Zoe McKenzie's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
type: channel
language: en-gb
creator: OpenAustralia.org, mprss.php script
date: 2026-02-05T22:06:04+00:00
items: Jonceski, Mr Ljupco (Luch) | Condolences | House debates
items: Economy | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Jonceski, Mr Ljupco (Luch) | Grievance Debate | House debates
items: Australia Day Awards and Honours | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
items: Housing, Valedictory | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Victoria: Roads | Adjournment | House debates
items: Youth Voice in Parliament | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Hospitals | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
items: Building and Construction Industry | Private Members' Business | House debates
items: Flinders Electorate: Australia Post | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Treaties Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
items: Aged Care | Questions without Notice | House debates
items: Rosebud Hospital | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Crime | Constituency Statements | House debates
items: Health Care | Statements by Members | House debates
items: National Youth Parliament | Statements by Members | House debates
items: Civics Education | Adjournment | House debates

Jonceski, Mr Ljupco (Luch) | Condolences | House debates
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description: A few days ago I actually got up to give my speech for our dear friend Luch in this place because I was fearful that, listening to the contributions of others, I would struggle to keep myself...
encoded: A few days ago I actually got up to give my speech for our dear friend Luch in this place because I was fearful that, listening to the contributions of others, I would struggle to keep myself together. And, may I say, I delivered in spades. I was a burbling, sobbing mess. But today I hope to tell some of the fun stories of Luch. After all, I can't cry in front of the member for Canning! I would never live that down. But, as I went to give my speech a couple of days ago, I actually reached out to Luch's colleagues, and I said, 'If there's anything you'd like me to say on your behalf—to read into the record of Hansard forever—then I am very happy to do that. And so here are some of the reflections of his friends and colleagues in the messages to Luch. I'm mindful many of them are watching from your offices and that some of them are here with us today. Here's the first one. This one's from Raff. Everybody knows Raff. Raff has been around forever, and I didn't know that Raff's official title is Messengerial Attendant. I assume that's what Luch was too. Raff said: I first met Luch when I joined the Messengerial Services Team a number of years ago. It was clear to me right from the start that he was well respected and much loved. It didn't take me long to realise that he was a bit of a legend throughout Parliament House. He was a trusted source of information and people would seek out his counsel—he was often a 'steady hand' that provided calm reassurance. One of the things that I admired about him was that he didn't have tickets on himself. He was a 'down to earth' kind of guy who was pretty happy (and so grateful) for his lot in life. He was the longest serving member in the Department of the House of Representatives and he had a vast amount of experience and knowledge in the functioning and operations of this place. All of which he was willing to share with you, and I've learned so much from him in my relatively short time here. Raff, it feels like forever. He goes on:…
date: 2026-02-05T12:00:00+00:00

Economy | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: Yesterday, the Labor government's economic mismanagement again reached into the homes of the Morning Peninsula and landed with bigger bills on the kitchen table. Over the past four years, they've...
encoded: Yesterday, the Labor government's economic mismanagement again reached into the homes of the Morning Peninsula and landed with bigger bills on the kitchen table. Over the past four years, they've handed bigger bills to my constituents for electricity, for gas, for rent, for school supplies, for eggs, for bread, for ice cream, for insurance, for travel, and, yesterday, we saw the 13th interest rate rise on this government's watch. In June 2022, interest rates went up. In July 2022, interest rates went up. In August 2022, interest rates went up. In September 2022, interest rates went up. In October 2022, interest rates went up. In November, December and February 2023, interest rates went up. In March 2023, interest rates went up. In May 2023, interest rates went up. In June 2023, interest rates went up. In November 2023, interest rates went up. Finally, there was a moment of stability, with a year of no change. Then, with enormous relief, there were small cuts in February, May and August of 2025. Again, yesterday, interest rates went up with pump primed public spending and a bloated budget, keeping inflation well above the RBA's preferred target of two-to-three per cent. My constituents keep doing it tough. The average mortgage holder in this country is now paying $23,000 more a year in interest compared with when this government first came into office. That's a whole second job needed in a household to cover those interest payments. The impact of yesterday's interest rise on a $1 million home loan will be about 150 bucks a month. That's like another tank of fuel, a school excursion or a big grocery shop that somehow families have got to find. The economists' verdict is clear. AMP chief economist, Shane Oliver, has said: The best thing that Australian governments can do to help bring down inflation would be to cut government spending back to more normal levels, which would free up space for private sector growth without higher inflation. Yet, in this financial year al…
date: 2026-02-04T10:50:00+00:00

