Shayne Neumann
Blair · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The new service will be built at Rosewood State School to help local families avoid the double drop-off in the morning—and in the afternoon, I might add—and help students to make a smoother transition to school.”
“It builds on our landmark schools funding agreement with the Queensland government to provide a record $2.8 billion in additional Commonwealth funding to Queensland state schools over the next 10 years, all tied to reforms to lift education standards.”
“The second capital upgrade involved $850,000 for a new custom amenities block at Linville State School, a little country school in the northern Somerset region, which has delivered modern facilities to ensure students' health and safety needs are met.”
“Labor is the party of education. The Albanese Labor government is building the education infrastructure we need in my electorate and building a better and fairer education system from preschool to tertiary.”
“An upgrade to the Mount Crosby interchange on the Warrego Highway is critical to the lives, lifestyle and livelihoods of the people of Ipswich. Last night, I was appalled to hear media reports that the Queensland LNP government is proposing in this week's budget to cut funding for the Mount Crosby interchange in my electorate.”
“I remember being in this House, in this parliament, when the coalition voted against the natural disaster funding, much of which was going to local councils in Queensland. It cost $11 billion of taxpayers' funding to rebuild Queensland after the 2011 floods.”
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“The reality is that we've got an incredible need for child care to be affordable and accessible in Australia. About 1.4 million Australian families are going to benefit from it. This is not just an equity issue; it's a productivity issue and it's an economic development issue. Many women caring for young children want to return to work and want to make sure that they can get access to more money, more hours and more financial security for their families. Families often lose family payments and childcare subsidies as their income rises. This is all a disincentive for parents, and especially mums, to do more paid work. According to the ABS data, in 2022-23, about 73,000 people who wanted to work didn't look for work, because they couldn't make childcare costs work for them. That's why the first tranche of our reforms was done.”
“They're whingeing, moaning, carping and going on. That's all they've served for the last 24 hours—constantly whingeing, carping and moaning. Come up with something constructive! They've got the free lunches for bosses and $600 billion on nuclear power plants that won't deliver any benefits in terms of energy security and cheaper energy for the country. They've also got golden visas that they inadvertently announced by virtue of having a mic over their head. They're bereft of policies, and yet they come in here and criticise us about this, when, in practical terms, this policy will benefit so many Australians. The degree of contortion is like those old games of Twister. It's political Twister. They've got their body here and there, trying to avoid certain things.”
“In last 24 hours, we've had Liberal and National Party people in this place saying, 'Oh, child care's not affordable; it's not accessible,' after about nine or 10 years in government doing nothing. We brought in a massive change back in 2022-23 to help Australians right across the board, which they railed against. We then announced a policy in December last year, supported by stakeholder after stakeholder—as the member for Curtin said, even the National Farmers Federation, who are not exactly an affiliated member of the Australian Labor Party, came out and said how wonderful the policy was—and you've got Liberal and National Party people from rural and regional Queensland and elsewhere saying, 'We can't get access to child care, and it's not affordable.' They haven't got a policy; there's nothing from them.”
“About 1.26 million Australian families, about 8,900 families in my electorate, benefited. About 96 per cent of families who used child care were better off. In fact, no family was worse off. It delivered real benefits to Australian families, and it meant that a family on a combined income of about $120,000 with one child in care would save about $1,780 in the first year of the plan. I remember those opposite railing against this particular bill, policy and plan when it came up, engaging in all forms of political gymnastics when we brought the bill in and constantly attacking us for the policy, the settings that we were doing and the reforms we were making. It's sort of deja vu.”
“Before I started preparing myself for this speech on the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025, I had a look at what I'd said in a previous bill, and I looked at some of the speeches that people had made on some of the reforms we were doing in relation to the Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (Cheaper Child Care) Bill back in 2022. Under that particular bill, the government had a really forward agenda by lifting the childcare subsidy rate to 90 per cent for families with a combined income of under $80,000 for the first child in care, increasing subsidies for families earning less than $530,000 with one child in care and keeping higher CCS rates with families with multiple children in care aged five and under. That plan was about making child care more affordable.”
