Tom Venning's recent appearances (OpenAustralia.org)
Economy | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
As the member for Casey rightly pointed out earlier, the first steps to solving a problem is to recognise that you have one. Indeed, this government do not recognise a problem that is right in...
As the member for Casey rightly pointed out earlier, the first steps to solving a problem is to recognise that you have one. Indeed, this government do not recognise a problem that is right in their faces. Inflation is rampant. It has increased by 3.8 per cent just recently. Again, we see another interest rate rise hurting families, hurting small business, crushing our economy. Government spending right now is the highest it has been in 40 years outside of the pandemic. It is a big-spending government. As the government gets bigger, we as a people become more dependent on said government and lose our freedoms. Now, if you have the unfortunate nature to live in either the great state of South Australia, as I do, or Victoria—let's look at the debt that we've carried in both of these states. In South Australia, we reached a milestone last year. If you divide the debt of both the federal government and the state government by the workforce in South Australia, it is over $100,000 per worker and increasing. Your children and your grandchildren are going to be paying off that debt. That is what these big numbers mean. We have gone from 24 to 27 per cent of government spending as a percentage of GDP. Again, that is big government territory. The Treasurer likes to present himself as a specialist, an expert in diagnosing the nation's finances with precision. He wants us to trust his credentials. But if you went to the doctor who ignored your symptoms, refused to make you a treatment plan and told you everything was fine while your fever spiked and kept rising, you'd be worried. That is exactly what we have in this Treasurer. He is running the economy with absolutely no plan to fix the patient. But we wouldn't be surprised, really. After all, he has no academic credentials. He does, however, have a PhD in political science, a PhD in spin. Amongst the many complaints my office receives daily about inflation and rising costs, I was recently contacted by John McGahan, a retail worker from Port Augusta. John acknowledges that he was lucky to grow up in a time when things were affordable, but he can see things are now totally out of control. John rang my office to let me know about his deep concern he has for his niece and nephew, who he fears will never be able to afford their own home thanks to the spiralling cost of living under this government. The last figures from the ABS confirm what every Australian knows, what Graham from Port Augusta knows, and that is that under Labor the cost of living is totally out of control. This is just not theory or economic modelling. This is the weekly shop. This is the power bill. This is the rent and the mortgage. It is happening. It is real. Inflation rose 3.8 per cent in December, accelerating over Christmas at the worst possible time for families. Let's take another look at the run sheet, at the facts and the figures. Insurance is up 38 per cent. Energy prices are up 39 per cent. Rent has climbed 22 per cent. Health costs are up 18 per cent. Education is up 17 per cent. Food is up 16 per cent. These are the things people need to survive, but the pain does not stop there. The average mortgage holder is paying around $21,000 a year more in interest than they were under the coalition—$21,000! And the rates have risen yet again. That is money stripped away from the family budget. Why is this happening? Because inflation is being driven by government spending. Labor's spending is the problem, and it's clear as day. Spending is an addiction. Spending is now at its highest levels outside of a recession in 40 years. Former head of the RBA Philip Lowe made it clear that inflation lasted longer in Australia because of Labor's spending addiction. We all know that when Labor spends, Australians pay. The Treasurer's thrown out the rule book. He has given himself a credit card with no limit—borrow, borrow, spend, spend. In the last three years Labor has added $100 billion to national debt. The debt will reach $1 trillion in the coming months and $1.2 trillion by the next election. This is out of control. Like everyone else, the Treasurer must spend within his means.
Australia Day Honours and Awards | Statements | House debates
Today I'm honoured to congratulate the local everyday heroes recognised in the 2026 Australia Day Honours list in Grey. Ms Jennifer Holmes from Port Vincent. Jennifer has been appointed a Member...
Today I'm honoured to congratulate the local everyday heroes recognised in the 2026 Australia Day Honours list in Grey. Ms Jennifer Holmes from Port Vincent. Jennifer has been appointed a Member of the Order of Australia. She has been recognised for her incredible work in community health. Mr Douglas Ahola from Risdon Park received the Medal of the Order of Australia for his service to the people of Port Pirie. Mr Bruce Green of Port Lincoln received an OAM for his service to the local government as mayor and for his community work. Bruce, thank you for your leadership. Mr Douglas Warmington of Moonta Bay, congratulations on your OAM. You have served your local community proudly. We also celebrate Mr Kenneth Warnes from Owen. Kenneth received an OAM for his service to conservation and to the district of Owen. Kenneth, thank you for looking after the mid-north. From our emergency services, Mrs Sandra Gooch from Yorktown. Sandra was awarded Ambulance Service medal. Sadly, this year, we also include two outstanding men who are no longer with us. We honour the late Mr Walter Duncan from Clare, who received an OAM for his service to horticulture. And we remember the late Mr Archibald Woods from Stansbury, awarded an OAM for his service to the Yorke Peninsula. None of these people did the work for a medal. They did it because they were devoted to regional South Australia. To all our recipients: warm congratulations.
Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, Customs Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
Let me start by saying quite clearly that the Liberal Party supports the freeze on the beer excise indexation. Personally, I support reducing excises, especially in our pubs and clubs, and so we...
Let me start by saying quite clearly that the Liberal Party supports the freeze on the beer excise indexation. Personally, I support reducing excises, especially in our pubs and clubs, and so we welcome this relief for every Australian who enjoys a cold one. I know I certainly do. The small country towns that I represent—I represent the most in this place—rely on three things: the primary school, the footy club and of course the pub. And the pubs are hurting. We're seeing closures every other week. Eventually, the community shrivels up, and that town becomes a ghost town. That story is all too familiar in regional South Australia. In 2022, when this Labor government was elected, the Treasurer delivered his first budget. At that point in time, we already had the most expensive cigarettes in the world, and he hiked up the excise on tobacco yet again. And I can quote what I and my friends said. We said at the time that all he's going to do is create a black market. Well, indeed, that's exactly what happened. We're losing billions of dollars a year in excise, smoking rates are up, and illegal tobacco crime is up as well. I'm concerned that we're going to see the same with alcohol, particularly in my community in regional Australia. Beer is a regional industry. I'm a farmer. We grow a lot of barley, particularly malting barley, which goes into the beer that we drink. We export barley. We export malt all over the world. South Australia's biggest export commodities are wheat, barley and lentils. They go to India, Indonesia and China. As I said before, it is our biggest export market. And, of course, South Australia has the famous Coopers. Beer is a regional industry, and it must be supported. But, while we are happy to take the discount, let's be honest about the service we are getting from this government and at Jim and Albo's pub. Just on that pub, I wonder what it should be called—maybe the 'Slug and Lettuce' or perhaps the 'Chook and Parrot'. Anyway, I can't help but look at the Treasurer and see a man who has missed his calling. He's running the economy like a confused bartender. Bartender Jim is behind the tap. He waves at you with a big smile. He says: 'Mate, good news! This round is on me. I'm freezing the tax on that schooner.' And you think: 'Beauty! Finally a win.' But then you look at the change he hands you. It's less than 1c per pint. They don't even make a coin for that anymore. That is the extent of this so-called relief. It's enough to buy the Labor Party a headline, but it is not enough to buy a single peanut at the front bar. If this government were serious about alcohol excise reform, they would not be throwing us a 1c coin and asking for a round of applause. They would have the Treasury conducting a comprehensive review of the entire alcohol excise system. Instead, we get a patchwork fix. It doesn't help those buying a bottle of wine. It doesn't help those winemakers either. In fact, it doesn't help the wine industry at all. From the Lower Eyre Peninsula to the Clare Valley, Grey, beautiful Grey, is home to some of Australia's finest wine-growing regions. And, while Bartender Jim is focused on beers, the wine industry needs help. Last year, I wrote to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry about the crisis facing our wine industry. Small family owned operators are drowning under commercial pressure, regulatory failure and rising costs. Where is their support? Take Flinders Run, for example, in my electorate. They paid $14,000 to Wine Australia for their US market entry program. It was a disaster. It was poorly communicated and offered zero value, raising serious questions around how grower levies are spent. Additionally, while I welcome the government's response to the Emerson review and the decision to progress a mandatory code of conduct for wine grape purchasers, growers have been clear with me that regulatory reform alone will not address the market conditions facing this industry. Indeed, the impending container deposit scheme will also add massive costs. They're trying to solve a problem that does not exist. Industry estimates suggest that this will impose an additional cost of up to $100 million on the sector. This measure risks becoming a cost grab that further undermines the viability of wine businesses, particularly in regional South Australia. Wine producers have been forgotten by this government. They need targeted assistance packages and genuine accountability. While Labor is making a song and dance about saving a fraction of a cent on a schooner, business is hurting. But it isn't just business; let's look at the rest of the menu prices at this Labor pub, the Chook and Parrot. Inflation just recently hit 3.8 per cent. Insurance is up 38 per cent. Energy bills are up 38 per cent. Rent is up 22 per cent. Health costs are up 18 per cent. Education is up 17 per cent, and food is up 16 per cent. These aren't luxuries. These are the essentials. But bartender Jim says, 'Don't worry about the mortgage; just grab another pint.' The reality is that this treasurer is watering down the drinks while charging top-shelf prices. Spending is at its highest level, outside of a recession, in nearly 40 years. Government spending has blown out from 24 per cent to 27 per cent of GDP under Labor. That is an addiction. Bartender Jim is drinking on the job, and it's on the taxpayers' tab. We support this bill because any relief is better than no relief. But let's not pretend that this is a solution. This is a mid-strength distraction. The Treasurer is shouting a round with one hand and pickpocketing the nation with the other.