Jonceski, Mr Ljupco (Luch) | Grievance Debate | House debates
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description: Today it is the grievance debate, and it occurs to me that I rose here exactly 12 months ago and took some creative licence with the inherent grief in the word 'grievance'. I spoke of the loss of...
encoded: Today it is the grievance debate, and it occurs to me that I rose here exactly 12 months ago and took some creative licence with the inherent grief in the word 'grievance'. I spoke of the loss of my mum, Ann Shanahan, who had passed that summer, a few weeks before we returned. Today I rise for a similar contribution—not for my actual mum but for my House mum, Ljupco Jonceski, or as all of us know him here in this place our beloved Luch. Luch was this place. With each turn of the cheek and each turn of the head and every time I look up in the chamber, I'll be looking for Luch, as I know so many of us do. I also know that in this place tomorrow there will be a structured moment for all of us to make our reflections about him. But I am gluttonous for my Luch. After all, he was gluttonous for me. Every day he would leave a small envelope of chocolates in my desk wrapped with my name on the outside. And so it is with Luch's gorgeous gluttony as my guiding spirit that I will use this longer opportunity to talk about my friend. Thank you. Luch came to this place more than 40 years ago. He was one of many who helped actually build this building with his bare hands. He worked in new Parliament House as a labourer and then he became an attendant. But he wasn't just any attendant; he was the attendant—the attendant of all attendants, the big cheese, the man who got to meet Barack Obama, the Speaker's right hand. But, to me, he was my chamber mum. When I first got elected, I arrived here somewhat short of breath, even though so much of it was already so very familiar to me. After all, I had roamed these corridors as a 25-year-old working for the Attorney-General on all things constitutional law, criminal law reform, marriage law and even the republic referendum. It was so long ago, and Luch was already here doing his thing. And then I came back as a 40-year-old, as the trade minister's right hand, doing trade deals with China, Japan, South Korea, the Trans-Pacific Partnership, …
date: 2026-02-03T12:57:00+00:00

Australia Day Awards and Honours | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: I rise to celebrate the extraordinary Mornington Peninsula locals who were honoured this Australia Day. We are not overrepresented in the honours list; we are overrepresented with people who will...
encoded: I rise to celebrate the extraordinary Mornington Peninsula locals who were honoured this Australia Day. We are not overrepresented in the honours list; we are overrepresented with people who will not sit still and who always insist on getting things done. Their recognition spans the Order of Australia, the Medal of the Order of Australia, the Australian Fire Service Medal, the Emergency Services Medal and distinguished military honours, including the Conspicuous Service Cross and medal. Debra Griffiths AM was honoured for significant service to nursing and medico-legal education. Aunty Helen Bnads OAM was recognised for her leadership within the Indigenous community. Margaret McArthur OAM, the late Michael O'Rourke OAM and the marvellous Charles Reis OAM have strengthened our peninsula through community service and sport over decades. Graham Kirk and Tony Marchesani represent the courage of our fire and emergency services. Among the men and women of service to the ADF most associated with HMAS Cerberus, which I visited with the member for Hume on Friday, Commander Stefanie Curic, Leading Seaman Jack Schulze, Lieutenant Commander Scott Shipton and Lieutenant Perri Trew were all recognised for their devotion to the defence of our nation. On Australia Day, we can acknowledge past injustice while recognising how far we have come and the good Australia continues to do for her people. One of our defining achievements has been the weaving together of Indigenous heritage, British foundations and successive waves of migration, an achievement seen across the peninsula on Australia Day.
date: 2026-02-03T13:54:00+00:00

Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
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description: There is a thing I like to say whenever someone asks me about my electorate. I say, 'I am the luckiest MP in the country.' When I say it, I'm not referring to our beaches or the beautiful opal...
encoded: There is a thing I like to say whenever someone asks me about my electorate. I say, 'I am the luckiest MP in the country.' When I say it, I'm not referring to our beaches or the beautiful opal waters of Port Phillip Bay, and I'm not referring to the sparkling leaves in the hills alongside our vineyards or to our walking tracks, where a daily collision with a koala, an echidna or a roo is pretty common. I'm referring to our people, the people of Flinders. Here's how I describe it: they bring their best selves to meet with me every single day. They bring their kindness, their generosity and their sense of adventure, combined with a sense of resilience and responsibility to one another. They look after each other. I saw it on the weekend at Cliffex Meats in Rosebud, where hundreds of people turned up to thank the CFA of Rosebud and Rye for fighting fires across the state. The people of Rosebud are of modest means, but Bec and Blair put a call out and people turned up and stuffed their $20 and $50 notes into those plastic jars, and our firies chomped down on a snag with some sauce. I saw it at the Boneo market, where people stopped for a chat to check in on one another and, there too, to stuff more money in those CFA tins, and then at the Portsea Swim Classic, where I was worried about everyone's welfare because of the easterly gale, but the organisers looked at me with a bit of a giggle and said, 'We've got this, Zoe, because we're lifesavers.' Next week, I will join another 50 people as they take the final steps in their marriage to Australia on Australia Day. That's how I like to think of citizenship ceremonies—they are like a marriage, particularly for those who've been in a long-term de facto relationship with this wondrous land. Where I'm from, it's not uncommon to meet someone becoming Australian who's lived here for 50 years already. The choice to become a citizen is a welcome one. In taking the oath, our new Australians pledge loyalty to Australia, to care for …
date: 2026-01-19T12:16:00+00:00

Housing, Valedictory | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: I rise today to thank the members of my community who joined me last week—together with the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness, the member for Macnamara—to discuss the...
encoded: I rise today to thank the members of my community who joined me last week—together with the Special Envoy for Social Housing and Homelessness, the member for Macnamara—to discuss the critical need to assist those who find themselves without a home across the Mornington Peninsula. Over the last year, almost 1,000 people have sought help through our local service providers to find emergency accommodation and access to food rations, the highest need being in the southern Mornington Peninsula, where over 400 people, mostly men, are experiencing homelessness. Around half are sleeping rough on the foreshore and in bushlands alongside our major roads. Another 350 people have sought help in the Western Port region, and roughly half of that number have sought help in Mornington. All three community support centres were present for my roundtable, together with the Salvation Army, which meets the highest demand for homelessness services, mostly among women. They are supported by Bolton Clarke, Peninsula Health, Fusion and the Lighthouse Foundation. In coming weeks I'll be working with the CEO of Southern Peninsula Community Support, Jeremy Maxwell, to seek to fill a funding hole of some $350,000 caused by recent changes in federal funding. I am so very grateful to Josh Burns for the time he gave Jeremy and all involved in a meaningful conversation to address homelessness on the peninsula. It was indeed a frank and focused conversation to see what can and must be done to help those most in need. These are issues beyond partisanship—a lesson lost on some, who, earlier this year, endeavoured to arrange such discussion with failed candidates in the last federal election, bafflingly excluding the member for Flinders and the state seats of Nepean and Mornington, even though the member for Mornington at the time was the shadow assistant minister for housing and rental affordability. Shame on those trying to manipulate this issue for partisan passions, and my thanks to Josh for rising…
date: 2025-11-24T10:54:00+00:00

