Kate Thwaites's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-05T22:06:03+00:00
items: Health Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
items: VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: g109.8
items: g109.1
items: Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Cybersafety | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Housing | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: National Anti-Corruption Commission Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
items: Bellomo, Professor Rinaldo, AO, Middle East | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
items: Jagajaga Electorate: Infrastructure | Grievance Debate | House debates
items: Climate Change, Murphy, Ms Peta Jan | Adjournment | House debates
items: Andrews, Hon. Kevin James, AM | Condolences | House debates
items: Biodiversity | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: AusCheck Amendment (Global Entry Program) Bill 2025; Third Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates

Health Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: Access to health care is top of mind for people in my community of Jagajaga. We're fortunate to be home to some of Melbourne's best medical institutions, including the Austin, the Repat, the ONJ,...
encoded: Access to health care is top of mind for people in my community of Jagajaga. We're fortunate to be home to some of Melbourne's best medical institutions, including the Austin, the Repat, the ONJ, the Mercy and many more. Local health care matters, and that's why investing in local services and strengthening Medicare locally is so important for my community. Because for the families, the seniors and the young people I represent, access to affordable health care is not a luxury; it is essential. That is why this government, the Albanese Labor government, has put people and access at the heart of our reforms to strengthen Medicare, and it's why we are already seeing a difference in communities in Jagajaga. For the first time in decades, we are making bulk-billing viable again after it was allowed to languish under those opposite. We have expanded the bulk-billing incentives for GPs so that these incentives apply across the board, encouraging more GPs to make sure that people can see the doctor for a bulk-billed visit. We are seeing this have an effect in Jagajaga. More practices in Jagajaga are now bulk-billing patients, and I'm encouraging even more of our local GP clinics to take up this incentive so that this becomes the norm rather than the exception. I recently visited Greensborough Medical & Dental Centre in Greensborough, which is one of our wonderful local practices and was one of the first clinics in our community to switch to full bulk-billing for GP visits. It was really heartening to talk to Alicia, the practice manager there, who told me that every day she is seeing how this change is making life easier for local families. People are not having to choose what in their budget they have to take out to pay to see a GP, and that is how it should be in Australia. That is how health care works in Australia. It is why Labor set up Medicare, and it is why we continue to strengthen and back Medicare. So, as I said, I encourage more GP practices across Jagajaga to t…
date: 2026-02-05T09:33:00+00:00

Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
type: item
description: Nothing we say today can end the pain of the Jewish people whose lives were upended by the Bondi terror attack. Nothing we do can bring back the 15 people who were killed, people should have had...
encoded: Nothing we say today can end the pain of the Jewish people whose lives were upended by the Bondi terror attack. Nothing we do can bring back the 15 people who were killed, people should have had more—more time, more life, more moments with those who now face the bleakness of a future without them. Those moments were stolen, and they were stolen by people who were driven by hatred and by antisemitism, who designed their act of terror to spread fear and to test our trust and our faith in one another as Australians. That is why our words today matter: we are also saying that we will not allow that to happen. I extend my deepest condolences and those of my community in Melbourne to the families and friends of those killed and who are suffering. To all of those people whose lives will never be the same, today we acknowledge that and we grieve for you. I extend our thanks to the first responders: to the police, paramedics, firefighters, nurses, doctors and everyday civilians who acted with courage, professionalism and compassion in the most difficult of circumstances. Their care and their bravery saved lives and provided reassurance in moments of fear and plain terror. At this difficult time, they remind us that our communities are filled with people who value and support each other—not only those who seek to spread hate and terror. This was an antisemitic and deeply hateful attack on our Jewish community, and it has shaken people's sense of safety and belonging. It is confronting, it is unacceptable and it has caused real fear and distress well beyond Bondi. People are shaken, they are angry and they are grieving, and rightly so. At this moment, it matters that we are clear-eyed, that we stand with the Jewish community and that we don't look away or soften the truth of what has occurred. It is also important that those of us in this place who are given the task of leadership do this with respect for each other and respect for our communities in this place and outside. It…
date: 2026-01-19T16:47:00+00:00

VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: As I was saying, in my community I certainly know that these skills are very much valued, and the investment in TAFEs is very much valued. We are fortunate to have Melbourne Polytechnic campuses...
encoded: As I was saying, in my community I certainly know that these skills are very much valued, and the investment in TAFEs is very much valued. We are fortunate to have Melbourne Polytechnic campuses in both Greensborough and West Heidelberg. I've visited these many times, and I often hear from students about the quality of the education and support they receive. The Centre of Excellence at Melbourne Polytechnic's West Heidelberg campus is already upskilling locals in Jagajaga and across Melbourne in critical and emerging industries. This includes targeted training in affordable and environmentally sustainable construction techniques. I was talking earlier about how our investment is helping to fill skills shortages, and this is really about us using these skills and using this investment, not just to give young people and other people the skills and training they need but also to deliver on our national housing needs, which is obviously especially timely given the significant housing investments we are making. By allowing these students at these facilities in my electorate and, as I said, right around Australia to defer the cost of their tuition until they earn a sufficient income, this program opens the door to opportunities for thousands of Australians every year. Without it, many would not be able to study at all and our businesses and communities would lose the benefits of a skilled and qualified workforce. That is why this bill and the broader work we are doing are so important in making sure we have a system that operates in a strong, transparent way and is set up to deliver for our country now and into the future. So I'm really pleased that this bill is fixing a technical issue that arose from the transition between the two loan schemes, providing students and providers with the certainty they deserve. But I'm also really pleased that as a government we are putting such a focus on skills and training. I get to see frequently, as I said, what a difference that mak…
date: 2025-11-25T18:14:00+00:00

VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: The VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 addresses a technical but important issue in the administration of our vocational education loan system. It ensures that students,...
encoded: The VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025 addresses a technical but important issue in the administration of our vocational education loan system. It ensures that students, training providers and the government all have the clarity and confidence that they deserve in the operation of the VET Student Loans program. This is a responsible and necessary measure that fixes a problem identified during a review. It provides certainty to the sector, and it strengthens the integrity of a system that supports tens of thousands of Australians to gain new skills and qualifications. Vocational education is a highly valued resource in my community, and much of this important work to upskill workers is happening in north-eastern Melbourne, in my electorate of Jagajaga, thanks to some really important investments from our Labor government. Income-contingent student loans for vocational education and training students were first introduced under the Rudd Labor government in 2008 under the VET FEE-HELP scheme. That allowed VET providers to handle student tax file numbers, as those identifiers are essential to linking students' loans with their Australian Taxation Office accounts. In 2017, the VET Student Loans program replaced the VET FEE-HELP scheme. It brought in stronger integrity requirements and a new legislative framework: the VET Student Loans Act 2016. However, the new legislation did not explicitly provide a role for VSL providers to handle tax file numbers, even though the IT systems that supported the program continued to operate as they had under the previous framework. During a review of the program, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified this misalignment between the legislation and the technology platforms that manage loan applications and data. This bill ensures that the law will now match what has occurred in practice. It retrospectively authorises the handling of students' tax file numbers by approved VSL providers for the pur…
date: 2025-11-25T18:14:00+00:00

g109.8
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
description: The member is clearly a little embarrassed about what is happening under his party at the moment. It seems unlikely that they will learn from these mistakes of the past and reverse direction. In...
encoded: The member is clearly a little embarrassed about what is happening under his party at the moment. It seems unlikely that they will learn from these mistakes of the past and reverse direction. In fact, it looks like his colleagues are walking away from net zero. I understand that's probably a shame for the member for Goldstein, but he does not currently have the numbers, it seems. Good luck to him in his efforts to get them. Since 2022 our government has turned the page on that track record. We have passed strong laws to cut emissions and put Australia on the path to net zero by 2050, including strong 2035 reduction targets to get us there. We've committed to achieving 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030, with more than 100 clean energy projects already underway. We've protected 95 million hectares of Australian land and ocean, an area almost the size of Germany, Italy and Norway combined. We've expanded marine parks around Macquarie Island and the Heard and McDonald islands. We've established Environment Information Australia, giving the public and business easier access to transparent environmental data. We've doubled funding for our national parks, including Kakadu and Uluru. We've invested $1.3 billion to expand the Indigenous Rangers Program, delivered $600 million to protect threatened species, and created the world's first nature repair market, unlocking private investment in environmental restoration. It is a strong record, but we know there is more to do, and that is why this bill is before the House. These reforms are the product of one of the most extensive consultation processes ever undertaken in the environmental policy space. As I said before, I want to pay tribute to the individuals, environment groups and business groups—the stakeholders—who have all engaged constructively in that process. Minister Watt and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water have conducted more than 100 meetings, forums and roundtables across the cou…
date: 2025-11-04T19:14:00+00:00

