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.”
The complete record
Every one of 563 lines we hold for Shayne Neumann, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 12.
“Another measure which is really resonating with students and young people in my electorate is our policy to cut student debts by 20 per cent. You only need to stand at a prepoll to know how popular that was. It will ensure that about 23,000 people in Blair with a HECS debt will see an average reduction of $5,500 to their outstanding student loans. A key issue on the ground in Blair is housing supply and affordability. In my community, some people are finding it very hard to break into the housing market. Some experience mortgage stress, and others struggle to pay the rent from week to week. During the election, Labor announced that first home buyers will be able to get into the housing market with just a five per cent deposit.”
“I'm proud to have opened the Ipswich Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in 2023. It's been a huge success, with more than 2,500 visits in the first year alone, and it's helped to ease pressure on the Ipswich Hospital emergency department. Complementing our record investments in Medicare, my constituents will also save from cheaper medicines with the government's reduction of the maximum general co-payment for medicines to $25 under the PBS from 1 January next year. That means more than 42,000 cheaper scripts are expected to be dispensed, on average, each year in Blair, saving people more than $1.5 million and building on our expansion of the number of medicines eligible for the 60-day scripts, which those opposite opposed, as well.”
“In addition to tax cuts, every household in my electorate, along with eligible small businesses, is getting an extra $150 to help with their power bills, building on previous rounds of energy bill relief. On the health front, our record $8.5 billion investment in Medicare announced earlier this year is expected to see an additional 117,700 bulk-billed visits and a boost to the number of fully bulk-billed GP practices to around 35 in my electorate. This will save local patients hundreds of dollars a year, depending on how often they visit their GP. On top of this, the government has delivered two Medicare urgent care clinics for our community—one in Ipswich, in my electorate, and one in Goodna in the member for Oxley's electorate—which provide bulk-billed walk-in care to locals who need it.”
“That analysis also notes that, when combined with the government's cheaper childcare policy, our tax cuts will increase the financial rewards for working people and, in fact, will help with additional working days, especially for secondary earners in the household—in other words, people will get a benefit from working harder and longer, including more money in their pockets and more financial security for their households. It is also expected that there would be a boost female workforce participation, which, in turn, would increase our GDP or economic growth. The OECD analysis is really a ringing endorsement of the government's economic strategy.”
“That means 80,000 taxpayers in my electorate of Blair will receive a new tax cut from next year of up to $268 in 2026-27 and up to $536 in 2027-28. It will increase take-home pay for people and ease cost-of-living pressures, especially for people on low and middle incomes. In fact, the OECD's 2025 employment outlook analysis confirms that the Albanese government is delivering the lowest personal income tax rates in 50 years, while unemployment levels are below the OECD average.”
“We know a lot of people are still doing it tough, especially those vulnerable members of our community, so the government's focus has also been about cost-of-living relief. We've been responsible economic managers but want to make meaningful cost-of-living relief while building Australia's future with a stronger and more productive economy. I want to talk about some key budget measures and election commitments that will benefit my local community. First, the government is delivering more tax relief in the budget, with two more tax cuts— those opposite took to the election a position opposing them—to every Australian taxpayer in 2026 and 2027, adding to the first round we delivered in July last year.”
“Unlike our predecessors, we've banked the vast majority of revenue upgrades, with fiscal policy and cost-of-living assistance working hand in glove with the Reserve Bank's monetary policy. In summary, we've been able to pull off lower debt, reduced inflation, low unemployment, falling interest rates, higher real wages, improved living standards, record job creation and a growing economy. That's what a good government does. It's no small feat, and it means we're well-positioned to navigate the uncertainty and volatility we're seeing in the global economy right now. But there's more work to do. While the data and economic fundamentals are looking much better, these numbers don't always reflect people's lived experience or how people are feeling in the real world.”
“The latest jobs figures for July show Australia's unemployment rate remains historically low, falling to 4.2 per cent, while a record 1.15 million new jobs have been created since Labor came to office in 2022. What's more is that real wages, which were falling sharply under those opposite—remember, it's a deliberate design feature to keep wages low under them—have been growing strongly under us. We've improved the budget, with the first back-to-back surpluses in almost two decades. They promised to be 'back in black' and to have a budget surplus every year. They didn't deliver one for the near-decade they were in government. We've brought debt and debt interest down and we've restrained real spending growth with a $207 billion positive turnaround in the budget, the biggest nominal improvement in the budget in a single term.”
