as part of an Albanese Labor government. At the election, there was a very clear choice between building Australia's future with us or taking Australia backwards with the Liberals and Nationals—which we know would have left us all worse off. We pointed out—and I point out every day in my region—that our cost-of-living relief was all at risk under the Liberals and Nationals, because they opposed every single one of Labor's cost-of-living measures, even voting against tax cuts. People found that absolutely appalling. I pointed out many times that Peter Dutton, when the former opposition leader was health minister, wanted to scrap bulk-billing and introduce a tax on every single visit to the GP, started a six-year freeze on Medicare rebates, and cut $50 billion from our hospitals. Locals know that when the Liberals and Nationals say that they'll cut public services, that affects Medicare, bulk-billing, our cheaper medicines, veterans' claims, and the age pension as well. Indeed, Peter Dutton had said there were too many free Medicare services. Locals completely rejected any of the measures from the Liberals and Nationals when it comes to health care, because they don't trust them. Since the election, unfortunately, we have seen no reflection or change of policies from those opposite, or from the Greens political party. No lessons have been learnt. They haven't listened to the community right throughout the country in terms of why they've been rejected, and I think they all need to be doing that and reflecting upon the policies and their actions as well. The fact is, Labor is strengthening Medicare, and we're very proud of that, with more bulk-billing and training more doctors, as well as increasing the Medicare rebate—it's so important. In my region, I made a number of election commitments, like the free bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinic, the Medicare mental health centre, the crime action plan, and funding for the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital—again, initiatives that I'll detail in a minute that will have positive improvements for the New South Wales North Coast. Throughout the campaign, I talked about my record of delivery, of working very closely with the community and what we have delivered. Indeed, I've delivered more than $3 billion for our area, including all of my previous election commitments from the 2022 election. I'll run through those in a bit more detail in a minute—we've got the new animal pound, the new veterans' hub, the social enterprise laundry and the Lennox Head village upgrade. People know that when I make a promise I will always deliver on it, and we've seen all of those election commitments delivered. Now to the 2025 election. Earlier this year, I announced that a re-elected Albanese Labor government would deliver a Medicare urgent care clinic for the Tweed region. We're now delivering on that, with the tender process started and under way from 22 August. That will identify a provider to operate that Tweed urgent care clinic. This clinic will give more locals access to the high-quality, free, walk-in urgent healthcare that they need. I've said to many people in our community: as your local Labor MP, you can count on me to deliver that urgent care clinic in the Tweed region, so you can get the free, fully bulk-billed urgent care you need—all you'll need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. The new Tweed Valley Medicare Urgent Care Clinic will be open over extended hours, seven days a week, with no appointment needed, and all patients will be fully bulk-billed. And what a difference it will make. The clinic, of course, is also intended to take pressure off the Tweed Valley Hospital and will fill an important gap in services across extended hours and over weekends. A tender process, led by the North Coast Primary Health Network, has commenced, as I said, to identify the provider to operate the new clinic. It'll be open to general practices, community health centres and Aboriginal community-controlled health services. This really does extend on the Albanese Labor government's commitment to strengthen Medicare. And, of course, we've made the single largest investment in Medicare since its creation more than 40 years ago, and we are very, very proud of our continued investment in Medicare. I also announced earlier this year that a re-elected Albanese Labor government would establish a Medicare mental health centre in Tweed Heads. When we have that, it will mean that locals will have access to free, walk-in mental healthcare when that centre is open. Again, it'll be open for extended hours, with no appointment or referral needed to access those services—just walk in, and they are free. It'll be staffed by qualified mental health professionals to provide the support people need. Again, there will be a tender process through the North Coast Primary Health Network, who will commission the Tweed Medicare mental health centre. This is really important because, as we've discussed here—and as we discuss a lot at home too—the mental health needs of my community, indeed throughout the country, are quite extensive, particularly in our region after the devastating 2022 floods. There are still many people who require support as a result of that disaster. Having this service in place will be vitally important, particularly because people can just walk in and it is free. Again, it builds on all of the things that our government does to provide health services. Late last year I was very pleased to announce—actually in Lennox Head, with the Prime Minister there for the announcement—that, if re-elected, we would deliver $3 million for a North Coast crime prevention infrastructure action plan. I want to note and thank the whole community. Again, this is a real community victory. Labor always listens and acts, and our community had called for this. I thank the Prime Minister for coming to Lennox Head to make that announcement late last year. This $3 million commitment will fund infrastructure measures for crime prevention and community safety in our North Coast communities. It includes a million dollars for each of the three local government areas, Tweed, Byron and Ballina. As a former frontline police officer, I know firsthand how important it is that we have more resources, including CCTV, to combat crime on the North Coast. Of course, it's up to each of the councils to decide how that money is used in terms of community safety, but it could be used for CCTV, lighting, bollards, fencing or landscaping to improve community safety, reduce crime risks and enhance the vibrancy and usability of shared community spaces. Again, this is a community victory, and I thank everyone who advocated for it. Another very exciting election commitment was $2 million for the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital. They are fantastic. They opened in 2020 and operate seven days a week. They've treated more than 9,000 native animals, including hundreds of threatened species. The Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital operates inside a custom-built semitrailer, making it Australia's only mobile wildlife hospital. It can also be deployed during natural disasters to treat impacted wildlife. They do an amazing job, and I want to acknowledge the whole team at the Byron Bay Wildlife Hospital for their important veterinary work rehabilitating native animals, for leading the way in wildlife protection across our region and for their strong community advocacy as well. Thank you. Again, it is another community victory that I was able to announce that election commitment, and I very much look forward to delivering on it. As I said, locals can always count on me. I've delivered all of my 2022 election commitments, and it's great to see them all in place: the $1.5 million towards the completion of the Lennox Head village upgrade—a wonderful village, one of our most beautiful coastal villages. We have many in my region, and this investment makes a huge difference to local infrastructure. Last year, the Prime Minister and I officially opened the Beacon Laundry in Bangalow. It's a jobs-focused, not-for-profit social enterprise run by White Box Enterprises, who run similar projects across the country. Our election commitment was $750,000 to help fit out that laundry. That laundry is now up and running and employing more than 100 locals. It provides vital job opportunities for long-term unemployed locals, who get to gain work experience and receive ongoing training in a fully supported environment. But it's also of huge benefit to our local tourism industry, as we didn't have a large-scale commercial laundry on the North Coast. But now we do. Beacon Laundry provides that laundry option for businesses in tourism, and they are very, very busy and constantly employing more people. Also, there was my election commitment of $5 million for the veterans hub. The temporary hub is now open, and it's fantastic. It's in Tweed Heads. I really want to acknowledge RSL Lifecare Veteran Services and RSL NSW, who we worked closely with to get that open. It's located on Wharf Street, Tweed Heads. The temporary hub is there, and the permanent hub is opening in the same spot. They've got tailored supports and services for veterans, and that's so important for improving the health