Jason Clare
Blaxland · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I thank the member for Kooyong for her question and for her passion in this area of higher education. Like me—like all members of parliament, I think—she understands the power of education to change lives.”
“I've said work on fixing it is unfinished business, and I have said—and you all know—that the Australian Tertiary Education Commission has also pointed out the work they're doing on the cost of teaching and learning that they will finalise next year. They are the facts.”
“I thank my friend the big-hearted member for Blair for his question. As he knows, tomorrow, every Australian worker will get a tax cut and three million Australians will get a pay rise, and that includes hundreds of thousands of childcare workers right across the country.”
“It's good for the workers because they get paid more, but it's also good for parents because the centres have got to cap their fees to get the money. For the average family with a child in child care, it'll save them about $1,500 over the next two years.”
“The reforms also include the legislation that we passed through this parliament last year, which means that if you don't meet the standards, you can have your funding cut. That wasn't an idle threat. I can tell the House that we've now issued notices against 115 centres.”
“These are the schools that do a lot of the heavy lifting, that play an outsized role in educating the most disadvantaged children in this country, the children who are the most likely to start behind or fall behind. The children who need our help the most.”
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“Over the course of the last three years, that's jumped by 20 per cent, and numbers this year indicate it's jumped by about another 6.3 per cent. None of this happens by accident; it happens because of the action that this government is taking and because of the action that state and territory governments are taking. We've got some more good news, this time on the reading of our littlest Australians. I've told MPs before that the reading wars are over. We know what works. It's phonics that works, and the results that we got out of New South Wales last week are proof of that. For the last few years, they've been teaching kids to read with phonics, and they've been doing something called a phonics check. Three years ago, one in two children in New South Wales, according to the phonics check, were on track with their reading.”
“I thank my friend, the ridiculously talented member for Reid. I told the House a couple of weeks ago that the number of kids finishing high school is going back up, and that's good news because for the last decade it's been going down—from about 85 per cent to 79 per cent—and now that's turning around. It's not the only example of where things are turning around; school attendance is another example. Since 2014, the number of kids turning up to school has been going down every year—year after year after year—and now that's going back up as well. It's the same story with the number of people starting a degree at university to become a schoolteacher. Over the last decade the number of people signing up to become schoolteachers has plummeted, and that's now turning around as well.”
“by leave—I move: That the resumption of the debate on the motion to take note of the minister's statement on the B etter and fairer schools agreements progress report be referred to the Federation Chamber. Question agreed to.”
“We're not a racist country, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist—of course it does—and it's a problem in our universities as well. The report I released a couple of weeks ago and the 76,000 submissions from students and staff make that clear. We've got to tackle all of this. It's not about belting universities; it's about making them better.”
“I'll introduce legislation to strengthen the powers of TEQSA—that's the university regulator—so they've got the sorts of powers that they need to act when universities don't or won't. At the moment, they've effectively got a sledgehammer or a feather and not much in between. There's also more work that we need to do to weed out antisemitism. As part of that, we've appointed David Gonski to chair the Antisemitism Education Taskforce. David is a man who I'm sure is respected by everybody in this chamber and who knows the education system inside and out. This is an intense 12-month piece of work right across the education system, from pre-school to school, TAFE and university. But it's not just antisemitism we have to tackle.”
“If you're from a poor background, if you're from regional or rural Australia, and you get the marks and you've got the skills then you'll get a place at university—a Commonwealth-supported place. We've also got to fix some of the things that have put universities on the front pages of our newspapers this year for all the wrong reasons. Our universities do great things, but if you think that we don't have challenges with the way some of them are governed then you've been living under a rock. That's why we set up the National Student Ombudsman, and this year we'll take the next step. This year, for the first time, the Remuneration Tribunal will get involved in the setting of salaries for vice-chancellors. University boards will have to become a lot more open and a lot more accountable.”
“I thank my friend the beloved member for Bass for her question. We've cut student debt by 20 per cent. That means we've cut the debts of millions of Australians by thousands of dollars. As I told the House this week and last week, more Australians will start a uni degree this year than ever before—that's more teachers, more nurses and more doctors too. This year we're taking the next step to help make getting a university degree quicker and cheaper. If you've done a TAFE course in the same area, it should cut the length and the cost of your degree. This year I'll also introduce legislation to help more young people from poor families and from the bush to get a crack at going to university.”