g109.1
type: item
title: Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, National Environmental Protection Agency Bill 2025, Environment Information Australia Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Customs Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Excise Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (General Charges Imposition) Bill 2025, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (Restoration Charge Imposition) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
description: This is a landmark piece of legislation that represents the most significant overhaul of Australia's environmental laws in a generation. It is overdue. After our environment was neglected,...
encoded: This is a landmark piece of legislation that represents the most significant overhaul of Australia's environmental laws in a generation. It is overdue. After our environment was neglected, ignored and left to degrade by those opposite, this is work that Labor attempted in our last term but that we could not get opposition or Greens support for in the Senate. We are now meeting the commitment we made—I certainly made this commitment to many of my constituents prior to the last election—to bring back to the parliament new laws to protect the environment. Our Labor government understands how critical these laws are, for our environment and the precious places and species we must protect and for the certainty needed by business and those looking to make necessary developments. While this bill, the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, very clearly demonstrates that the Labor government understands the need to protect our environment and pass these laws, I'm yet to be convinced that those opposite understand it. These are some of the questions on my mind right now: Will the Leader of the Opposition stand up for our environment? Will she demonstrate her party's new-found capacity to listen, to learn the hard lessons and reflect the Australia from which they have become disconnected? Will she listen to Graeme Samuel—who she commissioned to do the report that these laws are based on—to Ken Henry or to the businesses urging her to support reform? Will the Greens political party finally join the government and pass these reforms to protect our environment, or will they once again hold out for the perfect and scupper the good? I want to pay tribute to the many groups and individuals who have campaigned hard for these reforms for many years, who have made and continue to make informed contributions. These are the people who understand the importance of getting this done. I just hope that the opposition and the Greens political party do too. This bill builds on the Albanese L…
date: 2025-11-04T19:14:00+00:00

Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
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description: My question is to the Treasurer. Why is reliable energy so important to Australia's economy, and how does that compare to other approaches?
encoded: My question is to the Treasurer. Why is reliable energy so important to Australia's economy, and how does that compare to other approaches?
date: 2025-11-04T14:25:00+00:00

Cybersafety | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: There are some important changes coming up soon as a result of our government's reform to make children safer online. I want to take this opportunity to talk about what these changes mean for...
encoded: There are some important changes coming up soon as a result of our government's reform to make children safer online. I want to take this opportunity to talk about what these changes mean for parents, guardians and, of course, young people across our community and the country. From December, social media platforms will be required to prevent Australians under 16 from creating or keeping social media accounts. This is something that is of huge interest to many communities, including those in Jagajaga, and I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to parents and young people in our community. Firstly, what is actually changing? Social media platforms will have to ensure under-16s cannot hold accounts. Children will still be able to view some public content, but they won't have full accounts and platforms will be held accountable if they don't apply these changes. This is a change that is about safety and responsibility. It's about making sure that we are not taking childhood away from young people, who should be protected. It really comes about because there has been a failure of the social media platforms to do this properly—to take their social responsibility seriously. We have essentially allowed them to conduct a giant social experiment, and at many points they have shown that they did not take social responsibility seriously, and we have seen the consequences of that. It's not unusual for government to step in and regulate if we see an industry that's doing harm to young people. We've done it with alcohol and we've done it with tobacco, and now we're doing it with social media. Importantly, under-16s or their parents will not be fined or penalised if they use or allow the use of a platform. The responsibility for this lies on the platforms, as it should. I want to pay tribute to the parents across the country who have campaigned for this change, and I know that they've campaigned because their children have been affected in ways that they absolutely shoul…
date: 2025-11-03T10:39:00+00:00