and wellbeing of local veterans and for providing whatever services they may need. It's important to provide that for those who have bravely served our nation and for their families as well. I know that these veterans hubs have been a great success across the nation, so I'm very proud to have one in our region. The last of my 2022 commitments I wanted to speak about is the Tweed Shire Council pound—the new pound we're going to be opening up very soon. It's a new pound and rehoming centre in South Murwillumbah. I want to acknowledge the Tweed Shire Council, who advocated strongly for this and who are currently finishing it off. My election commitment in 2022 was for $1 million for the pound, building upon the $1.76 million in federal funding we had already secured. That's a massive federal funding initiative for the pound. The design and build of the facility is in line with the latest in animal welfare guidelines; features new dog kennels, catteries and facilities; and replaces the old pound at Stotts Creek. I especially want to acknowledge the remarkable people at Friends of the Pound, who do such a great job in looking after our animals. I've told the House this before, but, when we made the announcement about our election commitment in late 2021, Friends of the Pound brought along some wonderful animals, including some rescue dogs, and I met and fell in love with Teddy—a half chihuahua—and we adopted him. Six months later we adopted his sister Cindy-Lou. I know that locals would want to know that they're very doing well, and we keep in constant contact with Friends of the Pound. I acknowledge the remarkable work they continue to do, and having this new facility will add to that great work. In the time I have left, I'd like to speak about all our initiatives around housing. Indeed, this is one of the biggest issues we face in our region and right across the country. I was pleased to hear the announcement the other day that in fact we are as a government helping more Australians realise their dream of homeownership sooner by launching the five per cent home deposit scheme for first home buyers on 1 October this year, instead of next year. What a response there has been to that! It is so important that so many people, including younger Australians, can buy their home sooner, and it builds on all of the initiatives that we've had in place in terms of providing housing support and access to it. We need to have more houses built. We need to have all these initiatives in place, and we are absolutely committed to doing that. Earlier this year I announced a very important initiative for my region, which is that the Albanese Labor government is delivering 15 new affordable units in Brunswick Heads through the first round of the Housing Australia Future Fund. We're committed to approving more social and affordable housing. These particular homes are for renters, first home buyers, women and children fleeing domestic violence and those at risk of homelessness. That's why having these units will make such a big difference. We know the needs for social and affordable housing are quite extensive, so I was very proud to have that announcement in place. We'd previously announced 26 safe places for women and children fleeing domestic violence in Tweed Heads as well, but as a government we are totally focused on improving the housing situation across the country, whether that be through home deposits or Housing Australia or one of our many other initiatives. It is a strong focus, I know, for the Prime Minister and the entire government. Lastly, I want to mention yet another great initiative from our government that helps so much in terms of health care. There was a reclassification of Murwillumbah from a city to a regional area, which was a game changer for local GPs and patients. It meant they could bulk-bill more and they could also attract more doctors. I really want to thank the Minister for Health and Ageing for visiting Murwillumbah and seeing that it's not a city but a regional area and that this needed to be changed. We corrected a mistake by the previous Liberal-National government, which had made it previously impossible to get bulk-billing in Murwillumbah. The Albanese Labor government listened, and we changed it. There are now so many more doctors that are bulk-billing. In fact, we have a practice that now is universally bulk-billing everyone, ahead of our 1 November changes. It shows that we are a government that really does listen to communities, acts on their concerns and improves things. The fact that now so many people in Murwillumbah and surrounding areas can get a bulk-billing doctor is so important, because they couldn't do that under the previous government. We are a government with a big agenda, and, as I said, it's an absolute honour and privilege to have been re-elected, for the eighth time, and one that I take very seriously. I certainly want to thank all the people from Richmond for re-electing me.
National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I, too, rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. The bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to cut the maximum cost of PBS medicines by 20 per...
I, too, rise to speak in support of the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025. The bill amends the National Health Act 1953 to cut the maximum cost of PBS medicines by 20 per cent from $31.60 to $25. It was a Labor government that created the PBS so that every Australian could afford the medicine that they needed. Now, the Albanese Labor government is continuing that legacy, strengthening and protecting the PBS for future generations. Without the PBS, many medicines would cost hundreds, even thousands, per prescription, which would make access to vital medications difficult, if not impossible, for so many Australians. We know that, for so many people, the cost of medicines is a major contributor to cost-of-living pressures, but delaying or foregoing medication due to cost can lead to worsening health conditions, more complex treatment and higher long-term healthcare costs. This bill is the latest in a series of cost-of-living measures delivered by our government to make medicines even more affordable. It fulfils our 2025 election commitment to reduce the PBS general patient co-payment. From 1 January 2026, all Australians with a Medicare card will pay no more than $25 for PBS medicines. This change will benefit around 5.1 million Australians, delivering immediate relief at the pharmacy counter. Our government's committed to cheaper medicines, a stronger Medicare, more bulk-billing, more doctors and nurses, and more urgent care clinics. In 2022, we reduced the PBS safety net threshold, cutting the number of scripts concessional patients need before qualifying for free or discounted medicines by 25 per cent. This reform has saved patients over $535 million, with 73 million additional free scripts issued. In 2023, we made the largest cut to medicine costs in PBS history, reducing the general patient co-payment from $42.50 to $30, a 30 per cent reduction that saved patients over $755 million. We also introduced 60-day prescriptions for chronic conditions, which allowed patients to receive double the medication per script, saving time and money and easing the pressure on doctors and pharmacists. This reform saved Australians more than $245 million. Earlier this year, we froze the cost of PBS medicines for pension and concession card holders so that medicine prices would stay at a maximum $7.70. For my electorate, and the older Australians there, this has made a huge difference in terms of addressing their health needs. For non-concession-card-holders, the cost was frozen at a maximum price of $31.60 until the end of 2025. Already, this reform has led to an estimated $11 million in savings for concessional patients and $15 million for non-concessional patients. Together, these reforms have saved Australians $1.5 billion in medicine costs—a huge amount. In my electorate, patients have saved more than $9.7 million. Now, we're going even further. Cheaper medicines mean immediate cost-of-living relief for everybody. They're good for your health, good for household budgets and good for our health system overall. The measures in this bill are expected to save Australians over $200 million each year. From 1 January 2026, PBS medicines will become even cheaper. The last time that PBS medicines cost just $25 was more than 20 years ago. Of course, the PBS is a cornerstone of Medicare, ensuring timely and affordable access to high-quality, cost-effective medicines. When people get the medicines they need when they need them, we see much better health outcomes and reduced pressures on our hospitals and other health services. Affordable medicines are so important, too, for supporting school attendance, workforce participation, family care responsibilities and boosting productivity. They're a win-win for everyone. There are over 900 medicines listed on the PBS, including more than 5,000 different brands. Without the PBS, Australians would be paying the full retail cost to access the medicines they need, and this cost would then be determined by drug makers and pharmacies. From 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, over 226 million subsidised prescriptions were dispensed