Andrew Hastie's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-05T22:06:01+00:00
items: Defence | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Australia Day | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
items: Housing | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: International Relations, National Rugby League: Papua New Guinea | Adjournment | House debates
items: Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Western Australia: Health Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Economy | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Albanese Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: National Police Remembrance Day | Statements on Significant Matters | House debates
items: National Security | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Australian National Flag | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
items: Canning Electorate: Canning Shakespeare Competition | Constituency Statements | House debates

Defence | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Shame on the Albanese government for their neglect of the Australian Defence Force. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have stripped out the Defence budget. Shame on the Albanese...
encoded: Shame on the Albanese government for their neglect of the Australian Defence Force. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have stripped out the Defence budget. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have compromised our warfighting capability. Shame on the Albanese government for the way they have destroyed the morale of our fighting men and women, and shame on the Albanese government for the news today that they are selling off our prime defence land and bases across our country. Labor is selling off historic bases like Victoria Barracks in Sydney and Melbourne, central to the ADF's identity and history. Labor is selling off important bases like Irwin Barracks in Perth, home to the 13th Brigade and the heart and soul of our Army Reserve in the west. Labor is selling off key bases like HMAS Penguin, which provide an important presence and capability in Sydney for the Royal Australian Navy, and Labor is selling off land near sensitive bases like Swan Island in Victoria, putting at risk important capabilities. The Albanese government are not stewards; they are wreckers, and they are wrecking our inheritance. They are pushing our fighting men and women and their families further away from the cities that we depend upon for the recruitment of our soldiers, sailors and airmen. Why? For money—it's all about money. That's why I say again: shame on the Albanese government for this shortsighted and foolish decision. These bases belong to the Australian people. Why do you think you have the right to sell them off?
date: 2026-02-04T13:39:00+00:00

Australia Day | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: Every Australia Day, we celebrate our great country, our democratic values, our freedoms and our beautiful landscape, as well as our national character of strength and resilience, forged over...
encoded: Every Australia Day, we celebrate our great country, our democratic values, our freedoms and our beautiful landscape, as well as our national character of strength and resilience, forged over many years. Significantly, this Australia Day, we also came together in Mandurah to recognise and welcome our new Australians taking the pledge of allegiance to our great nation. I had the pleasure of welcoming 80 new citizens from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities, and it was a delight to sing, all of us together, our national anthem. The ceremony also gave me and many others the opportunity to renew our pledge to Australia. It was a reminder for all of us, whether born here or naturalised after birth, that Australian citizenship is both a privilege and a responsibility. We all share in the hard-fought freedoms, rights and opportunities that come with being Australian. This Australia Day I was also honoured to help recognise and celebrate the achievements of members of my local community. Among the long list of Australians honoured in the 2026 Australia Day Honours, I was delighted to see Peel residents Chief Petty Officer Erol Williams and Commander Wesley North Ran awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Military Division. Chief Petty Officer Bradley Smith was awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross and Lauren D'Arcy was awarded the Ambulance Service Medal. Each of these Peel locals reflect the very best of what it means to be an Australian. I was very proud to also present the city of Mandurah's Active Citizenship Award to the Backpack Buddies program. This remarkable program is driven by young local volunteers who work hard to make sure that children who might otherwise go hungry have access to daily nutritious meals. Today, Backpack Buddies supports more than 220 kids across Mandurah, Peel and Rockingham, working in partnership with 17 local schools. Their extraordinary fundraising efforts are impressive, but even more inspiring is the compassion, ini…
date: 2026-02-03T16:48:00+00:00

Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
type: item
description: Sometime during the late seventh or early sixth century before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles who had been carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar....
encoded: Sometime during the late seventh or early sixth century before Christ, the prophet Jeremiah wrote to the Jewish exiles who had been carried off from Jerusalem to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar. This is what the Hebrew text says in chapter 29 in the Book of Jeremiah: Thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, to all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon: Build houses and live in them; plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. This passage of Scripture has inspired generations of Jewish people throughout history, living far from Jerusalem, to make homes, to be productive citizens and to build up the welfare of their local and national communities. Jewish Australians have done this since the arrival of the First Fleet, helping to build the welfare of our local communities and our great country. And that is what Jewish Australians were doing on 14 December 2025 as they celebrated the first day of Hanukkah with family and friends down at Bondi Beach. By celebrating the Festival of Lights, they were seeking the welfare of our city and of our country, even though their welfare and security had been compromised by intimidation, as their homes and properties have been graffitied and firebombed over the last two years. Many might have taken the safer option and withdrawn from public displays of their faith and tradition, and who could have blamed them after the antisemitism that we have witnessed in this country? Instead, Jewish Australians persevered as a blessing to our community and proceeded with their Bondi Beach Hanukkah festival celebrations. But, on that first day of Hanukkah, their welfare was shattered as militant Is…
date: 2026-01-19T16:51:00+00:00

