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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“I acknowledge the challenge our farmers are experiencing now and look forward to our recommitting ourselves to their welfare and their families.”
“We've got a number of big meat processors in my electorate, including the JBS plant at Dinmore in Ipswich and Kilcoy Global Foods in the Somerset region, both in Kilcoy and Coominya. They're some of the biggest employers in the region. They make a huge contribution to local economies and to farmers who produce beef cattle and send their produce to these particular meat processing areas. I'm very proud to be part of a government that supports our meat processors and our farming communities. I want to congratulate the NFF, for their vision, and the government. Over $100 billion for Australia's agricultural production is significant, and it's worth celebrating. It's a result of the advocacy of the NFF and the cooperation and collaboration we've had with them, and I want to congratulate them in particular.”
“At the same time, it's worth noting the PALM Scheme is one of the things that has helped achieve this $100 billion figure. We've got over 17,000 people contributing to our agricultural sector through the PALM Scheme, including some in my electorate and surrounding areas like the Lockyer Valley in South-East Queensland. It's been an outstanding success for this country. We're also working with our neighbours at the same time to give people opportunity and financial security both here and in their home countries. There are 10,000 workers working in meat processing as well. That again gives you a sense of the workforce, the work that's going on in this area and the contribution that's needed to achieve the $100 billion figure.”
“We're working with industry closely and carefully and working with international partners to achieve the record figure that we're talking about in this motion today. This is important for many communities in my electorate, such as in rural parts of Ipswich and the Somerset region, where beef farming in particular and poultry production are major industries. This $100 billion forecast translates to thriving regional communities and thriving rural places, and that's great for a country as big as Australia. This year's outlook is a remarkable achievement and testimony to the immense resilience and skill of our agricultural workforce. We've worked to ensure Australians can gain the skills they need for good, secure regional jobs that help keep Australian agriculture strong.”
“I see that in the floods, rains and cyclonic conditions across Ipswich and the Somerset region in my electorate and in the fires which have impacted the farming communities as well. So this is an extraordinary result, and it's a testimony to Australian farmers, industry and government working hard together. Our trade is more diverse than it's ever been, and we're on target; for agriculture, fisheries and forestry, it is $85 billion in exports during the financial year. That's a very significant figure, and of course it's down to the careful and considered work we've been doing to restore our trade relationships—I pay tribute to Don Farrell, the Minister for Trade and Tourism—and, of course, to work with industry. Over 250 new market achievements have been reached by this government since we came to office.”
“We've achieved the target set by industry by working together—industry, our farmers and the Albanese Labor government. Our government's careful and considered approach to restoring international relations has helped Australian agriculture, and our support for Australian agriculture remains strong during this period. We know, of course, there have been many challenges, and that's why the $100 billion is totally worth supporting and celebrating. The $100 billion target has come at a time when we know some of our farmers have been impacted by drought, floods and rain and by trade displacements across the globe. Conflicts like we're seeing currently have flow-on effects in terms of localised fuel shortages in some areas.”
“I thank the member for Paterson for the motion. I acknowledge her longstanding commitment to the regions and to our farmers and primary producers in agriculture, fisheries and forestry. The recently released forecast from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural Resources, Economics and Science, or ABARES, was terrific news. It shows that Australian agriculture is due to hit over $100 billion—in fact, $101.4 billion—this financial year. This means, of course, that we have $100 billion for 2030, four years ahead of the National Farmers' Federation target. They anticipated and hoped and aspired to $100 billion of production by 2030. We've got this four years ahead of schedule, up from $88 billion when we came to power in May 2022.”
“Then on Wednesday I was thrilled to speak at and help with the sod turning and launch of the Future Forgeworks Swanbank Steel Mill, in Ipswich. This will be Queensland's first-ever steel manufacturing facility and the first steel mill in Australia in over 30 years, producing recycled, low-emission green steel reinforced bar, or rebar, for the construction industry and, very likely, for the 2032 Olympic bid. Future Forgeworks are working with the federally funded National Reconstruction Fund for funding. I congratulate them. It's a game changer. It will inject $100 million into the Ipswich and South-East Queensland economies and deliver hundreds of local jobs.”