under the PBS. The average cost per patient for prescriptions would be more than $85 without this important government subsidy. Indeed, one of the world's most expensive drugs, Zolgensma, treats spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disorder that involves loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord and causes progressive muscle weakness. Prior to PBS listing, this drug could be purchased for $3 million; it can now be accessed for the standard co-payment amount. Another drug, encorafenib, used to treat melanomas and other cancers, has a retail price of $7,035.45 without the government subsidy. It's a huge difference. Another drug, nivolumab, is an immunotherapy treatment for various forms of cancer. Without the government subsidy, it would cost more than $9,560. It is astounding the difference it will make. Another drug, Doxorubicin hydrochloride, a common and highly effective chemotherapy drug, would have a price of $750.37 without the subsidy. Another one, infliximab, is a commonly accessed drug that treats autoimmune conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, Crohn's disease and psoriasis. Without the government subsidy, this would cost between $578.68 and $760.24, depending upon the mode of injection. So, without the PBS, access to many life-saving and life-changing drugs would simply not be possible for the vast majority of Australians. The PBS is such a significant component of the government's investment in our healthcare system. We're committed to ensuring that new medicines can be added and listed on the PBS so that Australians can continue to benefit from access to the highest-quality medicines and so that the pharmaceutical market stays sustainable and competitive. We're also committed to continued investment in other essential healthcare services, including bulk-billing. Access to health care and cheaper medicines is vitally important to every single Australian, and this bill builds on the work of the Albanese Labor government and what we are already doing to improve access to health care in my community on the far north coast of New South Wales. Prior to the recent election, I made a commitment that, if the Albanese Labor government were re-elected, we'd deliver a Medicare urgent care clinic in the Tweed region where all you will need is your Medicare card, not your credit card. At the new urgent care clinic, locals will be able to access free urgent care when they need fully bulk-billed treatments without waiting for hours in a busy hospital emergency department. This urgent care clinic will make a huge difference to the people of the far north coast. Recent data has shown us that over 22 per cent of presentations to urgent care clinics in New South Wales have occurred outside normal business hours. That's when people do require that treatment. Over one in four visits take place on the weekend and one in four visits involve treating a young person under the age of 15. This is a very clear indication that the Medicare urgent care clinics are vitally and crucially filling a gap in providing services outside of standard hours and over the weekend. These clinics are giving families in New South Wales—and, indeed, right across the country—timely access to bulk-billed health care and to peace of mind, knowing that help is always there and available. And, of course, it will take pressure off our hospitals as well. We're also delivering access to a free walk-in mental health care clinic for locals with the Medicare mental health centre in Tweed. This is, again, another election commitment of this government that I'm proud to be a part of that I'm proud to be delivering on. The Medicare mental health centre will be open for extended hours, with no appointment or referral needed. Just walk in—no appointment, no referral—to get the mental health care that you need. You can walk in and get that from this centre. I know other centres around the country are providing vital support for people. That mental health centre will be staffed by qualified mental health professionals, including social workers, nurses and peer support workers. The centre will provide immediate relief for people in distress, as well as ongoing care for those with more complex mental health needs. Earlier this year, we expanded access to mental health support for young people in my region by opening a new headspace in Ballina. Headspaces are incredibly important for young people to feel comfortable about accessing the health care they need. We have one in Tweed, and I know they do a remarkable job of providing support. That one in Ballina was indeed very much needed, and I was very proud to open that earlier this year. We're also making MRI scans more affordable and delivering health services to support those experiencing homelessness on the north coast. Another very important measure that we the Albanese Labor government took was to reclassify the town of Murwillumbah from 'metropolitan' to 'regional' for healthcare services. We reversed the Liberals and Nationals' absurd decision to classify Murwillumbah as a city. I don't know if you've been to Murwillumbah, but it's not a city; it's a regional town. That, of course, had a huge impact upon their capacity to bulk-bill; it was less. Their capacity to attract doctors was unheard of. They couldn't do that because they were classified as a city. I really want to congratulate everyone, particularly in Murwillumbah. This is a community victory. They made their voices heard. We heard them. Labor listen and Labor act, and we changed that classification. It's making a real difference for locals. There are GPs, like the ones at Wollumbin Medical Centre in Murwillumbah, that are now universally bulk-billing patients. I know that many other practices have started a lot more bulk-billing as well, particularly of pensioners and concession card holders who just could not get to the doctor because of the way the Liberals and Nationals had classified Murwillumbah. They can now, and that's great. I hear from many of the GP practices as well that they've had a lot of interest from doctors who want to move there now that they can access more incentives. Recently, I was really pleased to visit the Wollumbin Medical Centre to celebrate this good news about them universally bulk-billing everyone. They've told me they can do that now because the Albanese Labor government reclassified Murwillumbah as regional and also because of our increases to bulk-billing incentives that come in from 1 November 2025. It is a perfect example of a government listening and acting, and how our really strong policies in terms of accessing health care are making a difference to regional Australians who quite often have had difficulty accessing health care. But we're making sure that, across the country, people have more services when they need them. As I say, our government is committed to strengthening Medicare by making PBS medicines even cheaper, increasing bulk-billing incentives, opening up Medicare urgent care clinics—like the one we'll have in Tweed Heads—and growing our health workforce to deliver more doctors and nurses, which we very much need on the ground. We're also investing in women's and men's health initiatives. We're opening more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. We're investing in a lot more free mental health support. We're also establishing 1800MEDICARE, a free 24/7 health advice line that people can access. Of course, if we look at all of those actions by our government, the Albanese Labor government, the contrast with the Liberals' and Nationals' record on Medicare and the PBS is crystal clear. They cut $50 billion from our hospitals, which, quite frankly, was catastrophic in terms of the capacity to deliver health services. It had a huge impact. Disgracefully, they froze the Medicare rebate—and they made it more expensive to see a doctor by freezing that rebate. They planned to increase the cost of PBS medicines as well. They voted against making PBS medicines cheaper. They've described our urgent care clinics as 'wasteful spending'. This is absolutely absurd. Our initiatives are game changers. People know that Labor is committed to delivering and strengthening Medicare. They know that when it comes to the Liberals and Nationals—when the former opposition leader was health minister, there were all the cuts he made, and he said that not everything can be free. The impact that his cuts had right across the board is absurd. They were very severe across the country but more so, again, in our regional and rural areas, where there often are impediments to getting health care. People in my region suffered for many years—the nine years the Liberals and Nationals were in government—from the consistent cuts, at every turn, to health care. It is a big job, and our government has been working extremely hard. I want to acknowledge the incredible work of our health minister in his commitment to strengthening Medicare, and we are seeing the result on the ground now. We know there's a lot to do, but with all those changes we have made a massive difference to people across the country and particularly in my region. Locals in my community on the far north coast know you can only count on Labor to strengthen Medicare and improve the PBS. I commend the bill to the House.
Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, Richmond Electorate: Medicare | Constituency Statements | House debates
The Albanese Labor government is absolutely committed to strengthening Medicare and has been doing that since day one of being in government. This week in the parliament, we introduced...
The Albanese Labor government is absolutely committed to strengthening Medicare and has been doing that since day one of being in government. This week in the parliament, we introduced legislation for cheaper medicines. This means a prescription under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will cost Australians no more than $25 from 1 January 2026. This builds on action we've already taken to deliver cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines. We had the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the 60-day prescription saving time and money and freezing the cost of PBS medicines. For pensioners and concession cardholders, their scripts stay at $7.70 until 2030—a vitally important issue in my region, where I have many pensioners and concession cardholders. This cheaper-medicines policy is another key cost-of-living measure that this government has brought in. For the people of the North Coast, all our initiatives have made a huge impact on them when it comes to health care, particularly the tripling of the bulk-billing rates; making MRI scans more affordable; new health services to support those experiencing homelessness; a new headspace in Ballina, which is already open and providing important services for our younger people; and, really importantly, changes to the Modified Monash Model for the township of Murwillumbah. I've told this House many times the situation in Murwillumbah. The Morrison government changed the classification of the wonderful small regional town of Murwillumbah from 'regional' to 'metropolitan', which was completely absurd. That meant they were unable to bulk-bill many people and they couldn't attract many doctors. The situation was devastating, and I was very pleased that the Minister for Health and Ageing came to Murwillumbah, met with local doctors and heard firsthand about the impact of this classification. Only a few months ago, it was changed; Murwillumbah is classified as a regional area again, and I am very pleased to report that many local doctors and local residents are telling me that bulk-billing has increased. We've now got a lot of doctors that want to move there because the incentives are in place. Again, it's about Labor listening and acting. For this town in my region, it was a huge improvement when it came to health services. During the election, I made the commitment to getting an urgent care clinic in Tweed Heads—it is absolutely important that people can access that, and they will just need their Medicare card to do it—and a Medicare mental health centre in Tweed Heads, which will be free and bulk-billed. Both those services will be so important for the Tweed and the North Coast region. Yet again, it's a Labor government that continues to deliver and strengthen Medicare after so many cuts and rebates being frozen under the previous government. It's now the Albanese Labor government delivering for my community and, indeed, right across Australia.
Environment | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
Thank you, Deputy Speaker Claydon, and can I start by congratulating you on your re-election as the Deputy Speaker. I'm really excited today that my first contribution to the 48th Parliament is...
Thank you, Deputy Speaker Claydon, and can I start by congratulating you on your re-election as the Deputy Speaker. I'm really excited today that my first contribution to the 48th Parliament is to talk about our environmental reform and how it drives our economy as well. It is no surprise, of course, that what we've heard from the other side is the usual rhetoric we've been hearing forever from them—all climate deniers. You can look at that when you look at the legislation that we've brought into the House. Of course, our first bill yesterday was to cut HECS debt by 20 per cent. What was the first major piece of legislation from the coalition? A bill to scrap action on climate change. Just as we saw with the nine years of inaction when they were in government, they still don't accept the science of climate change and they just want to take the country backwards. As I said, we had almost a decade of inaction with them. I think there were 20-odd plans they had. They were always changing their minds when they were in government, and of course they went to the last election with their $600 billion nuclear plan. Well, how did that go? The Australian people clearly rejected that. They are sick of this ongoing climate denial from the Liberals and Nationals. In contrast to all of that, we are absolutely committed to making Australia a renewable energy superpower, and the Australian people support that as well. They endorsed our policies at the election because they involved protecting jobs and protecting the environment. We can do both—we absolutely can—and we're committed to making sensible reforms to better protect our environment and deliver certainty to industry. As we heard today, the independent Samuel review found that our current laws aren't working to protect the environment for industry and business, so our priority is to fix those laws. The current ones are outdated, and we need the support of the House. They should get on board with this. It's vitally important for our future. If we want to be a renewable energy superpower, if we want a future made in Australia and if we want to protect our iconic natural environment, we all need to be on board with this. We have made huge advances also when it comes to the energy transition, with record renewable energy generation and our policies across the economy helping drive down emissions and deliver on our targets, very importantly. Renewable energy generation has seen Australia reach new records. It is up in volume by around 30 per cent since we were elected, and that comes from government investment, policies and legislation. That's what the Australian people support, and I just cannot understand how the other side fail to recognise that again and again and again. We see it across the board. We are the party that's delivered every single major environmental reform in Australia's history, from Landcare to saving the Franklin, protecting the Daintree and Kakadu, building the largest network of marine parks in the world and addressing climate change. It is the Labor Party that continues to do that. It's the Labor Party that continues this record investment in renewable energy. Since we came to government in 2022, we've passed strong laws to force big polluters to cut emissions so Australia gets to net zero carbon pollution by 2050. This and other actions have reduced our emissions. It is vitally important that that's happened, and it has happened only through the absolute commitment of this government. As I've said, we saw almost a decade of inaction from the Liberals and Nationals. Time and time again, they've come in here saying the same things over and over again. Looking forward, we all have an opportunity to get all these important reforms done, so they should actually look at it and think about the impacts of their decisions on our economy. The decisions they make are destructive. The Australian people have said to those opposite that they do not support their climate denialism, and they have said it many, many times. Those opposite should reflect and listen to the people of Australia and what they have said to them and work constructively with the government to reform our environmental laws to sustain our economic growth into the future. It's vitally important. We can just look at all of those things they did when they were in government over those nine years—so destructive. The Greens need a bit of time for reflection as well. We saw them blocking so much in the previous parliament, whether it was environmental reforms or housing reforms. Well, the Australian people have spoken to them as well. They're not interested in the constant blocking of reforms, particularly those environmental reforms. So I say to them as well: work constructively, get an outcome and put away the playbook of opposing everything. It's not on. People actually want constructive reform and everyone working together. So, Liberals, Nationals and Greens, you all have an opportunity now in this parliament to stand up for your communities, deliver environmental reform and drive our economic growth. People want you to do that, so stop playing politics. Stop blocking everything—not just environmental reforms but across housing and so many other areas as well—and drive our economy forward.
