Anne Webster'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 Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025; Consideration in Detail | Bills | House debates
items: Cost of Living | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
items: Mallee Electorate: Energy | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025; Consideration in Detail | Bills | House debates
items: Disability Services | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Aviation Industry | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Communications, the Arts and Sport Committee; Reference | Committees | House debates
items: Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
items: Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Stephen Crawford Memorial Golf Day | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: g116.3
items: Telecommunications | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Regional Australia: Roads | Private Members' Business | House debates

Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025; Consideration in Detail | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I move: (1) Schedule 1, page 12 (after line 4), at the end of the Schedule, add: 37 Application of amendments (1) The amendments made by this Schedule apply only if a declaration under subitem...
encoded: I move: (1) Schedule 1, page 12 (after line 4), at the end of the Schedule, add: 37 Application of amendments (1) The amendments made by this Schedule apply only if a declaration under subitem (2) is in force. (2) The Minister may, by notifiable instrument, declare that the amendments made by this Schedule apply on and after a day, or throughout a period, specified in the declaration. (3) However, the Minister may make a declaration under subitem (2) only if: (a) a trial of nurse prescriber treatments (within the meaning of the National Health Act 1953) is conducted in at least one State or Territory; and (b) after the end of the trial, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia conducts a review of the trial; and (c) the review demonstrates a suitably supportive evidence base for the safety and effectiveness of the amendments made by this Schedule. I rise to speak to the amendment circulated in my name to the Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025. This bill seeks to enable eligibility for PBS rebates for medications prescribed by a new category of prescribers, 'authorised registered nurse prescribers'. It acknowledges the essential role nurses play in our health system, especially in the regions, and the important work they do. It also acknowledges that nurses are the largest component of the health system and the most well-distributed workforce in regional Australia. The Nationals want to see improved access to health care and progress for the nursing profession and for multidisciplinary care more generally. However, I am moving an amendment because implementation of new policy must have appropriate testing to ensure it is safe, effective and won't have unintended consequences. The Nationals have two key concerns. The bill is not evidence based, as it fails to follow normal processes where testing of any new model of care occurs in a state or territory in Australia prior to the application of PBS rebates, and this bill d…
date: 2026-02-05T11:17:00+00:00

Cost of Living | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: It's $7 in the Hunter. There you go. The member for Hunter probably knows. The fact is that people can't afford to go out to a cafe any more. If they want to purchase a meal at a pub, the price...
encoded: It's $7 in the Hunter. There you go. The member for Hunter probably knows. The fact is that people can't afford to go out to a cafe any more. If they want to purchase a meal at a pub, the price is through the roof. I know because I take my family to the pub. Then we go into all the subsidies. What drives this 13th rate increase? It comes because inflation is out of control. And guess what? It's on this Labor government's watch. It was not happening under the coalition. It is happening under this Labor government. They need to take responsibility for continually giving out subsidies. We've now got a new subsidy for EVs—another $50 million. 'That's not going to hurt anybody!' Yes it will, because it comes out of taxpayer pockets. The way this government spends money to make up for or to put a bandaid on what is a broken economy is appalling. It will only cost taxpayers more. It will only continue to see inflation rise. I actually feel a little sorry for the RBA and for its chair. These are the stories they have to keep coming out to tell the Australian people while trying not to annoy the current Labor government, which is where the responsibility needs to sit. Then we've got things like policies, great policies, like the gun buyback—$15 billion, Member for Hunter! Where's that going to come from? Oh, the Australian taxpayer. One more time: a terrible policy that was just simply a repeat of 1996, when John Howard was doing the right thing. Here we have a government and a Prime Minister who have made a decision for gun buybacks because he wanted to cover over a massacre that should never have happened on his watch. The fact is this government is responsible. It needs to take responsibility. We will continue to work to make it take that responsibility seriously.
date: 2026-02-04T16:31:00+00:00