“He liked the grey suits and the floral ties in the likes of Al Grassby and Paul Keating. He was a fantastic local councillor. He was more like a pastor and priest and a person like that. He was there to help people. In his retirement days, I used to call him the mayor of Marburg. I enjoyed catching up with him, and he would speak to you as loudly one on one as you would speak to a whole group of people. I raise my voice in deliberate honour of Norm. The outpouring of love, respect and admiration for Norm across the Ispwich community is there for all to see. He left us with beautiful memories. Thank you, Norm.”
“I pay tribute to Norman Henry Kruger, who died at 93 years of age. I was pleased and proud to have spoken at his eulogy at his funeral. I want to pay my deepest condolences to his wife Jan and his daughter Leanne. Norm was a wonderful servant of the Labor Party. He was a member of the party for 66 years and the first person I voted for as a councillor in the Ipswich City Council. He lived around the corner from Des Freeman, who became the mayor in 1979. Norm was the youngest councillor in Queensland in the Pine Rivers area and then moved with his job as corrective services to Ipswich. He then was actively involved in Ipswich politics, particularly in the local Labor Party. He was a councillor for division 4. He was a brilliant orator and raconteur who was quite dapper.”
“The Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program supports the building, remodelling and purchasing of new or expanded crisis and transitional accommodation. This will help thousands of women and children across Australia. DVAC do a great job, and I want to congratulate the CEO, Amie Carrington. The service provides support for women and children, particularly from a feminist point of view, and I have dealt with them for many years. I dealt with them prior to coming to this place when I was a practising family lawyer. Congratulations, DVAC, for the work you do.”
“The Albanese Labor government has announced that 41 organisations across Australia will receive a share of $100 million for new crisis and transitional housing for women and children impacted by domestic and family violence and older women at risk of homelessness. Thanks to the Crisis and Transitional Accommodation Program, a local service provider in Ipswich, the Domestic Violence Action Centre—known as DVAC—which is the biggest and most important domestic violence crisis organisation west of Brisbane, will be funded $2.8 million to help build 10 new dwellings in the Ipswich region for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence and older women at risk of homelessness. This is funded through Labor's Housing Australia Future Fund—opposed by those opposite.”
“This will involve planning for a streetscape refresh of Brisbane Street, the integration of the Ipswich Inner CBD Cycle Network and additional urban green initiatives. The planning precinct aims to enhance economic development, and it will create jobs. It will also support our flourishing arts community in Ipswich and the new, better use of the Ipswich CBD. It will deliver an arts and culture precinct and provide a space for artists and performers to collectively work and create, and that's great for Ipswich. I'm pleased to support this and I congratulate the Ipswich City Council on getting this funding.”
“The Ipswich CBD will soon begin its transformation, thanks to a $3.8 million investment from the Albanese government to fund detailed upgrade designs by the Ipswich City Council. I was pleased, with Deputy Mayor Nicole Jonic, assistant minister Senator Anthony Chisholm and local councillor Andrew Antoniolli, to be there when we announced this funding under the Australian government's urban Precincts and Partnerships Program. The project will develop designs for the expansion of the Ipswich Art Gallery and the redevelopment of the Ipswich Civic Centre, which was opened in the days of Gough Whitlam and Bill Hagan and upgraded by the governments of Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard.”
“Rheinmetall is supporting around 600 direct local jobs and hundreds of indirect jobs as part of a major contract for Defence delivered by the Albanese Labor government to produce and export Boxer Heavy Weapon Carrier vehicles to Germany. On top of this, JBS is putting on more than 500 new jobs and another shift from last year at their Dinmore meat processing plant in Ipswich in response to increased global demand for Aussie beef. This is good for jobs in the Ipswich region, and it's what a Labor government does for the people of Ipswich.”
“The Albanese Labor government is not just getting wages moving and reducing inflation; we're supporting more local jobs in Ipswich, with the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing nearly 20,000 new positions have been created across the Ipswich region in the last 2½ years. The labour force figures released this month reveal that since the Albanese Labor government came in we've increased jobs in our region by 10.5 per cent, bringing local employment to 204,000 people. A number of major employers and developers in the Ipswich region have helped create this jobs boom, including the new Suntory drinks manufacturing facility at Swanbank; the Australian Post, Coles and L'Oreal distribution centres; and Rheinmetall's Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Redbank.”