“It's been a huge week in my electorate of Blair, with a number of exciting announcements. First up, last Tuesday I announced that a new 24-unit social housing project is under construction in North Ipswich thanks to $14.2 million in funding from the Albanese Labor government. The complex is being delivered by the Queensland government and is due to be finished later this year, delivering much-needed social housing for fast-growing Ipswich. On the same day I was honoured to help open the new Independent Liquor Group Swanbank distribution centre. This $35 million investment will create over 400 new local jobs in Ipswich and support around 500 family owned independent liquor and hospitality businesses across Queensland who are ILG members.”
“I'm very hopeful, although I'm not quite sure, that they'll have a road-to-Damascus conversion experience and all of a sudden recognise that Ipswich is one of the biggest cities in Queensland and deserves the infrastructure to match the growth in its population.”
“I understand the preliminary evaluation has now been completed, so the state government and the Ipswich City Council need to work with the federal government to finalise the scope of works and get the project to the detailed business case stage as quickly as possible. This is one of Ipswich region's highest priority projects and has just been endorsed again in Infrastructure Australia's latest priority list. We need to get moving and shovel ready. The Crisafulli state Liberal government have so far failed to deliver for Ipswich, and their first state budget was a missed opportunity for our region.”
“On top of this, in his speech, Minister Mickelberg further tried to claim that funding in the state budget for the Ipswich to Springfield rail link, or the public transport corridor, came from the Crisafulli government, when it was actually committed by the former state Labor government as well as the Albanese government. This was a 2022 election commitment of mine, with the Albanese Labor government and the former state Labor government both committing $3.4 million towards a detailed business case for the rail line to get the project back on track after it had stalled under the former coalition government.”
“It clearly was not. It was an extraordinary gaffe. In addition, the minister admitted the Amberley interchange was 'dangerous', yet he refused to join the federal government and commit money to this much-needed project. When I announced the $200 million ahead of the federal election last year, it was expected the Queensland government would match the funding because the LNP candidate running against me also matched our commitment just days later, expecting his comrades and colleagues in the Queensland government to match it. After all, it also followed an announcement in September 2024 from our government and the former state Labor government of another $20 million in joint funding for business cases for upgrades to the Amberley interchange and the Ripley Road and Swanbank Road interchanges along the Cunningham Highway.”
“This is mishandling by the LNP government at a state level and its TMR department. Going forward, I hope they do not continue to hide behind these environmental approvals and use them as an excuse to delay the project further. Unfortunately, this project pre-dates the recent reforms to the EPBC Act aimed at fast-tracking project approvals. I can't help but feel that, if these projects were in other major centres like the Gold Coast or the Sunshine Coast, they would have been far progressed by now. In a bizarre postscript to the Crisafulli government state budget, the Queensland Minister for Transport and Main Roads, Brent Mickelberg, claimed wrongly in a speech in September last year that the Crisafulli government had matched the $200 million federal commitment to the Amberley interchange and that the funding was in the budget.”
“On top of this, there were no updates on projects that had already had joint funding allocated, like the Mount Crosby Road interchange, the Bremer River Bridge, the Ipswich Motorway or the Ipswich to Springfield rail line. These projects all now appear to be in the slow lane. While we're now finally seeing some progress on the Bremer River Bridge repairs, the Mount Crosby interchange upgrade just up the road has been mishandled by TMR. The department had to complete additional ecological surveys under the federal government's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act beyond what they claim they had initially anticipated. They knew about this in 2023, so it's disappointing that the construction is not expected to start until late 2026 and that it could be delayed even further.”