Cost of Living | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: This MPI is about the government's reckless agenda, which is driving up the cost of living for Australian families. It's not actually a question. It is a statement that the policies that this...
encoded: This MPI is about the government's reckless agenda, which is driving up the cost of living for Australian families. It's not actually a question. It is a statement that the policies that this government has brought in since 2022 are hurting Australian families. When families are paying, on a $500,000 mortgage, $23,000 more since Labor have come into office, that hurts. That hurts families. We have more families who cannot even think about purchasing a home because the housing market can't give them a home at a price they can afford. The policies that this government has implemented are hurting Australian families. When they go to the supermarket—I'm not going to say the names. When they go to any supermarket, the prices that they're paying for eggs and for bread and for milk and for all the ordinary daily needs of a family are through the roof. Sixteen per cent is the current figure. Then you add in the electricity costs. Electricity is something that people need. In our society, people need electricity. Costs are up 40 per cent—40 per cent! How is that reasonable? For the government—from the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to the Treasurer and the Prime Minister—to go on with the hubris and the arrogance that we've listened to today, it shows that they are all, every one of them, singing from the same hymn sheet: 'Not our fault. Not our fault. Don't look at us. It was actually those 10 years of waste and deficit.' It's 'the dog ate my homework'. This government needs to take responsibility. They've been in government for four years. When are they going to take responsibility? Australian families are hurting. Whether it's paying school fees, whether it's putting fuel into their cars, it doesn't matter which way they go. They can't afford to live. A cup of coffee in 2022 was $4. How much is it now? It's $6 for the average latte, and that's a small one.
date: 2026-02-04T16:31:00+00:00

Health Legislation Amendment (Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Benefits) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: The Prime Minister has been at pains to tell us repeatedly that the only card that we need take to a medical appointment is the Medicare card. He's told us that the Labor government's changes to...
encoded: The Prime Minister has been at pains to tell us repeatedly that the only card that we need take to a medical appointment is the Medicare card. He's told us that the Labor government's changes to incentivise bulk-billing would make primary health care free to all those who need it. But across Mallee my constituents are lucky if they can get an appointment with a GP at all, let alone not pay a gap fee. The average GP gap fee, or out-of-pocket cost, is now over $50. The national out-of-pocket GP costs have more than doubled, from $780 million in 2021-22 to $1.66 billion in 2023-24. Out-of-pocket costs have risen steadily across all socioeconomic areas according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Bulk-billing, under the coalition, was at 88.9 per cent in 2021. Despite Labor rhetoric, it has fallen. In 2024-25, the latest figures, it was 77.6 per cent. That's an 11 per cent drop in bulk-billing. The fact is remote, outer regional and inner regional areas have lower bulk-billing rates than major cities. So your Medicare card is not all that you need, Prime Minister. That is another fabrication from this arrogant and secretive Labor government. This is a government that is all about the headline or the catchy three-second hook on social media to halt the doomscroll but not so much about doing the hard yards and policy grunt work to make lasting change. The Nationals' perspective on health care, the Mallee experience—when I asked my electorate of Mallee late last year about their biggest concerns, I received more than 5,300 responses, with Mallee residents telling me their No. 1 priority was better hospitals and access to health care. When asked about primary health care, the top concern of my constituents was wait times to see a doctor, followed by out-of-pocket costs and then wait times to see allied health professionals. Health care access and affordability is front of mind for my constituents and regional Australians more broadly. But this Labor governme…
date: 2026-02-04T11:31:00+00:00

Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I do note the Prime Minister's comments that, as people around Australia raise a glass in a pub, the price won't go up for the next two years. If it were only dependent on this excise freezing,...
encoded: I do note the Prime Minister's comments that, as people around Australia raise a glass in a pub, the price won't go up for the next two years. If it were only dependent on this excise freezing, that would be one thing, but we know that wages have gone up. We know that electricity has gone up. We know that the cost of living continues to rise under this government, so beer will go up. It's just the excise that will be frozen for the next two years. We commend this bill. We support this bill, but we think it should go further. We think it should actually include—and I endorse the member for Cowper's amendments that will be asking for or recommending that we also freeze the excise on spirits in pubs, hotels and clubs. Our pubs and our clubs do incredible work in our community. They really become the beehive, if you like, of social connection for so many people. Whether it's sporting clubs or whether it's families wanting to go out for a cheap meal, it's no longer cheap. I'm just stating the facts. When I take my family out, I can assure you, it costs me well over a hundred and something dollars—sometimes $200—just to go to a pub meal. To pretend that this excise freeze for the next two years is going to solve all the problems is complete and utter rubbish, and every Australian knows it. I think about the cost of coffee. When Labor came to government in 2022, the cost of a cup of coffee or a latte at your favourite cafe, which we all enjoy, was around $4. Now, we're paying $6 for a cup of coffee. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Labor government. 'Nothing to see here,' says the Prime Minister. Let's just talk about freezing the excise on pouring beer in pubs. Don't get me wrong, I support absolutely that our pubs and clubs need this support. They need more support than that though, and this government is absolutely not supplying it. I don't want to talk about every pub in my electorate, because, believe you me, there are far too many. I'm bound to leave out about, I don'…
date: 2026-02-04T09:20:00+00:00

Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
type: item
description: It's with profound sorrow that I rise today to speak about the horrific events of 15 December at Bondi Beach and to acknowledge the grieving family members who have been in this House. Bondi...
encoded: It's with profound sorrow that I rise today to speak about the horrific events of 15 December at Bondi Beach and to acknowledge the grieving family members who have been in this House. Bondi Beach is an iconic Australian landmark that should symbolise joy, freedom and unity. Instead, it became the scene of unimaginable tragedy. Fifteen innocent lives were stolen by Islamic extremists driven by hatred and intent on inflicting maximum harm. This was not just an attack on Jews; it was an attack on every Australian and our way of life. It was the worst terrorist atrocity in Australia's history, and it has shaken every one of us to the core. What happened that day is utterly unthinkable. Families who had gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, a festival of light and hope, were gunned down in cold blood—children, parents and grandparents all targeted simply because of who they are: Jewish Australians. We watched in horror as the news unfolded, moving from disbelief to grief and then to haunting questions. How could this happen here? Why such hatred? Who could commit such evil? This is not Australia. This is not the nation I grew up in and that we cherish. Since 7 October 2023 antisemitism has surged alarmingly across our country. We have seen Jewish Australians harassed, threatened and vilified; homes graffitied; cars and synagogues firebombed; and businesses coerced into closure. Synagogues and schools and childcare centres have been forced to tighten security as fear grips the community. Our fellow Australians, our neighbours, our friends, now feel like strangers in their own home. It is disgraceful, it is unacceptable and it must stop. Equally disturbing are the scenes of aggressive mobs in our streets, celebrating violence, chanting hatred. This is not free speech. This is incitement. It corrodes the very fabric of our society. When any group is targeted, whether for their faith, ethnicity or identity, it is an attack on all Australians. We cannot and must not stand by, beca…
date: 2026-01-19T11:21:00+00:00

Mallee Electorate: Energy | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: I rise to express my great pride in the farmers of Mallee. They are facing an uphill battle right now. They have the Victorian government and their tentacle subgroup TCV, Transmission Company...
encoded: I rise to express my great pride in the farmers of Mallee. They are facing an uphill battle right now. They have the Victorian government and their tentacle subgroup TCV, Transmission Company Victoria, coming onto farms. Well, that's what they want to do; they want to enter farms. Instead we have farmers standing inside the fence saying, 'Access denied.' Access is denied to TCV and to the Victorian government for seeking to railroad my communities. These farmers are on the edge of harvest. They are literally about to start harvest. We also hear in this space that we have Chinese made brake pads with asbestos in them. Asbestos is illegal. It is illegal to bring it into Australia. But here we have companies all over Australia who are bringing in wind turbines with asbestos as part of the works of each turbine, creating biosecurity hazards, I would suggest. I'm not an engineer, but, if a wind turbine goes on fire, what happens with that asbestos? There is food growing under these turbines. It is an absolute disgrace that the Labor government has allowed these turbines to come into Australia with no checks and balances. What is going on is that these products are all over Australia now, by the thousands—maybe hundreds of thousands. Renewables absolutely cost farmers. I have farmers in my electorate, and I'll name a few of them: Andrew Weidemann, Ross Johns, Julie Weir, Marcia McIntyre, Ben Duxson and Gerald Feeny. All of these farmers and the myriad that are coming to support them are standing at the gate, stopping TCV coming in. Now, TCV don't actually have court orders to be able to enter the properties. They have no right. But, I tell you what, they're intimidating and they're bullying our farmers. It is outrageous—at the beginning of harvest. We hear today that the Victorian government have put out a consultation about the five new RESes—I think there are six now—doubling the gigawatt hours that they require to put on farmland. Seriously? That's a consultation over …
date: 2025-11-26T10:21:00+00:00

Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I rise this afternoon to speak about the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025. As the member for Mallee and the shadow minister for regional development, I emphasise...
encoded: I rise this afternoon to speak about the Migration Amendment (Combatting Migrant Exploitation) Bill 2025. As the member for Mallee and the shadow minister for regional development, I emphasise how agriculture—particularly horticulture in Mallee—relies on migrant workers. Workforce shortages are a fact of life in regional Australia, and Mallee is no exception. Businesses in Sunraysia—in Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill—and even further south in the Wimmera, in Horsham and beyond, need migrant workers, especially during seasonal peaks in workload. Without these migrant workers, our region would not be the productive powerhouse that it is. Speaking of which, tonight, at the Australian Export Awards, Select Harvests from Wemen are up for the Regional Exporter award for 2025. They are a finalist, and I will be there cheering them on. They are a local success story, with a $116 million turnaround last year and record sales—the best almond prices they have ever received. I come to this debate familiar with the migration portfolio area, having been the Deputy Chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Migration in the 47th Parliament. I worked closely, in a healthy and bipartisan way, with the then-chair and now retired Labor member for Calwell, Maria Vamvakinou. I was proud to take the migration committee for a public hearing in Robinvale, in my electorate, in May 2023 to contribute to the committee's report, Migration, pathway to nation building. We met with the council for the Robinvale area, the Swan Hill Rural City Council, and with horticultural businesses and associations. Key themes we heard in that hearing were the following. Workforce shortages were structural, not temporary, and regional industries—including agriculture, horticulture, food processing, health, aged care, transport and hospitality—were facing acute labour shortages. Employers consistently reported they could not fill roles locally, even after advertising widely. Labour shortages were a constraint on …
date: 2025-11-26T17:39:00+00:00

Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025; Consideration in Detail | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 2 together: (1) Schedule 1, item 3, page 25 (after line 3), after subsection 121FZO(1), insert: (1A) To the extent that the report...
encoded: by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 2 together: (1) Schedule 1, item 3, page 25 (after line 3), after subsection 121FZO(1), insert: (1A) To the extent that the report relates to the service's total program expenditure for Australia for the year of the report, the report must provide information about where that expenditure was incurred by reference to the following: (a) major cities of Australia; (b) inner regional Australia; (c) outer regional Australia; (d) remote Australia; (e) very remote Australia. (2) Schedule 1, item 3, page 25 (after line 7), after section 121FZO, insert: 121FZOA Publication of annual report (1) As soon as practicable after receiving a report under subsection 121FZO(1), the ACMA must give a copy of the report to the Minister. (2) The Minister must cause a copy of the report to be tabled in each House of the Parliament within 15 sitting days of that House after the Minister receives the report, upon which time it must be published on the ACMA website. This parliament is being asked to set the rules for a new era in Australian storytelling. For the first time, global streaming giants will have obligations to invest meaningfully in Australian content. This is welcome. But unless this parliament insists on proper transparency, we will never know whether those investments are genuinely supporting the breadth of Australia—not just the big cities, not just the same postcodes but all Australians wherever they live. My amendments are simple, practical and vital—transparency on where money is actually spent. My first amendment inserts subsection 121FZO(1)(1A). It requires streaming services, when they report their annual Australian program expenditure, to tell us where in Australia that money was spent—not vaguely, not selectively, but clearly and consistently—across the ABS remoteness categories, firstly major cities and then inner regional, outer regional, remote and very remote Australia. This matters. Right now, we have no l…
date: 2025-11-25T16:03:00+00:00