“I did visit the Ipswich office of Services Australia, in my electorate, last year to meet the workers and thank them for their fantastic work, particularly in slashing the backlogs of Centrelink and Medicare claims and improving customer experience. We have invested in 3,000 frontline workers across the country, including 500 in South-East Queensland and quite a number in Ipswich. They do great work, and they deserve to be safe in their workplace and in an environment free from harm. This bill will protect those kinds of workers and the workers in the Ipswich Services Australia centre. I want to thank them for their service to our local community. I thank the former Minister for Government Services for his support of the bill and commend it to the chamber. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time.”
“In conclusion, I think this is an important step in creating safer Commonwealth workplaces and sends a strong message that the Albanese government values workers. Violence and aggression towards workers are unacceptable, and WPOs are a significant tool in keeping workers safe. The bill builds on the layers of protection the Commonwealth has provided for workers and increases penalties that are, as I said, in the previous legislation, the Criminal Code Amendment (Protecting Commonwealth Frontline Workers) Act 2024. The act increases criminal penalties for assaults against Commonwealth frontline workers and implements recommendation 18 of the Ashton review. This is a good outcome.”
“This will take a bit of work, but it's necessary. The bill allows either party of a WPO to apply to a court to revoke or vary. It shouldn't be infinite. There are terms and conditions. A final WPO can't exceed two years or be made against a person who's under 14 years of age. There needs to be flexibility with how this is done. Breaching a WPO can constitute a criminal offence, as it can in other jurisdictions. The penalties include 120 penalty units, imprisonment for up to two years or both. That's the penalty for noncompliance. The bill also requires the minister to call for a review of the operation and the effectiveness of the act as soon as practicable three years after commencement. I think this bill completes a legislative gap.”
“It also includes contractors, which I think is a good idea. The hardworking security guards, cleaners and other external staff are covered. While the safety of Commonwealth workers comes first, we want to make sure anyone who engages with the government and government services has the right to be protected as well. A plan can be developed to ensure that they continue to access those services safely. It doesn't mean to say a person will lose their entitlement to Centrelink payments or family tax benefits or any other form of government services. A plan can be put in place for how they can do it, and those conditions can be put in place with the assistance of the relevant department and, of course, the court as well. In some circumstances, a condition may limit interactions to appointments over the phone, and that can be done.”
“If the court's satisfied that there's been personal violence under the definition, if there's a risk that the respondent will engage in personal violence if an order's not made or if the order is necessary or desirable, an order can be made. In making that order, the court has the power to impose a range of conditions. The conditions can include no contact with the Commonwealth worker or no attendance at that workplace. The definition of 'Commonwealth worker' covers a whole range of people, and I alluded to it before. As to which particular Commonwealth entities are covered, that is defined, of course, by the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, but they include, as I mentioned, Services Australia, Australian Taxation Office, Veterans' Affairs, Australia Post and electorate and ministerial offices as well.”
“The bill's definition of 'personal violence' is very similar to domestic and family violence legislation in Queensland that is mimicked throughout the states and territories. The Peace and Good Behaviour Act in Queensland includes acts of violence, harassment, intimidation, threats of harm and other harmful, non-physical violence such as verbal abuse over the phone or via email. On application, a Commonwealth, state or territory court can make an interim or a final WPO. In circumstances where urgent protection is required, the Commonwealth entity can write to the court to issue an urgent interim WPO to ensure protections are in place as quickly as possible. It can be done by telephonic or electronic means before a future court date considers a final order, which is a very sensible approach.”
“Someone from Services Australia might be at a community centre, for example, and delivering services for those much-needed financial supports that are given by the Commonwealth during those times. Commonwealth workplaces include pop-up service centres in shopping centres, Commonwealth service delivery vehicles and Commonwealth workers' residences away from home—so the WPO includes someone's home. It protects workers who are working on behalf of the Commonwealth regardless of where they are. The bill enables an authorised person from a Commonwealth entity to apply to a court for a WPO on behalf of a Commonwealth worker or workplace where personal violence against a worker or workplace has taken place, is connected to the worker's official duties and where there is a risk it will occur again if an order is not made.”
