In my electorate alone, in Wide Bay, I've had two shops firebombed—firebombed, in Australia! It's something we don't often hear about. In Victoria last year, there were over 30 shops firebombed. As a former policeman, when I hear that it's organised crime—very sophisticated syndicates, with resources—firebombing the shops, targeting people who aren't earning the right amount of money for their commitment to this illegal trade, what I think is, 'You can't hide a firebomb, but how many people are being stood over and beaten up who are not going to go to the police because they've been threatened by an organised crime syndicate or gang?' To use an old expression, they get their kneecaps broken, and they're threatened: 'If you go and tell the police, we're going to get your family.' Well, you're never going to hear about those.
This is a failing of government, because we have turned what is a health issue into a major crime issue. We've got gangs and syndicates with international reach that are plying their trade. When you look at the numbers here—$4.2 billion of excise and millions of tonnes of tobacco being seized—this is a problem that we need to address. As I said as I started my speech, I want to work with the government to stop this. At the end of the day, there is something that people need to remember here. When you go in and buy these cigarettes, this illicit tobacco, you might think to yourself, 'Stuff the tax man; he is taking money off me; I'll get around that and buy these illicit products,' but you've got to remember that these transactions are not victimless. With that transaction to buy that illicit tobacco, a bit of that money is going into the coffers of an organised crime syndicate who are dealing in human trafficking, prostitution of young and vulnerable women. All of these heinous offences are also contributed to by the same gangs that are giving you your cheap cigarettes.
As I said, I'll do anything I can to work with the government and to talk to all levels of government to bring about change because this is a problem that has the potential to harm Australians. In both a smoking and a health way it's been a failure, but now in a crime way it's a failure.
]]>The foundation works with all sectors of the community to find practical solutions to reduce the risk of road crashes and save lives. Road crashes are mostly preventable, and the foundation focuses on delivering awareness campaigns, education, research and advocacy to engage with the community and spread the message that we all have the power to be the change we want to see on our roads. Every year, the foundation delivers national campaigns like Fatality Free Friday, which is held in May, Rural Road Safety Month, which is held in September, and the Australian Road Safety Awards, which recognise road safety advocates for their important work.
Educating young people about their responsibility on the road is another important initiative from the foundation. In 2020 they launched RoadSet, a free interactive online education tool designed for year 9 students, which utilises engaging gaming animations to encourage good decision-making on the roads. Road trauma comes at an almost $30 billion annual price tag, but there is no way to quantify the life sentence of emotional suffering that is its legacy. I commend the foundation's work to keep Australia's roads safe.
The Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation was born of a tragedy. In 2014, Michelle and David McLaughlin took their three children on a beach holiday. Michelle and David were looking forward to spending long summer days with their family and making wonderful memories that would last a lifetime. Instead, in the blink of an eye, they experienced a tragedy which would change their lives. On a hot summer afternoon, four-year-old Tom was hit by a car and passed away on the side of the road in his mum's arms. As a father of three kids, I just can't fathom the grief and the pain that Michelle and David experienced and will continue to experience for a long time—forever. The loss of a child must be the most distressing event for any parent. Michelle and David have channelled their trauma into action by setting up the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation to honour Tom's memory and teach kids about road safety, especially at holiday time when it's in unfamiliar places.
In 2021 the foundation received a Commonwealth road safety initiative grant for a study into child road trauma. One of the key recommendations arising from that study was about how important it is to hold the hands of a child under 10 years of age around roads and around traffic. Hold them tight, as our children's lives are so precious and fragile. I asked my fellow MPs to be ambassadors for the Little Blue Dinosaur Foundation and encourage local governments, schools, preschools and childcare centres to be involved with its holiday-time campaign and help make Tom's legacy a powerful one.
]]>Over her impressive 23-year tenure, Carmel has embodied various iconic personas, including Mary Poppins, Mary Heritage and Mary Christmas, captivating audiences with her storytelling prowess and historical knowledge. As a dedicated tourism ambassador, she has enlivened Maryborough's unique past, charming both locals and visitors alike with her infectious smile and authentic costumes.