Disability Services | Statements by Members | House debates
type: item
description: I highlight an urgent situation for the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme to address concerning specialist disability accommodation potentially ceasing to exist by 31...
encoded: I highlight an urgent situation for the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme to address concerning specialist disability accommodation potentially ceasing to exist by 31 December, leaving vulnerable Australians homeless. Noreen is a constituent in my electorate of Mallee and is in her mid-80s. Noreen's son lives in a specialist disability accommodation service within my electorate. Noreen's son faces eviction from his specialist accommodation from 1 January due to the Commonwealth squabbling with the Victorian government, whose transitional funding ends this year for those like Noreen's son, who will soon rely exclusively on the NDIS for funding for their home—funding that doesn't go far enough for specialist homes. This feels like the government's aged-care bungling all over again. The Age reported in early September: Thousands of Victorians with profound disabilities face the prospect of eviction from their group homes and the loss of carers they have relied on for years due to a funding stand-off between private providers, the state and the federal government. Where is the minister responsible for this failed handover of accommodation and arrangements? This needs urgent attention.
date: 2025-11-25T13:30:00+00:00

Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
type: item
description: I rise as the first shadow minister for regional communications in Australia—yet another principled position the Nationals took to ensure that, in the 21st century, there is a continuous...
encoded: I rise as the first shadow minister for regional communications in Australia—yet another principled position the Nationals took to ensure that, in the 21st century, there is a continuous focus on regional connectivity. This bill mandates the production of Australian content, and nothing is more Australian than regional Australia. From The Flying Doctors, filmed in my electorate of Mallee at Minyip, to Mad Max, Crocodile Dundee and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, the star of the show has been the people and the landscapes of regional Australia. As we see the capital cities grow at breakneck pace under Labor governments—federal and state—I come to this debate with an unashamed and strong emphasis on regional Australians. That is why—and I foreshadow—I will be moving an amendment to ensure transparency on how much of the Australian production proposed through this bill will actually occur in regional Australia. Let's remember the regulatory space we have here. Our media regulations were made during the 20th century of television towers and antennas on roofs. Now, builders do not even put antennas on house builds. This is the 21st century, and regulation has not caught up to the reality where many Australians—if not the majority—are digesting the bulk of their news and entertainment over the internet through the NBN broadband internet, 5G, 4G or whatever else they use. Critically, regulation hasn't caught up to the fact that we have strictly regulated the Australian broadcasters while regulation does not effectively touch the international broadcasters such as those this bill seeks to regulate. Australia's media is not a free market. This is a failed market, and the Nationals know about interventions in market failure situations all too well, as we see the need for it time and time again in regional Australia. Free-to-air television broadcasters face many barriers. There are laws and rules that apply to our commercial broadcasters that do not apply to …
date: 2025-11-25T12:35:00+00:00

Aviation Industry | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) under the Government two regional airlines have collapsed and the domestic aviation sector has become more concentrated with just two airline groups...
encoded: I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) under the Government two regional airlines have collapsed and the domestic aviation sector has become more concentrated with just two airline groups representing 98.3 per cent of the market; (b) major airlines have centralised activities, withdrawing staff, service provision and investment from the regions, closing bases and maintenance facilities in Mildura, Tamworth, Hobart and Canberra; (c) the Government has committed up to $160 million to extend the Regional Express airline in administration but remains unable to guarantee regional services or affordability, nor whether regional creditors will be paid; (d) programs to support regional airlines investing in capital upgrades and security screening services have been withdrawn; and (e) the Government has botched the transition of air services for Australia's island territories; and (2) calls upon the Government to ensure regional Australians retain access to competitive, affordable, sustainable and safe aviation services. Air travel is part and parcel of life in regional Australia. My home town of Mildura is the most remote regional centre in Victoria. It is more than six hours drive from Melbourne and almost 4½ hours drive from Adelaide. Sunraysia's geographical isolation means that there are many instances where road travel takes far too long, is just not appropriate and, can I say, dangerous. Air travel is essential not least to access health care and to visit family and friends but also as a connector and driver for our regional businesses and economies. Under this Labor government, two regional airlines, Bonza and Regional Express, have collapsed, leaving the domestic aviation sector more concentrated than ever. Nationally, just two airline groups, Qantas and Virgin, now represent 98.3 per cent of the market, according to the latest data. This duopoly strangles competition, drives up fares and abandons regional routes to the whims of big city boardrooms. Not only t…
date: 2025-11-24T13:06:00+00:00