“Ultimately a WPO is aimed at preventing future violence from happening. These orders aim to stop a person from accessing a particular Commonwealth workplace or from contacting a specific worker if they have been violent or aggressive in the past. The bill will make Commonwealth workplaces safe for members of the public who visit them to gain access to critical Commonwealth benefits and services. This bill will provide legal protections for Commonwealth workplaces and workers and deter acts of violence and other harmful behaviours by members of the public. The scheme will be available to most Commonwealth workplaces, extending to anywhere a Commonwealth worker is conducting official Commonwealth work. I mentioned emergency services and natural disasters.”
“The recommendation of the review states: The current ACT W orkplace P rotection O rder provisions should be adopted for use by the Commonwealth as a staff protection mechanism nationwide. The bill establishes a framework to enable an authorised person within a Commonwealth entity to apply to a state or territory magistrate or local court, the Federal Court of Australia or the Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia to issue a Commonwealth WPO in order to protect a Commonwealth worker or workplace from threats of harm and actual harm. Effectively this means a person who causes harm or threatens to cause harm to a Commonwealth worker or workplace can be subjected to a WPO. It establishes a new principal act and it introduces the scheme, which is crucial to mitigating some of the serious harm.”
“They staff service centres and call centres across the country for the Australian government, and they're the first persons that a member of the community can interact with. They often deal with emergencies and natural disasters. Unfortunately, Commonwealth workers and workplaces continue to face an increasing risk of violence. Between July 2023 and July 2024—that whole year—Services Australia staff experienced nearly 1,700 serious instances of violence and aggression. The bill responds to this unacceptable situation. The implementation of recommendation 17 of the Ashton review creates the Commonwealth workplace protection order—or WPO—scheme, and progresses the government's commitment to implement all 44 recommendations.”
“In response, the former minister for government services and the NDIS commissioned a review into the safety of frontline public service workers—the Services Australia Security Risk Management Review—which was conducted in 2023 by the former Chief Commissioner of Victoria Police Graham Ashton. This comprehensive review recommended 44 changes, and they are to deter acts of aggression against workers and increase safety in workplaces. As a government, we have committed to implementing every one of those recommendations of the Ashton review. Commonwealth frontline workers help the Australian community, and there are a whole range of areas we can think of: Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office, passport offices, airports and the Australian Electoral Commission.”
“The legislation strengthens the Commonwealth's ability to protect Commonwealth employees, particularly those on the front line who are the very people that are often dealing with some really difficult circumstances with someone that may not be getting what they want and may be frustrated with the particular circumstances in which they're living. Violence and aggression can have a devastating impact on frontline workers and their families as well on the broader safety and operation of Commonwealth workplaces. We're acting on advice here, and the bill builds on extensive work that we've undertaken. There was a horrific stabbing attack on an Airport West Services Australia officer in May 2023, and that was a devastating reminder that we need to do more to protect workers.”
“This legislation that's before the Chamber is the kind of legislation that will protect Commonwealth workers but also allow judges and magistrates to have access to similar jurisprudence and look at the kinds of orders and judgements that have been dealt with in similar circumstances. I want to say at the very beginning that every Australian deserves to be safe at work. In recent times, we've seen Commonwealth workers increasingly subjected to acts of violence and aggression from members of the public. It's simply unacceptable, and that's why the Albanese Labor government's introducing this bill. We want to make those workplaces safer for our Commonwealth public servants, the workers that serve the Australian community.”
“I am pleased to speak on the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2024. It mimics similar legislation in my home state of Queensland—for example the Peace and Good Behaviour Act 1982, which gives people the right to peace and quiet and to be undisturbed by threats to their quality of life and wellbeing. Orders can be made in a Magistrates Court keeping peace and good behaviour on application—a person can be a complainant there—and for a duration of years. The second piece of legislation that's not dissimilar to this particular legislation is the Queensland Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012, which protects a person against violence committed or threatened by someone else if there's a relevant relationship existing between the parties. There's similar legislation in the various states and territories.”