Victoria: Roads | Adjournment | House debates
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description: As we get closer to the end of the year, that summertime feeling descends upon the Mornington Peninsula with, at first, delicate discomfort about our roads and traffic, which, by 27 December,...
encoded: As we get closer to the end of the year, that summertime feeling descends upon the Mornington Peninsula with, at first, delicate discomfort about our roads and traffic, which, by 27 December, becomes abject panic. But this year has been made so much worse by inaction and incompetence from the Victorian state Labor government. Let us start with the Peninsula Link debacle. A planned closure for major works meant that all southbound lanes of Peninsula Link towards Rosebud were closed between Bungower Road and the Moorooduc Highway from 28 September to a scheduled 29 October. Whilst this led to a huge bank-up of traffic on the old roads heading south, we endured, counting down the days until 29 October, only to find that, when we reached the unofficial launch date of the holiday season—that is, the cup day long weekend—the road was still shut down. As I drove up to the city on Sunday to get my flight to Canberra, I saw kilometres of traffic banked up all the way heading southward. On Monday, I wasn't surprised to receive tens of emails from local businesses, reporting both mad and missing visitors on one of the most important business weekends of the year. The closure has been extended for another two weeks until 15 November, running perilously close to the next bumper business season on the southern Mornington Peninsula—schoolies week. This is the Victorian Labor playbook in action: delays, mismanagement and wrong priorities. Rather than upgrading the crumbling local roads that people use every single day, Labor was busy resurfacing one of the better roads on the peninsula, and shutting it down completely to do so for weeks. Ask locals and they'll tell you the real problem isn't the smoothness of the Peninsula Link. It's the potholes that make local driving dangerous, breaking axles and punching punctures in people's tyres. This has largely resulted from the state government's 93 per cent reduction in patching works and a 14 per cent reduction in road resealing and reh…
date: 2025-11-06T16:40:00+00:00

Youth Voice in Parliament | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: I'm delighted today to read out the speeches of two entrants in the Raise Our Voice initiative from my electorate of Flinders. Matilda, who is 14 years old, from Padua College in Tyabb, says: I...
encoded: I'm delighted today to read out the speeches of two entrants in the Raise Our Voice initiative from my electorate of Flinders. Matilda, who is 14 years old, from Padua College in Tyabb, says: I write to you today as a young person in Australia, with concern for our education system. Over my two years at high school I have noticed time and time again that the modern classroom is only built for one type of student, someone who can easily focus in large groups or noisy classrooms, however this is not the case for over 570,000 students who suffer with neurological disorders such as autism, ADHD, dyslexia, dysgraphia and more, for majority of these students they have an extremely hard time remaining on task or focused when in loud classroom settings resulting in them not getting all the work completed and having piles of home work. Furthermore, common issues with these disorders include zoning out even when your teacher is in the middle of explaining the task or concept, which results in the student being unable to complete the task and having to rely on his or her peers to get the relevant information, as unfortunately, the teacher cannot cater to everyone. This is not good enough. I strongly believe some of these circumstances could be mitigated through better government funding for schools, higher pay for teachers and smaller class sizes. I now go to a speech from Cooper, who is 16 years old, from Padua College at the Mornington campus, who, I am thrilled to say, is in the audience today with his mum and his sister. He writes: We are in the midst of a crisis. Young people are facing a crisis. I'm Cooper, a 16-year-old from the electorate of Flinders. And I know that young people today are facing a serious mental health crisis. These issues cannot be ignored any longer. We cannot pretend that they simply don't exist. If this parliament doesn't act now, we risk the lives of thousands of young people. If this parliament doesn't act now, we risk losing our next Olympians,…
date: 2025-10-30T09:42:00+00:00