Communications, the Arts and Sport Committee; Reference | Committees | House debates
type: item
description: (): I second the motion. I spoke recently in this House about Christine from Cumnock in New South Wales, who had to travel an additional kilometre after a car accident to call triple 0...
encoded: (): I second the motion. I spoke recently in this House about Christine from Cumnock in New South Wales, who had to travel an additional kilometre after a car accident to call triple 0 on a landline at a nearby house because she didn't have mobile phone reception. I also mentioned Joe from Meckering in Western Australia, who called in while I was on a Perth radio station, saying he has regular visitors at his home on the transcontinental highway asking to use his landline because, contrary to network indications, there is no mobile phone reception on his section of the highway. Like it or not, landline services remain essential to connectivity in regional Australia. They enable people to access emergency services in times of need. They give people the ability to work or run a business, access health care and essential government services, and maintain social connection. Affordable fixed-line voice services—in other words, landline services—may no longer rely on the copper wiring, but the fixed voice services remain critically important. Mobile connectivity remains sketchy at best in large swathes of regional Australia, and it has been made worse by this Labor government's abysmal failure to manage the 3G network shutdown effectively. While the country has been rightly shocked at the devastatingly tragic outcomes of Optus's recent triple 0 outage—and I hear there has been another one this afternoon—I feel compelled to highlight the fact that large parts of our vast country have no access to triple 0 at all on their mobile phones. That is because they don't have any mobile phone service. The point is often overlooked, but it is not lost on people who live in the regions. Thankfully, redundancy has been built into the telecommunications system for the most part, due to legislative provisions like the universal service obligation and the statutory infrastructure provider regime, to ensure minimum service levels for fixed voice and high-speed broadband. The Nationals are…
date: 2025-11-05T16:31:00+00:00

Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: That's right, everybody knows what I'm talking about. They're going back to those because they haven't got connectivity. This is a huge problem and it's on this government's watch. What are they...
encoded: That's right, everybody knows what I'm talking about. They're going back to those because they haven't got connectivity. This is a huge problem and it's on this government's watch. What are they doing about it? They've got Accenture doing a report and a review with some mapping using Australia Post trucks. That'll be excellent! The report will come out in 2027. Thank you for that. In the meantime, three years will go by and people won't have connectivity and will have to find other means and ways to call their loved ones or call 000 when they need it. It is seriously and absolutely not good enough, and it is completely on this government's watch that these failures have taken place. Lastly, I want to briefly reference the hopelessness of the 'reckless renewable rollout'. Brett Hosking of the VFF, whose farm is in the line of TCV, is featured in theWeekly Times. I don't have time to quote him, but I tell you what: Labor should look his story up.
date: 2025-11-05T15:36:00+00:00

Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
type: item
description: It has been highly entertaining, listening to the minister—my counterpart, in point of fact. I first want to address how this government is devastating regional...
encoded: It has been highly entertaining, listening to the minister—my counterpart, in point of fact. I first want to address how this government is devastating regional communities—effectively, abandoning regional communities. I particularly want to point out that the minister's statement regarding the lowering of default speed limits is actually not accurate. I have in front of me the department of infrastructure consultation that we are referring to, which clearly says that—as to this consultation on potentially lowering the default speed limit on sealed and unsealed regional roads which are unmarked—one of the benefits is to reduce fatalities. Nobody is going to dispute that we all want to see fatalities reduced. Also it's to reduce fuel consumption costs. I didn't know they cared! And, thirdly, it's so that emissions from fuel consumption will be lower. Now, seriously! I've heard them say, 'This is not a climate change issue at all.' I'm sorry—as I have said several times this week, this has the Minister for Climate Change and Energy's fingerprints all over it. What this consultation actually shows is that the cost to those who live in the regions is going to be about slower travel time. Really? Is that actually accurate? Yes. Parents will take longer to get their kids to school. Parents will take longer to get their kids to sport. Parents will take longer to take their children to the doctor. This is the cost of this ridiculous notion. Now, I have spoken to the member for Riverina about this very consultation, which, I would like to clearly say, we did not implement, because it is so foolish. I will be very interested to see what the consultation paper—and we called for it to be extended, because it was brought out under the cover of darkness; nobody knew that this consultation was taking place until this last week. It is an incredibly ridiculous notion—to make people in the regions just simply drive slower, rather than expending money on roads. On that point, I would …
date: 2025-11-05T15:36:00+00:00