Housing | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: The Australian dream was always a promise. It was a promise that if you worked hard you could own your home, raise a family and build a better future. That promise is fading for young...
encoded: The Australian dream was always a promise. It was a promise that if you worked hard you could own your home, raise a family and build a better future. That promise is fading for young Australians. A home represents security and belonging, a stake in the country and a patch of ground on which to build a life with those you love. It's the cornerstone of stability, community and aspiration in this country. It's what generations have saved and worked for over many years. Today that dream is further out of reach than ever before. Under this Labor government, the path to homeownership has become steeper and narrower, and for many Australians it feels completely out of reach. Many Australians under 30 believe they will never be able to afford a home in this country. There used to be a ladder for young Australians to climb, but now they feel like that ladder has been kicked out and there's no actual— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 10:48 to 11 : 07 There used to be a ladder for young Australians to climb. But now many feel that the ladder has been kicked out and that there is no way to rise, particularly when it comes to buying a home. In WA, house prices have surged 8.4 per cent in the last year alone. Across my electorate of Canning, the prices have skyrocketed. Serpentine Jarrahdale has seen a spike of 11.3 per cent. In Silver Sands, there has been an increase of 29 per cent in just the last 12 months. It's unsustainable. And, with Labor at the helm, it's only going to get worse. It's expected that Perth prices will jump by another $85,000 in 2026. These price jumps and future price projections crush the hopes of young Australians looking for a home. While house prices and rents soar, wages remain stagnant. Young Australians are being pushed out of the market fast, and the gap between what people earn and what homes cost is growing wider every single day. The median multiple, the mean salary to mean housing price, sho…
date: 2025-11-06T10:47:00+00:00

International Relations, National Rugby League: Papua New Guinea | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: The great game is on: strategic competition, tariffs, quotas, subsidies—President Xi and President Trump are the figureheads of this new contest, but there are deeper structural forces at...
encoded: The great game is on: strategic competition, tariffs, quotas, subsidies—President Xi and President Trump are the figureheads of this new contest, but there are deeper structural forces at work, and China and the US have adopted a form of mercantilism, as both countries seek to build their national wealth and strategic power from a positive balance of trade. That's why we see an increase in industrial policy, tariffs and technological protectionism from both countries. The bottom line is that we're seeing the growth of state-directed capitalism as US led globalisation slowly breaks down and countries seek to secure their economic interests using all elements of their national power. China's Belt and Road Initiative is a case in point. Their BRI program is designed secure their expanding global influence through commercial agreements, and of particular interest are critical minerals and strategic assets like ports in Africa, Latin America and the Indo-Pacific region. A good example of a BRI agreement is the 99-year lease of the port of Hambantota in Sri Lanka. China now controls a port that straddles key sea lanes in the Indian Ocean and can stage elements of their blue-water navy as required. The AUKUS deal would look very similar from a Chinese perspective, with the US Navy basing submarines in Perth from 2027 onwards. I think the challenge for Australia is to chart a course that secures our national interest without resorting to platitudes about a world of free trade and a rules based order that simply doesn't exist anymore. The Prime Minister's recent rare-earths deal with President Trump revealed a new realism in our foreign policy—ditto the government's ongoing support for AUKUS, albeit underfunded and behind schedule. The point is that we need more hard-headed thinking here in Canberra where we see the world as it is and not as we wish it to be. I think this is an urgent priority for us in the Pacific island chain to our north, as China seeks greater influence …
date: 2025-11-03T19:30:00+00:00

Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya's) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Children are a tremendous blessing, and that's why the grief of a lost baby hits so hard—it really hits hard. I truly learned this while riding with a good friend of mine. Cycling in the...
encoded: Children are a tremendous blessing, and that's why the grief of a lost baby hits so hard—it really hits hard. I truly learned this while riding with a good friend of mine. Cycling in the mornings, and he opened up to me about his experience of stillbirth. He and his wife lost a child. It took some time before he really got into what that meant for them, but it wasn't until I went into their living room and saw on their wall two little footprints which remind them of their lost child. Stillbirth is incredibly painful for people. That's why I support the intent of this Fair Work Amendment (Baby Priya’s) Bill 2025 to uphold and preserve employer funded paid parental leave for those who have lost a child in stillbirth or immediately after. I support this bill and its intent to give certainty around employer funded paid parental leave in that event. Families need support during that terrible time after eight to nine months—maybe even less—of anticipated joy at welcoming another life into this world and building a family, the grief is hard to describe in words. Having not felt myself, I can only imagine. My dear friend in Perth helped me understand what that meant for him and his wife. But I do have a question about the unintended consequences of this bill, and it applies to late-term abortions. This is a place where we can come and express views according to conscience. It's no secret that I am opposed to late-term abortions. So the point of my speaking this morning is to affirm the intent of this bill, which is to give certainty for families suffering through the loss of a child, and I absolutely support the intent of that. I think it's a noble and good thing, and Baby Priya's bill deserves our support for that reason. But I do call upon the government—I note the sensitivity around this—to clarify that it does not apply to late-term abortions. That is the question at the heart of my speech. That is all I have to say on this matter.
date: 2025-10-29T11:47:00+00:00

Western Australia: Health Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: (): Let me speak plainly. My region's local hospital, the Peel Health Campus, is in crisis, and WA Labor has failed us. Back in 2020, we were promised by the then Labor premier, Mark...
encoded: (): Let me speak plainly. My region's local hospital, the Peel Health Campus, is in crisis, and WA Labor has failed us. Back in 2020, we were promised by the then Labor premier, Mark McGowan, $152 million to upgrade the hospital. That was five years ago. Since then, nothing—no new wards, no new beds, no progress, just spin, delay and excuses. I fought for this upgrade from day 1. I've raised it in parliament—not once, not twice. This will be the sixteenth time I've stood in our national parliament to call on WA Labor to deliver for this hospital. I've stood with doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, patients and families. I've launched petitions, held community meetings and demanded answers—because I know how important this hospital is to the region. But, despite all that, things have only gotten worse. This year alone, ambulances have been ramped outside the Peel Health Campus for over 1,000 hours. That's 1,000 hours of patients waiting for urgent care. It's 1,000 hours of paramedics stuck at hospitals, unable to hand over patients. It's 1,000 hours of lives at risk. It also means fewer ambulances available to react and to get to emergencies in our community. Now we learn that the cost of the upgrade has blown out to $558 million, more than three times the original budget. That's a $400 million blowout—and still no clear timeline for delivery. This cost blowout is so massive that it threatens to chew through nearly the entire $500 million health infrastructure fund that Labor announced, leaving little for any other hospitals across Western Australia. Now we know the inside story. A leaked letter from a senior Peel Health Campus staff member to the federal health minister revealed the truth—compromised patient care, overwhelmed nurses and a system under strain. Where is our local member? A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 09:43 to 09:58 I asked the question: where is our local Labor MP for Mandurah, Rhys Williams? He…
date: 2025-10-29T09:41:00+00:00

Economy | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Australia is a wealthy country, and that's because of the hard work of previous generations. But there are no guarantees that our wealth will continue. In fact, the Harvard Economic Complexity...
encoded: Australia is a wealthy country, and that's because of the hard work of previous generations. But there are no guarantees that our wealth will continue. In fact, the Harvard Economic Complexity Index tells us that we are going backwards. The index places the industrial capabilities and know-how of a country at the heart of its growth prospects, and it asks a basic question: how big is your engine? The Harvard index makes it clear that Australia has a big growth problem. Our engine is too small, and it's getting smaller. We are in the bottom third of 149 countries. We rank 105th, and over the last 30 years we've been sliding down the rankings. In 1995 we ranked 62nd. Today we rank 105th. We're outperformed by the USA, China, the UK, Canada, Singapore, Japan, Germany, Italy and Sweden. Even New Zealand, at 68th, is ahead of us by 37 places. So what's happened over the last 30 years? Very simply, our advanced manufacturing capability in this country has collapsed. We don't make complex things of value at scale anymore—things like cars, for example. We Australians have a choice to make, and it's an urgent one: do we want to make things again? If so, we have to make power cheap again. We have to take back control. That means killing net zero. That means getting power prices down. That means investing in manufacturing. And, to those on the other side, that means putting Australians first.
date: 2025-10-27T13:51:00+00:00