Cost of Living | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
ELLIOT (—) (): The choice at this year's coming election is so incredibly clear: we have Labor's plan to keep building Australia's future or, indeed, the Liberals' and Nationals' plans to...
ELLIOT (—) (): The choice at this year's coming election is so incredibly clear: we have Labor's plan to keep building Australia's future or, indeed, the Liberals' and Nationals' plans to cut everything everywhere. That is their only plan. We know they have at least $300 billion on cuts proposed, but they will not tell us exactly where. Is it in health or social services, perhaps in the NDIS, infrastructure, in areas or agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency? We don't know where these cuts will be, but they will be catastrophic for the Australian people. It is a very, very clear choice at this election, with us building and them cutting. That is all it is: build or cut. The Leader of the Opposition will make families worse off by cutting the very things they need. He has done it before and he will definitely do it again. Those opposite don't have any plans at all except their one plan—the $600 billion nuclear madness scheme; that is all they have. What will they cut to pay for that? The end result of all that will be much higher power prices for Australians. Let's have a look at exactly the record, particularly that of the Leader of the Opposition and Liberals and Nationals. As a health minister, the Leader of the Opposition cut $50 billion from our public hospitals, cut funding for Medicare and tried to end bulk-billing with that GP tax. We all remember that one, particularly how unpopular it was right across the community. He also tried to make medicines a lot more expensive and charge for emergency room visits. And, of course, we all remember that the Leader of the Opposition was voted the 'worst' health minister. Let's go back even a little bit further. As we've heard a few times today as we reflect on 2013, we had the then Leader of the Opposition running around saying to people prior to the election that there would be no cuts—no cuts to health, no cuts to education, no cuts to pensions, no cuts to the ABC and no cuts to the SBS. What did they do as soon as they got in? Cut all of them—every single one of those. Let's come back to the present day, to the Liberals and Nationals that we have here. Let's look at what they've done. They've opposed Labor's tax cuts for every taxpayer. They've opposed Labor's Medicare urgent care clinics. They've opposed Labor's cheaper medicines plan, opposed Labor's cheaper childcare plan and opposed Labor's energy bill relief in the past as well. All of our cost-of-living measures have been opposed by the Liberals and Nationals. Australians need those cost-of-living measures, and they have opposed every single one. The fact is that now Australians are earning more and keeping more of what they earn under Labor. But the fact is that they'll be working much longer for less under the Liberals and Nationals. That's what will happen. We are so focused on the cost of living and the tax cuts for every taxpayer, and do you know what they are focused on? The only things they're focused on are tax breaks for bosses, long lunches and golf days. That's about it. That's what they focus on. We focus on everyday Australians and the cost-of-living pressures that they have. It has been absolutely clear cut that that's our focus and, of course, that will be the focus tonight in the Treasurer's fourth budget speech. Again, we will see that focus on the cost of living, which is so important. Of course, when we came to government, inflation was high and rising, real wages were falling and living standards were declining. Under our government, inflation is almost a third of what it was at the election and is falling. Real wages are growing again. We have recorded the lowest average unemployment rate of any government in 50 years and we've overseen the creation of more than a million jobs, because our economic plan is all about helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn. We do that because responsible economic management is so importantly at the core of this government and all that we deliver. I'd like now to turn to some of those cost-of-living measures that we have in place. We understand that people have been, and are still, doing it tough. That's why our entire focus is on cost-of-living measures. First of all, we have had, of course, those tax cuts for every taxpayer. Can I tell you, in an electorate like mine on the North Coast of New South Wales, that's more than 70,000 people that have had a tax cut. We have provided energy bill relief for every household, and we just announced an extra $150 in energy bill relief, extending our energy rebates until the end of 2025. That builds on the $300 energy rebate we already delivered to households. And, of course, there are the cheaper medicines that are so vitally important for Australians. We've said that scripts will cost Australians no more than $25 under the PBS, and the cost for pensioners and concession card holders will remain capped at $7.70. That's going to make a huge difference in the lives of so many Australians, particularly our senior Australians. One of our other cost-of-living measures is cheaper child care, which is so important for families—particularly for getting women back into employment—and so important for our economy as well. We've also provided our HECS relief, and we have announced—if re-elected—a 20 per cent cut from HECS debts, which will really help younger people with HECS debts in particular. And, of course, there is free TAFE. What a game changer this has been in terms of training Australians. Again, in an area like mine, 5,000 people were able to access TAFE because of Labor's free TAFE. We also have our Medicare urgent care clinics and our Medicare mental health clinics, where people can walk in for free. At those, you only need your Medicare card. We're doing that on top of increasing the bulk-billing rebate for everyone so more people can access a doctor when they need it. We are absolutely committed to strengthening Medicare; we always have been. We also, as part of so many of the measures we've introduced, invested in social and affordable housing, including recently expanding the Help to Buy scheme as well, so that more younger people and renters can get into the housing market. We have also strengthened our social security safety nets, which are so vital in this country. Particularly, we have increased rent assistance by 40 per cent and increased pensions by almost 17 per cent since we came to government. As I said before, the Liberals and Nationals oppose all of those cost-of-living measures. They've always opposed them—all along the way and all along the line. The fact is Australians would be much worse off under the Liberals and Nationals. We know that to be an absolute fact. I'll just add that, whilst we are absolutely committed to building on our focus for Australia and our absolute priority is that we make sure of that every step of the way—every day that we've been in government we've done that—we are also very mindful that we have natural disasters in this country. I want to touch on that briefly as well because it goes to the heart of what our government are committed to and what we do—that is, addressing cost-of-living measures whilst also being proactive in communities, like mine, that were impacted recently by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. That's because our government, the Albanese Labor government, is there for people and communities. That is a fact. From those hardship payments to repairing roads, we have absolutely been there. I would like to briefly acknowledge, firstly, all of those agencies that were so well prepared and worked together in my region. We had the SES, the RFS, the ADF—they were there on the ground, which was wonderful—Essential Energy, councils and Services Australia. I particularly want to acknowledge and thank the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister for being there on the ground with people in our region and for talking to them, as well as the New South Wales Premier, all of the New South Wales state ministers, our Minister for Emergency Management, Senator Jenny McAllister, and also Senator Tony Sheldon, who was our flood envoy. All of them were on the ground, every single day, coordinating and working with those agencies, and our Prime Minister was coordinating that from the National Situation Room at the NEMA, National Emergency Management Authority, headquarters here in Canberra, which is an agency we set up to respond to natural disasters because we know we have to be there for Australians whether that is every single day with cost-of-living relief or planning and providing support when we do have natural disasters. We have invested a huge amount in disaster funds and also in NEMA, but the fact is we were there on the ground with all of those agencies and it means so much to people. We also announced some of the really important payments people could access—the hardship payments of $180 and the disaster allowance—as payments for people's wages lost during natural disasters when they can't get to work or their place of work is closed. There is also the disaster payment of $1,000 for major damage, and we, for the first time, activated those payments prior to it happening, again, because we care about Australians and we address the issues that they have. We have been doing that ever since we were elected—since day one—and our main focus, every single day, is addressing the cost-of-living pressures that Australians have. That is the focus of everyone in our government, and that will absolutely be the focus of the Treasurer tonight in outlining his fourth budget and those measures that will help Australians, because we understand people are doing it tough and we are a government that continue to be committed to providing the support that Australians need, right across our nation.