Energy | Questions without Notice | House debates
type: item
description: My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with the member for Solomon there will be a 20 per cent decrease in power bills over the next decade?
encoded: My question is to the Prime Minister. Does the Prime Minister agree with the member for Solomon there will be a 20 per cent decrease in power bills over the next decade?
date: 2025-11-05T15:00:00+00:00

Stephen Crawford Memorial Golf Day | Constituency Statements | House debates
type: item
description: This Friday, 7 November, the beautiful Riverside Golf Club in Nichols Point, in my electorate of Mallee, will host the Stephen Crawford Memorial Golf Day. The event is run by the local community,...
encoded: This Friday, 7 November, the beautiful Riverside Golf Club in Nichols Point, in my electorate of Mallee, will host the Stephen Crawford Memorial Golf Day. The event is run by the local community, for local tradies and others, supporting men's health and the Movember Foundation. The golf day, proudly supported by Total Tools Mildura, honours Stephen Crawford, taken too soon by bowel cancer in February 2022. Since the first golf day in 2021, this event has raised more than $100,000 for the Movember Foundation. The Stephen Crawford Memorial Golf Day honours a Total Tools team member's husband, and quickly became something much bigger. Total Tools and the team saw an opportunity to make a real community impact, and they have. It's more than just a golf day; it's a testament to what a small community can achieve when they come together with purpose. The team's efforts were recently recognised with a nomination for a Movember award. I had the pleasure of attending this magnificent charity event for the first time last year, in my previous role as the shadow minister for regional health. I promoted preventive health measures in my electorate, where we have higher morbidity and mortality rates from preventable diseases. I assisted this year by facilitating provision of free health checks via self-service machines provided by SiSU Health. Novo Nordisk has generously funded the provision of these free health checks. The public will be able to come and access a health check even if they are not participating in the golf day—good news for all the wives, perhaps. Another Mildura local taken too soon was Scott Umback, lost in 2019 of a heart attack, aged just 42. His wife, Katrina Umback, is a passionate and driven advocate for improving access to preventive care for men to ensure others do not experience the same loss she and her boys have endured. Katrina teamed up with La Trobe University to secure a Medical Research Future Fund grant to research and co-design a kit for rural …
date: 2025-11-04T16:23:00+00:00

g116.3
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 bill, the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, and the related bills come as we grapple as a nation with tumbling productivity. Under Labor productivity is down five per cent. Green tape...
encoded: This bill, the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, and the related bills come as we grapple as a nation with tumbling productivity. Under Labor productivity is down five per cent. Green tape has been identified as a major impediment to major projects going ahead. On this side of the House we are concerned this bill package is introducing even more green tape, not less. I'll talk further about productivity in a moment, but I want to begin by talking about what the Nationals put forward on Sunday, just days ago, as sensible energy and, in turn, environmental policy. As part of our proposal for cheaper, fairer and better energy, we will do environmental stewardship our way. We will reward landholders for regenerating their land. We will strengthen Australians' connection to nature through use, not locking farmers out. We will expand access to nature for recreation, hunting and fishing. We will empower local communities to lead real environmental action. The Nationals will bring back the Emissions Reduction Fund, which rewarded farmers, landowners, communities and industries for finding smart ways to cut emissions, such as planting trees and improving soil. The potential to store carbon through these initiatives is significant and can alleviate the burden of our energy system to reach better environmental outcomes. We all know Labor can't reach their 2030, 2035 or 2050 emissions reduction targets—it's fantasy. Labor are throwing regional Australia under the bus so the Prime Minister and the climate change minister can strut at an international climate conference. There's no problem for Aussies at home, apparently. Those opposite like to paint regional Australians as dopey, but I surveyed over 5,000 of my Mallee electorate voters, and they have worked this government out. A total of 67 per cent of them oppose net zero by 2050, while 82 per cent do not want to pay more than $50 a year for it. Well, what they don't understand is that they're already paying far more th…
date: 2025-11-04T20:00:00+00:00