Western Australia: Health Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: Deputy Speaker Small, it's great to see you in the chair, particularly as a Western Australian, representing the great seat of Forrest, because this speech is about the WA health system. This is...
encoded: Deputy Speaker Small, it's great to see you in the chair, particularly as a Western Australian, representing the great seat of Forrest, because this speech is about the WA health system. This is the 15th time I've stood in this place to speak about the state of health care in Western Australia. And I'll keep speaking about it because the situation is getting worse. WA's health system is in a death spiral. Last month, WA Labor broke its own record again, with more than 7,000 hours of ambulance ramping. That's two months in a row. Nine years ago, then Labor opposition health minister and now WA premier, Roger Cook, called 1,000 hours of ramping a crisis. If 1,000 hours was a crisis, 7,000 hours is a catastrophe. Yet the Premier continues as if nothing is wrong—no urgency, no accountability, no plan. The Premier is disconnected from reality. Behind every one of those hours is a person: an elderly patient in pain, a paramedic stuck outside a hospital unable to help, a nurse stretched to breaking point or a doctor doing their best in a system that is failing them. People in WA know the truth. They live it in waiting rooms and in ambulances in perpetual crisis. My community's local hospital, the Peel Health Campus, is a clear example. WA Labor has been promising upgrades for more than eight years, and still we wait. Just this Monday, the average triage wait time at Peel was 100 minutes, the second-worst in the state. That's not just a number; that's a mother with a sick child, a pensioner in distress or a family waiting for answers. The Peel region is growing rapidly, but our hospital hasn't kept pace. The result is longer waits, more pressure on staff and compromised care. Despite all this, Roger Cook claims our health system is world class. I've said this many times, and let me be clear: our health professionals are world class. Our doctors, nurses and paramedics are doing extraordinary work under almost impossible conditions, but the system they're working in is broken…
date: 2025-09-04T10:18:00+00:00

Albanese Government | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: Andrew Leigh could.
encoded: Andrew Leigh could.
date: 2025-09-04T15:46:00+00:00

National Police Remembrance Day | Statements on Significant Matters | House debates
type: item
description: I joint with the Minister for Home Affairs in making a statement on National Police Remembrance Day. On 29 September every year, we pause to honour the service and sacrifice of our police...
encoded: I joint with the Minister for Home Affairs in making a statement on National Police Remembrance Day. On 29 September every year, we pause to honour the service and sacrifice of our police officers who paid the ultimate price and lost their lives in the line of duty. We take this opportunity to honour the men and women who dutifully serve each and every day, willingly putting themselves in harm's way to protect their fellow Australians. On 16 June this year, Constable Keith Smith was tragically shot and killed on duty in Tasmania. Just last week, Australians were horrified when Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart were shot and killed in the line of duty in Porepunkah in Victoria. Our deepest condolences go to their loved ones and colleagues, who have been devastated by this loss. We also remember and honour the detective who was injured and those the police officers working tirelessly in the cold, rugged Victorian countryside to bring the killer to justice. These tragic events are a sombre reminder of the dangers police face every day and the incredible courage it takes to serve our communities and country with that uncertainty. Every year on 29 September, we pay tribute to those officers who gave their lives while serving and protecting the Australian people—men and women who lost their lives for the betterment of ours. Every year on 29 September, we also recommit to providing solace and support to the partners, children, families and colleagues of our fallen officers who now carry their memory but also the scars of their loss. We also encourage Australians to pause and reflect on the extraordinary service our police give to our communities and country. I join the minister in acknowledging those members in this House who served in uniform as police officers prior to coming to this place. Every day, our police serve on the front lines, often in dangerous and difficult circumstances, sometimes at great personal …
date: 2025-09-04T09:07:00+00:00