Though officially retiring her multiple Mary personas, Carmel remains actively involved in her hometown. She manages the volunteer 'flusher ushers' at the Cistern Chapel, a popular tourist attraction, showcasing her ongoing commitment to Maryborough's heritage. When I spoke to Carmel, she told me of her upbringing in Charleville and that she attributes her strong sense of civic-mindedness to her father, instilled in her at a young age. She is humbly accepting this award but on behalf of all the local volunteers; she emphasised that it's a collective effort behind the community service. Congratulations, Carmel, for your exemplary dedication. In the words of Mary Poppins, you are the— (Time expired)
]]>The policies of Labor and the Greens will give us the most unreliable, expensive form of electricity, which will rely upon billions of dollars of Chinese imports. Australia is abundant in its own energy resources, and this government is outsourcing our energy security to other countries. We need a Senate inquiry to fully examine the impacts of Labor's rushed and reckless renewable energy policies.
]]>Mr Paul Marden of Pomona received an Australian Fire Service Medal for his many years of service training and supporting auxiliary firefighters, his outstanding leadership capabilities and the impact he has had on enhancing the region's operational capability. Dr Brian Hoepper of Peregian Beach was a recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to education, through his work with many educational bodies. Dr Christine McConnell of Noosaville received a Medal of the Order of Australia for her dedication to medicine in regional and remote communities and Antarctica. Mr Morgan Parker of Sunshine Beach was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to business. Mrs Bernadette O'Neill of Gympie was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service to local rugby leg clubs and the community. Ms Julia Davison of Noosa Heads was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her significant service to children, to youth and to the community. And Ms Bronwyn Edinger of Tewantin was made a Member of the Order of Australia for her contribution towards advancing the performing arts.
I say thank you not only to these incredible Australians but also to all the unsung heroes and selfless volunteers in Wide Bay who work to support community, service, veterans, church, educational, sporting and recreational groups. You make a real and positive difference to the lives of individuals, organisations and animals in need. You are the glue that holds our community together, and without you and all the wonderful work you do Wide Bay and our nation would just not be the same. Thank you, again.
]]>On electricity, 74 per cent of people do not want to pay for Albanese's unreliable renewable energy, and 67 per cent do not want high-voltage transmission lines through private property. I hope the Labor government are listening before they pour more billions of dollars into these crazy projects. In what should be a major wake-up call to the Albanese and Palaszczuk Labor governments, just nine per cent said they thought the federal and state governments were going on the right direction. It appears very clear that the people of Wide Bay are feeling very let down by this tricky, arrogant, incompetent Labor government.
]]>Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).
by leave—It's my privilege to rise today to speak on this report. This is a report from the joint law enforcement committee into child exploitation, and it's a comprehensive report. It's a report that I would recommend all parents and all concerned citizens read. This is a scourge that has afflicted our societies throughout the world, and the report addresses many of the ways that we deal with it and makes recommendations on what we need to do to enhance the framework on how we address this serious problem.
I want to commend the secretariat for their outstanding work in facilitating the hearings, the logistics associated with visits to places that were relevant to the inquiry and, as always, their advice throughout these inquiries, which is vital for us to come up with a final product to the standard that this one has. I also commend Senator Helen Polley, the chair, for her conduct in chairing the inquiry.
The nature of this problem is extensive. In terms of its evolution, we've always had evil individuals who would seek to in some way gratify themselves or profit from the exploitation and harm of kids. It's a horrible thing to even consider. But whilst the proliferation of the internet over the past 25 years has given society a lot of positives in terms of connectivity, access to information and many great things to do with industry, it has also come at a cost, and child exploitation—the sharing of this material and people profiting from this material—is one of the serious downsides to the internet.
It ranges. We heard evidence in this committee of horrible, horrible practices. People are taking advantage of young, innocent human beings, from extorting money or other things from them by way of getting images that they don't want people to see and using those, right through to evil people paying to see the live raping of children and little kids. That's what we're dealing with here. It truly is the worst of humanity. It's a complex problem to address. The internet has many facets. Whether it be the dark web—the organised groups who conduct these terrible atrocities are sometimes in countries that are very hard to police—we are doing our best as a nation here in Australia, and there are also many non-government organisations who are doing some extraordinary work. I thank everyone who gave evidence to the committee in relation to this, particularly those people who, with the passion that they have, have chosen to take this on as something that needs to be stopped, and for good reason. We heard from a couple of local, home-grown NGOs—Project Paradigm, Destiny Rescue and Project Karma—who are all doing amazing work in this space. They are saving children. That's what they're doing: saving children.
