Dan Tehan
Wannon · Liberal Party · Australia
“We all remember the budget speech of this year, which had all those toxic taxes and broken promises. Those toxic taxes and broken promises are getting bigger by the day, especially the broken promises. Who remembers the Treasurer saying: 'Reforming and strengthening care.”
“I move: That subparagraph (6)(b) in paragraph (1) of the motion be amended to read: "(b) Opposition member as its deputy chair who shall act as chair of the committee at any time when the chair is not present at a meeting of the committee;" The Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade has had a very long tradition of…”
“I think it's really important that that continues, and I hope that the government will support this amendment, which would continue that long tradition and make sure this very important committee can continue to do that important work.”
“I move: That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member from Wannon from moving the following censure motion immediately: This House censures the Minister for Defence Industry and Minister for Pacific Island Affairs for comments made today at the National Press Club—”
“on indulgence—This is obviously an issue between the teals and the government. There's obviously been some disagreement about how the House should be managed. Our hope is that the teals and the government will be able to work it out and that this issue won't further delay all the bills.”
“I can tell you that people will vote with their feet at the next Victorian state election unless this is fixed—and fixed quickly. They're sick of standing on their feet for the whole three hours because of this failure.”
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“They've got their priorities wrong. We've seen all of this money go into the Suburban Rail Loop. The Albanese Labor government has set aside $2.2 billion to go into theSuburban Rail Loop. I saw, on the front page of the Herald Sun today, that the Victorian state Labor government, due to the walloping they've had in the polls, are thinking about changing their priorities. Well, stop thinking about it and just do it. Look at fixing your existing infrastructure—in particular, your existing road infrastructure, which is declining day by day because you're not putting the investment into it that is needed. You only have to drive our roads to see the urgent attention that is needed.”
“If we know what the star rating is, we know where we need to put the funds towards. I call on the Victorian state government and the Albanese Labor government to require that that information be released every year so we know what is occurring with our road infrastructure and where we need to put urgent effort in to make sure that our roads are safe for people to travel on. We also need the Albanese Labor government to immediately reverse its cuts to our roads—over $80 million worth of cuts to roads in Wannon. It's unconscionable. We need more funding, not less. And we also need the Victorian state Labor government to put maintenance funding back into our roads. Don't cut road maintenance funding at this time. Put more maintenance funding back into our roads. How could they do it? They could act immediately if they wanted to.”
“We need to see it from the Victorian state Labor government as well. We cannot see more lives continue to be lost on our roads, rather than less. What do we need to do to make sure that we turn this around? To start with, we need state governments—and we need the Victorian state government—to release the Australian Road Assessment Program data, which sets out what the rating is, from one to five, for every road across every state and territory. I was able to get this information, dating back to 2014, through a freedom of information request. That's what it took to get this information for Victorian roads. Why won't the state Labor government just release that data? If it did, we would know where we need to immediately fund our regional and rural roads in particular.”
“It gives me a great honour to be able to second this motion by the member for Barker. I thank him for the cooperation in working to put this motion to this place, because he knows and understands, as a neighbour of mine, how important road funding is to regional and rural Australia—in particular, to his electorate, the electorate of Barker, and to my electorate, the electorate of Wannon. This data sadly speaks for itself, with 1,300 lives lost on Australian roads in 2024. Think of the impact that that has had on those families, the friends of those people and local communities right across Australia. This is something that we have to address. The last four years have seen the road toll go up each and every year. We haven't seen that since before the introduction of seat belts. We really need to see action from the government now.”
“There has never been a more important time for the unity of this country, for us to come together and defeat antisemitism. We need to act and we need to act now.”
“Some of the things that we're going to need to do will require a complete and utter change in the way that some of our institutions, especially, deal with antisemitism. I think the universities, beyond every other institution, need to be the ones that have a good hard look at themselves and act immediately. If they're going to allow some sort of academic pretence for antisemitism, that is sending the completely wrong message to young Australians. Of all institutions, they are the ones that need to have a good hard look at themselves. I hope that, as a parliament, we can come together and support this bill. I hope that we can come together and make sure that all the amendments that will strengthen this bill are agreed to.”