National Security | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the aforementioned reports in the Australian and your previous answer. Is the Prime Minister aware of any info that suggests that ISIS brides are...
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the aforementioned reports in the Australian and your previous answer. Is the Prime Minister aware of any info that suggests that ISIS brides are seeking to return to Australia, and is your government making preparations to receive them?
date: 2025-09-03T14:25:00+00:00

Australian National Flag | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: Flags are important symbols. That's why it is unlawful in Australia to display the flag of listed terrorist organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic State and Neo-Nazi groups. None of those...
encoded: Flags are important symbols. That's why it is unlawful in Australia to display the flag of listed terrorist organisations like Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic State and Neo-Nazi groups. None of those flags are welcome in our country, nor are people who support extremist ideology. But fair minded, law-abiding Australians can march on our streets and display Palestinian or Australian flags—as thousands did last month—without being labelled a terrorist or a Neo-Nazi, even if the marches are tainted by the unwelcome presence of people who support Islamic terrorism and Neo-Nazism. Like most Australians, I prefer the Australian flag because my first allegiance is to this country and our people. Our flag speaks to who we are. The Union Jack reminds us that our tradition of ordered liberty under law and parliamentary democracy is British in origin, anchored in the Glorious Revolution of 1689 and the English Bill of Rights. That is a historical fact. The federation star reminds us that we are one people, one Commonwealth and one country, and the southern cross reminds us that we live down under, far from the ancients strife that has divided Europe and the Middle East over the millennia. We are different, and Australians want to keep it that way. That's why thousands unfurled our flag on Sunday.
date: 2025-09-02T13:33:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: You're out. It's how we'd operate with our own homes. This country has the same standards. Given this imperative and the fact that this bill is constrained in its scope to addressing specific...
encoded: You're out. It's how we'd operate with our own homes. This country has the same standards. Given this imperative and the fact that this bill is constrained in its scope to addressing specific legal challenges relating to noncitizens on a removal pathway, the coalition is facilitating the urgent passage of this bill through the House, despite Labor's rushed and dysfunctional process. We will interrogate this bill via an inquiry in the other place to ensure there are no mistakes or unintended consequences, given this government's atrocious track record when it comes to this kind of legislation. Remember, this is the fifth bill Labor has introduced to manage its NZYQ disaster. We would not be doing the right thing by the Australian people if we did not insist on an inquiry in the other place, even if we are committed to facilitating the urgent passage of this bill. I want to restate that the only reason we are here today is that Labor failed to get it right the last four times. Again, it is Labor that has botched its handling of Australia's immigration system, and, again, it has fallen to the coalition as the adults in the room to clean up Labor's mess. We will clean up Labor's mess, and that is why we will support the passage of this bill through the House.
date: 2025-09-02T12:02:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Lives at risk—exactly, the member for Riverina. Sadly, these are just the latest in a litany of failures from the Albanese Labor government on immigration and community safety, including...
encoded: Lives at risk—exactly, the member for Riverina. Sadly, these are just the latest in a litany of failures from the Albanese Labor government on immigration and community safety, including the former minister for immigration's direction 99 debacle, which saw 97 criminal noncitizens avoid deportation from Australia because of the government's capitulation to pressure from the New Zealand government, and the Minister for Home Affairs' humanitarian program on the run, wherein he admitted he had been personally interviewing Palestinian families before granting them humanitarian visas. This comes after the government granted thousands of tourist visas to people in a war zone controlled by a terrorist group before they were referred to ASIO for proper security checks. The Albanese Labor government is undermining Operation Sovereign Borders by overseeing a 21 per cent decrease in aerial flying hours and a 16 per cent decrease in maritime patrol days compared to 2020-21. We've seen at least 35 illegal people-smuggling ventures carrying more than 600 illegal boat arrivals make the journey to Australia since the Albanese Labor government came to power. At least five ventures have made it to the Australian mainland, at least two of which deposited their passengers and escaped undetected by Australian authorities, something that was almost unheard of in the decade before Labor took government. The current bill seeks to address legal arguments being used by NZYQ affected individuals to prevent their removal from Australia to Nauru under a third-country reception arrangement. They have mounted two types of legal challenge: firstly, by claiming that they were owed procedural fairness before the Commonwealth took the decision to apply for a Nauruan visa; and secondly, by claiming that there was an error in an old visa decision relating to them. The bill seeks to address these lines of argument by putting beyond doubt that the Commonwealth does not need to afford an individual procedu…