“There was no funding for big-ticket transport items, which was very disappointing and a political slap in the face for people living in Ipswich. There was no matching funding for the Albanese government's $200 million commitment to the Amberely interchange. There was only $4 million for a detailed business case for a second river crossing to duplicate the David Trumpy Bridge over the Bremer River. They failed to match, of course, the former state Labor government's $146 million commitment towards construction of such a bridge. Their failure to back in the Amberley interchange, in particular, was very poor and disappointing after LNP candidates—indeed, some members at a state level—had campaigned on the slogan Just Fix It during state and federal election campaigns, with billboards all over the place and brochures being distributed.”
“The federal government is really responsible for assisting in providing funds in this space. We are very much beholden to the Queensland government and its TMR when it comes to project delivery, and we have little control over project timeframes. Politics aside, I genuinely hope the Queensland government can understand the urgency of the task and the growth in the Ipswich corridor. At least based on public pronouncements, it seems that there is a bipartisan approach to meeting the needs of the region, but in practice it's not happening. Indeed, the Premier of Queensland, Premier Crisafulli, visited Ipswich in June last year, on the eve of the first budget, and acknowledged the need for an Ipswich infrastructure plan. Yet, a few days later, the Queensland budget had no such plan for Ipswich.”
“I'm proud of the fact that in the last few years we've been able to secure funding for pretty much every major transport infrastructure in my electorate and surrounds: $200 million for the Amberley interchange, $138.5 million for the Mount Crosby Road interchange, $42.5 million for the Bremer River Bridge, another $20 million for the Brisbane Valley Highway, $12.5 million for planning for the next stage, the final stage, of the Ipswich Motorway, plus $3.4 million for Ipswich-Springfield rail line business case. I fought for years to lock in funding for these projects, and now I find myself in the invidious position where most of these projects are well behind schedule and probably years away from construction even starting, much less being completed, because of the failure of the LNP state government.”
“As a very rough proxy, Infrastructure Australia has estimated the cost of congestion on Ipswich Motorway is to rise to $139,000,000 per annum by 2031. This is not some backwater. This is Ipswich, one of the major provincial cities in Queensland. The Albanese government gets this, and we have stepped up to invest more than $400 million in road and transport infrastructure in Blair.”
“Sadly, this has become all too common for most major transport projects in Ipswich over the last 18 months. It's been an experience of delays since the election of the Crisafulli LNP government. So what are we doing? We simply cannot afford to fall behind like this, and we are trying to put as much pressure as we can on the LNP government in Queensland to recognise the fast-growing region of Ipswich and the western corridor. We've hit 270,000 people in Ipswich, and we're growing at the rate of 10,000 people each year. We're well on track to hit over 500,000 people by 2046. We are bursting at the seams, infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with the population growth and we're experiencing significant growing pains.”
“This has been the bane of people's lives. This is a good outcome for our local community, but the reality is it should never have taken this long to get to this point; the works by TMR were supposed to have started late last year. It's all the more disappointing when you consider that the Albanese Labor government and the former Queensland Labor government, through myself and local state member, who was then the candidate for Ipswich West, Wendy Bourne, secured the joint funding to fix the Bremer River Bridge two years ago, back in mid 2024. With the change of government in Queensland later that year, the project stalled. The new LNP government and TMR failed to keep myself, the state member, the council and local residents informed about what was going on with the upgrade.”
“Locally, on 26 February, I was pleased to announce a major update on the Bremer River Bridge upgrade along the Warrego Highway in my electorate, along with the local state member for Ipswich West, Wendy Bourne. The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, TMR, finally confirmed it won't be going ahead with its original plan to redeck the Bremer River westbound bridge, which would have seen it closed for six months. Instead, TMR is undertaking rehabilitation and strengthening works to repair fatigue cracks in the steel girder welds under the bridge, which should be completed this year or early next year. That means less disruption for the 32,000 commuters and heavy vehicles that use the bridge every day. It means we can remove the current reduced speed limits that are in place and get traffic flowing again sooner.”