“We need to put an end to all of this. Sadly, we allegedly nearly saw a major terrorist strike against Jewish communities, which would have been the largest terrorist action we have ever seen on these shores. If such actions had been undertaken against the Jewish community here in Australia, the government would have acted and it would have acted unconditionally. That is the time that we have come to now, where we have to act unconditionally. This bill will help in that regard, but if we fail to continue to take the decisive action that is needed then the sad reality is we're going to see antisemitism continue to increase in this nation. As I said at the start, we cannot allow that to happen, because an attack on a Jewish Australian is an attack on all of us.”
“But that doesn't mean that we can't act now and begin to repair the damage which has occurred as a result of the Prime Minister's initial response to what happened in this country in the days after the 7 October attack. That is my hope for what we will see with this bill, because the time of false equivalence is over. What we need to see immediately is the government acting on stamping out antisemitism. I didn't think that we would see synagogues set on fire in this nation in my lifetime, but that is what we have seen, sadly. I didn't think we would see increase after increase after increase of antisemitic graffiti across our cities, especially in Sydney and Melbourne. I didn't think we would see Jewish shops being vandalised. I didn't think we would see Jewish Australian citizens being harangued by roaming gangs.”
“Then we have to do the very hard task of trying to work out how we can ensure that the Palestinian people aren't governed by a listed terrorist organisation in Hamas. That is the next step, which is absolutely required, to bring about the lasting peace that we need to see in the Middle East. But that should not distract us from our task here. That task here is to make sure we're doing everything we can to deal with the antisemitism that has arisen as a result of 7 October. What I think we all hope for is to see the Prime Minister step up and set the tone for what our national response should be to this antisemitism crisis in this nation. That could have been done from the very beginning. It could have been done in how those terrible actions that occurred on the steps of the Sydney Opera House were dealt with, but it wasn't, sadly.”
“The way the Israelis across the divide responded with such strength and such unity showed that they were not going to be intimidated or defeated by Hamas, a sad, sad listed terrorist organisation. As a matter of fact, what they did was unite and make sure that they would do everything they could to get their citizens back. It's taken too long for that to occur. We're only seeing part of that occur at the moment, but all of us hope—and I'm sure it is the hope of everyone in this parliament, even, I hope, the Greens—that we will see those hostages returned. The best way that we can ensure that we start to get on a pathway to peace is if we can get all of those hostages returned.”
“No government in its right mind wouldn't do everything it could to get its citizens returned. No government in its right mind wouldn't do everything it could to get its citizens back, especially when they are being held by a listed terrorist organisation. That is what Israel has been trying to do. We have to remember what occurred on 7 October. What was perpetrated by Hamas against those Israeli citizens was nothing short of heinous. It was a day of murder, torture, kidnapping, brutal sexual violence and sadly much, much more. It was designed to be cruel and barbaric. It was designed to send shockwaves. It was designed to strike at the heart of Israel in the most heinous way to cause maximum pain and maximum anguish and to basically try to destroy the absolute core of Israel's society.”
“We're still seeing today the impact that they've had globally, the impact that those attacks have had on Israel, the impact that those attacks have had on Israeli families and the impact that those attacks have had on the hostages. As someone who went to Israel not long after those attacks, I can say that the scars and the legacy of what I saw and the testimonials that I heard are still with me today and will never leave me. It's why I've been so strong in supporting the position that the coalition has taken in our defence of Israel's response to those attacks. I've always, always said, 'Put yourself in the place of Israel.' Say those attacks had occurred here in Australia. Say Australians had been taken hostage. Say those hostages were still being held and hadn't been released.”
“Will it be an atheist? Attacking people because of their faith and their ancestry is purely and simply wrong, and that is why we have to deal with this issue. We are a proud nation, and rightly a proud nation, because we always act against racial attacks and we always act against those who target people because of their faith, and we have to keep doing that. It goes to the heart and the essence of the values that underpin our great nation. We have to make sure that we protect those values because, without them, we're a divided nation. The last thing we need to be is a divided nation, because it's been the strength of those values that have underpinned us and kept us united. The 7 October attacks were heinous and carried out by a listed terrorist organisation. That's why they deserve to be outright condemned from the very start.”