By representing more than 92 per cent of South Australia, I represent small-business owners, farmers and families who understand the value of a dollar. Out in the country we know that weather,...
By representing more than 92 per cent of South Australia, I represent small-business owners, farmers and families who understand the value of a dollar. Out in the country we know that weather, like the economy, can be unpredictable. We know that good years can be followed by lean ones. Because of this, country people understand the discipline that, when you have a good harvest, you don't run into town and blow every cent in the pub. No; farmers put money aside to prepare for the drought that they know is coming. They show restraint. Unfortunately, our Treasurer, Dr Jim Chalmers, is no diligent farmer. Indeed, he has no economic credentials at all. He has a PhD in political science. He, by its very definition, is a spin doctor. I'll go again: he's a spin doctor! I'm a farmer from Bute, but I also went to uni and studied economics and engineering. Economics 101: a fundamental principle of government is to act in a countercyclical fashion to the private sector. In fact, Mr Maguire, my high school teacher, taught me this very fact. Unfortunately, our Treasurer, the spin doctor, cannot stop borrowing our money and spending it, completely ignoring the inflation right under his nose. We saw it today. The Reserve Bank of Australia has been forced to raise interest rates again, and Dr Jim, with a PhD in spin, has nobody to blame but himself. The facts are simple. Rates are higher than they should be because this Treasurer has absolutely no discipline. Higher grocery prices; higher mortgage repayments; higher energy prices. The Treasurer's own budget papers tell this story. Since Labor came to office, they've added $50 billion of new discretionary spending to this financial year alone—$50 billion! To put this massive number into simple terms: that is money the government chose to spend, but it wasn't scheduled and it wasn't necessary. It was Labor sitting around the table, deciding to spend more money without finding any savings. When a farmer spends more money than they earn, the bank manager steps in. In this case, the Reserve Bank is that bank manager. When the government borrows more and pumps that extra money into the economy, it drives up prices. It makes inflation worse. To fix that, the RBA must raise interest rates to slow the economy and increase prices in the process. And here we are. What a surprise! Standard economic analysis tells us a scary truth: to cancel out the damage of Labor's $50 billion spending spree, the RBA will need to raise interest rates nine times. You heard that right: nine times. The Treasurer tries to hide. He blames the former government, yet he's the one responsible. It's like being surprised that everyone is drunk when you were the one buying the beers. The Treasurer even hides behind the Governor of the Reserve Bank. He boasts that she hasn't explicitly called him out. Well, out in the country we know that polite folk don't always go around shouting at people. The governor is polite; she tries not to embarrass this Labor government. But for the Treasurer to use her professionalism as an excuse for his bad management shows a total lack of respect. Here is the reality for families in the country. If we swapped out one for the other, economists say that Labor's extra spending spree has the same impact on the economy as nine interest rate cuts. Think about that: if Labor had done the responsible thing, if they had acted like the disciplined farmers I represent in regional SA and showed restraint, we could effectively be enjoying the benefits of nine rate cuts now. For the average mortgage holder, that is worth about $14,000 a year. That is $14,000 that should be in the pockets of Australian families, but it isn't, because Jim Chalmers couldn't say no to more borrowing and more spending. To go back to my farm analogy, he couldn't resist the new double-cab 70 series with a lift kit, a snorkel and a bull bar when really the old one was plenty good enough. Public spending is currently growing twice as fast as the rest of the economy. The government is getting fat while the private sector—our farmers, our tradies and our small businesses—are starving. It is simple. The more the government spends, the higher your mortgage goes. The Treasurer won't take responsibility for this mess. If he can't take responsibility for the problem, he certainly cannot be trusted to fix it. For that, we need a different government.
Bondi Beach Attack Victims | Condolences | House debates
Today we gather in this place to remember. We gather to honour those who were taken from us too soon. We gather to reflect and to try and heal. We think of the mothers, the fathers, the sons and...
Today we gather in this place to remember. We gather to honour those who were taken from us too soon. We gather to reflect and to try and heal. We think of the mothers, the fathers, the sons and the daughters who did not come home that day. Their lives were full of light and, although that light was cut short, we will not let it be forgotten. We will hold their memories dearly and the lessons close. On behalf of the people of Grey, I also want to speak to those who were there. I want to speak to the people who walked on the beach on a normal afternoon and saw the unthinkable. I want to speak to the shopkeepers who pulled shutters down to protect strangers. I want to speak to the parents who used their own bodies to shield their children. I want to speak to the young people who had to grow up far too fast in one single hour. We see you. We know that, while physical wounds may heal, the sights and sounds of that day stay with you. You were just going about your lives. You were going for a swim. You were simply enjoying a walk in the sun. You were celebrating your faith. You did not ask to be part of a tragedy, you did not ask to be brave, but you were there and you saw things that no human being should ever have to see. This parliament acknowledges your pain. We acknowledge the weight you now carry. It is a weight that no-one should bear alone. Listening to my colleagues in the Jewish community, it is clear they and those in their faith feel a visceral sense of betrayal by leaders in this House. Now it is our time to stop treating antisemitism as a political inconvenience and confront it as a crisis. As described by my incredible colleague and friend and Jewish Australian, Julian Leeser, action is required across three fronts: disbanding violent neo-Nazi cells, silencing hate preachers and radical Islam and ending open Jewish harassment in the arts and the cultural left. This is a moment of choice. Leaders must act with determination to dismantle hate and restore safety to the Jewish people of Australia whose contribution to the national cultural fabric is both generational and truly profound. For many of us, what happened at Bondi felt impossible. Australia is a place where we feel safe. Our beaches are a place of peace. We do not expect the shadows to reach us there. We do not expect the world to break in that way. It was a moment that felt as if it belonged in a bad dream, not in Sydney. It was a shock to the soul of our whole nation. We asked ourselves, how could this be? We felt a deep sense of loss for the safety we once knew, yet, even in the middle of that darkness, we saw the very best of who we are. We saw heroes emerge from the crowd. We saw the first responders, who did not hesitate. They ran towards the sound of trouble while others were running away. They did their jobs with a courage that humbles us all. We saw the paramedics and the doctors, who worked until their hands were tired and their eyes were weary, fighting to save every life that they could. They are the shield that holds the night back. We saw the regular people, the heroes in plain clothes, who stood their ground. We saw people who stopped to help a stranger even though their lives were in danger. They showed us that hate and fear cannot win if we stand together. They showed us that the bond we share is stronger than any act of violence. They showed us what it means to be a unified Australian community. Let us pledge today to support one another. Let us be kind to those who are hurting. On behalf of the people of Grey, I thank the men and women in uniform, who keep us safe. Let us remember that, even when the world feels dark, the light of this great nation and the strength of the Australian spirit will shine through.
Valedictory | Statements | House debates
As the Christmas season arrives, it's time for family, reflection and festive cheer, and I extend my warmest regards to everyone in regional South Australia. It's a moment to appreciate the...