Rearrangement | Business | House debates
I move: That notice No. 1, government business, be postponed until a later hour this day. Question agreed to.
I'm very pleased to be speaking today about our cost-of-living measures and how important they are for all Australians. I want to start by talking about the situation when we came into...
I'm very pleased to be speaking today about our cost-of-living measures and how important they are for all Australians. I want to start by talking about the situation when we came into government. We knew then, when we came into government, that inflation was high and rising, real wages were falling, living standards were declining and people were going backwards. That was the reality. But, under our responsible economic management over these past few years, we now see inflation is almost a third of what it was at the election and is falling, real wages are growing again, living standards are rising again and we've recorded the lowest average unemployment rate for any government in 50 years. We've also overseen the creation of more than 1.1 million jobs—the most jobs created on record in any parliamentary term. So our economic plan is all about helping Australians earn more and keep more of what they earn and addressing many of those cost-of-living pressures. Now, there are a whole range of them, and I'd like to run through them. Certainly when I'm out in my electorate, door-knocking at listening posts, people raise how a lot of these measures have assisted them. Our tax cuts for every taxpayer—in my electorate that's over 70,000 people—have made a huge difference. As I said, we know people are doing it tough. That's why these measures are important. The energy bill relief for every household of $300 helps so many, particularly a lot of older Australians in my area on the New South Wales North Coast. Of course, our cheaper child care is so vitally important for families. Cheaper medicines are, again, so important for everyone, particularly older Australians. And what a game changer fee-free TAFE has been across the nation, as is reducing HECS debts. All of those measures are so vitally important. There are the wage increases for aged-care workers and childcare workers as well. I'm hearing every day from people in my area about what a difference they make. Now, of course, all of these measures were opposed by the Liberals and Nationals, which is just appalling. I don't know how they, or their candidates, face people in their electorates when they're talking about the cost of living. Are they honest, and do they tell them that they actually opposed every one of our cost-of-living measures that are helping Australians every single day? What we do know about the Liberals and Nationals is that they have a lot of secret cuts and secret costs as well. We certainly hoped that we might hear about some of those today, but I don't know that we will. They don't seem to want to reveal too much of it. We know that the biggest threat to household budgets is indeed the cuts the Liberals and Nationals would make—about $7,200 for each household. It would be devastating. What we do know is a little bit about the expenditure they want to have—the $600 billion on their nuclear power madness, which is just going to result in massive increases to power prices. I can tell you: people in my electorate are not interested in the Liberals and Nationals plan. We hear many times, and we heard today, about the $10 billion they want to spend on the long lunches for bosses. That's their absolute priority. What we don't hear about are the secret cuts. We know there is that $350 billion they say they want to make in cuts. Well, what I'd like to know, and what people in my electorate and throughout the nation would like to know, is: Where are they coming from? Where are those cuts going to be? Will they be in age pensions? Will they be in Medicare? Will they be in veterans pensions? We'd all like to know. People are very concerned. Will there be further cuts to education? Will they be to fee-free TAFE? We know they've got form across the board for a lot of these cuts, and there's a real concern in the community when it comes to that—that that's exactly what they would see again with the Liberals and Nationals in government. As I said, in my electorate, it comes up all the time: Where will those cuts be? Will they be right across the board? I mean, tax cuts are so vitally important. As I said, more than 70,000 people in my electorate have benefited from them. I know that across the country at least 600,000 people have been able to access fee-free TAFE—and, importantly, access to all of that education and access to jobs. It's so important to be training our workforce for the future. In my region 5,000 people will benefit. In a regional area, that is huge. Every day people tell me the difference that fee-free TAFE has made in their lives as well. Again, this was all opposed by the Liberals and Nationals. The other issue that people raise with me are their concerns about when the opposition leader was the health minister. This is something that comes up all the time, because it's a pretty shambolic record when we have a look at it. We know that when the opposition leader was the health minister he froze Medicare rebates for years. It was incredibly damaging. Of course, he wanted to put that GP tax in place. I was here when he was talking about how important it was. My community certainly fought back in relation to that. Of course, he cut $50 billion from public hospitals. That was just horrendous right across the board. On top of all of that he said that there were too many free Medicare services. That's what he thinks. That's what the Liberals and Nationals think. They've got form when it comes to cutting Medicare and cutting health services. Our government has worked extremely hard in rebuilding Medicare in terms of tripling the bulk-billing rate and putting a lot more funding into our public hospitals. It takes a long time. Ten years of cuts and neglect of our health system have been really devastating. But people remember that. People remember when the opposition leader was health minister. So there is going to be a very clear choice at the next election—a choice between building Australia's future with the Labor government and taking us backwards with the Liberals and Nationals. It's only going to be a vote for Labor that will stop the opposition leader from becoming prime minister and stop the Liberals and Nationals from getting into power. They will take us backwards and people will be worse off. We certainly know that that's the case. When I'm out and about, talking and listening to the community, all these cost-of-living measures make such a big difference. We're also very proud, as a government and as MPs, of listening to our community about the concerns they have. I would like to add this on one of my local issues that has been a very, very big concern and that we addressed last week. The Prime Minister was up in my electorate on the Friday, and we made a really important announcement—that the re-election of an Albanese Labor government would deliver $3 million for our North Coast crime prevention infrastructure action plan. It's really good to have that plan in place. Again, this is about listening to the community and about Labor governments addressing these concerns. We've seen increasing youth crime in our area, and of course the community are very, very concerned about that, as am I. As a former police officer, community safety is my top priority. Right across the area, people raise those concerns. I do note, of course, that the New South Wales government has been very proactive. We've had 17 new police recruits to our region. That government has recently brought in stronger youth offender bail laws, and also Jack's law, in terms of tackling knife crime. We always need to have a whole suite of measures. In this announcement that we made, there's a million dollars for each council—the Tweed, Ballina and Byron councils—to be able to install crime prevention infrastructure measures, whether it's CCTV, lighting or landscaping; the councils can make that decision. I really want to thank all the community that advocated for this—particularly the Ballina mayor, Sharon Cadwallader. I also want to acknowledge Alison Vickery, who led the community group, and all those people who filled out my crime survey. I was very pleased to be announcing this commitment from a re-elected Albanese Labor government. It's about listening to the community and the concerns they have. We've done that, as we do every day in terms of listening to people in our region about addressing those cost-of-living measures. Of course, on Sunday, we did see an incredibly good announcement in terms of our investment in women's health. That is such an important investment. It's really good work that's being done. There's the absolute strengthening of Medicare, with more than $570 million to deliver more choice, lower cost and better health care for women, and there's been a really positive response in my area. Look what it includes: the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years; more choice, lower costs and better access to long-term contraceptives; larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing for IUDs and birth-control implants, saving around 300,000 women a year up to $400 in out-of-pocket costs; more Medicare support for women experiencing menopause; and the first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapies in over 20 years. This has been incredibly important for women right across the nation. As part of that package, too, there'll be more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions, and also contraceptives and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs directly from pharmacies—another great initiative. Again, this is about Labor listening to the community, acting on the concerns that the community have and delivering real reforms. This one is certainly needed, and I know there's been a really positive response right across the country in terms of our investment in women's health. We're really proud to keep delivering all of our cost-of-living relief. It has made a huge difference. Certainly, it is only Labor that will take Australia forwards. Voting for the Liberals and Nationals just takes us backwards, and we know that that's exactly what they would do, because they opposed every single one of our cost-of-living measures that are so vitally important at this time.