“As my friend the health minister alluded to a moment ago, there's more good news on that front as well. This year, we opened a new medical school in Darwin, in the north, and a new medical school in Launceston, in the south. Next year we'll open a new medical school in Queensland as well. And today we've opened applications to train even more doctors at more universities right across the country. What we're announcing today and what we've already announced means that, when it's all rolled out, we'll have 1,800 more doctors being trained in our universities than we had before we were elected—triple what the last Liberal government did in half the time. That's the difference between the Labor Party and the Liberal Party. We see education as an investment; they see it as a cost. We want to strengthen Medicare; they secretly want to sell it.”
“I thank my friend the revered member for Robertson for his question. I told the House last week that more Aussies are starting a university degree this year than ever before. I've got some more good news for you: this year, the number of Australians starting a science degree is up by eight per cent. The number starting an engineering degree is up by nine per cent. That's good because we need more scientists and we need more engineers. But we also need more doctors and more nurses—more health professionals. So here is some more good news: the number of Australians doing a pharmacy degree this year is up 3.5 per cent, dentistry is up 11.5 per cent, optical science is up 14 per cent, occupational therapy is up 18.7 per cent, speech pathology is up 12 per cent and medicine is up eight per cent.”
“It's things like evidence based teaching, things like phonics checks for kids when they're little to identify kids who need more help, and things like small-group tutoring to give them the help that they need so that we make sure that kids who fall behind catch up and keep up and even more kids finish high school.”
“I can now tell the House some good news: that's turning around as well. There are now more schoolteachers than ever before and more people enrolling to become a teacher as well. That's up six per cent this year, but it's just the start. There is so much more that we need to do. That's why we're fixing the funding of our public schools. It's the biggest new investment in our schools by an Australian government ever. That's not a blank cheque; that's funding tied to reform—the sort of reform we need to make to make sure that kids learn to read, to write and to count.”
“Now it's your ticket to the show because so many jobs require you to finish school and then go on to TAFE or to university. I'm asked about risks, and I think everyone here will remember what happened last time the Liberals were in power—how they ripped the guts out of our public schools; how they ripped $30 billion out of our public schools. That's when all of this started. We're still dealing with the consequences of it, because it wasn't just the number of kids finishing school that went down; it was the number of kids going to school that went down as well. School attendance rates under the Liberals dropped from 93 per cent down to 86 per cent. The good news is that that's going back up now too, for the first time in a decade. What else happened under the Liberal Party? Teacher shortages went through the roof.”
“I thank my friend the brilliant member for Braddon for her question. Her question prompts me to inform the House of some very good news, because information out this morning shows that the number of kids finishing high school is going back up. The number of boys finishing high school is going up, the number of girls finishing high school is going up, the number of kids at Catholic and independent schools finishing high school is going up, and the number of kids at public schools finishing high school is going up. This is a big deal because, basically, for the last decade it's been going in the opposite direction. It's been going down and down, and now it's starting to turn around. This is good news because, as most of us will know, it's more important to finish high school today than it was when we went to school.”
“I've spoken in this place before about what some universities are doing, where they'll take a year off your degree if you've got a TAFE qualification in the same area. Effectively, if you've done a fee-free TAFE course, it'll mean the first year of uni is free. I want to see more of that, and that's why I've asked the Australian Tertiary Education Commission to develop a national credit recognition framework this year. As part of that, they'll be able to allocate more funded places to universities that are prepared to do this—to cut the length of a degree if you already have a TAFE qualification in the same area—to make going to university quicker and cheaper. These are the sorts of commonsense things that we need to do to make it easier to get the skills that you need and that Australia needs.”
“What this tells us is that talent is everywhere. It's opportunity that's not, and it's education that can change that. I'm asked about affordability for university. As you know, we've cut student debt by 20 per cent, and I'm very glad to see that it got more than a few mentions in that secret Liberal Party evaluation of the election. It also, I'm glad to see, got a few references in the Young Liberals submission to that review, including this on the cost of tertiary education from Berowra Young Liberals: 'I'm not surprised young people did not vote for us, as, frankly, there was nothing on offer.' Not much has changed! I'm very happy to table the submission from the Young Liberals. We've cut student debt by 20 per cent. Now we want to take the next step to help to make getting a university degree quicker and cheaper.”
“I thank my friend the multi-talented member for Tangney for his question. More Aussies will start a university degree this year than ever before, and this year more Australians will also do a free university bridging course than ever before. These are these courses that get you ready to do a uni degree. I know my old mate the member for Herbert loves a story. Well, here's one for him. This is the story of Jennifer Baker. She became a mum at the age of 19. For much of the next 10 years she worked in hospitality, and then one day she saw an ad for one of these free bridging courses. Now she's got a science degree and an honours degree in chemistry and a PhD in medicinal chemistry and a Fulbright scholarship! Now she designs new drugs to stop cancers from growing. That's what these courses do, and that's what they can lead to.”