date: 2025-09-02T12:02:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: He's still a minister. Tragically, it is the Australian community that has borne the very real consequences of this government's dysfunction. We will never forget the tragic image of the front...
encoded: He's still a minister. Tragically, it is the Australian community that has borne the very real consequences of this government's dysfunction. We will never forget the tragic image of the front page of the West Australian that showed a cancer survivor and grandmother who, allegedly, had been bashed at the hands of a freed immigration detainee who'd had his ankle monitor removed despite already facing charges for visa breaches and other offences. This came after repeated warnings from the coalition for the government to move quickly to re-detain the highest-risk offenders. It is little wonder that the Prime Minister jettisoned the member for Hotham and the member for Scullin from the Home Affairs portfolio, after their chaotic and dysfunctional approach to Australia's immigration and border protection regime. The member for Watson's test as the new Minister for Home Affairs was to fix this mess and restore order to our immigration system. But, evidently, he has failed too. More than 18 months after the parliament passed legislation to create the community safety order regime, the minister has still not lodged a single application for a preventive detention order, despite the member for Scullin promising in May last year that six applications were nearly ready and a further 26 were in the advanced stage of preparation. This is a shocking failure on community safety from the Albanese Labor government. Tragically, we have seen very real consequences for this inaction. On 15 June, a 62-year-old man was, allegedly, viciously assaulted in Melbourne by an immigration detainee freed by this government. The victim died from his injuries in hospital and the perpetrator has since been charged with his murder. This terrible situation could have been avoided if the government had used its preventive detention powers to put this dangerous criminal behind bars before he had harmed an innocent Australian. Later, in June, the Minister for Home Affairs effectively admitted he had given…
date: 2025-09-02T12:02:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: You couldn't make this stuff up. This was the first of many times the coalition would help to clean up the government's mess—in this instance, by facilitating the urgent passage of the...
encoded: You couldn't make this stuff up. This was the first of many times the coalition would help to clean up the government's mess—in this instance, by facilitating the urgent passage of the Migration Amendment (Bridging Visa Conditions) Act 2023 on 18 November 2023 so that strict visa conditions could be imposed. Immediately after the NZYQ ruling the coalition called on the government to implement a preventive detention regime to re-detain the most serious risk-offenders that had been released. After the member for Hotham suggested, 'You can't out legislate the High Court,' the government was dragged into finally passing new laws to implement a community safety order scheme—after we'd been demanding it for weeks. In March last year, the member for Scullin was forced to admit that the government had issued invalid visas to nearly 150 people released from immigration detention because of a technical legal error. As a result, our law enforcement agencies were forced to withdraw charges, for alleged visa breaches, against 10 hardened criminals in the NZYQ cohort. Then, in an extraordinary revelation in Senate estimates, the Department of Home Affairs admitted that murderers and sex offenders were being released by the government without being subject to electronic monitoring, meaning they were free in the Australian community without any surveillance at all. They were let loose on the Australian people. Who could forget the member for Scullin's bizarre interview on Sky News, where he claimed this cohort were being monitored under an imaginary drone surveillance program, which he was forced to admit didn't exist? I think he's been watching too many Hollywood movies in his spare time!
date: 2025-09-02T12:02:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 1) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Here we are again—a new parliament but the same shambolic handling of Australia's migration system from the Albanese Labor government. Another bill introduced at the eleventh hour,...
encoded: Here we are again—a new parliament but the same shambolic handling of Australia's migration system from the Albanese Labor government. Another bill introduced at the eleventh hour, subverting proper parliamentary scrutiny, as Labor tries to patch over its own failings. Again, it has fallen to the coalition to help clean up Labor's mess. This will be the fifth bill Labor has introduced in an attempt to fix the chaos it created when it released hundreds of dangerous criminals onto our streets after it lost the NZYQ case almost two years ago. Make no mistake, it is the Labor government's successive policy failures that have brought us to this position in the first place. It's not the High Court, it's not the coalition or the Greens. This mess sits at Labor's feet alone. When the High Court handed down its ruling in the NZYQ case in November 2023, this government was caught flat-footed when it should have had the laws drafted and ready to go. Instead, this panicked government released hundreds of criminal noncitizens into the community with no plan to manage the very serious risks to public safety. On 14 November 2023 the hopeless former minister for home affairs and the hopeless former minister for immigration said that the released detainees were 'subject to a range of strict mandatory visa conditions'. But as it turns out, no visas were in place at all. According to documents obtained by the coalition under FOI, this government released at least 83 detainees from immigration detention into the community without any visa conditions, meaning they were roaming about freely and completely unchecked.
date: 2025-09-02T12:02:00+00:00

Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
type: item
description: Today I rise to speak on behalf of the people of Canning—my constituents, the families, the workers and the small business owners who embody the very best of our nation. The people living...
encoded: Today I rise to speak on behalf of the people of Canning—my constituents, the families, the workers and the small business owners who embody the very best of our nation. The people living in my patch are hardworking, self-reliant and deeply community minded. They don't ask much from government—just a fair go, respect and the freedom to get on with their lives. Our community is resilient, ambitious and proud. We stand together in tough times and we celebrate each other's success. That's the spirit of Canning, which is the Peel region, for those of you who don't live in WA. I'm very proud to represent them in this place. This year I was honoured to be re-elected as the member for Canning after a redistribution that reduced our margin to just 1.2 per cent. I was grateful that my constituents once again placed their trust in me. We achieved a strong result with a 5.4 per cent swing and a margin of over 13,000 votes. I'm deeply grateful for the support shown by our community and the way they've sent me back to Canberra to be their voice here in this chamber. Our result was a testament to the strength and unity of our local community and to the grassroots campaign we ran, focused on issues that affect real people. We didn't campaign in the abstract; we campaigned very much in concrete terms. While national security concerns dominated headlines, my campaign was firmly local. Every day, I met with residents, listened to their concerns and committed to fighting for the things that matter most to them. Today, I bring their voices into this chamber. My team and I campaigned on the issues that mattered to them: cost of living, local infrastructure and community safety. We campaigned on health and, for nearly a decade, the Western Australian government has promised a $152 million upgrade to the Peel Health Campus. When they put that figure to the public in 2021—$152 million—that was before we saw inflation over the last four years. That figure is now about $180 million, and they…
date: 2025-08-27T11:10:00+00:00

Canning Electorate: Canning Shakespeare Competition | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: Last Saturday we hosted the 10th annual Canning Shakespeare Competition, which is a competition I run every year. For 10 years now we have had more than 120 kids step up onto the stage and bring...
encoded: Last Saturday we hosted the 10th annual Canning Shakespeare Competition, which is a competition I run every year. For 10 years now we have had more than 120 kids step up onto the stage and bring Shakespeare's words to life. When I started this competition a decade ago the goal was simple: to give young people in our community an opportunity that they may not otherwise have. I'm always grateful to Mr Ben Elton AM, the co-writer of Blackadder, Mr Bean and Upstart Crow who was there to launch our first competition. The reason I do this is that kids in outer metro and regional areas often don't get the same opportunities in the arts as those in the capital cities. I believe in a fair go, which is why we put this competition on. Talent isn't limited to geography, and opportunity should not be limited by it, either. We've had a number of kids come through, engage with the arts, gain performance experience and wrestle with one of the toughest playwrights you can perform. I'm proud to say that we've had one of our winners be accepted into the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts, launched from our competition, which is great. Shakespeare isn't just about theatre. He is part of the Western canon, a body of work that has shaped our civilisation and the way that we speak. If you say phrases like 'to break the ice', you're quoting The Taming of the Shrew,if you say you 'wear your heart on your sleeve', you're quoting Othello, and if you say you are 'in a pickle'—which is what a lot of us say around here—you are quoting The Tempest. Shakespeare continues to shape our language. It also stretches our imagination, sharpens our mind and helps young people to understand the full breadth of the human condition, from our strengths, our flaws to our ambition and, of course, our many failings. I have seen what happens when young people rise to the challenge. There was a young girl of about 15 who on the weekend was completely scared before she went out onto the stage, but when s…
date: 2025-08-27T10:25:00+00:00