As the Christmas season arrives, it's time for family, reflection and festive cheer, and I extend my warmest regards to everyone in regional South Australia. It's a moment to appreciate the incredible contribution that all of you make to your community and to your country. As we enjoy the summer, I also hope the worst of the algal bloom is behind us and that the beautiful beaches and coastlines of Gulf St Vincent can recover. As I continue to be your representative in Canberra, I will fight to support you on this matter. This year in Grey we faced significant challenges. I mentioned the algal bloom, but we also spent much of 2025 in generational drought. This period was one of the toughest faced by South Australian farmers ever. It is my hope that the government will reflect on its response and that, the next time we face drought, farmers receive timely and meaningful support. A shared goal of my coalition partners and I is to strengthen Australia's position as a leading producer of high-quality food and fibre for domestic and international markets. To achieve this, we need to address some key issues. A focus is needed on the rising cost of energy, which impacts every single step of the supply chain. Ensuring access to affordable and reliable power is crucial for businesses of all types to remain competitive and indeed successful. We also need to make processes simpler and more efficient by streamlining rules and by reducing unnecessary red tape. We can free up businesses to focus on what they need, so we can free up businesses to focus on what they do best. As the member for Grey, I am acutely aware that those living in regional South Australia often feel left behind, so, while Christmas and the holiday season are a precious time that should be enjoyed by all, this time of year also brings into focus the inequality of services each of us outside of those who live in the city faces. Whether it be health care, aged care or child care, this government and governments all over Australia have significant work to do to ensure that nobody is worse off just because of their postcode. In the New Year, it will be a priority of mine to continue bringing these issues of inequality to Canberra. I am reminded of something I said during my first speech back in July. I spoke about the unwritten rule of the country, that when time gets tough, we don't retreat; we stand united. Whether it is fighting fires alongside a neighbour or rallying after losing a grand final, we show up. And looking back at the thousands of kilometres my team and I have travelled this year, from the dusty tracks of the far north to the beaches and farms of the Eyre and Yorke peninsulas, I can say with absolute certainty to the people of Grey: you showed up. This year I had the pleasure of attending countless amazing regional events. Who could forget the 54th Whyalla Show? Seeing 12,000 people flood the gates on a Saturday was a testament to the resilience and the pride of our steel city in one of its toughest years. I saw that same pride at the Crystal Brook Show, celebrating its 146the year. I remember standing at the 110th Port Lincoln Show having serious conversations about the harmful algal bloom in our waterways, proving that shows are not just about fairy floss but are vital forums for our primary industries. Of course, it was a real highlight to officially open the Yorke Peninsula Field Days at Paskeville in September, standing there with President Greg Stevens and the whole committee, looking out at the innovation on display, reaffirming what I have always known—our farmers are indeed the best in the world. But we didn't just celebrate; we tackled the hard stuff too. I think back to the Coober Pedy RSL, standing alongside Leon Stevens. We listened to locals, rightfully angry about water costs and the unique pressures of remote living. That meeting reminded me why I am here in Canberra. As we close 2025, I am filled with optimism. We have challenges. Labor's cost-of-living crisis bites hard, and the seasons are uncertain. But I look at the strength of the people in Grey and I know they will persevere. With the right leadership in the right political will, I know better days are ahead. Merry Christmas and a safe and restful New Year to all in this parliament. See you again in 2026.
Women's Health, Foster Care | Constituency Statements | House debates
I rise to address the government's recent announcement regarding new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. While this announcement is fantastic on the surface, underneath it is a profound...
I rise to address the government's recent announcement regarding new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics. While this announcement is fantastic on the surface, underneath it is a profound disappointment for South Australia, the health minister's very own state. The minister claims to be leveling the playing field, yet for regional South Australian women the field remains uneven and the game hasn't even started. We are told these 33 clinics ensure care closer to home. This is an insult to South Australia. Of the 33 clinics overall, only two are in SA. Of the 11 new locations, zero are in SA. That is right—zero. In my electorate of Grey, we are left relying on a single existing clinic in Kadina. While the staff there are dedicated and do a fantastic job, they are drastically understaffed and facing an impossible workload. Endometriosis affects one in seven women, causing debilitating pain, and one solitary clinic cannot physically serve tens of thousands of women across our vast rural and regional expanse. The government claims they are stopping women from struggling in silence. However, by ignoring our states desperate need for additional resources, they are affectively silencing women on the Eyre Peninsula, the mid-north, the upper Spencer Gulf and beyond. How can the minister speak of dignity and access when some women in regional SA faced a seven year diagnostic delay exacerbated by geographic isolation. This $800 million package rings hollow when access remains a postcode lottery, a rigged lottery, a lottery regional SA never wins. It is unacceptable that despite this significant spending South Australian women remain an afterthought. We do not need more press releases. We need funded, staffed clinics. This announcement completely fails regional South Australia. Uniting Country SA are tireless advocates for our region's most vulnerable young people, and I specifically want to thank Helen Worby from the Kadina team for illuminating a critical issue—the urgent need to keep country kids in the country. When children enter the protection system, the trauma is profound. Minimising the pain requires keeping routines familiar, ensuring students remain in their local schools, staying close to family and keeping siblings together. Consistency is powerful. The statistics, however, are sobering. As of July 2025, nearly 5,000 SA children are in care. While dedicated families care for over 1,600 of them, demand in our region outstrips supply. Agencies reported an increase of 80 children needing placements this year alone. Unfortunately, SA has the highest rates of residential care which cannot replicate the warmth of a family home. To our foster parents: thank you. Your dedication builds brighter futures.
We've heard a lot from the Albanese Labor government, whenever there is an issue, that they blame the previous coalition government. Well, the Albanese government has been in power for over...
We've heard a lot from the Albanese Labor government, whenever there is an issue, that they blame the previous coalition government. Well, the Albanese government has been in power for over 3½ years. When will this government take responsibility for its failures? The sound that echoes along the busy hallways of our regional hospitals and through stricken aged-care facilities in my electorate is the sound of a ticking time bomb. This government is sitting on an aged-care crisis that is, quite frankly, about to explode—and I don't think Labor even realise it. This bomb sits right in the middle of our aged-care system. On 1 November, when Labor's new Aged Care Act came into effect, they supercharged the problem. There was no proper education campaign. No-one explained what these changes meant. There were just confused elderly Australians opening letters, wondering why they were suddenly paying more than before. We promised older Australians they would be no worse off. That was the guarantee. But that guarantee is gone, and right now the clock is ticking. Between now and July next year is open season for providers to crank up their costs. In my electorate, this is no exaggeration. The offices in Kadina, Port Pirie and Whyalla are inundated by calls from people with questions about aged care. In fact, we've had to dedicate staff to handle the influx of emails and calls from people in need. It truly is a desperate situation. For every second that Labor waits to act, a pensioner in regional South Australia loses a little more dignity. This is the reality of the aged-care time bomb. It is going to cost lives. This government loves a one-size-fits-all plan, but a plan made for the city does not work for the bush. My electorate is bigger than the whole of New South Wales. Older constituents must drive or be driven hundreds of kilometres for the most basic care. City solutions do not work in Grey. Imagine finding out that the extra money you spent on fuel must now stretch even further because your provider increased prices. It is truly heartbreaking. This bomb is ticking in hospitals as well. Labor has failed to deliver beds—only 802 new residential aged-care beds, when the system needed 10,000 new beds every year just to keep pace. That is a total and abject failure. Because there are no beds, our elderly are trapped in hospitals when they've no medical need to be there. They are effectively homeless within the health system. I'd now like to share, not for the first time in this parliament, a harrowing story of a constituent in Grey who has been totally let down by Labor and this aged-care crisis. This is a confronting tale. This story comes from Virginia in Kadina, whose partner, James, was diagnosed with dementia last year and has been stuck in Wallaroo hospital since January—since January! He cannot return home. His condition has become violent and he is a flight risk. Police have had to retrieve him from the main street four times. James was bounced between Maitland, the Lyell McEwen and respite care, only to be returned to a hospital bed because there are no secure memory support units available on the Yorke Peninsula. The system is failing them. Virginia has been pressured by hospital staff to provide daily care because they are too thinly stretched. She was even terrified by a recent discharge request, fearing he would be sent home where neither of them would be safe. Her only hope is to wait for a bed in Gawler, which would force her to uproot her entire life. James is being forgotten, and Virginia is being left behind. This government must stop neglecting older Australians. The problem is absolutely real. Time is running out, and the pressure is critical. If the government do not act, if they do not cap these prices, if they do not deliver the beds and if they do not clear the waitlist backlog, this crisis will explode. The consequences for Labor won't just be political; they will have lives on their hands. Stop the clock, fix the mess, and give our elderly the dignity they deserve before it is too late.