Hospitals | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: The Rosebud Hospital is a much-loved institution on the southern Mornington Peninsula. Everyone who lives there has a story of how the hospital and its excellent staff has come to their rescue....
encoded: The Rosebud Hospital is a much-loved institution on the southern Mornington Peninsula. Everyone who lives there has a story of how the hospital and its excellent staff has come to their rescue. But, in recent years, the stories about Rosebud are less about proud births, broken arms or learning to ride a bike and more about long waits in triage, an overwhelmed ED in summer and eventual transport to Frankston Hospital for anything more than a flesh wound. Back in 2019, the federal coalition provided $5 million to the state government, which owns and operates the hospital, to do a business case to rebuild it. A month ago, with great fanfare, the state health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, came to Rosebud for a grand announcement. There was much excitement and enthusiasm, particularly from community group that has argued for years for the much needed investment to redevelop it, only for them to be told the hospital would get—wait for the drum roll: $4 million. Let me help you with the maths. In 2019, federal coalition provided $5 million for a business case. In 2022, the state coalition promised $340 million to rebuild the hospital. Six years later, the Labor Party in Victoria comes to the party with $4 million, roughly 0.01 per cent of what the hospital needs to be rebuilt. Even that is $1 million less than what the federal coalition provided six years ago. We all know that Victoria is broke and that each day another $20 million of Victorian taxpayers' money goes to paying interest on Labor's debt. Every month, Labor spends on interest what it could have spent on a full rebuild of the Rosebud Hospital.
date: 2025-10-28T13:36:00+00:00

Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
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description: Let me begin by saying that the coalition will support the passage of the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025. That is because, fundamentally, the content of the...
encoded: Let me begin by saying that the coalition will support the passage of the Home Affairs Legislation Amendment (2025 Measures No. 2) Bill 2025. That is because, fundamentally, the content of the bill is aimed at doing two worthwhile things. The first is to modernise and clarify Australia's laws regarding the collection and use of biometric facial images under the Migration Act 1958 and the Australian Citizenship Act 2007. The second is to provide the Minister for Home Affairs with a new discretionary power to exempt certain individuals from meeting the physical residence requirement that ordinarily applies in the first two years after a citizenship application is made. These are relatively modest and pragmatic updates to existing laws, and, on the surface, they are likely to give expression to valuable improvements. Of course, they also reflect the need for ongoing vigilance to return to Australia's migration and citizenship laws, not least in order to ensure they keep pace with technology and align with global best practice and that the administration of our borders and citizenship systems remains effective, secure and just. The biometric provisions in this bill are in large part a continuation of reforms that were first enacted by the former coalition government. More specifically, it was the coalition that, in 2015, legislated on the Migration Amendment (Strengthening Biometric Integrity) Bill. That landmark legislation established the very foundations of the biometric systems that now underpin Australia's border operations, including SmartGate automation and the broader facial recognition architecture in use at our airports. A decade has passed since those reforms were legislated, and, unsurprisingly, biometric technology has advanced substantially during that time. Criminal networks involved in human trafficking, people smuggling and identity fraud are now more sophisticated than ever, and our verification systems must, accordingly, evolve just as quickly. The co…
date: 2025-10-28T12:49:00+00:00

Building and Construction Industry | Private Members' Business | House debates
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description: It is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.
encoded: It is seconded, and I reserve my right to speak.
date: 2025-10-27T12:36:00+00:00