Housing | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to back first home buyers and build more homes? What is...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Housing, Minister for Homelessness and Minister for Cities. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to back first home buyers and build more homes? What is standing in the way?
date: 2025-10-08T14:48:00+00:00

National Anti-Corruption Commission Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
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description: by leave—I present the following reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission of the 47th Parliament: Examination of the Inspector of the National...
encoded: by leave—I present the following reports of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission of the 47th Parliament: Examination of the Inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission annual report 2023-24 and Examination of the National Anti-Corruption Commission annual report 2023-24. Reports made parliamentary papers in accordance with standing order 39(e). by leave—These two reports from the 47th Parliament represent a significant body of work by the former committee, particularly under the stewardship of the former chair, Senator Karen Grogan. I want to thank the committee for that work. It is a committee that plays an important role in oversight and supporting Australians' confidence in the commission's work. I look forward to continuing this important work as the Chair of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the National Anti-Corruption Commission in this parliament.
date: 2025-10-08T10:24:00+00:00

Bellomo, Professor Rinaldo, AO, Middle East | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: I rise to pay tribute to Professor Rinaldo Bellomo AO after his death in May this year. Professor Ronaldo was a director of intensive care research at Austin Health in Heidelberg. He was a giant...
encoded: I rise to pay tribute to Professor Rinaldo Bellomo AO after his death in May this year. Professor Ronaldo was a director of intensive care research at Austin Health in Heidelberg. He was a giant in Australian and global intensive care medicine—the most published and most cited medical researcher in the history of Australian medicine. Professor Rinaldo arrived in Australia from Italy in 1980, completed his medical degree at Monash University and earned his PhD from the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. He became a professor at Monash University, where his passion for research and teaching shaped generations of clinicians and scientists. In 2018, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his service to intensive care medicine as a biomedical scientist, researcher and systems innovator. He once said that his life's work wasn't just about finding answers but about having conversations with patients, students and fellow clinicians, rooted in humility and empathy. He said: 'Patients are not just cases; they are people with stories. The privilege of being a doctor is being invited into those stories, sometimes at their most vulnerable point, and trying to help.' I know he is very much missed by the community of Austin Hospital, and our community and our country are grateful for his immense contributions. Vale, Professor Rinaldo Bellomo AO. I continue to be contacted by many people in my community who are deeply distressed by the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. I share their horror. Gaza is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe. Israel's denial of aid, the killing of civilians, including children, as they seek access to water and food, is indefensible. The Australian government has called on Israel to comply immediately with its obligations under international law. This includes ensuring that the United Nations and NGOs can carry out their life-saving work safely and without obstruction. As the Prime Minister said: … it is a breach of…
date: 2025-09-02T16:44:00+00:00

Address-in-Reply | Governor-General's Speech | House debates
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description: It's an absolute privilege and an honour to be here once again as the member for Jagajaga, and I am sincerely grateful and humbled to once again be trusted by my community to represent them in...
encoded: It's an absolute privilege and an honour to be here once again as the member for Jagajaga, and I am sincerely grateful and humbled to once again be trusted by my community to represent them in this parliament. I've said many times that I love our community. It is the place where I grew up, and it's now the place where I'm bringing up my own children with my husband, Daniel. We absolutely know firsthand just how special our part of Melbourne is. The people who live there, the community groups, the parks, the creeks—there is a strong sense of belonging and connection in Jagajaga, and it makes it a wonderful place to call home. Every day I absolutely take pride in the opportunity to be our community's voice here in this parliament. I was really pleased with the conversations I was able to have with community members during the election campaign. A lot of people spoke to me, both about what they could see our government had achieved in our one term in government and also about the progress they wanted to see come next—about the work still to do. There was a marked difference in those conversations I had in the community between the sense of trust they had in a Labor government to deliver on that work still to come and what was being put forward by our Liberal opponents—which really was an agenda based around negativity, an agenda that clearly wasn't well thought through, particularly if we think about their main plan of a nuclear future for Australia. It's an agenda which showed they really don't understand the lives of modern Australians and of people in communities like Jagajaga. I'm thinking here particularly of the way they wanted to limit things like working from home. It was clear to me when I was talking to people, whether it was at early voting centres or when I was knocking on doors or standing outside the local shops, that what they valued were the things that Labor governments do, and they were trusting us to get on and do those things and to build for the fu…
date: 2025-08-27T17:44:00+00:00