I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.
Aviation Industry | Private Members' Business | House debates
I rise today to speak on a critical matter of importance to every Australian who lives or works outside our capital cities. We are witnessing a slow collapse of our regional airline industry that...
I rise today to speak on a critical matter of importance to every Australian who lives or works outside our capital cities. We are witnessing a slow collapse of our regional airline industry that has unfolded under the watch of Labor. The facts are stark. Under this government, two regional airlines have collapsed. First we saw the demise of Bonza, a low-cost carrier that promised to connect our regions but instead left passengers stranded and Boeing 737s repossessed. Now we've watched the slow and painful administration of Rex, an airline that has been the lifeline for bush communities for decades, including Ceduna, Coober Pedy, Port Lincoln and previously Whyalla and Port Augusta. Although the government is celebrating Air T's acquisition of Rex, the details of the deal paint a concerning picture. The primary beneficiaries of Rex's decline seem to be the administrators, with EY collecting $25 million in fees, while the airline itself faces a heavy financial burden. The new arrangements carry forward $90 million of debt and adds $60 million as a commercial loan, and they're supplemented by $50 million from Air T themselves. This raises a critical question: how will Air T, a company with recent adjusted earnings of only US$7.4 million, finance such a commitment? When paired with their promise to expand an ageing fleet of 30 aircraft to 44, the viability of the plan is uncertain. What happens in the future when the new owners realise, as others have, that serving our remote communities is difficult? The government has pumped over $160 million of taxpayer money into keeping Rex afloat during this administration, yet they cannot guarantee that the current network will survive. We have heard vague assurances about critical aviation links, but regional Australians know that 'critical' is corporate code for 'profitable'. We face a future where Air T could focus on select high-yield routes, leaving smaller towns even more isolated. Look at the cost being borne by our local communities right now. Rex owns several regional airports managed by local councils. The City of Albany is owed $456,000. The Shire of Esperance is owed $440,000. Under this deal it is doubtful those funds will ever be repaid. The Labor government is effectively asking ratepayers in regional towns to forgive bad debt because the Commonwealth failed to manage the aviation framework correctly. The collapse of Bonza and the administration of Rex have left us with a sector that is more concentrated than ever. The Qantas Group and Virgin Australia now hold a combined 98.3 per cent of the market. This duopoly is suffocating competition. What is Labor's response to this concentration and soaring costs? A review. The Treasurer has asked the Productivity Commission to investigate why regional Australians are suffering high airfares. This is laughable. They don't need 18 months and a series of public hearings to tell us why airfares are high. I will tell you: prices are high because competition has been decimated by rising costs under this government. The minister's aviation white paper found that the average ticket price per kilometre was 52c higher for regional flights than capital city routes. In Grey, in regional South Australia and in the outback we know this. We live this. Yet this government's solution is to wait for a report that won't arrive for a year and a half. By the time that report lands, how many more routes will have vanished? How many more airports will close? I'd like to know why an airport like Whyalla, which only receives one flight some days, needs eight staff for security screening? I'm sure the people of Whyalla would happily come to the airport 20 minutes earlier if they halved the cost of security from 60 bucks to 30 bucks. Even better, share the cost of security across every airfare in Australia. We are staring down the barrel of a future where regional travel is becoming a luxury for the wealthy, not a service for regional communities. The government has botched the transition of air services. They have withdrawn programs that support regional airlines with capital upgrades and security screening costs. They have sat on their hands while fees and charges rise, hurting the ability of smaller carriers to compete with the big players. We need a government that understands that aviation is not just about Qantas and Virgin fighting for the city routes. We need one that understands that this is also about the staff at Anna Creek Station, Indigenous communities on the APY Lands and the students in Port Lincoln. Regional Australia deserves better than a government that just manages decline while airlines fall from the sky.
Bushfires | Statements by Members | House debates
I rise to mark a sombre chapter in the history of the lower mid-north of South Australia. On 25 November 2015, just after midday, a single spark near Pinery unleashed a vicious grassfire,...
I rise to mark a sombre chapter in the history of the lower mid-north of South Australia. On 25 November 2015, just after midday, a single spark near Pinery unleashed a vicious grassfire, changing the landscape and many lives forever. In a matter of hours, a 50 kilometre trail of devastation carved through 80,000 hectares. We saw 91 homes reduced to ash. We saw the backbone of our local economy, critical machinery, unharvested grain, and over 70,000 head of livestock and poultry lost to the flames. While structures can be rebuilt and machinery replaced, some things will never be the same. I pause to remember the two lives lost that day, Janet Hughes and Alan Tiller. To their families, our community has not forgotten you and we never will. We also acknowledge the 90 people hospitalised and those who carry the physical and emotional scars of that terrifying afternoon. However, amidst the darkness there was light. We owe a debt of gratitude to 1,700 firefighters from the CFS and MFS who surged towards the danger. Your courage saved lives. As the heat returns and we face another summer, the greatest way to honour those we lost and thank those who fought is to be prepared. Please, do not be complacent. Have a bushfire action plan. Talk to your family. Know when to leave. Let's honour 2015 by keeping each other safe today.
Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025; Second Reading | Bills | House debates
Freedom of information isn't a privilege; it's a right that belongs to the Australian people. The documents of government don't belong to ministers or departments; they belong to the people. When...
Freedom of information isn't a privilege; it's a right that belongs to the Australian people. The documents of government don't belong to ministers or departments; they belong to the people. When Australians ask for information, they are not being difficult. They are exercising their right to know how their government works. That right, one of the most important in our democracy, is what this bill, the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025, puts at risk. The government says this bill will modernise the FOI system, but it does not modernise it; it weakens it. It moves our system from a presumption of openness to a presumption of control. It gives agencies more excuses to say no and gives citizens fewer tools to hold government accountable. That's not reform; that is retreat. I want to thank my colleagues who have called this bill what it is—a truth tax. Australians will be made to pay more, wait longer and receive less when they simply ask to know what their government is doing. Let's remember what FOI is actually for. It's for journalists to expose waste. It's for community groups to check on decisions that affect them. It's how citizens hold us, their representatives, to account. Remember what 'FOI' stands for—'freedom of information'. It's not 'freedom of information if we feel like it'. If FOI fails, bad decisions multiply in the dark. This government already has a transparency problem, and now, under this bill, even that small window of sunlight will start to close. In regional Australia, we value straight talk. In Grey, people don't expect perfection from government, but they do expect honesty and openness. They expect to see where their money is being spent. They want to know why a road project in the mid-north has stalled or how decisions about aged care or rural hospitals were made. They want to know why programs are announced but the delivery never seems to reach the Eyre Peninsula, the Yorke Peninsula or the far north. Freedom of information helps us keep that trust alive. It's how the local paper in Port Augusta or Whyalla can ask the hard questions. It's how communities make sure decisions about them are made with them, not for them behind closed doors. That's why this bill matters. It's because, when you shut down transparency, you shut out the people. Now, let's look at what this bill actually does. Schedule 1 rewrites the whole purpose of the act. Right now, the law says government information should be released unless there's a good reason for it not to. Under this bill, information will only be released if it is part of the 'proper functioning of government'. That sounds harmless, but it's a huge shift. It gives every department an easy way out: 'Sorry, we cannot release that. It might interfere with our processes.' What a cop-out! It's the kind of language that breeds bureaucracy, not accountability. Schedule 2 bans anonymous requests. The government claims that that's about protecting national security from bots. That's nonsense. Once a document is released, it's public. Who asked for it doesn't matter, but for the whistleblower, the community advocate, the local journo or the local public servant who spots something wrong, anonymity is protection. Removing it will silence the people who most need it to be heard. Schedule 3 caps processing times at 40 hours. That's not efficiency; that's a get-out clause. It lets agencies stop searching when things get hard. The big, complex cases, the ones that expose systematic issues, will be the first ones to hit the wall. Imagine a journalist in Balaklava trying to uncover why local job funding fell through or a volunteer group in Port Lincoln asking for correspondence about a fisheries decision. Once that search hits 40 hours, the answer will simply be: 'Too hard. Denied.' That's not accountability; that's called obstruction. Schedule 4 changes the timeframe from 30 days to 30 working days. That means longer wait times—six weeks instead of four. And that's before you add the usual extensions. Then there's schedule 7, which quietly expands the cabinet exemption to cover any document that merely refers to cabinet material. That means a department could refuse to search at all, claiming that papers might be related to cabinet. That's not protecting cabinet confidentiality. That's burying anything that might cause political discomfort. It's