“New monthly ABS figures out last week show headline and underlying inflation is still well below three per cent, for the eighth month in a row, and still within the Reserve Bank's target band. On top of this, the ABS data shows that the government's cost-of-living policies are actually detracting from inflationary pressures, not adding to them—contrary to what those opposite think. While most other advanced economies have had to trade progress on inflation for higher unemployment, negative economic growth or, indeed, a recession, we've managed to preserve a strong labour market at the same time as strong job and wage growth. It's no small achievement, and I commend the government—the Treasurer, in particular—for it.”
“Inflation at a high level is something we inherited, not something we caused, as those opposite and their cheer squads, some in the media, would like to assert. We're putting downward pressure on inflation and bringing inflation into the band of two to three per cent, and we have done so. That has been the centrepiece of government economic strategy not just over our first four budgets. For governments for a long time, the aspiration has been to have inflation within a two to three per cent band. Of course, it is something that the Reserve Bank of Australia also supports strongly. We've made significant progress on that front—inflation is below three per cent; it was six per cent and rising when we came to office in 2022.”
“The coalition voted against our tax cuts in the last parliament and took a policy to the last election, notwithstanding what the shadow Treasurer said, that would increase personal income tax on the 80,000 Australian taxpayers in my electorate and also around the country. Let's be clear. When we came to power, we were emerging from a sustained period of global inflation, and that inflation surge was primarily caused by international supply-side factors such as the war in Ukraine, which had an impact on energy prices, and the global supply chain pressures arising out of the post-COVID international economic environment. This caused inflation and cost-of-living pressures to rise well before our government came to power in Australia.”
“I'm pleased to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026, the Appropriation Bill (No. 2) 2025-2026 and the Appropriation (Parliamentary Departments) Bill (No. 1) 2025-2026, to support the passage of them and to talk about the positive impact of the budget handed down in March and our commitments from the May election and the government's economic plan and reform agenda for this term of government, both for the nation and for my electorate of Blair. At the outset, I want to say a few things about the broader economic context because it's always critical for the framing of any budget. The Labor Party is the party of lower taxes.”
“If he comes to my electorate, he'll see the Greater Springfield area—the member for Oxley also represents Springfield; we share it—and I've got Ripley Valley. Houses are going up everywhere in these areas. The housing problems we've got in this country are not new, but the member for Caldwell must have been blind for a long time and mustn't be looking around anywhere. He must be the Russell Hinze of the LNP in Queensland, because he can't see houses anywhere. It's very challenging, we know, for Australians to find the opportunity to get into a first home, and that's what we've got in an area like the Ripley Valley, where, of course, the average age is about 26.”
“In 2022, it had 722,000 people living in it, so it's grown by about 30,000 in that period of time. He should drive along Pacific Highway, go down past Pacific Fair and drive his way down the Gold Coast—I think he represents a seat on the northern Gold Coast. If he goes around Palm Beach, he'll see housing and unit constructions everywhere on the Gold Coast. He must be blind. He sort of reminds me of Russell Hinze, the former National Party cabinet minister, who couldn't see any brothels or casinos through Fortitude Valley during the 'moonlight state'. I don't know where the member for Caldwell has been. The Gold Coast is booming, and housing construction's going up everywhere. This particular motion is all about housing construction.”
“I'm pleased to speak on this ministerial statement and the motion to take note of the Albanese government's announcement of five per cent deposits for all first home buyers. I listened to the previous speaker. He said our housing policies sounded impressive. They were so impressive, he couldn't bring himself to vote for any of them. That's how impressive they were. They couldn't find a housing bill that we brought into the House that they wanted to support. I'm just a bit bewildered by the previous speaker because he represents a Gold Coast seat in South-East Queensland; I represent a seat based around Ipswich, and we've been growing in population by at least 10,000 every year for the last five or six years. The Gold Coast has about 753,000 people living in it.”
“They will improve workplace safety for frontline Commonwealth workers and make our Commonwealth workplaces safe for all Australians who use them. I commend the bill to the House.”
“I want to thank the Minister for Home Affairs for bringing forward this bill. I spoke on this bill previously, in the previous parliament. It lapsed with the proroguing of parliament, but I am pleased that the Minister for Home Affairs has brought forward this bill and pleased for the support last term from the former minister for government services and former attorney-general for the original legislation reforms. I thank everyone who has contributed to its development through the consultation process. I thank the CPSU, the union covering Commonwealth public servants, for their support, and all the other stakeholders who were consulted in the development of this legislation. I call on the parliament to do the right thing and support these critical measures.”