Flinders Electorate: Australia Post | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: On Friday, the Rosebud Plaza Post Office closed its doors for good—another piece of important community infrastructure in Flinders lost under the Albanese Labor government. Despite a...
encoded: On Friday, the Rosebud Plaza Post Office closed its doors for good—another piece of important community infrastructure in Flinders lost under the Albanese Labor government. Despite a petition signed by nearly 2,000 residents and strong local opposition, our community's concerns were ignored. My repeated inquiries of the minister and to Australia Post directly were met with bureaucratic platitudes rather than real answers. Minister Wells acknowledged the closure's impact but brushed it off, advising that there had been a significant drop in foot traffic and that: 'Australia Post has assured me that there is sufficient capacity in the network to absorb the current 263 PO boxes leased and that the area is still well serviced with two alternative outlets within five kilometres.' That simply does not reflect the real-life experience of the Rosebud residents, who have emphasised to me how, especially over the holiday periods, the line will stretch well out the door. Australia Post's response was no better, hiding behind compliance and accessibility jargon while ignoring the practical reality. Locals will now face longer waits with fewer options. A representative for the CEO of Australia Post told me: 'We recognise that this closure will have an impact on the community. We ensure a thorough assessment takes place to ensure our services remain accessible and available for customers, and, in the case of the Rosebud Plaza post shop, the closest post offices are DDA compliant and accessible…'—blah, blah, blah. Although the government, at the end of the day, did not listen to my community's concerns, I am confident and hopeful this will make the government seriously think twice about closing essential services in my electorate. (Time expired)
date: 2025-09-03T13:51:00+00:00

Treaties Joint Committee; Report | Committees | House debates
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description: by leave—I rise to speak as deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on Report 227: Nauru-Australia Treaty; Radio Regulations WRC-23. Firstly, I'm very pleased to have been...
encoded: by leave—I rise to speak as deputy chair of the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties on Report 227: Nauru-Australia Treaty; Radio Regulations WRC-23. Firstly, I'm very pleased to have been appointed deputy chair of this important committee, which inquiries into any treaty to which Australia has become a signatory. In this unstable global trade environment and challenging geopolitical context, our role as scrutineers on behalf of the Australian people has never been more important. I thank the committee chair, the member for Bendigo, and the secretariat for their able and quick work in assisting the committee, as well as the Department of Foreign Affairs officials, for their extensive appearance before the public hearing last week. I also thank all my fellow committee members for their consideration and collaboration on this report. This is the first inquiry of the treaties committee in the 48th Parliament, and our report makes two recommendations: to support both major treaty actions reviewed and to recommend that binding treaty actions be taken. However, as members can read in the report, the committee members raised concerns in the context of the prospective Nauru-Australia Treaty, which go to this government's attentiveness to mapping our relations with our South Pacific neighbours. Australia and Nauru entered this treaty in late 2024, establishing a comprehensive partnership encompassing economic support, banking services and security cooperation. This agreement elevated the longstanding, close relationship between the two countries to a formal treaty level, with Australia committing significant financial assistance and Nauru offering strategic concessions in return. The treaty recognises Australia's strong interest in Nauru's future security and critical infrastructure arrangements with third parties under article 5 of the agreement, a provision aimed at ensuring balance and ongoing stability in the South Pacific region. However, the effectiveness of the treaty…
date: 2025-09-03T10:38:00+00:00

Aged Care | Questions without Notice | House debates
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description: My point of order is on relevance. I'm very grateful for the assistance that has been offered for Kevin, but my question was whether Kevin or anyone like Kevin had asked the minister to delay the...
encoded: My point of order is on relevance. I'm very grateful for the assistance that has been offered for Kevin, but my question was whether Kevin or anyone like Kevin had asked the minister to delay the 83,000 packages.
date: 2025-09-02T14:10:00+00:00

Aged Care | Questions without Notice | House debates
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description: My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. Kevin, an 85-year-old, lives by himself in Mount Martha in my electorate and now needs further assistance to remain at home. Kevin...
encoded: My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. Kevin, an 85-year-old, lives by himself in Mount Martha in my electorate and now needs further assistance to remain at home. Kevin registered to get an assessment for an aged-care package in March 2025, but his provider was told by the department that the department couldn't even get an assessment until 'early next year'.This is despite Kevin being told he's on the 'urgent' list. Is it really the minister's position that Australians like Kevin were the ones asking him to delay the delivery of 83,000 home-care packages?
date: 2025-09-02T14:09:00+00:00