The coalition's got a good record when it comes to the elimination of child exploitation. I don't think, at this point in time, there's anyone in this House that's done more to rid society of these evil individuals than Peter Dutton, the leader of the coalition. He was at the forefront. Under his leadership the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation was established. In 2020 it opened its doors. That will see these offences detected and children saved and helped out of horrible conditions. Also, we've implemented the Online Safety Act and the eSafety Commissioner, the regulatory body who enforces that.
There is good work being done. Only recently it came very much to everyone's mind when Operation Tenterfield was in the media. That was a horrible case where a man who was working in childcare centres was charged with 1,623 child abuse offences against 91 kids. That's in our country. That's an individual who was operating using these internet, dark web and technology tools to abuse children. I think that brought home to all of us that this is not just something that happens in Third World countries where people go to exploit poverty and find opportunities to take part in this horrible stuff. It happens right here amongst us, and we need to be forever vigilant. I commend the AFP for their investigation. The Australian Federal Police, along with the state bodies, are doing as much as they can with the resources they have. But we must look to every possible avenue to try and help them.
This report ran over two parliaments. I acknowledge the former member for Ryan, Julian Simmonds, and the great work that he did. He was the chair of the committee at the commencement of this inquiry, and he did some great work there too, establishing the Parliamentary Friends of Combating Child Exploitation in Australia and the ACCCE, and I commend him for his work.
During the hearings, we heard from a number of government departments. We heard about end-to-end encryption, which is going to make the task of detecting these horrible acts even harder, and about the major platforms embracing end-to-end encryption, which, as I say, will make the job of law enforcement harder. Unless we have a way that we can address this, more children will be the victims of child exploitation.
There were 15 recommendations that came from the report. They related to the monitoring of existing criminal offence frameworks and called on governments to monitor those to ensure their effectiveness. There were also recommendations in relation to the effectiveness of sentencing and the sentences that are handed down to these offenders once they are detected and captured by the justice system. There are recommendations in relation to the addition of community impact statements, where victims have the opportunity to speak and be a part of the process and the justice system and to help in their recovery.
I need to speak briefly about the dissenting report, because it is important. There were two elements to the report that coalition members felt were absent or not addressed in an adequate way. The first one lies at the very heart of the terms of reference, and that's our capability. This inquiry was all about the capabilities that we have to prevent, detect and prosecute in relation to child exploitation. Age verification is a tool that we have already. We certainly need to develop it more. We have the ability to trial age verification technology with sites such as pornographic sites that are able to be accessed by adults but obviously should not be accessed by kids, but at the moment there is virtually nothing stopping a child from accessing one of these sites. It's not just a case of the terrible circumstance where they're going to see some of the hideous things that are on these sites, but, once they get on there, they're going to be exposed to other individuals. There's the potential of them being in chatrooms and in contact with offenders that can groom them, and they will potentially end up as victims of child exploitation. We need a way to prevent them getting in there.
One of the recommendations from a report, Protecting the age of innocence, of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, chaired by the member for Fisher, was that the eSafety Commissioner create a road map for age verification, and they did that. This year it handed down its recommendations. This is the body that this place charges with keeping an eye on the online situation and enforcing the act that we created. Their recommendation was that we trial technologies that already exist around age verification. Recommendation 10 of the report that I'm tabling today says that government should consider this. Children are being exploited now. The technology is here now. I cannot impress too greatly upon this parliament the seriousness of this. We have had inquiry after inquiry. We need to do this now and it's with that urgency that this is a dissenting recommendation, and we call on the government to take the advice of the experts and the eSafety Commissioner and commence that trial.
The other recommendation of the dissenting report is in relation to aspects of the Australian sex offender register being public. This is another matter that the inquiry and the report examined, but the recommendation was absent from the committee report. There was nothing about this, and this is an important tool not only for law enforcement, where coordination of information relating to these evil perpetrators is consolidated, but also for good citizens who need to be protected. Parents should be able to access certain information to know whether their children are safe. That is the other recommendation from the dissenting report, and it was made because the committee report did not mention it.
Finally, I want to pay tribute to and thank those who work on the front line of this terrible set of circumstances: those officers who have to view things like those I spoke of earlier—children being raped and kids in the most distressing situations. I pay tribute to those people. As a former police officer, I know I couldn't do it. When it came to children in distress, that was my weakness, and I couldn't do that. It takes a very courageous and strong individual to be able to do that, and I conclude by thanking them for what they do.