the difference between keeping deliberations private and hiding inconvenient truths. This bill does not come in isolation. It fits a pattern, a pattern of control, concealment and centralisation. We've seen it in the refusal to release energy modelling, in the endless redactions on defence and procurement and in the Prime Minister's own handling of his diary. The culture of 'no' is spreading through this government. Right now, we need absolute transparency on energy policy and power prices. This government has not released anything on how much it will cost the country to get to net zero, for example. Some say $8 trillion to $9 trillion. What does that mean for a steelmaker in Whyalla or the worker at the lead smelter in Port Pirie? Their livelihoods are on the line. And regional manufacturing is hitting the wall because of this government's energy policy. Who loses when transparency dies? It's not ministers and not the big corporates with lawyers and lobbyists. It's the local paper in Port Augusta that cannot afford the new fees. It's the community group in Ceduna trying to trace where regional grants went. It's the citizen in Kimba asking simple questions about infrastructure funding and getting stonewalled by a process. This bill will make it harder and more expensive for those people to participate in their own democracy. Freedom of information should not be a luxury item for those who can pay the most. It should be the ordinary right of every Australian. This government says this bill is about efficiency. Let's be honest: it is not. Efficiency doesn't come from new excuses to say no. It comes from properly resourcing the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner so it can clear the backlog. I will repeat that: it comes from properly resourcing the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner so it can clear the backlog. It comes from better training, clearer systems and a culture that values transparency instead of fearing it. Right now, there is a stack of unresolved reviews. Applicants wait years. Departments drag things out until a story is cold and the issue is forgotten. That's not efficiency; that is delay by design. In Grey, people do not have the money or time to fight through red tape to get answers. When a community wants to know why a hospital service was downgraded or why a road repair project fell off the budget, they should be able to ask and get a straight answer. They should not need a lawyer, a lobbyist or a media team to do it. That's what this bill forgets. It treats the public as a nuisance, not a stakeholder. It forgets the power is lent to us by the people, not owned by us. If the government was serious about improving the system, it would take a very different approach. Here is what genuine reform looks like: keep the law's purpose clear—that information belongs to the people, not to the government; protect anonymity so whistleblowers and citizens can speak without fear; replace the 40-hour cap with a duty to assist so agencies must work with applicants to refine requests, not block them; limit the cabinet exemption to genuine cabinet documents, not every piece of paper that mentions a minister's name; and properly fund the information commissioner so that the system actually works. Those steps will deliver real transparency. They would make government more open, not more opaque. Freedom of information is meant to make governments uncomfortable. It is meant to hold power to account. That is the point. Governments that fear scrutiny don't trust the people, and, when governments don't trust the people, the people stop trusting government. We already see that distrust growing across the country. People are cynical about politics, frustrated by spin and tired of decisions being made without explanation. If this bill passes, that cynicism will deepen, and the next government will inherit a system even more closed off than before. Transparency should not be a partisan issue. It is not about left or right; it is about fairness, honesty and accountability. When people can see the facts for themselves, democracy gets stronger. In Grey and right across regional Australia, people expect straight talk and fair play. They expect government to answer questions honestly, even when the answer is uncomfortable. This bill fails that test. It weakens transparency, it increases secrecy and it shifts power further away from the public and into the hands of the bureaucracy. This parliament should not vote for longer delays, higher costs and wider exemptions. We should vote for openness, honesty and confidence. Freedom of information is not a nuisance; it is a right. It is a right. This bill does the opposite. It narrows it, it entrenches secrecy and it weakens the fundamental rights of Australians to know what their government is doing in their name. This bill represents a profound step backwards for transparency, accountability and open government. The government tells us that this bill will modernise the freedom of information framework, that it will streamline processes and improve efficiencies. But when you read it, when you listen to those who understand the FOI system—journalists, integrity experts, transparency advocates—the truth becomes clear: this bill is about control, not modernisation. The bill proposes a long list of sweeping changes to the Freedom of Information Act 1982 and the Australian Information Commissioner Act 2010. It would require all FOI requests to include verified identification, banning anonymous requests, and would impose a 40-hour cap on the processing of requests, allowing agencies to simply stop searching if they decided a request was too hard. It would allow new application fees for requests and for reviews, except for personal information, effectively taxing Australians for seeking the truth. It would expand exemptions for cabinet and deliberative documents, making refusals easier and transparency rarer. It would extend the time agencies have to respond from 30 calendar days to 30 working days, further delaying public access, and give the Information Commissioner power to remit reviews back to the very agencies that made the decisions in the first place. These are not minor procedural tweaks; these are major structural changes to how Australians access information from their government. The coalition will oppose this bill because it strikes at the very heart of democratic accountability.
Regional Australia | Matters of Public Importance | House debates
In response to the member for Lingiari, the government seem to be obsessed with size. If size matters, look in the mirror. Have a look at the size of your PM's electorate. It's smaller than a...
In response to the member for Lingiari, the government seem to be obsessed with size. If size matters, look in the mirror. Have a look at the size of your PM's electorate. It's smaller than a farm in my community of Bute, while my electorate is bigger than New South Wales. This month, thousands of young Australians will be sitting down for their end-of-year exams. As such, it is only fair that the government faces an examination of its own—an examination into the results for rural and regional Australians. The report card does not read well. There are fails in economics, science, agriculture, technology and health. If this government was getting an ATAR score next month, it would be a big, fat zero. Failure No. 1: the Albanese government's mismanagement of our energy markets and power prices. Not only have our power prices not reduced by $275 but, importantly, these policies have a major impact on communities which make things, like Whyalla and Port Pirie, and on our farmers and small businesses. The policies are threatening our sovereign capabilities, damaging prime agricultural land, dividing our communities and increasing energy costs. By constructing tens of thousands of kilometres of transmission lines, solar panels and wind turbines across rural and regional Australia, this government is industrialising fertile rural farming land and the natural environment on a massive scale. Failure No. 2: Labor's reckless and out-of-touch approach to fixing our regional roads. In the country, we want safer roads, not slower roads. This government threatens to cut speed limits to 70 kilometres per hour, which shows us yet again that Labor doesn't get rural and regional Australia. Rather than fixing the problem, they want to create more red tape. Why is Labor fixated on making our lives harder? Under this government, regional roads have severely deteriorated, with Labor cutting the levels of Commonwealth funding for regional road projects from 80 per cent down to 50 per cent, following its 2023 review of the infrastructure investment pipeline. Labor's rural and regional report card is a disaster. Failure No. 3: the Albanese government's shameless attack on farmers' superannuation—an unworkable, half-baked tax on unrealised gains. It was a move that could have destroyed farming families. Under Jim's plan, farmers' self-managed super funds would have been taxed at 30 per cent, up from the current 15 per cent, without indexation. This policy was one of the clearest indications that Labor is only focused on the city and that the policymakers in this government just do not get it. This report card is getting worse and, if grades don't improve soon, they might get expelled. After all, next week is the 50th anniversary of the dismissal of Whitlam. Failure No. 4: Labor's inability to tackle the childcare deserts impacting rural and regional families all across Australia, particularly in Grey. Despite the proven lifelong positive impacts of early learning and education, my electorate of Grey has the worst childcare access in the country. Around one-third of families don't have access to child care. Given this Labor-fuelled cost-of-living crisis, where you need two incomes to raise a family, it is impossible to employ young parents. This alone is a problem, but, combined with already widespread severe workforce shortages in regional and rural Australia, it makes for a dangerous ticking time bomb for already struggling towns. Not only has the Albanese Labor government refused to deliver any effective action on addressing this childcare crisis; they have made it worse. Failure No. 5: the Albanese government's aged-care nightmare. More than 230,000 older Australians have been left stuck in limbo, waiting for access to home-care packages under Labor—and it's true that you'd expect an 18 per cent higher risk of death compared to those who receive support within 30 days. Imagine being on this waitlist if you're a rural and regional Australian—hundreds of kilometres from help, with only your friends and family on hand. These elderly rural and regional Australians built this country, fought for this country, produced food for this country and worked to make us who we are. This failure is unacceptable. Labor have forgotten rural and regional Australia. They've been put to the test but they've failed to deliver. The government needs to get its head out of the city and put some focus back on all Australians, which includes regional Australians, before its failures become disasters.