“As part of that, they're going to have to give parents plenty of notice. I know that this is going to be an inconvenience for some families, but we're doing this for a reason. There is nothing more important than keeping our children safe. I want this training done and I want it done properly.”
“That register is now up and running. It's now mandatory to put worker information in it, and centres will now have one month to do that. The second big reform that's started is mandatory child safety training. That's mandatory for everyone who works in a centre, and for the CEO too and for the board of directors. Of all the things that we do here, it might be this that's the most important because it's the people who care for and educate our kids in centres who are our best assets to help keep our children safe. We've got to give them the skills that they need to identify somebody in their centre who might be up to no good, somebody who might be hiding in plain sight. This training will now happen over the next six months, and centres will be able to close early, at 5 pm, for a couple of days a year to do this training.”
“The deadline for 30 of these centres has now arrived. I can advise the House that 19 of those centres have now suddenly fixed the problems that they had failed to fix for as long as seven years. I think what that shows is that the laws that we passed here last year are working, that the threat of cutting off funding has forced these centres to act. And it's not an idle threat. The centres that have not met the standard will now be contacted by my department and asked to show cause as to why their funding should not be cut off. Last week, two other big reforms came into force. The first of those is the National Early Childhood Worker Register. The events of last year made it very clear how important a register like this is, so that we know who is working where and we're able to track people from centre to centre and from state to state.”
“I thank the cheerful member for Chisholm for her question. I don't think anyone needs a reminder of the sickening allegations of abuse that we saw in centres last year. They shocked the whole country. I said at the time—I was pretty blunt—that not enough had been done by governments, whether they be state or federal, Labor or Liberal. Since then, a number of things have happened. Personal mobile phones are now banned in centres across the country. A trial of closed circuit television cameras is now rolling out across the country as well, and the Federal Police are involved in this trial. Sixty-three centres have now been put on notice, using the legislation that we passed through this place last year. That legislation gives us the power to cut off funding to centres if they don't meet safety standards.”
“That's why he got so emotional at the opening of it. I'm sure he won't mind me telling people that he shed a tear or two on the day, and that's because he loves his community and he knows what this will do and the lives that it will change. Mr Speaker, I know you love your community too, and you get it as well. We opened a study hub in Inala in your electorate a couple of weeks ago, and we got a chance to meet the young people from Glenala State High School. This is for them and kids like them who dream big. The fact is—think about it, guys. Just think about it—talent is distributed equally; it's opportunity that's not. It's hubs like this that are about changing that.”
“I can tell you, as I said on Monday, more Aussies will go to university this year than ever before. I can also tell you there are more university study hubs today than ever before. We promised to double them, and we've done it and then some. There are now 69 of them operating across the country. To give you an idea of how important they are, think about this—I should say one of them is in Elizabeth, in the member for Spence's electorate—in Elizabeth Bay in Sydney, 70 per cent of young adults in their 20s or 30s have a uni degree today. In Elizabeth in the member for Spence's electorate in South Australia, it's seven per cent—not 70 per cent, but seven per cent. These hubs are about changing that by bringing uni closer to where people live. I know that my mate the member for Spence gets that. That's why he fought so hard for it.”
“I thank my friend the sensational member for Spence for his question. As he knows, we've cut student debt by 20 per cent, and, when we announced that we would cut student debt by 20 per cent for three million Australians, the Liberal Party immediately opposed it, and the then shadow treasurer put out a statement where, remember, he said, 'There are no free lunches in economics,' and then proceeded to announce a policy of free lunches, but for bosses. I promise I'm not making it up. That was the big vision—escargot for CEOs! No wonder the Australian people chewed them up and spat them out. Obviously, they've learnt nothing, because Julius Caesar had more support from his senators than what we've seen going on over there today. I'm asked about how we're going to help more young Australians get a crack at going to university.”
“And therefore, whilst I'm not in a position to insert those two words into the bill as we debate it here in the House of Representatives, I do look forward to continuing to work with the member for Kooyong as that debate occurs in the Senate next month. I indicate that the government will not support this amendment that is about to be put. Question negatived. Debate adjourned.”