“The Albanese Labor government is building Australia's future. We have an infrastructure pipeline of $120 billion that is about making the journeys between cities and regional and rural communities safer, getting people home on time, improving productivity and making sure the lifestyle and livelihoods of people are improved. In addition to that, we've doubled the Roads to Recovery funding to $1 billion per year so that councils can get the funding they need to maintain local roads and make improvements. We reversed, of course, the coalition government's cuts in this space. Now we've put $200 million on the table available for the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure Program each year, and we've increased the black spot funding to $150 million a year.”
“Meanwhile, those opposite complain and whinge about the cost of living, yet they opposed our tax cuts and pretty much every cost-of-living and housing measure we've introduced in the last parliament and this one. We're fighting to deliver for our local community.”
“Importantly, we're helping more young people and first home buyers into homeownership sooner, through our five per cent deposit and our Help to Buy scheme and by reserving 100,000 homes for first home buyers. Since we came to power, nearly 5,000 locals in Blair have been helped into homeownership thanks to the expanded Home Guarantee Scheme, one of the highest take-up rates across the country. And, while temporary energy rebates have ceased, we've helped local families to permanently cut their electricity bills through our Cheaper Home Batteries Program. We're coming at the cost-of-living challenge from every angle and trying to help many people with targeted and responsible support.”
“We're cutting student debt, and we've done it by 20 per cent, so 23,000 young people and graduates with a HECS debt in Blair will see an average reduction of $5,500 on their student loans. This is really resonating with local students I've spoken with. There is also our paid prac for nursing, teaching, social work and midwifery students. I've met TAFE students and building apprentices who are benefiting from free TAFE and from incentives of about $10,000 to complete their trades and build more homes. Fee-free TAFE has been very successful, with around 5,000 enrolments in the Ipswich region since the program started in January 2023, providing valuable cost-of-living relief and helping people to get ahead and improve their opportunities and aspiration.”
“We're taking the total increase under Labor to over $9,000, as well as pay rises for early childcare educators and aged-care nurses. In Blair, we've seen thousands of workers in industries like retail, care and hospitality, which are very reliant on award wages, directly benefiting from these pay increases. I know that child care is a major expense for local families. In January, we introduced a new three-day guarantee so that every child who needs it is eligible for three days of subsidised early learning each week. This builds on Labor's Cheaper Child Care policy, which has already helped 9,000 families in Blair, helping them to save on average $7,000, over the 2½ year period, in out-of-pocket expenses.”
“It's providing a lot of care for a lot of people and proving more popular than ever before. It's seen 33,000 patients since it opened in 2023, an average of 45 to 60 patients a day. From 1 January, general patients are paying no more than $25 per PBS script as part of our cheaper medicines plan—or $7.70 for pensioners and concession card holders. That's saving local residents in my electorate more than $1.5 million. Eighty thousand taxpayers in Blair have received a tax cut, and there's another coming in July this year and the year after that. That will mean that average taxpayers get to keep an extra $50 a week. We're delivering pay rises for minimum- and award-wage workers. Having a government on your side and putting a submission in to support the raising of the minimum wage is really, really important.”
“We've overseen more than 1.2 million jobs being created, and the average unemployment is the lowest of any government in 50 years. And we're giving every taxpayer a tax cut, with more tax cuts this year and next year. In recent times, we've seen the positive difference that this government has been making locally in easing cost-of-living pressures, and we're improving the lives of my constituents and investing in our community's future. New data shows that Australians are now accessing more bulk billing clinics than ever before. In my electorate, that's nearly doubled to 23, allowing more people to see a GP for free. This is not just about access to healthcare. It's a very important way to take the pressure off local families. Complementing this, the Ipswich Medicare Urgent Care Clinic is providing bulk-billing walk-in care close to home.”