]]>That this House:
(1) notes that industrial scale reckless renewable energy proposals, and their associated transmission lines are economically, socially and environmentally untenable for the following reasons:
(a) they involve significant land clearing and invasive construction, destroying prime agricultural land, native bushland and wildlife habitats;
(b) the location and proximity of transmission lines lead to the devaluation of land and the interruption of agricultural businesses;
(c) the proposals divide communities and cause mental anguish; and
(d) the costs of these proposals are prone to blow out; and
(2) calls on the Government to:
(a) impose a moratorium on industrial scale renewable energy projects until the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act is amended to require the automatic referral of such projects for assessment under the Act;
(b) support a Senate inquiry into the economic, social and environmental impacts of industrial scale reckless renewable energy projects, and their associated transmission lines;
(c) conduct a thorough and transparent feasibility study into the alternative development of next generation zero-emission nuclear technology as a future sustainable energy source;
(d) require state and territory governments to avoid the use of private land for projects and transmission lines where such projects attract Commonwealth funding; and
(e) work with state and territory governments to review energy and transmission line project evaluation processes to ensure that environmental, social and economic impacts are given full consideration as part of the assessment process.
The genesis of this motion calling for greater scrutiny of industrial-scale, land-intensive intermittent electricity generation projects lies in the distress and despair that are leaving lives in tatters in my seat of Wide Bay. Not much is more sacred than the family home, and in regional Australia that family home also includes a block of land. It's part of our vernacular: the great Australian dream.
That dream involves a block of land for business, to garden, to farm, to keep as native bush or to do whatever you like with because it's your land. Unreliable energy and associated transmission lines are taking the great Australian dream for many of my people and turning it into a nightmare. What people have worked their entire lives or for generations for is under threat by Labor governments intent on making electricity bills more expensive and energy unreliable.
One constituent bought her rural block for the trees, but the transmission lines, when finished, will leave her no mature trees on her block whatsoever. Another spent $9,000 planning their dream family home, and the transmission lines would run right through her living room if she built that home; it's completely unviable. People fight for years, writing submissions and enduring meaningless bureaucratic consultation sessions thousands of hours away from their family and work after being channelled into stopping massive transmission lines and industrial-scale energy projects from destroying their homes and communities.
Last week, climate change minister Chris Bowen announced subsidies for another 32 gigawatts of unreliable energy. That is equivalent to half the national energy market. He has yet to release the cost, how much land will be required for the projects or how many properties will be acquired to connect them to the grid. For example, a single solar farm in my electorate at Munna Creek requires 460 hectares. The Lower Wonga Solar Farm will require up to 600 hectares. Forest Wind, between Maryborough and Gympie, spreads 226 wind turbines over 226 hectares. Borumba Pumped Hydro will inundate up to 1,500 hectares. At this rate, Wide Bay will be inundated and carpeted in solar panels to achieve Labor's policy.
Professor Simon Bartlett, the former COO of Powerlink, says the $14.2 billion Borumba scheme will need to be switched off during an El Nino weather event. This Thursday will be another dark day, when Powerlink reveals which properties will go under the proposed Borumba transmission lines to Woolooga, which will involve ripping up between 54 and 83 kilometres of forest. A farmer can't cut down a tree, but foreign developers can flatten thousands of hectares to build wind factories, solar plants and hydro-impoundments, with their transmission lines cutting scars across Wide Bay. Labor's policy is fundamentally flawed and will ultimately be unnecessary, and the landowners are rightfully distressed. So-called renewables supply about 30 per cent of our electricity. As it is, to meet the Albanese government's targets, these renewables must supply 82 per cent of the electricity by 2030.
Land-intensive, intermittent power generation projects will cause irreversible damage to homes, communities and prime agricultural land while destroying the environment and natural wildlife habitats. The same people who are so strongly advocating this 80 per cent target and espouse the social virtues of countries like Canada and Norway are conspicuously silent when those countries' embrace of nuclear power comes up. For families facing diving property values and places they can't farm or build their homes on anymore, the stress, anguish and mental health toll is rising.
]]>Mayor Elvie expressed deep concern that the federal and state funding for this successful program will end in 2024. She emphasised the importance of not dismantling a program that's clearly working. In the words of Mayor Elvie: 'When something is working, please do not take it off us.'