Jagajaga Electorate: Infrastructure | Grievance Debate | House debates
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description: I'm very aware that we're all here in this parliament because we hold a deep sense of responsibility to our communities and to our electorates, and, for me, that responsibility is really clear. I...
encoded: I'm very aware that we're all here in this parliament because we hold a deep sense of responsibility to our communities and to our electorates, and, for me, that responsibility is really clear. I do want to improve my community. I want to make it the best place for people to live, work, study and raise a family. I am really proud that, since we've been in government, Labor has been both building our nation and also building our communities, investing in communities like those in Jagajaga, which, unfortunately, were neglected for far too long under previous Liberal-National governments. When those opposite were in power, they put themselves first. They, in fact, allocated community funding in ways that benefited their own seats. That meant, in Jagajaga, that our community missed out on major infrastructure funding, on school upgrades, on sporting and community facilities and on much more. I stood in this place at the time, when then prime minister Scott Morrison led a Liberal-National government, and I called out that government for their unfair treatment of my constituents. Between 2018 and 2021, the then treasurer and member for Kooyong's neighbouring electorates received $5.7 million in community grants while my community just over the river in Jagajaga received just $800,000. That is more than seven times less, and it is absolutely indicative of how those opposite treated running the country. They were not in it for communities. They were certainly not in it for the community of Jagajaga. They were governing for themselves. Labor does take a different approach. We believe that every community—city or regional, no matter who they voted for—deserves respect and deserves its fair share, and I'm really proud of what that means and what we're delivering in Jagajaga. When we come to people's health, one of the key things that people talk to me about is the need for good quality healthcare services that can be accessed locally and that are affordable. We absolutely unde…
date: 2025-08-26T12:59:00+00:00

Climate Change, Murphy, Ms Peta Jan | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: Thank you, Speaker. It is a real pleasure to see you back in your role. It's a privilege for me to be back in this place as the member for Jagajaga. This is now my third opening of a parliament,...
encoded: Thank you, Speaker. It is a real pleasure to see you back in your role. It's a privilege for me to be back in this place as the member for Jagajaga. This is now my third opening of a parliament, and while I don't yet think I'm at the nostalgia stage, the ceremony and the first speeches of the past few days have certainly prompted some reflections for me. I have in particular been thinking about one of the things that was a huge prompt for me to first stand for parliament, and that is the need for us to urgently tackle the climate crisis. When I first ran for parliament we were well into the decade of Liberal-National climate denial. It was a time when Scott Morrison brought his lump-of-coal prop into question time. At that time for me—and I think for many Australians—thinking about the need for climate action and the lack of it under successive Liberal-National governments could make you tend towards despair. The denial of successive Liberal-National governments meant we were drifting further and further away from the actions that needed to be taken. In general, I am not someone who tends to lean into despair. I try to lean towards hope. A lot of that hope for me was realised in our first term in government. As a government we have been—and we are—working hard to recover the lost time and the lost opportunities, and we are making real progress. Labor is the party of climate action. We've legislated a 2030 emissions reduction target. We've locked in our commitment to net zero by 2050. We're investing heavily in clean energy projects. Since coming to office we've approved a record number of clean energy projects, and we're now at a stage where we're powering homes across the nation. From 1 July we launched our Cheaper Home Batteries Program, providing a 30 per cent discount on battery systems. We're scaling up climate adaptation, investing in disaster preparedness—all of this work that I am pleased with and looking forward to getting stuck into supporting in my role a…
date: 2025-07-23T19:55:00+00:00