“The cost of living and the cost of housing are consistently the biggest issues for people in my electorate of Blair, and I know many people are doing it tough. On this side, we hear that, and that's why cost-of-living delivery for Australians remains our No. 1 priority in this year, with a big focus on strengthening Medicare and boosting housing affordability. Those opposite, the Liberal and National parties, have political amnesia, so I'm going to give them a few facts. With the way they talk about the economy, you'd think we were in complete despair. But we've made a lot of progress on the economy. Inflation was 6.1 per cent and rising when we came to office. It's now 3.8 per cent. Nominal wages have grown above three per cent for 14 quarters, the longest consecutive growth in a decade and a half.”
“But, of course, he's been promoted up, and it goes to show just how incompetent the Liberal and National parties are. In closing, I want to thank the Treasurer, the Minister for Finance, the Assistant Treasurer and the whole government economic team for the work they've done on these appropriations bills and for their ongoing work through the budget process. The appropriations bills back in my electorate of Blair and support many of my local election commitments and our record of delivery in our region, including my own personally. I'm going to continue to deliver vital cost-of-living relief in my electorate, and these budgets go a long way towards that.”
“Because of our combined tax cuts, the average taxpayer will keep an extra $50 a week to help with the cost of living. Of course, if the new leader of the opposition had his way, Australians would not be getting this tax cut this year or next year, and the deficits would be bigger in both years as well. We saw that in the policies of the coalition at the last federal election. I think he was the worst minister in the Morrison government—the worst shadow treasurer in living memory. Fancy going to an election pledging to increase the size of the deficit and opposing tax cuts for average Australians! That is an extraordinary collection of policy failures, and we've seen that recently with their non-released review into the election outcome—quite an astonishing level of failure.”
“Annual inflation was steady in January—much lower than we inherited, but already higher than we would like because of a combination of temporary and more persistent pressures on our economy. That's why we're helping with the cost of living in many ways that those opposite don't support. That's why we've improved the budget in ways that they're incapable of. We found $114 billion in savings, we've delivered two budget surpluses, we've got our debt down by $176 billion and we improved the budget position in the MYEFO in December. We know there's a lot more work to be done. We're strengthening the budget at the same time as we're cutting income taxes for 14 million Australians, including 80,000 taxpayers in my electorate of Blair.”
“Developments in the Middle East are an important reminder of the volatility in the global economy right now, and we're closely monitoring the implications for oil prices and our produce. I've just come from a meeting with Dean Goode, the CEO of Kilcoy Global Foods, and he was telling me about the issues they're going to face not just with the potential increase in energy costs but with getting their produce into the Middle East. They're a big company—one of the biggest meat-processing companies in the country—and they've got two centres in my electorate: one in Kilcoy and one in Coominya. They employ over 2,000 people across the region, so this has a big, big implication for my electorate.”
“Since the Albanese government came to power, almost 5,000 locals in Blair have been helped into homeownership thanks to this scheme—one of the highest rates of take-up across the country. Now we're helping more young people and first home buyers to achieve their dream of homeownership sooner, through our five per cent deposit scheme, through Help to Buy and by reserving 100,000 homes for first home buyers. Looking ahead, the government is working hard to put together our fifth budget. There will be a major focus on inflation in the near term and on productivity over the medium term, and also on making our economy more resilient at a time of extreme global uncertainty—and we only have to see the media reports from the last few days.”
“That's why I've encouraged community housing providers operating across the Ipswich and Somerset region in my electorate to apply for funding through this opportunity so we can meet the housing needs of one of the fastest-growing regions in the country. We're also supporting first home buyers in the MYEFO, with $10 billion to deliver up to 100,000 homes for sale only to first home buyers, and there is $98 million to fast-track the qualifications of 6,000 tradies and establish a new national training centre in new energy skills—a great initiative. These measures build on our other initiatives to support housing supply and affordability, including expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme, which has been hugely popular in my electorate and has already helped many people into homeownership.”