“I want to thank services centre manager Jenny and her staff, and all the Services Australia workers for their fantastic work, particularly for their efforts to slash the backlog of Centrelink and Medicare claims in recent years. It was a great opportunity to meet with some of the new recruits who are part of the government's staffing boost of 3,000 frontline service workers across the country, hired to process critical claims and get the waiting times down. This is such important work, and it will help people with more financial services and support to deal with the cost-of-living pressures that they're under. These workers deserve a safe and secure environment free from threats of harm. They do not deserve a serve at work. I support this legislation; it's absolutely vital.”
“Last week, I had an opportunity to visit the newly transformed Ipswich service centre for Services Australia. We learnt much more about the enhanced security arrangements they put in place in response to the Ashton review. It was an opportunity to hear how they have sought to modernise their services by introducing new and better ways to service customers and make it easier for customers to access support and, therefore, reduce the frustration. Some of the innovations at the centre include updated self-service facilities and kiosks; increased support and training for customers to access digital services, including digital coaching appointments and bring-your-own-device options; and referrals to specialists and other government services.”
“I saw the kinds of orders and the breadth of the orders that courts make. It will allow either party, for example, when that term or period of time is over or, indeed, when the risk is not there, to make an application to vary or revoke that order, if it's needed in the circumstances. There can be additional conditions in terms of the length of the time. We don't expect that a final WPO will exceed two years, and it can't be made against a person under 14 years of age. This bill addresses a legislative gap in most state and territory protection schemes which doesn't cover public service. It will enhance the personal privacy of Commonwealth workers, and it's important in terms of strengthening their workplace health and safety protections.”
“I thank them each and every day for what they do, what they have to put up with—the number of phone calls they get where people are angry and disappointed or frustrated, and the number of times that people ring up and have got suicidal ideation or thoughts and challenges. The breadth of the legislation and ministerial responsibility that our staff deal with each and every day—and they themselves are captured and covered by this legislation. I'm so very pleased that's the case. Any court will have to consider the personal circumstances of a respondent when determining the conditions attached to the order, but they do conditions to protect, and there is a great deal of breadth in those conditions. I saw that personally when I was practising as a lawyer for nearly a quarter of a century, before coming here.”
“In this context, 'Commonwealth worker' covers employees of Commonwealth entities—which is critical, because not everyone works for a Commonwealth department—under the Public Governance, Performance and Accountability Act, including Services Australia, the Australian Taxation Office, Veterans' Affairs, Australia Post and ministerial and electorate offices. It is absolutely vital that we protect our staff who work in electorate offices and who go out with us each and every day. They serve the public, just as people in Medicare offices and Services Australia do. No person in this chamber could do their work without the wonderful staff working for them.”
“In order to issue a WPO, a court would need to be satisfied that the respondent has engaged in personal violence in relation to Commonwealth workers or individuals in their Commonwealth workplace, there's a real risk that the respondent will engage in further personal violence if an order is not made, and the order is necessary or desirable. It's so similar to the kinds of things that I used to do when I was practising as a family lawyer many years ago. I've seen many of these types of cases, so I'm very pleased to see this type of legislation applying to Commonwealth workplaces and Commonwealth workers.”
“The definition of 'personal violence' is designed to include acts of violence, harassment, intimidation, threats of harm and other harmful non-physical violence such as abuse that is verbal, over the phone or via email. This definition is akin to the definition of 'domestic and family violence' in the Peace and Good Behaviour Act at the state and territory level, so there's a history of jurisprudence. I would hope and expect courts will take note of precedence and prior cases in this area in terms of making a decision. On application, a Commonwealth state or territory court could make an interim or a final WPO. Under urgent circumstances, an urgent protection order can be made.”
“It will be available to most Commonwealth workplaces and extend to anywhere a Commonwealth worker is conducting official Commonwealth work. Commonwealth workplaces include those pop-up offices we see at service centres and shopping centres, Commonwealth service-delivery vehicles and a Commonwealth worker's residence when working from home, which is so critical because so many people work from home. This is very important in an electorate like mine because we have pop-up services in country towns in the Somerset region from time to time. This bill will cover those workers who do that kind of work. The bill enables an authorised person to apply to the court, as I said.”