Andrews, Hon. Kevin James, AM | Condolences | House debates
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description: Kevin Andrews was the member for Menzies between 1991 and 2022. In addition to that long service to that community, he was well known and respected in my electorate, which neighbours Menzies, for...
encoded: Kevin Andrews was the member for Menzies between 1991 and 2022. In addition to that long service to that community, he was well known and respected in my electorate, which neighbours Menzies, for both his service to the nation and his role as a devoted parishioner of St. John's in Heidelberg. I do believe that word, 'service', sums up Kevin's approach to public life. It was clear that he approached his many roles as a respected local MP, a minister and as a parishioner with humbleness and devotion. After I was elected to the neighbouring seat of Jagajaga in 2019, I always appreciated the courtesy and thoughtfulness Kevin brought to our interactions, both in the parliament and in the community. We would meet each other in the corridors in this place, where he also held the role of Father of the House, and we would meet each other back home in places like pre-poll, where even within the heightened emotional environment of a campaign, Kevin continued to steadfastly and politely interact with the community and with me. In that, I think that he did set an important example in this place, that even when your political views do not align—and there are many of my values that did not align with Kevin's—dignity and respect for others should always win out. I am very aware that, as with so many who choose to serve in public life, the contributions that Kevin made over decades could not have happened without the support of his family—in particular, his wife, Margie, who was so often by his side. It was clear that theirs was a very special relationship, and I once again extend my condolences to Margie, to their children and to all who are missing Kevin. Vale Kevin Andrews.
date: 2025-02-12T11:26:00+00:00

Biodiversity | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
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description: I thank the member for North Sydney for bringing forward this important topic. I absolutely respect her as a champion for the environment and someone who is passionate about the incredible...
encoded: I thank the member for North Sydney for bringing forward this important topic. I absolutely respect her as a champion for the environment and someone who is passionate about the incredible biodiversity in this country, and it is so important that we work to protect that. I agree that this parliament, as a whole, needs to do more to protect Australia's nature and biodiversity. I would hope that this would be an issue where the parliament could come together to get the action that we need to see. Certainly, from our point of view, from the government side, we have been working tirelessly to put together the bills that we brought forward to deliver a new, sensible, federal Environmental Protection Agency. I want to pay tribute to Minister Plibersek and to the work that she's done to bring that proposal forward, because that is what governments do in this place. We bring these really important reforms forward, and we seek the support of a parliament to pass them. And it is important to reflect on how we got to this disappointing place, where these sensible laws are not being passed by the parliament, when, in fact, all of us in this place do know that the current EPBC Act is outdated and does need reform. Even those opposite had an inkling of this, when they commissioned the Samuel review. Yet, when the work was done, when Minister Plibersek put together these laws and brought them to the parliament, we had the typical reaction that we get, particularly from those opposite—obstructionist and negative, saying no. On this occasion, they were joined by the Greens political party. The Greens, the Liberals and the Nationals all worked together in the Senate to block our nature-positive laws. We have been here before, of course. This is, in some ways, history repeating itself, and I know that this has been said in this place before, but it is important that we learn from our past, and, as a parliament, that we learn from some of the mistakes we've made before, because we know…
date: 2025-02-12T15:17:00+00:00

Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Some might say 'unhinged', but I probably wouldn't—so detached from the reality of the lives of Australian families and Australian women's lives. We saw Senator Simon Birmingham, in an...
encoded: Some might say 'unhinged', but I probably wouldn't—so detached from the reality of the lives of Australian families and Australian women's lives. We saw Senator Simon Birmingham, in an opinion piece at the end of last year, making an incredibly out-of-touch and frustrating claim, suggesting that changes to the activity test would mean that women would be dropping their children off to child care so that they can go and play golf or do Pilates. That is not the reality of Australian women's lives. They are not thinking: 'I've got two hours. I will pop off to Pilates.' They are thinking: 'How do I hold down a job? How do I support my family? How do I do all the other things I need to get done?' And I hope they do get a bit of time for some Pilates and some exercise, but certainly they are not thinking, 'Well, I'll just pop my child into child care for two hours now, because the government has taken away the activity test, to go to Pilates.' I would encourage those opposite to get in touch with some Australian women, to get in touch with some Australian families. It is concerning that someone who, up until very recently, was such a senior member of the Liberals frontbench team would show such disrespect to Australian women and Australian families. This is a benefit for Australian families, and, in particular, it is a benefit for those families who can get locked out of our early education system—not because they're going to Pilates but because they have other strains and pressures on their lives that make it difficult for them to access early education. This is actually about making sure those children who most need that support to get the best start in life are able to access it. Again, it is something that those opposite should be able to bring themselves to support, but, once again, they are saying no to Australian families and no to Australian women. They are diminishing the value of this really important service for all children in our community and diminishing the…
date: 2025-02-12T12:41:00+00:00

Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Early education is so important. The evidence is clear that children benefit from access to early education and care, and that it sets them up for the best start in life, so it is confounding to...
encoded: Early education is so important. The evidence is clear that children benefit from access to early education and care, and that it sets them up for the best start in life, so it is confounding to hear those opposite, including the last speaker, try and paint the making sure that all Australian children get the best start in life as being divisive. In what world is that divisive? It would only be in a world where you're prepared to stand against the best interests of Australian children. It does seem that is what those opposite are prepared to do because they are opposing this bill that gives all Australian children the best start in life. That is the hill they've chosen to die on and that is their choice. But, I must say, I am very, very surprised. Our government started this term delivering on our commitment to deliver cheaper child care to Australian families, and families across Australia have saved up to $2,768 since our government's childcare subsidies took effect. This is real cost-of-living relief that's going back into the pockets of Australian families. Now we are once again delivering reform in early education. We are replacing the activity test introduced by the previous Liberal government. We're introducing the new three-day guarantee from January next year, guaranteeing 72 hours of childcare subsidy each fortnight. We do believe that every child has the right to early education, to the best start in life, and this reform will help make that a reality right around the country. From early education through to school education, university and TAFE, our government has been delivering the investments we need to make sure that Australians are set up to get quality education, to get the education they deserve right through life. Of course, we have been opposed by those opposite, who do not share our belief that the best way to support Australians is to support them with education, with the best start in life, all the way through to a tertiary degree and their b…
date: 2025-02-12T12:41:00+00:00

AusCheck Amendment (Global Entry Program) Bill 2025; Third Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
encoded: by leave—I move: That this bill be now read a third time. Question agreed to. Bill read a third time.
date: 2025-02-11T20:06:00+00:00

Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: Scams have been a feature in many of our lives for decades, but in today's digital age they have taken on a new, invasive form that is leading to devastating outcomes for too many people. Like...
encoded: Scams have been a feature in many of our lives for decades, but in today's digital age they have taken on a new, invasive form that is leading to devastating outcomes for too many people. Like nearly every member in this place, I have heard some terrible stories from constituents in recent years about the scam losses that they or a loved one have experienced. Top of my mind is an experience of a local resident, Doris. Doris has shared her story with the media to make other people aware of the very creative ways that scammers try to reach out to people, and she is really hoping that sharing her story will stop others from falling victim to similar scams. Doris was trying to set herself up for retirement by investing her savings, $260,000. She was looking online at banks to invest with, looking for a good investment rate, and she came across what looked like a very legitimate Singapore based bank offering what looked like a very good return on that investment. Doris spoke to someone who said they were from the bank. She got sent some very legitimate-looking documents. I've seen those documents myself. I looked at them, and they looked like the kinds of documents that a bank would send you if you were looking to set up an account and invest with them. Doris thought: 'Great! This is what I'm going to go ahead with. This is a good rate of return. This will secure my retirement.' She went along to her local Commonwealth Bank branch, where her money was, to send the money to this allegedly Singapore based bank. Doris completed an international money transfer at the bank and thought that all seemed well. Six weeks later, Doris went to try to withdraw some of her funds, and she found that there was nothing there. She in fact had been scammed. Her life savings were gone. And, again, Doris is towards the end of her working life, and this has a devastating impact for her and her future. As she said, 'They made it sound so perfect, and I lost the lot.' Doris is a smart woman, an…
date: 2025-02-06T10:01:00+00:00