“My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to improve safety and productivity on Queensland roads, and are there any other approaches to infrastructure that would leave Australians worse off?”
“They were either killed or put in gulags—concentration camps—and killed within the first few years of Hitler's abolishment of their parliament. The Christian Democrats are the equivalent of the LNP. The Social Democrats are the equivalent of the Labor Party. This is not some academic exercise. This is about standing against extremism in any form of all, and a demonstration that legislation can be passed not just to say, 'We're going to protect our community,' but to show that the opposite of hate is love, and that we should love one another as our faith demands—whether we're Christians, Jewish, or Islamic. I commend this legislation to the chamber. The Federation Chamber transcript was published up to 19:32. The remainder of the transcript will be published on Thursday 6 February 2025.”
“He could have stayed in academia and pastoral care but he went back to Germany to stand up for his faith, and he died near the end of World War II as a symbol of what it means to be a true Christian: a man of peace, a man of tolerance, a man of charity, a man of love. Dietrich Bonhoffer stood against this kind of intolerance because, as he said on numerous occasions: 'If they come first for the Jewish community, they'll come for then the Christians. And they'll come then for the trade unions and the politicians.' If you go to the German parliament, you will see in the German parliament a book. If you open that book—and on the wall are bullet holes from the Russian bullets—there are the names of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats—politicians—all who died at the hands of the Nazis.”
“The legislation here makes a difference. It shows what we believe as parliamentarians and as a parliament. I hope it is passed in a bipartisan way and the crossbench fully support it. I hope it gets through, because it will say something. It's not just a legislative change; it will have that moral force behind it. We cannot allow people to claim not just that they're bigots—the so-called right to be a bigot—but that they have a right to perpetrate and perpetuate hate in our community and express that in a violent way on schools and synagogues, on mosques and temples or on churches and other places of faith just because they disagree with those persons. One of the greatest men in history is Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who stood up against Nazism. He went back to America, then from America back to Germany.”
“It also amends the existing offences for the public display of prohibited hate symbols in the Criminal Code, which I referred to earlier, and the provisions make it an offence to publicly display prohibitive hate symbols or make the Nazi gesture in public, including where the display of the symbol or use of the gesture is likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate a member of a group distinguished by protected attributes. I say that members of the Jewish community and, indeed, members of other communities living in the Middle East including people who are Palestinian and people of an Arab background should not be discriminated against and have violence inflicted on them on the basis of their faith, whether they're Christian or Islamic or Jewish or any faith whatsoever. That is intolerable and unacceptable.”
“It removes the application of the defence of good faith—how can defence of good faith be there when you're actually urging violence? It extends protections to persons distinguished by sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status or disability, and this is in addition to those protected attributes I referred to before. It creates a new criminal offence for threatening the use of force or violence against a group or a member of a group distinguished by protected attributes.”
“The bill creates a new criminal offence or offences, strengthening the Criminal Code—which already has some things in there—and extending specific protections to persons who are targeted due to their race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality, ethnic origin or political opinion. These are called protective attributes in the legislation. The bill also goes on to strengthen existing offences for urging the use of force, and it takes away that, can I say, intentionality, and brings in an offence of recklessness with respect to the criminal activity. What I mean by that is it provides for an offence that is committed where a person is reckless as to whether the violence urged will occur, lowered from the existing requirement that the person intended for the violence urged to occur.”
“Legislative changes are not just to be implemented; they have a moral force and efficacy like that legislation I talked about—the Racial Discrimination Act—and those giants of the Labor movement I referred to before. This legislation is a statement about what we believe and what we will not accept in this country against any group, Jewish or otherwise. So I want to express my fulsome support for the legislation and go on record to say exactly what this legislation will do in the remaining five minutes of my speech.”
“We have seen those types of Nazi symbols and that type of antisemitism expressed not just overseas in the United Kingdom and other countries like ours but also in our universities, schools and workplaces, on the sporting field and elsewhere. These are places where people, because of their Jewish faith, background and belief system, have been persecuted, abused and the recipients of violence—all because of their faith and ethnicity. It is a disgrace and abhorrence that Australia in the 21st century should have this occurring. It is just terrible—and I use the word terrible in inverted commas—that we must do this legislation, but we need to set very firm guidelines.”
