ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – BILLS – Payment Times Reporting Amendment Bill 2024
Small business plays a crucial role in the Australian economy. According to the Small business data report: 2023 year in review, approximately 42 per cent of private sector employment is in the small business sector. Small business adds one-third of gross value. It accounts for 97½ per cent of all businesses, roughly 2½ million, and […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS – Animal Welfare
It is incongruous that we have in Canberra a government so quick to ban the live sheep export trade yet sanction, through its New South Wales counterpart, the cruel slaughter of beautiful brumbies so close to the national capital. Ms Plibersek interjecting— Mr McCORMACK: I’m pleased that the environment minister is here—I hear her interjecting—because […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 – Consideration in Detail
Tonight I’m having dinner with the Georgian, Turkish and Azerbaijani ambassadors. I’m looking forward to that opportunity because, as the shadow minister for international development and the Pacific, it’s important—as the member for Jagajaga has just said—to have diplomatic relations. I do take umbrage, however, with the assertion that the coalition in government between 2013 […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT- Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 – CONSIDERATION IN DETAIL
I’m going to put partisan politics aside and put on record that the first person I called when I was given the role of shadow minister for international development and the Pacific was the minister at the table, the member for Shortland. We’ve worked together well on some initiatives; we’ve disagreed on others. I would […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – BILLS – Health Insurance Legislation Amendment (Assignment of Medicare Benefits) Bill 2024
When you sit in the chamber of the House of Representatives in the federal parliament and listen to Dr Mike Freelander, the member for Macarthur, you learn things. I have the utmost respect for the member for Macarthur and certainly thank him for what he has done in his local community as far as health […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2024-2025 – Consideration in Detail
Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, thank you for coming to Wagga Wagga last November to announce money for RSL LifeCare and for Pro Patria; I appreciate that. But, after two years in office, the budget confirms that Labor has no plans to extend the veterans hubs, with the budget papers showing that all the money for […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE – Regional Australia
I think there’s one thing that all of us in this chamber can agree on, and that is that we should be thanking our farmers. We should be saying thank you to our farmers and applauding our farmers for the work they do. It’s not easy. I’m sure those regional Labor members would agree with […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS – Budget
I listened closely to the member for Wentworth talking about small business in her contribution. I note that just now the Fair Work Commission has awarded a 3.75 per cent pay rise to 2.6 million minimum wage and award-reliant workers. The cost of business is getting harder for those small business operators, for those employers, […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS – Mount Erin Boarding
My wife, Catherine; daughter, Georgina; mother, Eileen; three sisters, Denise, Robyn and Julieanne; mother-in-law, Beverley; and her mother, Joan, all attended Mount Erin at Wagga Wagga. The school holds a very special place in our family and many families across the Riverina and indeed the country. On the weekend, the sesquicentenary of the Presentation Sisters’ […]
ADDRESS TO PARLIAMENT – PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS – Future Made in Australia
The motion put forward by the member for Bennelong is commendable, but he is very short-sighted in the approach he has taken in addressing the issues facing A Future Made in Australia. Let’s go through them. It’s a shame he’s leaving the chamber. If you’re going to put one of these motions, you really should […]