Rosebud Hospital | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: I rise to raise the issue of the Rosebud Hospital on the southern Mornington Peninsula again. I have raised it before; I've raised it in the news, I've raised it with my local council, I've...
encoded: I rise to raise the issue of the Rosebud Hospital on the southern Mornington Peninsula again. I have raised it before; I've raised it in the news, I've raised it with my local council, I've raised it with the state opposition and I've raised it with the state government—whose responsibility it is to rebuild it—repeatedly. I have some good news. Last week, Labor MLC Tom McIntosh stood in front of the hospital with a merry bunch of Labor supporters and friends to declare that the Rosebud Hospital is here to stay. He then went on to announce a new public melanoma clinic at Rosebud Hospital, where patients are now able to be seen and treated in the one appointment. 'Yay!' I think, 'That's great!' The Mornington Peninsula has one of the highest rates of melanoma countrywide, and I thanked you, Labor, for this investment—until I read the fine print and realised it's got nothing to do with a new investment and everything to do with Labor's forced merger between Peninsula Health and Alfred Health to make Bayside Health. So, if Rosebud hospital is indeed here to stay, where is the $340 million needed to rebuild it? Right now, that hospital is in a perilous state. The doors are too small for modern hospital beds to navigate, maternity is closed, surgery is closed and the roof collapses from time to time. This is Labor once again making false promises to my community. Own it. Fix it. We have waited long enough.
date: 2025-09-01T16:42:00+00:00

Crime | Constituency Statements | House debates
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description: I congratulate you, Deputy Speaker Boyce, on your elevation to the Speaker's panel. Crime has been rising fast on the Mornington Peninsula over the last year. Data from the Crime Statistics...
encoded: I congratulate you, Deputy Speaker Boyce, on your elevation to the Speaker's panel. Crime has been rising fast on the Mornington Peninsula over the last year. Data from the Crime Statistics Agency for the year ending March 2025 shows total offences are up by 22 per cent, thefts of motor vehicles are up by 51 per cent, and breaches of family violence orders are up by 42 per cent. Behind every number is a real person. Many of these people attended the community safety roundtable I held in Somerville with the member for La Trobe earlier this year. Much of the blame lies at the feet of the state Labor government's weak bail laws. After months of pressure from the state opposition, including my local Liberal colleagues Mornington MP Chris Crewther and Nepean MP Sam Groth, the Labor government has finally caved to community calls to fix our broken bail laws. But Labor's so-called reforms still miss the mark. Under the Allan Labor government, significant crimes like burglary and robbery are not even classified as serious offences under the bail act, meaning repeat offenders face the lowest level test when applying for bail. The state Labor government's misguided decision to lift the age of criminal responsibility to 12, after backing down from 14, has created real problems on the peninsula. Just last week, a man was charged after allegedly recruiting children to commit crimes across the peninsula region. He now faces multiple charges, including the recruiting of a child for criminal activity, supplying drugs to a child, burglary, theft and more. This is exactly what happens when well-intentioned changes create perverse incentives. Criminals simply use under-age children to do their dirty work, knowing those kids won't face consequences. During the last parliamentary break, I attended a neighbourhood policing forum at Hastings Bowling Club, where the room was full of locals deeply concerned about youth crime and aggravated home burglaries. Police briefed us on the work bein…
date: 2025-08-28T10:09:00+00:00