]]>That this House:
(1) notes that the supply, distribution and sale of illicit tobacco and vapes:
(a) is a significant source of revenue for organised crime and criminal gangs connected with the production of illicit drugs, illegal prostitution, supply of illegal firearms and other unlawful activities that cause harm to Australians;
(b) deprives the Australian people of approximately $400 million each year that would be directed toward the national health system;
(c) deprives lawful retailers of tobacco products of business; and
(d) endangers lives, properties and communities, including the owners and staff of legitimate grocery stores that sell legal tobacco and vapes; and
(2) calls on the Government to:
(a) properly empower, resource and fund the Illicit Tobacco Taskforce to disrupt the supply and distribution of illicit tobacco and vapes; and
(b) legislate tough penalties to deter both the demand and supply of illicit tobacco and vapes.
Every time you buy illegal cigarettes you're supporting organised crime. When generally law-abiding smokers quit legal tobacco to purchase from the black market they believe the only victim is a greedy federal or state government missing out on $4.2 billion of tobacco excise and $400 million in GST, but illicit tobacco is often the cashflow arm for sophisticated criminal syndicates dealing in the worst of the black market, including human trafficking, sex slavery and drugs. When authorities seize illicit cigarettes they are often in the company of drugs including ice, crack and cocaine or illegal guns and stolen vehicles. Illicit tobacco translates to more powerful international Middle Eastern gangs and more grief on the streets. In April a Gympie shop selling illicit tobacco was firebombed. The fire spread and damaged neighbouring businesses. So far this year we've recorded at least 29 firebombings on tobacco shops and daylight gang shootings in our cities as criminal gangs are acting with, it appears, impunity.
To better understand the nature of the illicit tobacco market the former coalition government held an inquiry through the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Law Enforcement:
The ABF informed the committee that organised criminal networks involved in illicit tobacco operate similarly to those involved in the importation of other contraband … such as narcotics. These criminal organisations:
… have access to a global network of … smuggling facilitators who … seek to infiltrate and exploit … members of the international supply chain—
using established smuggling routes—
… they look … they behave … very similar to those … involved in the importation of drugs, and … may be one and the same.
Illicit tobacco is now a dangerous law-and-order issue in our country. At estimates in May 2023 Australian Border Force commissioner Michael Outram said on a good day they could detect only 20 per cent of the illegal drugs imported into the country. The ATO's tax gap webpage acknowledges the boom of illicit tobacco even as authorities seize the highest amounts ever recorded. This is not an overnight crisis; it has grown as continual excise increases have pushed smokers to the black market because they can no longer afford legal, regulated tobacco products. This week, a tobacco bill before the parliament will ban certain tobacco products from legal retailers altogether, making them exclusive to the black market. This legislation is more of the same. It will put graphic warnings on individual legal cigarettes, ban legal menthols and limit advertising of legal vapes, all while the illegal trade flourishes and sells to underage children and teens.
If the Albanese government believes that health warnings on individual cigarettes will lower smoking rates, then why isn't the government addressing contraband tobacco? Without investment in policing at the Australian border and at the retail level, this legislation and further excise increases will supercharge the illicit tobacco market, making it the dominant supplier of tobacco products in Australia. Illicit tobacco consumption is going gangbusters, with 2.6 million kilograms smoked a year, worth about $4.2 billion. One in four cigarettes can now be linked to organised crime. On the current trend, criminal gangs will run 40 per cent of the Australian tobacco market by the next election, when two in five smokes will be untaxed and sold in non-compliant packaging. Legal domestic sales volumes have fallen from 14.3 million kilograms in 2012 to 8.5 million kilograms in 2022, yet smoking rates are not plummeting in the same way.
]]>In this year alone five people have tragically died along the dangerous two-lane section of the National Highway between Gympie and Maryborough. It's a toll of devastating grief, sorrow and sadness for the victims and their families and friends in the communities affected by these horrific losses. We need to make the road as safe as possible and prevent crashes causing fatalities and serious injuries by eliminating the inherent hazards of a two-lane high-speed highway that is long past its expiry date. The Gympie bypass is expected to open later this year, extending the four-lane divided highway to Curra. But there are no commitments to extend the four lanes north from Curra to Maryborough, and this has to change. There are around 11,000 vehicle movements along this section of the National Highway per day, and, if this section was in any other jurisdiction, it would already have been four lanes.