“As I've said to you in private conversations—and I'm very happy to say in the chamber here today—I will consider this amendment in the context of the debate, which we will have in the Senate once we've seen the report of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee. Their inquiry is up and running right now. This is one of those areas where I'm expecting them to present recommendations to us, amongst a range of others, including perhaps some of the areas that the member for Curtin flagged in her amendments. They've got their public hearing on Friday, and we're expecting their report before parliament returns in March.”
“I have two words for the member for Kooyong: thank you. Thank you for your engagement on this bill and your sincere and genuine commitment to this area of public policy. Thank you for bringing this amendment forward. Thank you for the work that you have done in this area for as long as you've been a member of parliament. As you were speaking, I was reflecting on the campaign that you led and the work that you did around the changes to indexation for HECS. That helped to create the environment for the reform that we passed through this parliament a couple of years ago now that lowered student debt by about $3 billion and helped to address the unfairness that existed with the way in which inflation interacted with student debt. So thank you. Thank you for the work that you led there. And thank you for this amendment.”
“I'm sorry to disappoint the member for Berowra and the member for Wentworth, two individuals in this chamber that I hold in very high regard. I thank you for your thoughtful contributions in this debate. The national tertiary education objectives in the bill were recommended, as the shadow minister pointed out, by the Universities Accord Panel. It's actually recommendation 1 of the accord—to set a clear vision for the tertiary education system. It's an objective for the whole system and the role that it must play to support Australia's resilience, fairness and prosperity. The changes proposed in this amendment appear to set an objective for the ATEC itself rather than for the system, and the government is not in a position to support this amendment.”
“I do sincerely look forward to seeing that report as well. Therefore, as I've said, the government is not in a position now to support these amendments, but I do look forward to working closely with you and with other members as debate proceeds in the Senate. Question negatived.”
“I thank the member for Curtin for her engagement on this bill and for her amendments. I acknowledge, like she has generously done, her sincere interest in this area of public policy and particularly her desire to make sure that this commission that we're seeking to establish, the ATEC, is strong and independent and has the scope and capacity to do this important work. I share that intent. Therefore, I give you the undertaking publicly, as I did in my concluding remarks in the debate and as I've said privately, that I'll consider these amendments alongside the Senate report. We're expecting to receive that report on 27 February or thereabouts, and there's a Senate hearing that will take place later this week, which will provide an opportunity for many of the people that you've mentioned to provide evidence.”
“I'd like to acknowledge in particular the members of the crossbench who've engaged with me and my office on this bill. I note the amendments circulated by the member for Kooyong and the member for Curtin; I know that tertiary education is an important issue for them and for their stakeholders. Although the government is not in a position to support the amendments offered at this time, I'm grateful for the thoughtful engagement on this and the universities accord reforms more broadly. I can indicate publicly, as I have privately, that I'll consider these amendments alongside the report of the Senate Education and Employment Legislation Committee when we receive that report, in just over two weeks time, and I note that their inquiry is currently underway. With that, I commend the bill to the House.”
“I thank all members for their contributions to this debate. The Universities Accord (Australian Tertiary Education Commission) Bill 2025 is a bill to establish the Australian Tertiary Education Commission, the ATEC. Establishing the ATEC is a key recommendation of the Australian Universities Accord, and it will be the job of the ATEC to help drive and steer the big reforms in the accord, like demand driven equity places and needs based funding. It'll also independently negotiate compacts with individual universities. It'll get the sector to work more like a system and build connections between the vocational education and training system and the higher education system. It'll provide independent, expert advice, and it will help to drive real and lasting reform. That's what the ATEC is about.”
“If you've got a TAFE qualification in nursing, construction, IT or a range of other areas, they'll cut the length of your degree by a year and the cost of that degree by up to $18,000. That's the sort of thing that I want to see more of this year, and I know Australians want to see more of that too—a real partnership, a genuine coalition between TAFE and university, a tailor-made coalition that stands for something and that gets things done, that will help to make sure that your degree is shorter and cheaper and that gets you the skills that you need. That's the sort of thing that Australians want—a coalition that's focused on them. By gosh, surely it's not too much to ask.”
“We're not just doing that; we're also cutting the amount of money that you have to repay of that debt every year. For example, if you're on 70 grand a year, we're cutting the amount that you have to repay every year by $1,300. That's real cost-of-living help. It means an extra 1,300 bucks in your pocket rather than in the government's. These aren't the only things that we're doing. I told the House last year that the University of Canberra has cut the length of six university degrees by 12 months and cut the cost of those degrees by an average of $6,000 if you've done a TAFE course in the same area. I can advise the House that Western Sydney University has just announced the same sort of thing.”