Health Care | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: I rise today to speak about the Medicare urgent care clinic announced by the Albanese government in the March budget to be located in my electorate of Flinders, in Somerville, but which has now...
encoded: I rise today to speak about the Medicare urgent care clinic announced by the Albanese government in the March budget to be located in my electorate of Flinders, in Somerville, but which has now apparently shifted to Hastings without any consultation. A recently published open tender from the South Eastern Melbourne Primary Health Network makes this clear. They're seeking a site on the Mornington Peninsula with a preference for Hastings. I do welcome this much-needed investment in our area from this government, and I have a long list of items which I constantly raise with government ministers. Hastings is well deserving of greater medical facilities. It's a 15-minute drive from Somerville and 30 minutes from Frankston Hospital. But, when governments make big undertakings to our community, locals deserve to see them delivered where and how they were promised or at least to be consulted on such a significant change. Somerville has high need. Indeed 33.2 per cent of Somerville residents have one or more long-term health conditions compared with just 27.4 per cent Victoria-wide. It is an area that's experiencing rapid urban growth, with 20,000 people now calling the township home. Last Friday, Health Minister Mark Butler put out a press release reiterating the plan to establish an urgent care clinic in Somerville. The health minister insists the clinic is still coming, and that's good, but why does the tender point elsewhere, and what are the possible proponents supposed to do? Are they supposed to trust the minister's press release or the tender documents? This government talks about transparency. This might be a good place to start.
date: 2025-08-26T13:51:00+00:00

National Youth Parliament | Statements by Members | House debates
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description: Today I was thrilled to join my colleagues across the parliamentary spectrum to launch the National Youth Parliament for 2026. Anyone who follows my social media channels in my electorate knows...
encoded: Today I was thrilled to join my colleagues across the parliamentary spectrum to launch the National Youth Parliament for 2026. Anyone who follows my social media channels in my electorate knows that there is no more enthusiastic supporter of civics education than me. The program we launched today at midday will bring 150 high school students, one from every electorate, to Canberra for five days to step into our shoes, learning how bills are drafted, debated and passed into law. The need for such a program is clear. In the most recent National Assessment Program report on civics and citizenship, only 43 per cent of year 6 students were found to be at or above the proficient standard, and, more concerningly, only 28 per cent of year 10 students met the proficient standard. I've been running what I like to call 'democracy class' in schools right across my electorate for years, and I've seen firsthand the untapped passion for civics in our classrooms. Questions from grade 5 and grade 6 students are fascinating, full of curiosity and compassion and ideas for our nation's future. Last week, I visited Dromana Secondary College and spoke to kids between years 7 and 12, and I was blown away by their interest and most especially their passion for public policy and political life. To these students and many others like them, I say expressions of interest are now open. If you're a young person who'll be 16 or 17 this time next year, this is your time.
date: 2025-08-25T16:15:00+00:00

Civics Education | Adjournment | House debates
type: item
description: Civics and citizenship might be in the national curriculum, but in many schools across the country these barely get a look-in. In the most recent National Assessment Program report from 2024 on...
encoded: Civics and citizenship might be in the national curriculum, but in many schools across the country these barely get a look-in. In the most recent National Assessment Program report from 2024 on civics and citizenship, only 43 per cent of year 6 students were found to be at or above the proficient standard and, more concerningly, only 28 per cent of year 10 students met the proficient standard. In short, most Australians—kids and adults alike—don't have a solid grasp of how our system of government actually works. Many don't realise, for example, that states run things like health and education for the most part, while the federal government looks after defence, foreign affairs, social services like pensions and veteran support, and controls the tax system, which allows the federal government to play a role in enabling funding in traditional state domains. In Flinders we are lucky to have so many schools that do allow their students to hear from and question their local members of parliament about all things democracy and Australia's political system. I've been running what I like to call democracy classes in schools—primary and secondary, government and independent—around my electorate, inspired by a visit of the Speaker some time ago when he joined me at Crib Point primary. What I've found is striking. There's a real untapped passion for civics and a genuine curiosity about how the laws that shape our lives are made. Recently, after speaking with a class, I received an email from one of the students. The student's words reminded me of why this work matters so much and why I'm determined to bring non-partisan, practical lessons on how government works to as many young people in Flinders as I can. Here's how that email went: I would like to extend a very sincere thank you for visiting us to speak about the Australian government and for taking time to answer our questions. I am sure you will receive an email from our College Council President, but I wanted to take the…
date: 2025-08-25T19:50:00+00:00