We need the toll road bypass fast-tracked and prioritised, and we need four lanes from Curra to Maryborough, and the community wants it done. The early results from the Wide Bay community survey indicate that 80 per cent of respondents want a four-lane Tiaro bypass fast-tracked and 77 per cent want four lanes between Gympie and Maryborough. There are precedents for the fast-tracking of projects and upgrades of the Bruce Highway. When he was the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government in 2009, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese fast-tracked the four-lane Cooroy to Curra section of the Bruce Highway, section B of the project which goes around the non-existent Traveston Crossing dam. The former LNP Queensland government in 2013 fast-tracked Cooroy to Curra section A by committing 50 per cent of the funding, when the state's share would normally have been only been 20 per cent. In 2015 my predecessor in Wide Bay, Warren Truss as Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, together with the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Mike Bailey, fast-tracked Corroy to Curra section C.
I implore the Albanese government to immediately release the review, and I call on them and the Queensland government to fast-track and prioritise the four-lane Tiaro Bypass and get on with making the whole section between Curra and Maryborough four lanes.
]]>Last night, the 2023 Police Bravery Awards highlighted the actions of Constable Aaron Larsen and Deborah Bradly of the Wadeye police station, whose selflessness went far beyond anything that can be taught. Wadeye is one of Australia's largest remote Indigenous communities. It's on a dirt road about 400 kilometres south-west of Darwin. It has a history of tension between local gangs and families, culminating in a 2022 riot, where about 400 were heavily armed with axes, steel bars, spears, rocks, crossbows and arrows. On Wednesday afternoon, on 17 May, police attended 200 heavily armed people fighting for about 1.5 hours. They tried to disperse them. By 6.30 pm, a male had been shot through the leg with an arrow. Medical staff could not break through the riot to help him. Sergeant Jamie Cobern and Constable Matthew Grey rescued him and took him to the health clinic.
Upon arrival, about 100 rioters threw rocks and spears at the trio. He needed urgent medical attention, but a large angry crowd had encircled the clinic. Projectiles were hurled towards them. There was no escape or retreat. Rioters also damaged critical health infrastructure. They attempted to break into the medical facilities. Police used a vehicle as a shield and reversed up to the entry point of the clinic. Officers Bradly and Grey carried the injured male inside while Larsen and Cobern attempted to disperse the crowd while being attacked with arrows and sharpened metal bars. They pushed the crowd back from the clinic while multiple chemical munitions were deployed. Eventually, the crowd began to retreat.
Officers Bradly and Larsen displayed exceptional bravery in hostile and very violent circumstances. They displayed amazing courage and remained steadfast in the face of certain injury to protect the lives of others, despite being under potentially lethal attack for more than 20 minutes. I commend these officers for their incredible bravery—and all police officers who keep us safe 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
]]>Yet, with all her accolades, Carla remains a self-funded athlete. Come on, corporate Australia, supporting this amazing woman isn't just giving a top Aussie athlete a helping hand; it makes great business sense. To the business world: Carla Papac needs and deserves a sponsor that matches her determination and Aussie spirit. Join her journey and sponsor Carla Papac.
]]>Adding to this confusion, the Minister for Health and Aged Care's statements on national TV have led the public into believing all medications now are on a 'buy one, get one free' deal, and this has caused an immense amount of anxiety. The elderly are hesitant about stockpiling medicines, and the 60-day dispensing policy risks medication waste and misuse of PBS funds. The policy's poor execution jeopardises the nation's health, potentially leading to medication mismanagement and increased hospitalisations. Labor's 60-day dispensing policy is yet another example of how this incompetent, out-of-touch Labor Albanese government is failing everyday Australians.
]]>There are aspects to this omnibus bill that I do agree with. There are good parts, but, in the usual, tricky Labor Party way, they've snuck them in there. I'm sure they'll use them later on, down the track, and say, 'You didn't vote for this good part of the bill,' and not mention the other, catastrophic parts of the bill that we're voting against.