“I thank my friend the legendary member for Aston for her question. School is back, and university will be back very soon too, and this year more Australians will start a university degree than ever before. That's good news because we need more teachers, nurses, doctors, scientists, engineers and lots more. In the years ahead, more jobs are going to require more skills—the sorts of skills that you get at TAFE or at university. That's why we're funding free TAFE, and that's why we're funding more spots at university. We also want to make it easier, faster and cheaper to get those skills, and that's why we've cut student debt by 20 per cent, the biggest cut to student debt in Australian history, taking a massive weight off the shoulders of three million young Australians. The average student debt has been cut by $5,500.”
“For some of those 60 services, that deadline that we have set for them is fast approaching. I'll have more to say about that in the next few weeks.”
“I've also been asked about safety, and I can advise the House that personal mobile phones in centres have now been banned, that Commonwealth compliance officers are now up and running and doing unannounced spot checks, that the national CCTV trial has started, that the Australian Federal Police is now also part of the advisory group on that, that the national educator register will start at the end of this month, and that mandatory safety training for all staff in centres will start at the end of this month. Members will also remember that we passed legislation through this place last year to give us the power to cut funding to centres that aren't up to scratch—that aren't meeting minimum safety standards. So far, we've sent notices to more than 60 services across the country.”
“Their advice to us is that it's children from the most disadvantaged families—the poorest families in Australia—who get the biggest benefit from early education and that they are the ones who are least likely to be there in early education and care. That's because of the old activity test that meant their mums and dads couldn't get access to the government subsidy, and so it's their children who missed out and started behind. That now changes with the three-day guarantee. It means, for affected families earning between $50,000 and $100,000, they will save about $1,500 a year, and it means that their children will get access to the same sort of early education and care that other kids can.”
“I thank my friend, the absolutely magnificent member for McEwen, for his question. A year ago today we passed laws through parliament to enact the three-day guarantee and a month ago today we delivered it. It means every child who needs it can get access to the child care subsidy three days a week. We know how important child care is for mums and dads—it helps them to get back to work—but it's also important for our children. This is a time when most of the brain develops. We know that a child who goes to preschool is 1½ times as ready to start primary school as a child that doesn't. Ask any primary school teacher, and they'll tell you they can identify the children who have been in early education and care. This is not babysitting. That's why it was the Productivity Commission that recommended this change—the three-day guarantee.”
“I thank my friend the glorious member for Gorton for her question. School is now back across the country. That means a lot of relieved mums and dads and a few nervous kids—not as nervous as a few people over there!”
“We're now rolling that out for teaching students, for nursing students, for midwifery students and for social work students—people who've signed up to do some of the most important jobs in this country, like looking after our kids and looking after us when we're ill or when we're old, or women fleeing domestic violence. That's what we're focused on: helping Australians with the cost of living, unlike those on the other side who are just focused on how much they hate each other. They make the Beckhams look like a happy family. They're like a couple who bought a non-refundable holiday and then they broke up and now they've just got to sit there and suffer through it. They don't like paid prac. They don't like cutting student debt by 20 per cent. They don't even like each other.”
“We're also cutting the amount that they have to repay of their debt every year. For example, if you're on 70 grand a year, we're cutting the amount that you have to repay every year by $1,300. Now that's real cost-of-living help. It means an extra 1,300 bucks in your pocket rather than the government's. And there's something else that we're doing to help Australians with the cost of living. That's paid prac—financial help while you do your practical training at university—because, as many people do, if you have to give up your part-time job to do your practical training or you've got to move a couple of hundred kilometres away and rent, then it can be tough to pay the bills. That's why we're doing this. It's real cost-of-living help.”
“If I can thank my friend the brilliant member for Bean for his question, I might just do that! I told the parliament in November last year that we'd cut the student debt, by 20 per cent, of 1½ million Australians, but I can inform the House that that is not correct—at least not anymore, because now it's double that. Now we've cut the student debt of more than three million Australians by 20 per cent. We promised it; now we've delivered it. It's the biggest cut to student debt in Australian history. To put it in perspective, for the average Australian with a student debt, we've taken now $5,500 off their back. That's a lot of help for a lot of young Australians who might be just out of TAFE or just out of university or maybe just out of home. They're just getting started. And this isn't the only thing that we're doing.”
“It has come at a terrible, terrible cost, but may we now have the courage to carve a new path of heart. May we create the country we've always dreamed of, a country where all people live and breathe in peace. It is not impossible. Heart can take us there. Lead us with heart. Stay there. Stay there. Stay there.”