“We have sought to do it on a daily basis ever since, and that is why we're here now, still offering very constructive engagement with the government to make sure that we can get this bill through, and through in the right way so that we can begin to finally ensure that we have unity of purpose in ridding this nation of antisemitism. Why is this bill necessary? It's necessary because of the repeated failures of the government to prevent this predictable rise following inaction after 7 October. Why do we need to act? It's very simple why we need to act, because an attack on a Jewish Australian is an attack on every Australian. It's quite simple. If we don't act against those attacks on Jewish Australians, the question that everyone will ask is, 'Who will be next?' Will it be a Hindu? Will it be a Catholic? Will it be a Muslim?”
“That has meant we have got to the stage now where antisemitism in this country is occurring far too often, and in the most draconian of ways. That is a sad reality, and it is why we need to act, immediately, with strength and with unity, to stamp it out, because it has no place in our nation. One of the things that I think the coalition can be incredibly proud of is that immediately after 7 October we saw and understood the potential changes in antisemitism rising in this country and we sought to act immediately.”
“I rise to speak on this incredibly important bill. It's a bill that I hope will pass this parliament, and with the amendments that we have suggested to improve it even more. I don't think there is a greater issue which is confronting the nation at the moment than in this bill when it comes to ensuring a cohesive society going forward. If there is anything that will drive division, if there is anything that will destroy the social fabric of this nation, it is antisemitism, and we have to do everything we can to stamp it out. It is a sad reality that we are where we are in this nation when it comes to dealing with antisemitism. There is no doubt, sadly, that the time to act, immediately after 7 October, didn't see the action that this nation required.”
“The little video clip we've put out about your generosity and kindness has basically gone viral, so a huge thankyou. Yesterday I was doing my bit to try to keep the local community safe from the blaze in the Grampians. Can I send out a huge thankyou to Chris, Jason, Callum and Tom, who were with me on the Tarrington fire truck. They are dedicated volunteers and an absolute inspiration to our local community. As a matter of fact, all the CFA members at Tarrington are, as they are right across the electorate of Wannon, but to Chris, Jason, Callum and Tom I say: you made my day incredibly special, and I really thank you for that.”
“At every door we knocked on, people had nothing but admiration for the fact that we were out there making sure that our cause was being put to people in a very polite but very warm way. After having knocked on a door and then been down to a few other doors, we were walking back up a set of apartments when Sharon popped out of the door, and Sharon had a big box of local icy poles and ice creams for us. She said, 'I've got nothing but admiration for you, being out here doing what you're doing, and I want to give you an ice cream.' And, in a truly Colac way, they were Bulla ice creams. They were from the local ice cream makers in Colac, Bulla, who produce fantastic products. I say to Sharon: your generosity was so, so welcome, and I think you absolutely deserve a shout-out in the parliament for your kindness. You put a smile on our faces.”
“It builds on other things that we have done, such as the wonderful Melville Oval redevelopment, which is taking place at the moment and will be finished nearly in time for the football and netball season opening this year. There's what we've been able to do to the livestock exchange, with new flooring and the new roof. There's the $5 million that's been allocated for the civic upgrade, and there's much, much more. I want to keep delivering for Wannon. I want to keep delivering for the southern Grampians and for Hamilton, and that is my commitment. On the weekend, on Sunday, I was out doorknocking with the former prime minister Tony Abbott. It was 36 degrees, we were doing it in the afternoon and it was hot.”
“After all the hard work from the community and their strong advocacy, which has led to us now having this important youth mental health space open, this is just fantastic news. It augurs well for a very bright future for the young people in Hamilton. But, not only that, we've also seen a recent announcement that we're about to get our own regional university centre. This gives me immense pride, because the community has advocated strongly for this. As Minister for Education, I was able to establish a national network of regional university hubs. To see that work now result in Hamilton having its own regional university centre is just wonderful news for the local community.”
“Facts matter in politics. We had the Parliamentary Library look at the facts around grant funding for the electorate of Wannon. Since 2016, we've had $694 million worth of grant funding. That is more than what has been allocated to the seat of Mallee and more than what has been allocated to the seat of Corangamite. In great news, the town of Hamilton and the Southern Grampians shire have just seen two results of the community's strong advocacy to make sure that we in the electorate of Wannon continue to get our fair share. Last week, headspace opened in Hamilton. This incredibly important youth mental health service is now open and will be able to provide those services that are needed for young people in and around Hamilton.”