Voting against this bill is standing up for small business in Wide Bay. There are 26,000 businesses in Wide Bay, and the majority of those are small businesses—mums and dads who have decided to have a go. They've decided to put their assets, their money, their time and their family out in front and take a risk to make a buck. Those small businesses that employ people will absolutely be the victims of this bill. This bill will impose a whole range of new criteria on them. It's just plain unfair. For starters, there's the definition of 'casual'—you can hardly work it out it's so complex. There are about 15 different parts to it. The description says it will come down to a case-by-case basis, for goodness sake! How can you work that out? It's a 'holistic assessment'. It sounds like something that was cooked up in Woodstock. I think some of them might've been on a bit of the stuff they were on in Woodstock when they created this legislation. It's just mindless, and it's being inflicted upon our small businesses.
It's deadset atrocious, and then there's the cost of it! As I said, there's a cost-of-living crisis going on at the moment. Families are kicking off with little kids, trying to get ahead, buying a house, paying school fees—they're all under the pump. This is going to add about $9 billion to the cost of business. That's going to get passed on to those mums and dads, those people that really don't deserve it. It's just shocking. It's typical of the Labor Party. They're all about the ideology. They're all about the experiment. Whether they're reinventing capitalism, or whatever the Treasurer is trying to do, or running a social experiment like the Voice, there is not an experiment they won't try on the Australian people. They look at Australia and see it as a big science lab, not as a country full of people they're meant to be helping. It's: 'Let's give this a go and see what comes out the other side.' It's just disgraceful.
In this bill, as I said, there are a couple of good things. Certainly, the rebuttable presumption in relation to the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation Act is a good thing. That relates to organisations that deal with that act and first responders who have post-traumatic stress disorder. The presumption is that the workplace has significantly contributed to the PTSD, unless it can be proven otherwise. I see that as a good thing for people who have PTSD, but I also see it as a good thing in that it signals to organisations that they need to look after their workers, otherwise they will face a much tougher test when it comes to court. I'd really like to vote for that, as it's something the coalition supports, but, once again, it is tucked away in this omnibus bill that has had virtually zero consultation. It's been done in a typically sneaky way—a very selective and secretive way. Business groups that were consulted with had secrecy agreements slapped on them. What is this? Is this Russia? Is this China? No. This is Australia in 2023 under a Labor government.
It didn't take them long to show their true colours, I can tell you.
The other aspect of this bill that is a good thing is certainly the protected attribute for family and domestic violence. As a former policeman, I have seen far too much domestic violence and I know the effects that domestic violence can have on people and their lives, just day to day. If it is the case that someone, as a result of family or domestic violence, has had that impact on their workplace, that should never be held against them—it absolutely should never be held against them. Having that as a protected attribute under the antidiscrimination legislation is a good thing, once again, and I would really like to vote for it.
But this bill is full of landmines for our economy; it is legislation that will bring this country to a halt. The only way, obviously, that we're going to be able to fix this is to get rid of this toxic government and vote in a coalition government. So, in conclusion, I'm going to stand up for the small businesses of Wide Bay and say a big no to this toxic bill.
]]>They're also telling me how disappointed they are in this Albanese Labor government. This has turned out to them to be a government that is more interested in treating the nation as a social and economic experiment than a serious job at hand. Indeed, they tell me that the Prime Minister has betrayed them. I can't help but agree with that. This is a prime minister who sat before the nation in what is the nation's biggest job interview and made any number of claims about how he was going to ease the cost-of-living pressures, how life under him would be easier, how life under him would be more affordable. What has happened? We are not better off; we are worse off, and we are facing a crisis in relation to inflation.
The policies of this government aren't addressing inflation. Inflation is caused by too much money chasing too few goods, effectively, and this government's policies are about pumping more money into the economy and creating a scarcity of goods. It's manifesting itself in some very shocking numbers that the government can't run away from: six per cent inflation CPI. That is shocking. I know the Treasurer came in here yesterday with a big sigh of relief about the cash rate staying on hold. I'm sure he was buoyed up by maintaining a bad economy that's not getting worse, but the reality is he is presiding over a shockingly bad economy. We've got some of the highest core inflation rates amongst advanced economies. This is not me making it up. These are facts. Our labour productivity is going through the floor. Real wages—what you get for the dollar that you earn—are plummeting at a record rate. Australians are suffering. They are suffering.
The recent National Australia Bank survey into home borrowers showed that 67 per cent of Australians under the age of 50 are saying that the rising cost of living is their biggest cause of strength. That is shocking; that is really, really bad. We've got Lifeline reporting that 80 per cent of its calls relate to cost-of-living pressures.
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