Medicare | Private Members' Business | House debates
There is a crisis unfolding in regional Australia: the collapsing access to general practice services. It is not easy to see a GP in the country, and I think we can all agree that your postcode...
There is a crisis unfolding in regional Australia: the collapsing access to general practice services. It is not easy to see a GP in the country, and I think we can all agree that your postcode should not determine whether you get health care. Labor is busy spruiking its urgent Medicare clinics, presenting them as a solution to health care, but I have news for this parliament: most people in my electorate will never get access to one. In fact, on health outcomes, people in my electorate of Grey already have some of the worst outcomes in the country. We have the highest rates of diabetes in the country, more than double the national average, we have some of the worst access to health care and we have some of the lowest life expectancy rates, while access to seeing a doctor in my community is getting worse, not better. Policymakers need to stop playing politics with health care. They know exactly how medical clinics operate and they know the real-world consequences of their policies. For those unaware, GP clinics make money on brief consultations and subsidise the longer, more complex consultations, which often the clinics service at a loss. Labor's new policy is simply putting pressure on the clinics to find ways to fund these essential longer appointments. This was confirmed by the health department in Senate estimates, who also confirmed that it will cost more to see a GP this year and next year. Everyone I speak with, from councils to community members, recognises that there is a massive issue with access to GPs in rural and remote communities, yet, despite this widespread recognition, no-one is doing anything meaningful to make a difference, especially not this Labor government. Only last month another medical clinic in my electorate closed its doors for good. That closure means the residents of Peterborough now must drive over an hour to see a GP and wait over six weeks to get an appointment. This is unacceptable. Even communities that have traditionally been strong for championing rural practice, like Tumby Bay, Clare and Port Lincoln, are struggling badly. The wait time to see a GP in Tumby Bay right now is a shocking nine weeks. Then there are locums, the temporary doctors filling in the gaps. While they keep some hospitals running, the widespread use of locums in my electorate only hurts our communities even more. Take Peterborough again. When the local clinic closed, it stopped supplying doctors to the local hospital. So the local health network, the LHN, stepped in and turned to the locum market at a cost of over $4,000 per day per doctor. This situation is costing my own LHN $18 million per year, meaning less money for infrastructure and leaving old, aging and, frankly, unfit hospitals in places like Wallaroo and Port Pirie without the upgrades they so desperately need. The core issue is that this government is fundamentally undermining the business model. As we have discussed, general practices used to make more money on brief consultations, which would then help subsidise the longer, more complex ones. However, many simple consultations are being diverted. They are going to urgent Medicare clinics, where the government invests $246.50 per patient, or to nurse led clinics, which cost $200 per patient. The simplest cases are even ending up in the emergency department, which costs the taxpayer $692 per patient without an admission. This leaves GPs to deal with longer, more complex consultations. For these, the Medicare rebate is significantly lower per minute, with the government only investing about $40 per patient. This government proudly talks about its new bulk-billing incentives, but they are merely a small patch on a gaping hole. This government is approaching four years in office and it has delivered nothing but worse outcomes for my community. By contrast, the coalition had a strong record on Medicare. We increased funding every year, from $18.6 billion under the former Labor government to more than $30 billion by FY 2022. We left office with bulk-billing at a record high at 88 per cent. In our last year, 167 million free GP visits were delivered, 61 million more than under the previous Labor government. Let's not forget about mental health. Labor has cut Medicare subsidised sessions in half, stripping vital support from 370,000 vulnerable Australians and ignoring the advice of experts and even their own review. I like to say that there's better access to mental health care in Mongolia than there is in regional South Australia. To use the PM's own language, it is all BS. Before you can see a GP for free, you need a GP. The truth is that we simply don't have that in our communities.
Aged Care | Private Members' Business | House debates
On 1 November, this government's new Aged Care Act came into effect, and what did older Australians get? Confusion, chaos and higher costs. There was no proper education campaign and no clear...
On 1 November, this government's new Aged Care Act came into effect, and what did older Australians get? Confusion, chaos and higher costs. There was no proper education campaign and no clear communication about what these changes meant, just bewildered elderly Australians wondering why they were suddenly paying more than before for the same support they were already receiving. These changes have older Australians concerned that they will have to cut back on essential services because providers can now increase their costs. That's right. For eight months, providers can charge what they like for at-home services as the government will not cap these prices until 1 July next year. What happened to the 'no worse off' guarantee that these changes came with? Older Australians are being forced to pick up essential services, like help with housework, personal care and everyday living support. This is yet another broken election promise, one that comes with catastrophic consequences. This doesn't include the thousands of older Australians who are still waiting for the care they deserve. In total, more than 230,000 older Australians have been stuck, left in limbo, waiting for access to home-care support under Labor. The National Ageing Research Institute has shown that older Australians forced to wait longer than six months for a home-care package face an 18 per cent higher risk of death compared to those who receive support within 30 days. Across the electorate of Grey, families are facing impossible choices and heartbreaking situations due to this government's failure to deliver promised care. The stories I have heard from residents across Grey, both raw and devastating, prove beyond any doubt that we are in the midst of an aged-care crisis. This is the price of Labor's centralisation and their one-size-fits-all policy approach. What works for cities does not work in small regional towns. Where is the compassion for the spouse who can no longer visit their partner because daily trips are around 400 kilometres return? Where is the plan to ensure that a retired farmer in the far north or a beloved community volunteer on the west coast can age with dignity in the town they love? This is what people in Grey are experiencing every single day—the shortage of essential services from aged care to dental care and child care. It's a failure of responsibility by all involved. This government's failure to deliver adequate aged care in regional Australia is a betrayal of trust and shows a lack of foresight. Real people with real needs have been left behind by a system that does not properly work for regional Australia. Spouses caring for partners while their own health deteriorates, adult children forced to leave their careers to become full-time carers, families stretched to the breaking point—these changes only add to the burden they are already carrying. When we talk about aged care in the electorate of Grey, we're not talking about statistics on a spreadsheet in Canberra. We're talking about the women who volunteered at the local CWA for 40 years, the farmer who built this community with his bare hands, the teacher who educated generations of our children. These are the people who have made our towns what they are today. They deserve better than confusion about new legislation. They deserve better than broken promises. They deserve better than a government that treats regional Australia as an afterthought. These changes have added another hurdle to an already difficult system for regional Australians to navigate—without proper education, without price protections for eight months, without adequate support. This government has let our elderly down. It can be the difference between living with dignity in the community you love or losing everything you've built over a lifetime. Our elderly built regional Australia. Now, it's our responsibility to ensure they can age in it with the support and dignity they deserve.
Grey Electorate | Constituency Statements | House debates
The lower Eyre Peninsula is the only place in Australia with comparable population or economic output that doesn't have doppler radar coverage. The importance of radar and accurate near-real-time...