Liberal-National Coalition | Constituency Statements | House debates
I rise today to point out the risk that the opposition leader and the Liberals and Nationals pose to my electorate on the New South Wales North Coast and, indeed, right throughout the nation. The...
I rise today to point out the risk that the opposition leader and the Liberals and Nationals pose to my electorate on the New South Wales North Coast and, indeed, right throughout the nation. The fact is, if they are elected, people will be worse off. Australians know that; people in my region know that and tell me that every day. Households will be approximately $7,200 worse off. That's the impact of their policies. We know this. How do we know it, people might ask? We know it because they've opposed every single cost-of-living measure we have put forward—every single one of them. People are doing it tough, and that's why we have those cost-of-living measures in place, but they're completely opposed to them. But we do know what they want to do. They want to spend $10 billion worth of taxpayers' money for bosses to have long lunches. They're fine with that but not with helping out Australians who are struggling. We do know there will be massive amounts of cuts. In fact, there will be $350 billion in cuts. Where will they be? They just won't tell us. Will there be cuts to Medicare? Will there be cuts to age pensions? Will there be cuts to bulk-billing? Will there be cuts across the board? People don't know, and they're quite terrified about the risk that they pose. Let's have a look in more detail at some of those cost-of-living measures that the Liberals and Nationals oppose. There are the tax cuts for every taxpayer. In my area, 71,000 people have benefitted from them. The average tax cut is around $1,500. They opposed it. There's the $300 energy bill relief. They opposed it, and people needed to have that. There are cheaper medicines and cheaper child care. The Liberals and Nationals opposed them. What about fee-free TAFE, which has been a game changer for 5,000 people in my region? They opposed it. They also opposed really important pay rises for aged-care workers and childcare workers. We know they've opposed all of those, and that's why we know people will be worse off under the Liberals and Nationals. That is, in fact, a fact. Let's have a look at the opposition leader's record when he was the health minister. It's a pretty shambolic record. He went ahead and froze Medicare rebates. Of course, he really wanted to have that GP tax in place as well. He cut $50 billion from public hospitals. And, in fact, the opposition leader said that there were too many free Medicare services. That's what the Liberals and Nationals think of Medicare. After a decade of cuts and neglect, we've worked really hard to repair Medicare. We know that all these cuts will be there, but we won't hear about any of them until after the election. They won't tell us, but we know there's $350 billion in cuts. There's a really clear choice at the next election, and that's a choice between building Australia's future with the Albanese Labor government or taking Australia backwards with the Liberals and Nationals. The fact is, it's only a vote for Labor that can stop the opposition leader from becoming Prime Minister and stop the Liberals and Nationals from getting into power. They will take us backwards, and people will be worse off.
Free TAFE Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
I'm very pleased to be speaking on the Free TAFE Bill 2024 today. I'm especially pleased to be speaking on it today, of all days, because today in New South Wales—my state—it's the...
I'm very pleased to be speaking on the Free TAFE Bill 2024 today. I'm especially pleased to be speaking on it today, of all days, because today in New South Wales—my state—it's the start of semester 1 2025. It is a day to be celebrating TAFE and all that it provides and also to be speaking on this really important bill in terms of how committed the Albanese Labor government is to providing fee-free TAFE and of the difference that it's making in the lives of so many Australians. The Free TAFE Bill 2024 provides ongoing financial support to the states and territories for the delivery of fee-free TAFE places and ensures that it's in place and supports the delivery of at least 100,000 places across Australia each year from 2027. What it does is reaffirm our government's commitment to putting TAFE right at the heart of vocational education and training. We understand how important that is. This also removes those financial barriers to education and training, particularly for those people experiencing economic disadvantage. Very especially, it supports education and training in areas of high workforce demand with emerging skill needs that really are a national priority. I add that across the nation this is a game changer, especially in regional and rural areas like my electorate of Richmond on the New South Wales North Coast. Having such a policy in place has made such a difference. There are approximately 5,000 people who have had access to fee-free TAFE since this was brought in. I have met many of those students, and they have talked about how it has been life changing. They couldn't afford to go to TAFE without this in place and they are getting the necessary skills to work in much-needed sectors. Often in regional and rural areas there are impediments to gaining access to further training, and that's exactly why we have this in place: so people can get access. In my region we also have a series of outstanding TAFE facilities—indeed, as they are right across the country—and I visited many of those. We've particularly got ones at Kingscliff, Byron, Ballina and Murwillumbah. They're very new ones, particularly in Byron Bay. It's great having them there, speaking to all of those students and hearing what a difference it makes in their lives. It shows how important it is to have a Labor government in place delivering all of these important changes. Labor has always committed to investing in the skills that our nation needs to drive economic growth. It's vitally important. We're also committed to making sure no-one is left behind and nobody is held back as our economy transitions. Indeed, fee-free TAFE has changed the lives of hundreds of thousands of Australians, providing cost-of-living relief and a pathway to well-paid and secure employment. In fact, in the first 18 months of fee-free TAFE, as we heard the minister say today, there have been nearly 600,000 enrolments. That's a huge number across the nation. This bill establishes ongoing relief by removing financial barriers to education and training, and it really also ensures that fee-free TAFE continues to deliver a coordinated response to the pipeline of skilled workers that our nation needs now and into the future. We have a responsibility to help people here and now when it comes to training and we do owe a duty to the next generation to build an economy. That really does start with education for all—every Australian, no matter where they live, their background or their financial situation. They should be able to access education. We believe in equal opportunity. By making TAFE free, we're removing that financial barrier. The fact is that our whole nation benefits in terms of economic growth as well as the individual's capacity to get secure employment. The cost of inaction, of course, is so much higher. Failing to invest in up skilling our people will leave so many industries and businesses stranded and leave so many people out of fulfilling their full potential as well. We are, across so many levels, committed to delivering on skills development. The fact is that TAFE is at the heart of vocational education and training and you can't have a strong VET sector without strong public TAFE at its heart. TAFEs are very valued and trusted public institutions and have a long history of delivering training in the public interest and working to meet so many goals that our nation needs. I visit some of the TAFEs in my community, and of course they're in every community across the country. Every Australian