“It establishes a framework that authorises a person within the Commonwealth entity—that's not necessarily an individual—to apply for a state or territory magistrate court or local court, the Federal Court or the Federal Circuit and Family Court to issue what will be known as a 'Commonwealth WPO' in order to protect a Commonwealth worker or workplace from threats of harm and actual harm. It means that we establish a new act of parliament, the Commonwealth Workplace Protections Orders Act, and a new scheme. The bill's crucial to mitigating some of the serious risk of harm. Ultimately, a WPO aims to prevent future violence from happening. The bill is about making workplaces safer for the public who visit them to gain access to critical government benefits and services. It provides legal protections for workplaces and workers.”
“These people staff service centres and call centres across Australia. Unfortunately, they continue to face the increasing risk of violence from members of the public. It's been said before that Services Australia staff experienced 1,692 serious incidents between 2023 and 2024. The bill responds to the unacceptable situation and implements recommendation No. 17 of the Ashton review. That recommendation states: The current ACT Workplace Protection Order provisions should be adopted for use by the Commonwealth as a staff protection mechanism nationwide.”
“In response to the horrific stabbing of an Airport West Services Australia officer, Joeanne Cassar, in May 2023—a devastating reminder of what we need to do to protect more workers—the former minister for government services and the NDIS, the former member for Maribyrnong, commissioned a review into the safety of frontline Public Service workers, the Services Australia Security Risk Management Review, conducted by the former chief commissioner of Victoria Police, Mr Graham Ashton. Forty-four recommendations were made, and we committed to implementing every recommendation of the Ashton review. The frontline workers who will be covered are those who help the community with essential government services, like Centrelink, the Australian Taxation Office, passport offices, airports and the Australian Electoral Commission.”
“Changes had been made to entrances and exits, there were protective screens and walls, safety procedures had been put in place and there were two full-time security guards every day. But that's not enough, sadly. This legislation will strengthen the Commonwealth's ability to protect Commonwealth employees, protecting those on the frontline, through the creation of an enforceable workplace protection order. This is similar to the kind of legislation that operates at a state level. Violence and aggression have a devastating impact on frontline workers and their families, so it's not just about the individuals who work for our public but their families as well.”
“In recent years, Commonwealth workers have increasingly been subject to the kind of violence and abuse that I referred to that the SDA ran campaigns against for their members. They are subject to acts of violence and aggression from the public. This is simply unacceptable, and that's why the Albanese Labor government is introducing the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025. We want to make sure that Commonwealth workplaces are safer for workers and the Australian community. Now, we can do this by building arrangements and structural design. I saw that just last week during a visit to the Services Australia Ipswich office—one of the busiest in Queensland.”
“In other results, 12.5 per cent were victims of personal violence, nine per cent were spat on, 10 per cent had suffered online abuse, 17 per cent had suffered abuse of a sexual nature and 24 per cent had suffered abuse, harassment or violence referencing their race, ethnicity or cultural background. There were 6,000 people who were surveyed. That is an extraordinary degree of abuse that people who work in food and retail suffer from every day. This particular legislation doesn't deal with them, but it does deal with those who serve our public and are known as public servants. Every Australian, whether working in retail, hospitality or the food industry, deserves to be safe at work.”
“I'm very pleased speak on the Commonwealth Workplace Protection Orders Bill 2025. I think that one of the best campaigns I have seen in relation to industrial relations in the last decade was the campaign done by the SDA, the Shoppies union, which was called No One Deserves A Serve. In fact, this bill could be called the 'No-one Deserves a Serve Bill' because it relates not to food and retail, which the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association has coverage of, but to public servants and those who interact with the public service. That campaign I referred to found that 87 per cent of people who worked in that industry had suffered verbal abuse, while 76 per cent received verbal abuse on a regular basis, monthly, weekly or daily.”
“It's another sign that the Albanese Labor government is backing our veterans community in the Ipswich and Somerset regions. I'm looking forward to working with RSL Queensland and seeing this facility opened officially.”
“This is why the Albanese Labor government awarded them a $5.4 million grant to lead the development of the hub in the first place, and it's why I'm confident they'll deliver an outstanding facility where veterans and defence personnel and their families will have access to a wide range of health and wellbeing services close to home when and where they need it. Importantly, the Ipswich hub will provide tailored mental health services and wellbeing services, in keeping with our government's strong commitment in responding to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, something that Labor, from opposition, called upon the government to do. That's why having this hub close to where people live is so important.”