“Would I have been caught up in that conflict with my parents and my grandparents? It was a really pivotal moment in my personal and political and even spiritual experience. We must never ever forget the Holocaust. We must never ever forget the six million Jewish people who were slaughtered by the Nazis. And there were other minority groups as well—Gypsies, homosexuals and so many other groups. And let's not forget all those people who bravely stood up against militarism, against fascism and, of course, against Nazism. I remember being in Trafalgar Square as part of a parliamentary delegation to London last year. There were huge demonstrations outside of where we were staying. I remember seeing Nazi symbols amongst so many of the demonstrators. I remember seeing them and being shocked that antisemitism was there on display—shocked!”
“My ancestors made lives for themselves, they did okay and they prospered. One of their descendants is even a federal MP! But I remember being in Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, in the Holocaust museum, some years ago. I happened to be in a party and I was separated from them. I was there with my German surname, there by myself really, when I wandered into a group of Israeli conscripts. All these people were young enough to be my children. There they were, being taught about the historical experience of the Holocaust and what they had gone through. For them it was a real life-living experience. For me it was a shock. And it's one of those experiences I'll never forget because I thought if my ancestors had not come from various parts of Prussia and Berlin and Hamburg and the like, where would I have been? What would have happened?”
“There is always a balance between prescriptive conduct, proscribing conduct and freedom of speech. Before I talk specifically on this particular bill, I remember an unforgettable experience I had some years ago. My family came to Australia in the 1880s from Germany with the surname Neumann. They came here fleeing persecution. They were poor. They were religious. They were a minority. They came here and settled in Ipswich, in the Lockyer Valley. That's on my dad's side. My mother's side came from poor people who were virtually Levellers, as they used to call them, in England and from the McLeods in the Highlands of Scotland. They were persecuted people. I thought my generation would never see this sort of persecution of other people. I never thought we would. I never thought it would happen.”
“I know the Attorney-General, when introducing this particular bill, talked about that tolerant society to which I referred. He talked about the new and expanded offences introduced in this bill as a response: … to the increasing prevalence of hate speech and hateful conduct in our society— particularly in light of recent global events. In my home state of Queensland, the Jewish community has made an enormous contribution. It's a lot smaller in Brisbane than it is in Sydney and Melbourne, but its contribution to business, to law, to academia, to sport and to cultural life, to the arts and to community is immense. I'm so proud to have stood on numerous occasions with the Jewish community in Queensland to oppose intolerance and antisemitism. The legislation that we have before the chamber today is an unfortunate necessity.”
“It's about the growth of the Christian church in the United Kingdom. But what really strikes me in the history is how, in that period of time, we had a greater understanding of tolerance. It wasn't always the case back in the days of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I, the Reformation and the like, but I thought we had progressed in Australia. I thought we had got through a lot of this. It is sad that we've got this legislation, the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024, before us. I applauded the Attorney-General in 2023, when the government introduced the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023, which passed after some amendments. I was pleased that we made amendments to the Criminal Code. We introduced offences related to displaying or trading in hate symbols such as Nazi symbols.”
“I thought that we'd gone through those kinds of debates in Australia in the last half a decade. There were a lot of debates about the right to be a bigot, so to speak, and I thought we had progressed as a country in a more tolerant, accepting and loving way. In my faith tradition as a Christian, the second greatest commandment is to love your neighbour as yourself, and that's a positive thing. It doesn't matter if you're a Catholic, a Protestant or a Pentecostal; it's to love your neighbour as yourself. That kind of provision in Scripture is found in all the major monotheistic religions and so many others. It is incumbent on those of us of faith and of no faith to think about the fact that we have a common humanity. Faith is expressed in many different ways. I'm reading a book at the moment by Peter Ackroyd called The English Soul .”
