address to parliament – STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS – Immigration Detention
I have been very proud to sit in this place, the House of Representatives of the Parliament of Australia, and see this parliament at its finest—this parliament coming together for a national cause; this parliament coming together to do what’s right for Australians; this parliament coming together, joining, combining and unifying, to help this nation, […]
address to parliament – BILLS – Treasury Laws Amendment (Support for Small Business and Charities and Other Measures) Bill 2023
Brilliantly timed as always, Kim Houghton from the Regional Australia Institute has just texted me. He didn’t know that I was going to be rising to speak on this very important bill, but he’s let me know that new figures were released just today. There are 92,500 regional vacancies for October. As he says, that […]
address to parliament – BILLS – Primary Industries (Excise) Levies Bill 2023
At the outset, I want to thank the member for Paterson for much of the content within her speech. When she talks about protecting Australia and Australian farmers’ ability to grow food and fibre, she is right. When she talks about the ultimate collaboration, she is correct. When she talks about the importance of forestry, […]
address to parliament – CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS – Health Care
Jane Gentle is a caring person—you could almost say by name and by nature. But she says what she thinks, she means what she says and she says what she means. She’s been a pharmacist for 23 years—19 of those have been as an owner of a chemist operation. She runs a pharmacy in Junee, […]
address to parliament – MATTERS OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE – Living Standards
The Assistant Treasurer needs to be a little bit careful when he disparages Drongo. I know it’s a popular term in the Australian vernacular, but it was a very good racehorse in the 1920s. Indeed it was. It was by the Melbourne Cup runner Lanius. It came midfield. It also ran in the Melbourne Cup. […]
address to parliament – PRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS – Wages
Last Thursday, I met with some good-hearted people, people who are concerned about the aged-care sector: Jeff Hay and Fran Hatty from the Tocumwal Lions Community Hostel. They’re not in my electorate but in the neighbouring electorate of Farrer. Also there were John Knight and Ross Tout from Uralba at Gundagai. They are very concerned […]
address to parliament – pRIVATE MEMBERS’ BUSINESS – Migration
With all due respect to the member for Reid, we can all pick out isolated examples of situations where, yes, things could have been better, absolutely. But to then, from that example, paint a broadbrush picture of the immigration system under the previous government—a government in a parliament which you did not sit in—and then […]
address to parliament – BILLS – Interactive Gambling Amendment (Credit and Other Measures) Bill 2023 – Second Reading
To take up the remarks of the member for Bruce, albeit brief: yes, he is correct when he says that by their very nature credit cards are looking at credit; it’s money that gamblers do not have, money that is not in their bank. To ensure that that is a provision of the Interactive Gambling […]
address to parliament -COMMITTEES – Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Joint Committee – Report
On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and as deputy chair of the trade subcommittee, I present the committee’s report entitled Inquiry into Australia’s tourism and international education sectors ‘quality and integrity—the quest for sustainable growth’: interim report into international education. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with […]
address to parliament – STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS – Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023
It was called the ‘restoring our rivers’ bill, but what it will be is a ‘destroying our river towns’ bill. That’s what passed the lower house earlier today, and it will have such an effect on those people who grow food and fibre for this country. I say: shame on all of you and, in […]