“It's wonderful to see the significant progress made with this project, with the permanent location now locked in and co-located at the Mates4Mates Ipswich Centre, in West Ipswich, and there's the expectation that GO2 Health will operate from this facility as well. RSL Queensland and Mates4Mates have a proven track record when it comes to supporting the veterans community in South-East Queensland, so I am pleased that RSL Queensland was the successful applicant for the funding. They've got the runs on the board to make this happen. They've operated other centres around Brisbane, with Mates4Mates running several successful hubs across the country.”
“We've got more than 10,000 veterans and families living in Ipswich and the surrounding areas, and more than 5,000 ADF personnel posted to RAAF Base Amberley, including army units. I'm very proud that the Albanese Labor government is delivering upon my commitment to establish this veterans hub—even more so because the federal Liberal and National Parties previously promised a veterans hub for Ipswich in the 2026 federal election, only to renege upon the commitment after having won the election. They went on to drop the commitment from their 2019 and 2022 election platforms. Then the Morrison government announced funding for a veterans wellbeing centre in South-East Queensland but still failed to deliver one in Ipswich. So it took Labor's commitment at the 2022 election to finally secure this funding and this facility for my community.”
“On 12 August I was delighted to announce a location for the new Ipswich veterans and families hub in my electorate together with the Minister for Veterans' Affairs and Defence personnel. Operated by RSL Queensland, the new hub will be co-located with Mates4Mates at 260 Brisbane Street, West Ipswich. This follows Labor's commitment in the 2022 federal election to deliver a much-needed veterans and families hub in Ipswich. It has taken RSL Queensland a long time to decide upon and acquire a site, but they got there in the end. It's important because we have one of the biggest bases in the country—in fact, RAAF Base Amberley is the biggest air force base in the country.”
“Ultimately, we want to see the local economy work for local people, and we want people to be able to raise a family, enjoy a good quality of life and live where they need to live. That's what the economic roundtable in Blair showed. It was a very productive exercise, if you excuse the pun, but it was good to see local voices being heard loud and clear and feeding into that national conversation on economic growth and living standards. I want to thank everyone who attended and contributed with good will and amity. It was fantastic to see businesses and unions working together. At its core, productivity is about people, fairness and intergenerational equity. It's about delivering better, secure, well-paid jobs, affordable housing and better infrastructure and making sure no-one's left behind. House adjourned at 20:00”
“So it's wonderful to see the Minister for the Environment and Water and the Minister for Housing announce this week that the government's taking decisive action to cut through red tape and delays in approvals that are holding up construction of more homes and other projects. The government will work with the states and territories for further improvements, such as pausing the changes to the National Construction Code. While this is underway, we're going to streamline that code in consultation with stakeholders, and we're also going to make changes to fast track assessments for more than 26,000 homes currently under the EPBC Act consideration and speed up those new applications in terms of assessment.”
“In my electorate, an example of that are the federal environmental laws under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, the EPBC Act, which was well intentioned but neither protects the environment—for example, threatened species like koala—nor facilitates good housing development, and it exacerbates road congestion. At the forum, we heard that some housing developments in the greater Springfield and Ripley areas were held up for years by the so-called green tape of EPBC Act approvals, and the National Construction Code has also been increasing the costs.”
“We have had to contend with a number of challenges in recent years. These have included increased congestion on the roads, housing affordability, floods, workforce shortages and an ageing population. You may have heard the Treasurer talking a bit about the A bundance agenda lately. It's based on a recent book, and it's really informed the government's thinking about productivity. In a nutshell, it means that a rich society like ours should be able to meet people's basic needs in terms of land, housing, education, infrastructure et cetera, but in recent years some institutional barriers have arisen which makes it challenging. So we need institutional reform to address this and improve productivity.”
“Part of the motivation for holding a local roundtable was that we had seen strong local economic and jobs growth in recent years powered by a number of major developments, such as the new Suntory drink manufacturing plant at Swanbank and the Rheinmetall military vehicle facility at Redbank, and by big employers like JBS meat processing at Dinmore and Kilcoy Global Foods at Kilcoy. This is all very welcome, but we want to keep good, secure, well-paid jobs for locals now and into the future. This means continuing to back local industry, to attract new investment and to build the skills that people need to succeed. Ipswich is growing very rapidly. At the same time our region is experiencing growth pains. We need to invest more in housing, infrastructure and skills to meet the needs of a booming population.”