“On top of this, we've committed $700,000 to upgrade the YMCA Springfield Central Community Centre, which will have shared community spaces for multicultural groups to utilise for everything from religious services to sporting activities. Appropriation Bill (No. 4) provides Treasury with over $325 million to provide loans to Housing Australia to support social and affordable housing projects as part of the Housing Australia Future Fund, or HAFF, including HAFF round 3, which was announced in the 2025-26 MYEFO. This is the largest HAFF round yet and will see more than 21,000 new social and affordable homes delivered across the country. It's a really important part of our $45 billion plan to build more homes, get Australians into homeownership and give renters a better deal.”
“And a shout-out to the Ripley Nepalese community and the Nepalese Association of Queensland—I was there last Sunday for the launch of the Nepalese language class's first session in Ripley Central State School, and I look forward to the Ripley Nepalese community applying for funding under this particular program in the future. As part of the joint local commitment at the last election with the Speaker and member for Oxley, the Albanese government is investing $5.5 million for a House of India community and cultural centre in the booming Greater Springfield area. This will provide a home for the growing Indian community in Queensland and also serve as a common community asset for the Ipswich and West Moreton region.”
“As part of the additional estimates process, the Department of Home Affairs will receive $881 million to implement various programs to ensure Australia's security, prosperity and unity by safeguarding our domestic interests from crises and threats, supporting the government's response to the antisemitic Bondi attack and delivering on the government's 2025 election commitment to maintain Australia's cohesive, multicultural society. As part of this, we've committed $25 million for community language schools, to help students to stay connected to language and culture—including for the Vedanta Centre in Springfield Lakes in my electorate, to support free community Hindi classes.”
“As part of our $1 billion mental health commitment, we'll deliver a new headspace centre in Redbank Plains, the biggest suburb in Ipswich, to assist the growing numbers of people aged 12 to 25 years in an area seeking assistance. It's a very multicultural area in Ipswich. This was an important shared local commitment of mine at the last election with the Speaker, the member for Oxley, and I'm very proud of it. In the wake of the horrific Bondi terrorist attack in December, the Albanese government is doing everything possible to keep Australians safe and strengthen social cohesion.”
“3) 2025-2026 commits $1.1 billion for more free mental health services and additional training places. For example, this supports the government's new Medicare Mental Health Check In, which launched in January, offering a free online tool for Australians experiencing mild mental health challenges. This is part of our commitment to ensure Australians can receive free mental health care when they need it and will complement great local services in my community like the Ipswich Medicare Mental Health Centre in the Ipswich CBD, which I visited recently with the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.”
“The last time a PBS medicine cost no more than $25 was in 2004, over 20 years ago. This is a more than 20 per cent cut in the maximum cost of PBS medicines, and, for patients in my electorate, it means more than 42,000 additional cheaper scripts are expected to be dispensed on average each year, saving locals in my community more than $1.5 million. Pensioners and concession cardholders will continue to benefit from the freeze to the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at its current level of $7.70 until 2030. This builds on previous reforms, which have allowed residents in Blair to save around $9.5 million on cheaper medicines on more than 1.3 million scripts, with savings set to grow following the expansion of medicines eligible for a 60-day script, a fantastic outcome. Lastly in the health space, Appropriations Bill (No.”
“The appropriations bills provide funding in 2025-26 for other key Medicare election commitments made during the 2025 federal election, including 1800MEDICARE. This is a $204.5 million investment to provide a free 24/7 health advice line and afterhours GP telehealth service, backed by Medicare, which was launched on 1 January this year. It builds on the former Healthdirect services, expands them to every state and territory and, like our local Medicare urgent care clinics in Ipswich and Goodna, will further take pressure off our hospitals. This is great for my home state of Queensland, where all Healthdirect services were not previously available. The AEs funding in these bills also supports the government's latest cheaper medicines reforms. As of 1 January general patients now pay no more than $25 for a PBS script.”