“What would heart have you do with your position, your power, your politics, your laws? What would heart have us do with our anger? Bondi has shown us what anger does when it is heartless. What would heart have us do at such a time as this? Many brave things happened at Bondi that day. But right now, this moment feels like the very new brave part. Much of this work is entrusted to you. Let your actions be guided by conscience, care, and compassion. Let your leadership honour life, safety, and belonging. Let your decisions reflect the value you place on the innocence of our children. Let your relationships with one another be rooted in respect, so that we too may treat others the same way. Let your leadership be rooted in humanity. If heart and horror can coexist, heart can guide politics too.”
“And as the gunshots came closer and closer, as flying bits of flesh and bones sprayed over us, there was no mistaking it. This was a massacre. I realised I was no longer preparing to survive. I was preparing for how I wanted my daughter and I to die. I leaned into her ear and spoke the only words that came to me. "Go inside yourself, my darling. Go to your heart, where all the love is. Stay there, my baby; stay there." I speak to you today as someone changed. I am still returning from that concrete deathbed, still learning how to walk familiar streets with unfamiliar fear. And I speak as someone who has experienced a place that no horror, no terror, no gunmen could steal from us. As we return to our lives, our beliefs, our ambitions, I ask myself and I ask you: What would heart have us do?”
“In the week after, Shemi came to her mum and asked her, 'Can a kid die?' She'd found out about Matilda. As they walked home one night from the Bondi Pavilion, she said to her mum, 'So I could have been a photo, too, like Matilda, and you would have had to put a rock and a flower for me.' Jessy's helping her little girl to understand all of this. I told Jessy that I was going to speak today and that I wanted to tell her story and Shemi's story. She's written something for all of us. This is it: My name is Jessica Chapnik Kahn. My five-year-old daughter and I are survivors of the Hanukah Bondi Beach massacre. On Sunday 14 December, 2025, my daughter and I ran, along with hundreds of children and adults. We threw ourselves to the ground. We covered our children with our bodies.”
“In Shemi's little hand was her big brother's doughnut—or what was left of it. I want to believe that what happened that day in December wasn't Australia. But the truth is it was. In the most Australian of places, 15 Australians had everything taken from them, one of them a little girl with the most Australian name possible. All of them were victims of an unfathomable hate. They were hunted down and killed because they're Jewish—murdered because they're Jewish. In the short time that I have, I offer my deepest condolences to everyone who loved them and who must still be drowning in their own grief. I also thank everybody who ran towards the danger that day and whose actions that day and in the days after must have saved the lives of dozens more people—people like Jessy and Shemi. I want the House today to hear their voices.”
“When the shooting started, Jessy knew exactly what it was. Jessy is a friend of mine and a dear friend of my wife's. Our kids are about the same age. She was there on that awful day with her little girl, Shemi. They were there to get sufganiyot—jam doughnuts—for Shemi and for her big brother, Lev. In that split second, Jessy did what any parent would do. She picked up her little girl and she ran. She hid, and she jumped on top of Shemi. She held her so tight she was worried that Shemi had stopped breathing. She remembers hearing the shots getting closer, the bullets hitting people near her and the spray of blood as it landed on her. And then it stopped. She ran again, this time until she found her husband, Nadav, and her son, Lev, who'd raced to the beach desperately looking for them.”
“We catch up, reminisce, talk about the old days and remember just how important we are to each other. To quote that old Irish proverb, 'We live in the shade of each other.' When I get together with my mates, I live in their shade for sure. So I give them a quick shout-out—Gav, Macca, Corz, Squirmer, Welster, Wyber, Bevo, Blobby, Beachie, Rinny, Choppers, George, Tink, Bert and Herbie. Merry Christmas, boys.”
“But it's also been a year of losses in my community. We've lost some local Labor true believers, some dear friends of mine—Tony Re, a former school principal; Grant Lee, a former mayor of Bankstown; Uncle Rex Sorby, a great Indigenous elder; and Vanessa McNeill, a former Holroyd councillor. Local legend Laurie Ferguson, a former member of this place, has been really unwell and is still in hospital. Laurie, we're all here with you, Maureen and the whole family. I wish everybody here a very, very merry Christmas. This is a time that we spend with the most important people in the world—our families, our kids and our mates. Every year, on the Sunday before Christmas, I get together with the fellas that I played cricket with for years. We call it clay day, for reasons that I don't have time to explain here.”