“We had a terrific video from the Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services, who set out the Albanese government's broader growth and productivity agenda, and renowned seniors advocate, philanthropist and author Everald Compton entertained us with an engaging talk about the value of intergenerational partnerships and tapping into the human capital of older Australians. After the well-received forum, I wrote to the Treasurer with the key outcomes to feed into the national economic reform roundtable held here in Canberra last week. We've seen that this has already delivered a number of initiatives that participants at my roundtable were calling for, and that's very pleasing.”
“Earlier this month, I was delighted to host a Blair economic reform roundtable at Jets Leagues Club in Ipswich to workshop ideas on how to boost productivity and economic resilience in the region. The event brought together around 30 local business, union, community and government representatives as well as experts to discuss shared economic challenges and opportunities in Ipswich, the Somerset region and surrounds. It canvassed a wide range of issues: the value of volunteering, cutting red tape for local charities, cracking down on tax evasion and sham contracting, the importance affordable insurance and disaster resilience, and the economic sustainability of our local area.”
“Local organisations that are successful recipients include Ipswich Hospice, with $10,000 to concrete brick paver paths; Ipswich Kindergarten in Milford Street, where I went to kindy, which received $10,000 to replace ageing shade sails; North Ipswich Bowls Club in Ipswich, which received $10,000 for energy efficiency and LED lighting; the Vedanta Centre's Maa Sarada soup kitchen in the Greater Springfield area, which received a $10,000 grant; and the Rosewood & District Community Kindergarten in Rosewood, which received $10,000 for new upgraded electrical appliances and equipment. Money also went to the Somerset region for local community organisations.”
“Combined with Labor's tax cuts, increased wages, cheaper medicines, cuts to student debt, increases in Commonwealth rent assistance and energy bill relief, this boost to emergency and food relief and financial wellbeing support is just another way the Albanese government is helping to address the cost-of-living challenge for people in my community and making sure no-one's left behind. I want to congratulate the 14 community groups and sporting clubs who've received $100,000 in funding in total in the latest round of the government's Stronger Communities Program. Charities, including sporting clubs, got this funding, with individual grants ranging from $3,204 to $10,000.”
“That's why this funding will help families and individuals in Ipswich who may be facing hard choices, like a choice between buying new school shoes and doing a grocery shop, or between keeping the lights on and paying their phone bills. I visited one of the funding recipients, local charity Ipswich Assist, before the election to see firsthand their emergency relief work. They provide year-round assistance to people, including basic food staples, utility bills, rent assistance, pharmacy support and local op shop referrals. Just the other week, I dropped in on another grant recipient, the Salvos' Moneycare Ipswich financial counselling service, who are doing a fantastic job supporting locals with debts, gambling problems and other financial issues and helping people deal with their cost-of-living issues.”
“I'm delighted to report the Albanese Labor government is delivering around $5.8 million over five years for six organisations to provide emergency and food relief for struggling families and individuals in my electorate, including terrific local community organisations like Ipswich Assist, Leichhardt One Mile Community Centre and Riverview Community Centre, as well as bigger charities like Vinnies. We are also providing $2.1 million over five years to three organisations which are helping people in Ipswich to access financial counselling, including people facing financial hardship due to gambling: the Salvos, Each Ipswich and Women's Legal Service Queensland. I know many people in my electorate are doing it tough, and services like this are seeing a big increase in requests for assistance.”
“As Merton's eyesight failed, his later works became more vivid and striking. A few years ago I had the joy of opening what would become his final exhibition at The Condensery, focusing on issues important to him: industrialisation, capitalism, neoliberalism and their impact on food production and the environment. Before that, he did a wonderful series of stylised paintings capturing distinctive features of members of the Gillard government—including my big forehead, by the way. His friend the musician Mic Conway wrote a song that played at his memorial to pay tribute to Merton. Vale, Merton Chambers. Deepest condolences to Beryce, the family and his many friends.”
“I rise to pay tribute to my friend the internationally renowned artist Merton Chambers, who passed away on 27 July 2025. Merton was born in Canada in 1929, and after graduating from art college he won a travelling scholarship to the UK and Europe, honing his artistic skills and developing his unique style. He returned to Canada and was a significant influence in the arts and crafts movement of the 1960s and 1970s and in the 20th century architectural arts movement. He moved to Australia in the 1980s and continued to cement his artistic reputation, particularly in Queensland. After retiring, he moved to the Brisbane Valley in Blair, where he met and married his best friend, my friend Beryce Nelson, who was instrumental in founding The Condensery art gallery in Toogoolawah.”