Telecommunications | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) the 3G telecommunications network was switched off on the Government's watch in 2024; (b) the interim report of the Senate inquiry into the shutdown...
encoded: I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) the 3G telecommunications network was switched off on the Government's watch in 2024; (b) the interim report of the Senate inquiry into the shutdown made clear recommendations about the impending shutdown, recommending that the Government delay the shutdown until it was satisfied that 'the 4G network provides coverage equivalent to or better than the coverage provided by the licensee's 3G network'; (c) the Government relied on the assurances of commercial operators to ensure equivalent mobile coverage after the shutdown but despite promises, regional Australians have been detrimentally affected and thousands of consumers have been left with worse, or no, coverage at all; (d) furthermore, there have been reports of poor handling of consumer complaints about their loss of service post 3G shutdown; and (e) the Government has failed to take responsibility for the fallout of the 3G shutdown in regional Australia, and its response to the final report by the Senate into the shutdown was again lazy and noncommittal, failing to agree to any new actions; and (2) calls upon the Minister for Communications to take responsibility for the botched 3G shutdown and its impact on the connectivity of regional Australians by: (a) providing transparency regarding the crowdsourcing component of the National Audit of Mobile Coverage and expanding it to include off-road areas (including on private land such as farming and grazing properties) to ensure an accurate picture of the impact of the shutdown on mobile coverage is attained; and (b) thoroughly addressing the first recommendation of the final Senate inquiry report to 'establish a program to help customers that have lost mobile phone coverage since the 3G shutoff'. The shutdown of the 3G telecommunications network in 2024 has been nothing short of a disaster for regional communities, and the government's response has been woefully inadequate. I rise today to speak on behalf of regional Aust…
date: 2025-11-03T18:01:00+00:00

Regional Australia: Roads | Private Members' Business | House debates
type: item
description: I move: That this House: (1) condemns the Government's lack of transparency in its proposal to slash default regional road speed limits from 100 kilometres per hour to as low as 70 kilometres per...
encoded: I move: That this House: (1) condemns the Government's lack of transparency in its proposal to slash default regional road speed limits from 100 kilometres per hour to as low as 70 kilometres per hour, including its attempt to quietly progress the policy without proper public scrutiny; (2) notes that the Government was forced, at the eleventh hour, to extend its abysmally short 28-day consultation period only after strong intervention from the Opposition; (3) warns that the Government's proposal is a lazy, damaging approach that will slow regional Australia to a crawl, and drive up freight times and costs for farmers, transport operators and small businesses; (4) highlights that instead of fixing the roads by funding maintenance for line-marking, road shoulders, rumble strips and pothole repairs, the Government is cutting the Local Roads and Community Infrastructure program from 1 July next year; and (5) calls on the Government to commit to consultation and genuine road safety improvements that protect lives without crippling regional productivity and national supply chains. I rise today to speak on an issue that strikes at the very heart of regional Australia: our roads, our livelihoods and our way of life. The Albanese Labor government has quietly launched a proposal to slash the default speed limit on regional roads from 100 kilometres per hour to as low as 70 kilometres. Let me be clear: this is not a road safety initiative. It is lazy, shortsighted policy that punishes regional Australians for the government's failure to maintain our rural roads. This proposal was buried in a consultation process that began on 29 September without a press release, without public engagement and with an abysmally short 28-day window for feedback. It was only after strong pressure from the coalition that the government reluctantly extended the consultation to the standard 42 days. Even then, the extension was made quietly with no announcement—just a subtle change on the department…
date: 2025-11-03T16:45:00+00:00