“In the 1970s and 1980s, great Labor figures like Gough Whitlam, Bill Hayden, Lionel Murphy, Don Dunstan and Susan Ryan led the charge for tolerance and acceptance of people of different genders, sexualities, races and ethnicities. We saw incredible pieces of legislation come in during the Whitlam era and the Hawke era. One of those pieces of legislation, which dates back to 1975, is the Racial Discrimination Act. Section 18C makes it unlawful for someone to do an act that is reasonably likely to offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate someone because of their race or ethnicity. But, as previous speakers have talked about, there's always a balance, and we've got section 18D of that particular piece of legislation containing exemptions for the protection of freedom of speech.”
“I want this whole parliament to support this legislation to ensure consumers get the protection they need as soon as possible. I commend the bill to the House.”
“We want to ensure that people keep more of what they earn, and we're going to make sure that they keep their money safe. We're determined to crack down on criminals who rip off hardworking Australians. By sending a clear message that this harmful practice won't be tolerated here in any way at all, we're making Australia the hardest place for scammers to ply their trade. We want to make sure that victims know that we have their backs. We know more needs to be done, and that's why this legislation is before the chamber. People in my community want tough action to protect their money and prevent crime. They want information. They want these laws delivered in the fight against scammers. I urge the parliament to do the right thing by the people in my community, whether they live in Ipswich or the Somerset region or around Karana Downs.”
“Many people talked about experiencing persistent calls, spams, texts and misleading advertisements on social media attempting to scam them out of their money. I thank local people in Ipswich for coming forward at the forum and being so open about what they had experienced. What it shows is that it's more important than ever for people in my community to be alert and aware of how to protect themselves. It also highlights why this legislation we're debating today is just so urgent. In closing, I will say that the Albanese government has made scams a priority. We do get the financial and emotional turmoil. It was on full display at the scams forum last year in Ipswich. We want to rid Australia of this. We'll work together with anyone and everyone in relation to this.”
“Police officers, such as respected police sergeant Nadine Webster from the Ipswich District Crime Prevention Unit, spoke at the forum and reported that local police had succeeded in shutting down a scam operation just around the time that the members of the public came forward with information, and she gave a very detailed account of it. I was very pleased to see the work of the local Queensland police, but there were some very sad stories too. We heard that day—and in our offices we hear all the time—about scammers ripping money out of the pockets of hardworking locals. The IDCARE data shows that about $1 million had been lost to scams in Ipswich in the previous six months. For example, we heard from a constituent, Peter, who had been conned out of $130,000 when he thought he was investing in a safe term deposit through a broker.”
“Just like the National Anti-Scam Centre and the Fighting Scams Campaign, our important role—as the previous speaker said, and I agree with her—is to raise awareness in the local community. In July last year I was delighted to have the Minister for Financial Services at a community scams forum in Ipswich. It was an opportunity for locals to learn ways to protect themselves from scams, to know what to do if they're targeted by a scam and to hear more about the steps the government was taking to crack down on this crime. A number of the government and community organisations attended: Australia Post; Services Australia; Queensland Police Service; and IDCARE, the national identity and cyber support service. They provided information and feedback on scams impacting the local community in Ipswich as well.”
“The key messages are: stop before sharing personal information; check that you know who you're dealing with; protect against scams by taking actions like reporting them to scamwatch.gov.au. I was pleased to see the Australian Banking Association back in the scams awareness campaign which is part of our response. Everyone needs to do their bit. The government's action is about keeping people's money safe through our prevention strategy, and I think it's showing early success. Losses have almost halved since we stood up the National Anti-Scam Centre. Scamwatch data shows that reported scam losses dropped by 40 per cent in the 2023-24 financial year compared to the previous year. This bill will implement the framework.”
“We've already set up the National Anti-Scam Centre and Scamwatch service—that was in July last year—as part of our $86.5 million investment to fight scams and online fraud in the 2023-24 budget. The National Anti-Scam Centre, located within the ACCC, is a world-leading partnership between government law enforcement agencies and the private sector. It means consumers can look to a trusted centralised point within government for information and education to protect themselves from scams. On top of this, just last month the government launched the Fighting Scams Campaign, which includes TV and social media ads running until 22 March. This campaign is about equipping Australians with simple, actionable strategies to guard against scams.”