The lower Eyre Peninsula is the only place in Australia with comparable population or economic output that doesn't have doppler radar coverage. The importance of radar and accurate near-real-time and real-time forecasting cannot be overstated. Sure, it's important for individuals but also for: agriculture, where we have some of the most productive land in the country; fishing, where Port Lincoln is called home by the Southern Hemisphere's largest fishing fleet; tourism, like international yacht races in Boston Bay; rocket launching, a growing industry at Whalers Way; and, importantly, emergency services, helping us mitigate what we saw in 2005 when nine people were killed. While I thank Minister Watt's office for their constructive engagement on this issue, we must not delay this any further. Finally, I want to thank Trevor Smith, Ryan Viney, Ken Webber and Sam Telfer MP for their continued advocacy. The time for radar is now. Last month, on Rural Women's Day, we celebrated the backbone of our regional communities—the rural women who hold our towns together. It was a privilege to attend Rural Women's Day celebrations at Orroroo, celebrating the contributions of our local women. Last week, I met with locals Stephanie March from MERCI CO, Alex Thomas from Plant a Seed for Safety and Nikki Atkinson from Liv Sienne Fashion here in Parliament House. It was amazing to have women like this stand up and fight for regional and rural health care. We don't need the world's best access; we just want equity. The stories of these incredible women hit hard. Stephanie's son has a rare chronic disease, requiring constant travel to the city for care, putting a constant strain on their entire family on the Yorke Peninsula. Alex faced an impossible choice when her late father fell through the cracks in regional health care: either switch off his dialysis or move to the city. That's a choice no daughter should face. These aren't just statistics; these are the daily realities our regional, rural and remote communities face. Steph and Alex are doing their part to stand up for people in regional SA, and it's time our government does the same. Grey is an electorate full of rich history. I witness this every time I visit one of our hundreds of towns, but recently a few have hit significant milestones I would like to acknowledge. The Booleroo Centre marked its 150th birthday milestone in early October. The town's agricultural heritage remains a prominent part of its identity, and it's still an important service centre for world-leading agriculture industry. Orroroo also celebrated their 150th in October. This proud town has been a cornerstone of our region's pastoral story, serving as a vital hub for surrounding communities. And Blyth celebrated 150 years only yesterday, hosting a successful community event. For a century and a half, Blyth has supported generations of farming families. These milestones remind us that our towns aren't just dots on a map. They're communities with stories worth celebrating.
Today I rise to speak on the grave matter of fairness and fiscal responsibility. The reality is that everyday, ordinary Australians pay the price for a government that has decided to spend money...
Today I rise to speak on the grave matter of fairness and fiscal responsibility. The reality is that everyday, ordinary Australians pay the price for a government that has decided to spend money as if it grows on trees. It doesn't take an economics degree to see that this government is addicted to spending taxpayers' money. That addiction has a price, and you—the police officer, the schoolteacher, the farmer, the retailer—are picking up the tab. Let me say it plainly. We are borrowing from our children's future, paying the interest today so that the debt will fall on our children tomorrow. The cost of living is soaring. Rent is up by 21 per cent, food costs are up by 16 per cent, mortgages are up by $1,800 a month on average, and power prices are up by 46 per cent and increasing. You cannot separate the borrowing and the spending from the environment in which jobs become harder to find, wage growth stagnates and regional families feel left behind. In regional South Australia, farmers reel under generational drought—fishers destroyed by the algal bloom, and manufacturing on life support. Yet we see a city focused government pouring money down the drain for inner-city handouts and vanity projects. So when you look at your tax bill, your power bill, your mortgage statement or the difficulty you're having to find a secure job, it's not just the market, it's not just inflation, it's not just the cost of living; it's also a government that chooses to borrow and spend big rather than live within its means. Let me walk you through the arithmetic of work debt servicing means in everyday terms, because regional Australians understand numbers. We are paying $50,000 every minute in interest on the debt. That's roughly $72 million per day—money that could have been spent on upgrades to regional hospitals, fixing the roads we rely on, supporting community housing in towns like Port Pirie and helping businesses hit by the algal bloom, drought and unaffordable housing prices. So what do we see for regional South Australia? We see a government that is focused on inner-city spending and confusing tax grabs, while regions again miss out. We see schools that still need upgrades. We see roads that still need repairs. We see the government promising regional investment, but then redirecting the money to bailouts, handouts and vanity projects. And we see workers with only $30 left each week. It is not just a policy failure; it is a broken promise for families in the regions saving for a home, paying off a mortgage or running a small business. The message they get is the government can't manage its own money, so it comes after yours. We must return to a government that believes in lower, simpler taxes; that lives within its means; that does not mortgage the future of regional Australians so that inner-city votes can be changed. We need fiscal discipline, not fiscal drag. We need spending that genuinely invests in a productive economy, in regions, in small business, in primary industries—not wasteful spending that piles up debt. I return to the shadow government's matter of public importance. The government's spending spree is being paid for by everyday Australians in their tax returns, their electricity bills, in their mortgage repayments and in their struggle for jobs. Let me be clear: it is not the government who pays off the debt, it is not the bureaucrats who pay off the debt; it is the farmer, the teacher, the tradie, the small business operator, the regional family. That is who is carrying this government's burden. I call on this government to stop the reckless spending, stop the endless tax fest and hollow promises. Give Australians the respect of knowing you will live within your means like everyone else has to. If government spending is a tool, spend it on value-adding initiatives, like hospitals, roads, schools and energy resilience in towns like Port Lincoln and Port Parham. Let it help our small businesses recover. Let it support jobs and growth in regional Australia. Let's do it in a way that does not leave our children paying the interest, because, simply, this big-spending, tax happy government seems incapable of making the hard decisions needed.
Regional Australia: Aviation, Breastfeeding | Statements by Members | House debates
This week, the Senate voted in favour of an inquiry into regional airport security fees. The cost of screening has made regional air travel prohibitively expensive. While travellers from capital...
This week, the Senate voted in favour of an inquiry into regional airport security fees. The cost of screening has made regional air travel prohibitively expensive. While travellers from capital cities pay no more than a dollar, regional passengers bear a cost of more than $50 in my electorate. Rex no longer services Whyalla for this very reason. It is simply not viable. It was disappointing that Labor, including Labor's duty senator for Grey, Senator Grogan, voted against the inquiry. Regional Australians deserve equal access to air travel, and I encourage the government to bring in a national screening levy. I've been contacted by the Australian Breastfeeding Association councillor and Yorke Peninsula farmer Sarah Clifford, who has brought to my attention the wonderful work her ABA group in Kadina is doing. With groups like this in Kadina, Clare, Crystal Brook, Whyalla, Port Lincoln and Breastfeeding Everywhere venues in Port Augusta and as far north as Roxby Downs, this group is doing amazing work to support mothers. But this organisation needs assistance, because funding for ABA's national Breastfeeding Helpline and live chat services expires in 2026. Today I'd like to show my support for the ABA and the proposal it has submitted to the Australian government for a four-year, $14.8 million investment. I call on Mark Butler, the Minister for Health and Ageing, to grant full funding to ABA's proposal.
Coober Pedy | Grievance Debate | House debates
I rise today to discuss a matter of national importance concerning an iconic Australian town and the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy has a population of approximately 2,000...