deserves to access them. In fact, a Labor government will never ever consider fee-free TAFE wasteful spending, as we heard from the Deputy Leader of the Opposition. It really says it all about the Liberals' and Nationals' approach to public education or, indeed, any great services—in this case, public education. They don't understand it, don't value it, don't care about it and don't invest in it. We certainly do. We understand its worth. Of course, our government, by making all these strong commitments, is reversing a lot of the damage that we saw from the previous Liberal-National government—the damage over a decade. We are rebuilding TAFEs for communities across the nation. We made the landmark $30 billion, five-year National Skills Agreement and we're taking other actions, such as going after dodgy providers so that quality providers can in fact do their work properly. As we've pointed out many times in this House, the risk of the opposition leader and the Liberals and Nationals getting into government is that people will be worse off, and one of the ways in which they'll be worse off is through the inevitable cuts we will see, yet again, to TAFE. Whenever those opposite are in government one of the first things they do is slash all of the funding for TAFE and VET training. We know that will happen again. We know they're claiming they'll be making $350 billion in cuts across the board. Whether they be to Medicare, to the age pension or to TAFE training, they will be catastrophic for our nation. Of course, the opposition leader told us the other day, in an interview, that they're not going to announce any of these cuts till after the election, but Australians know that they will be so much worse off and just cannot risk a Liberal-National government. When those opposite have been in government, we have, at every turn, fought their harsh cuts to TAFE. And when we have been in government we have invested record amounts to make sure that people can access all of these important services. I know from meeting young people who are training at TAFE or older people going back to reskill that it is life-changing for them. Today was the start of semester 1, 2025, and in my electorate of Richmond on the New South Wales North Coast we were very pleased to have the New South Wales Minister for Skills TAFE and Tertiary Education, Steve Whan. Unfortunately, I couldn't be there this time. Minister Whan has been up to the North Coast many times. I've visited a number of TAFEs with him, and I know that he and the Minns state Labor government are equally committed to ensuring provisions are made for our TAFE. In fact, Minister Whan was there today announcing the introduction of the new TAFE NSW Charter, which is a great idea. It lets the people of New South Wales know what they should expect from TAFE as the provider at the heart of vocational training. The charter reflects TAFE NSW as an important public asset, a community space, an industry partner and a leader of educational quality and innovation within the broader VET sector. I congratulate the New South Wales government on making that announcement today and on making it in my electorate, which I was very pleased about. I thank the minister for making the announcement there. In fact, he made it at TAFE in Kingscliff, which an outstanding institution. There is a $33 million government investment to upgrade that particular facility. They also have one of the TAFE call centres there, so it is a huge institution providing a whole range of really good services. That $33 million investment includes a new learning space for health services students, which is important as well. There are a whole range of initiatives that our government has when it comes to training and supporting younger Australians, particularly when we look at higher education contributions. Last year in this House we passed legislation to wipe $3 billion of student debt for three million Australians. I know so many people locally who've had cuts to the HECS debt, and it has made a huge difference. Of course, that's part of our broader cost-of-living relief measures. We know people are doing it tough and we know many people with these HECS debts are doing it tough. Many people have received the good news that the legislation we passed last year fixed the way indexation of student debt was calculated, and many people have had that cut to their debt as well. We announced last year as well that a re-elected Albanese government would wipe 20 per cent off student loans, and at the same time we announced we'd make fee-free TAFE permanent. Having 20 per cent off their HECS debts will be a huge benefit to so many students right across the nation, particularly those in regional and rural areas. We are committed to doing that if we are re-elected. Again, I present the alternative. The Liberals and Nationals didn't support any of that. They don't support any of our cost-of-living measures. On top of all that, they'll be cutting many important training initiatives as well. So we have announced a whole range of measures, including also the $10,000 for apprentices. Right across the board we're investing in training, and we're assisting students with their HECS debts as well, because we really value education. It's why we have this in place and why we made those commitments leading up to the election. Of course, they are all part of a broader suite of measures that we have worked on and delivered when it comes to cost-of-living relief. We understand that people are doing it tough. It is hard, and that's why we've had all of these measures in place. I will point out that every single one of those measures was opposed by the Liberals and Nationals, and they have to go and explain to people in their communities why they opposed a tax cut for every taxpayer. In my region there were 71,000 people who benefited from that. It's vitally important. We also had the $300 energy bill relief. It's so important for people to have that energy bill relief, and of course it was opposed by those opposite. We also have cheaper childcare and cheaper medicines that are helping people every day. And there's fee-free TAFE, which is absolutely vital. All of those measures mean that we're helping Australians right now. We understand they're doing it tough. We've seen the increase in wages, and we committed to and delivered that increase in wages particularly for our aged-care and childcare workers, who are so valued. Again, that was all opposed by those opposite. All of those cost-of-living measures were opposed, and we often say to people that that's the risk the Liberals and Nationals pose. It's a fact that people would be a lot worse off if the coalition were to ever be in government, and that's just from looking at their record of opposing vital cost-of-living relief, whereas we on the Labor side are absolutely committed to making sure that's in place. In this bill, it all revolves around fee-free TAFE and the difference that it makes. The take-up rate of that has been absolutely phenomenal, and the number is 5,000 people in my electorate, which is absolutely huge. There would not be anyone who isn't aware or touched by this, whether it be the student, their families or their friends. People often talk about how being able to access fee-free TAFE has transformed someone's life, and making sure that people can access that is one of our core election commitments. Also, the 20 per cent cut to HECS debts is really important as well. We're very proud to yet again be investing in education, training and skills. As much as that is life changing for individuals, their families and communities, in terms of our nation's economic prosperity we desperately need to have all these workers. It is a win-win all round. It's only Labor governments that continue to invest in building the training and skills for workers now and into the future whilst also ensuring that our economy has an incredible skilled workforce to meet the demands now and into the future. It is only Labor that consistently delivers increases in training and education right across the board. I very proudly commend this bill to the House.