“In just three months, the bulk-billing rates for all Australians have jumped to 81.4 per cent nationwide, the largest quarterly jump in 20 years outside the pandemic. Australians can now access 3,400 Medicare bulk-billing practices across the country, and the numbers continue to grow every week. Almost 1,300 of these practices were previously mixed billing, and, thanks to the government's delivery, around 96 per cent of Australians are now living within 20 minutes drive of a registered Medicare bulk-billing practice. In my electorate of Blair, new figures show the number of bulk-billing and GP practices has almost doubled to 23, from 13, since November. This is not just about access to health care; it's a vital cost-of-living issue for many people in my community.”
“3) allocates $1.5 billion to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for various programs to improve the wellbeing and social and economic participation of people with a disability; continue to ensure access to medicines; deliver evidence-based health policy; improve access to comprehensive and coordinated healthcare; and protect the health and safety of the Australian community. The department will also receive $101 million to support the government's strengthening Medicare reforms, where bulk-billing incentives are now paid to GPs for every patient they bulk-bill and fully bulk-billed practices will receive an additional payment. Building on our record $8.5 billion investment in Medicare last year, this has been a gamechanger in my community and around the country.”
“In the environment space, the legislation provides funding for the government's Local Environmental Projects Program, which is protecting and improving our environment and heritage. One of those projects is the $1.2 million Chuwar Koala and Native Fauna Conservation Park, which will establish a koala rehabilitation centre and outdoor education hub in Ipswich, in my electorate. This is one of the local commitments I made during the 2025 election campaign. It will allow local charity Goodness Enterprises to partner with koala carers, university researchers and experts to rehabilitate injured koalas and release them into the wild. It's a fantastic initiative that will support local koala health and education and protect this iconic species for years to come in our local area. In addition, Appropriation Bill (No.”
“This is because the program has been a roaring success with huge take-up, especially in outer suburban and regional areas like mine. In fact, as of yesterday, 250,000 home batteries have been installed across the country since the program started in July last year. In my electorate alone, around 2,000 households, small businesses and community groups have installed solar batteries—the fourth highest take-up in Queensland—to lower their emissions and their power bills. This has doubled the battery capacity of our grid, which is good for household power bills and cost of living, and good for the stability of the entire energy system as well. In the Climate Change and Energy portfolio, we have also committed $1.1 billion for the Cleaner Fuels Program, amongst other measures supporting the government's Net Zero Plan.”
“I rise to speak on the 2025-26 additional estimates appropriations bills known as AEs. These bills, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2025-2026, Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2025-2026 and Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026, are appropriations that are necessary for the operation of government. They underpin the Albanese Labor government's expenditure decisions made since the 2025-26 budget that relate to that financial year, including decisions made in the MYEFO. Firstly, Appropriation Bill (No. 3) provides funding to support a range of important measures. The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water received $2.9 billion, predominantly to continue to support the Cheaper Home Batteries Program, which cuts the cost of solar home batteries by 30 per cent so that more people can access it.”
“It's relocating to its new premises on Tiger Street, West Ipswich, where it will continue to provide vital food and emergency relief, work skills training and a range of support services. Goodness Enterprises will continue to operate the Chuwar Koala and Native Fauna Conservation Park. Last year, I secured $1.2 million of federal money for this nature reserve for our region.”
“Like many Ipswich locals, I share fond memories of watching movies at the Tivoli Drive-In Theatre, so it was bittersweet last Friday to attend the final movie screening and to celebrate 50 years of the drive-in theatre before the big screen is dismantled and the Give Goodness Centre moves to a new location. With the closure of this iconic local institution in Ipswich, only a handful of drive-in theatres now remain in business across Australia. While it might have been the end of an era for the Tivoli drive-in, it's the beginning of a new chapter for Goodness Enterprises with the Give Goodness Centre food cooperative, which has provided up to 100,000 meals across the south-east Queensland region.”