I rise today to discuss a matter of national importance concerning an iconic Australian town and the opal capital of the world, Coober Pedy. Coober Pedy has a population of approximately 2,000 people. It is located in the far north of South Australia, 850 kilometres north of Adelaide and 680 kilometres south of Alice Springs. Opal was first discovered in February 1915, and, in 1920, the official name of the town was chosen. The name Coober Pedy is an anglicisation of the Aboriginal term 'kupa piti', often translated as 'white man in a hole'. It's a name that speaks to the history of grit, complex issues, innovation, and the unique spirit required to work in the harsh South Australian outback. And what a history it has! Yet—and I don't say this lightly—if governments don't start taking the plight of this regional centre seriously, Coober Pedy could well just be history. Today Coober Pedy stands not as a beacon of outback triumph but as a stark, unforgiving symbol of what happens when remote communities fall between the cracks. It is a portrait of high costs, declining services, community fatigue and bureaucratic abandonment. The people of Coober Pedy are some of the most resilient Australians I have ever met. They are a community that simply wants to get on with it—get on with rebuilding their local government systems and get on with teaching the next generation the invaluable skills of opal cutting, grading and mining. That is the soul of the town. But they're being tied up, not by their work ethic or passion but by government red tape and neglect. This is why I stand here demanding answers. Last week in Coober Pedy, I took the pleasure to take this fight to Canberra, and I'm proud to be joined in this urgent call for action by a man who knows this region well, who understands the frustrations and who is absolutely committed to delivering a fair deal for the outback, the Liberal candidate for Stuart, Leon Stephens. Leon is not a man for a photo opp. He's committed to taking up Coober Pedy's fight and forcing a real plan for change—not another raft of reviews. Leon is right when he says that people here are dealing with something they do not deserve. Earlier this month, the true cost of a state Labor government's unimaginable financial waste, namely the $498 million loss on hydrogen in Whyalla, was laid bare by the Auditor-General. It makes me sick to think of what a fraction of that cost could do in Coober Pedy for essential services, particularly power and water. A mere 10 per cent of that could have changed the lives of the entire community. Instead, it went to the Premier's pet project in Whyalla that has not even commenced. This is a disgrace. Leon Stephens and I are demanding a fair go for this hardworking town. So where to from here? Well, we need plans, not promises. First, we are demanding a generally funded state and federal taskforce for Coober Pedy. This task force must deliver critically upgraded water and electricity infrastructure. The residents face constant failures, undrinkable water, ageing pipelines and crippling costs—three times more than what you'd pay in Adelaide. Attached to this must be transparency on costs and timelines, and the immediate, yet feasible, restoration of the elected local government in Coober Pedy. The council has been in administration since 2019. This community must have its voice back. There is no publicised plan for the financial exit from administration, and this uncertainty is splitting the community. Second, we must provide funding tied to training and employment programs. The local industry is rich with knowledge. The best opal cutters in the world are right there ready to teach local youth about presentation and grading yet we are told that the government has refused to use the local TAFE. They are refusing to use the TAFE due to the outdated machinery. I will bet my last dollar that the pencil pushers in Adelaide that make that decision haven't even seen an opal mine in action. The very skills that define Coober Pedy are at risk of being lost. We need a review of this TAFE decision and proper pathways into trades, opal cutting, tourism operations and other local industry opportunities. We need to heed the miners who say they cannot afford the lose those skill sets. Third, we must address isolation. We need to secure air services and upgrade the airport to maintain connectivity. We need targeted support for outback roads to keep station access viable and local pastoralists and businesses open. Fourth, we must strengthen volunteer and emergency services. We need clear recruitment pathways, incentives and dedicated funding to retain the central personnel for police, ambulance and MFS The shortage or blatant lack of essential services from aged care to dental care and child care is a failure of responsibility by all involved. Fifth, we need a clear plan to hold the state government to account for the delays, particularly the financial plan to exit council administration and the water infrastructure strategy. The community must know the timelines and details. This has gone on for too long. Sixth is fairer costs for residents. Remote living should not equate to paying three times more for water or being subjected to utility practises deemed unjust by the ombudsman. Coober Pedy shows us that when governments treat remote communities as after-thoughts, the social, economic and human consequences mount. This is a great town with a warm resilient soul, and I would hate for a series of bad decisions by a government to result in that great soul being stripped away. Regional Australia should not be the backyard for neglect. Coober Pedy deserves better. Remote communities deserve to know that they will not follow the same path as the town of Bindabee, which was closed by the state government in 2019. Regional communities and remote communities deserve to know that their contribution to this nation isn't just remembered, it is valued. Remote communities deserve to be able to continue their mining roots and share their skills with the world. Remote communities deserve educational facilities, places where young people learn to thrive, not just survive. Remote communities deserve real solutions—and not lip service and stop-throughs by pollies on their way to photo ops. The time for words is over. Someone needs to step in and deliver a clear pathway out of this situation. We need to show some empathy towards this community and get this problem solved quickly by our dual parties to support demands for action and recognise that investing in Coober Pedy is an investment in the unique spirit of our entire nation. The history of Coober Pedy should not end now. Regional and remote neglect in South Australia is unfortunately nothing new. In September this year, I had the pleasure of listening to Hari Hara Priya Kannan, a data scientist for The Demographics Group, which presented to Regional Development South Australia on the some issues facing people in my electorate of Grey. As I expected, it was bleak. Regional SA plays an enormous role in the nation's economy, but the data presented confirm that regional growth is deeply unequal. We cannot tolerate a future where metropolitan SA thrives while the regions continue to struggle. We cannot tolerate a future where the areas that generate a quarter of the state's GRP are starved of the essential resources they need to prosper. Our most critical challenge is a workforce crisis. We have an ageing population, and we face a threat in replacing the 173,000 workers expected to exit the regional labour market over the next decade. If we fail to solve this, $65 billion worth of identified regional investment in mining, industry and agriculture will stagnate. We must address the key drivers of population attraction, housing affordability and access to essential services including health and education. I urge this government to look after all Australians, not just those in our cities. We need a targeted honest commitment to building infrastructure and housing, to unlock skills pathways and to deliver place based solutions that transform our regional and rural and remote towns like Coober Pedy from remote outposts into vibrant competitive centres of opportunity. South Australia's prosperity depends on it. Looking at these issues—regional inequality and the plight of Coober Pedy—back to back tells a tale. It tells a tale of state and federal governments out of touch with the country and out of touch with real hardworking Australians.
Local Roads and Community Infrastructure Program | Private Members' Business | House debates
I rise to address a crisis that is putting the lives of regional South Australians at risk—the terrible state of our country roads. I begin by acknowledging the important work of my...
I rise to address a crisis that is putting the lives of regional South Australians at risk—the terrible state of our country roads. I begin by acknowledging the important work of my colleague Dr Anne Webster and her motion regarding the dire state of roads in regional Victoria. It's a sad reality that, like Victoria, South Australia is a city centric state, where the government's focus is almost entirely confined to Adelaide and surrounds. In fact, the government's priorities are so skewed I have often thought we should save ourselves the hassle and change our state's name to simply 'the state of Adelaide'. Statistically, South Australia receives the lowest amount of federal road funding of any state, both on a per capita basis and a per kilometre of road basis, and it shows. But this isn't just about statistics; it is about lives. Here are a few stories from my electorate that serve to highlight how dangerous and poorly maintained the South Australian regional road network really is. Tony, a prominent and well-respected pastoralist in northern South Australia, said, 'Ten years ago five gangs of two graders were operating on the outback road network and now there is only one grade crew consisting of two graders to service 10,000 kilometres of outback roads.' This is ludicrous. From a constituent in Clare: 'We came over from Clare today to do some shopping in Port Pirie, and to say the cattle track to Crystal Brook needs major repairs is beyond a joke. You even have to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid the dozens of deep potholes.' From Robin, a fellow truckie from Booleroo Centre, talking about the recently upgraded Augusta Highway, 'As a road train operator that uses this road multiple times a week, I am disgusted that this section of road has only been open for six months and it is already falling apart.' There are safety concerns around Snowtown, Two Wells intersections and complaints about the condition of the Strzelecki Track, a vital road for our resources sector—it's been four years. I could go on and on and on. These are not just potholes. These are examples of fundamental failures in planning and construction. Many that I speak to feel like the roads we built in the 1980s and 1990s under the old highways department were better quality than the roads we build today. That is a damning indictment. The answer to this failure is clear. We need to introduce performance based contracts. Let me explain. For argument's sake, if we spend $1 million per kilometre to build a road and that road fails in two years, that is not an investment. It is a waste of taxpayer money. In the case of Augusta Highway, it failed after two weeks. A performance based contract would require the builder to guarantee the road's quality for a set period. If it fails, they would fix it at their own cost, or, indeed, if it maintains standards, they would get a performance pay-out. This puts the onus on the contractor to build it right the first time. It's not rocket science, but it seems governments are currently obsessed with mega projects in the cities rather than basic road safety projects that could easily be delivered. How does Labor propose to fix this critically failing road network? How do you think they address the safety issues at hand? Well, the solution is an absolute cracker, even by Labor's standards. They suggest we reduce the speed limit on regional roads to 80 kilometres an hour. Well, I'll one-up them. Let's reduce the speed of all roads to just five kilometres an hour, then our road toll would go to zero. Rather than investing to make roads safer, they say 'stuff you' and reduce the speed limit to 80—unbelievable, unrealistic, out of touch. The state government has the empirical evidence of our roads' poor quality. They have this information, but they are not willing to share it. Why? Because that would be inconvenient for their constant pork-barrelling purposes. My commonsense approach would be simple: take the quality of the road network, the data they are hiding, and combine it with the grading of that road—how busy it is. Put those two together and now you have the funding for our road network. But don't talk common sense to our socialist Labor government. They cringe at the thought of it—and don't get me started on the teals. We need a government that is serious about regional safety, serious about smart investment and serious about building roads that last. The people of regional South Australia deserve better than a government whose priority is the next tram stop in metropolitan Adelaide.