Michael McCormack
Riverina · National Party · Australia
“She told the local newspaper, the Daily Advertiser : He shared his personal story and he was just such a brave, compassionate man— and we heard that from the member for Chifley a moment ago. She continued: He was the most warm, caring, generous man.”
“He knew that he was going to succumb to the diseases that were afflicting his body, and yet he used his final months, weeks, days and hours to send a message to the nation about what can be done, what should be done and how we should act.”
“The coalition has concerns from the sector itself about the consultation process, including but not limited to the fact universities had not seen the bill before it was tabled. There are elements of the drafting surprising the actual sector.”
“My thoughts and love and condolences go out to Katie and his children, Emily, Matthew and Lucy. It is a profound loss that they have suffered. I listened closely to the words of the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Health and Ageing yesterday before question time.”
“There are a lot of Australians out there at the moment who are very angry, and, when there is anger, there is unfortunately a race to the bottom when it comes to healthy debate. I don't need to remind the House about the sovereign citizen movement and what that can do to Australia and the nature and discourse of debate.”
“I do believe that children should be allowed to be children. We saw it in the veterans legislation, where there is now going to be a $5,000 cap on allied health for veterans to access important services. The Labor Party said: 'Trust us. We'll do the consultation over the next 12 months.' It's not good enough.”
The complete record
Every one of 1,285 lines we hold for Michael McCormack, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 13 of 26.
“It will destroy illegally downloaded books and refrain from using pirated books to train chatbots in the future. Another article in the Conversation, the author of which was Alice Grundy, a visiting fellow at the School of Literature, Language and Linguistics at ANU, was 'The Productivity Commission is floating AI copyright exemptions—with worrying implications for Australian authors and publishers'. That's why we do need to act. That's why we do need to be on top of this.”
“We're in there; we're fighting the good fight for and on behalf of those people who understand and appreciate what copyright means in this changing world. The Conversation also had a very good article by Agata Mrva-Montoya: 'An AI startup has agreed to a $2.2 billion copyright settlement. But will Australian writers benefit?' It's a very good question, because all too often the courts are determining and deciding on matters pertaining to copyright, but are the penalties or the resolutions of these cases—the money—filtering down to the people who actually created the items or the photographs or the art pieces or whatever in the first place? The author wrote: If the settlement is approved by the presiding judge, the company will pay authors about US$3,000 for each of the estimated 500,000 books included in the agreement.”
“She runs the Conversation. We all know the fine journalism work that she has done for decades, and long may that continue. The Conversation, which I recommend people read, has really investigated this copyright angle—particularly, as the member for Griffith pointed out, in this changing and emerging world of ChatGPT and the information age in which we live. In one article, author Wellett Potter, lecturer in law at University of New England, writes, 'If ChatGPT wrote it, who owns the copyright?'—it's a good question—'It depends on where you live, but in Australia it's complicated.' That's why we're here today. That's why we're discussing this. It's a shame there's not more speakers on the bill. I note the member for Nicholls holding up the lines for the Nationals.”
“There's no dues paid or compensation paid for the work that has been created here in Australia—here in regional Australia. We do need to protect the ACMs of the world, because what we don't want to see is a landscape where there are no printed editions being lobbed on front driveways and lawns. Yes, everybody has one of these—a mobile phone—and a lot of people use them for their news, and that's great, but there are still people, particularly in regional Australia, who love their little local newspaper—the Tumut and Adelong Times , the Temora Independen t and they're really successful newspapers because they're doing the parish-pump stuff. That parish-pump stuff is copyrighted to those people producing it, and so it should be. I had a conversation earlier this afternoon with Michelle Grattan, somebody who I've got the utmost respect for.”
“It is so hard for them to make a buck, but they're still investing in journalism; they're still investing in writing and photography and local news. Whilstever they're prepared to do that, we should protect them and help them by way of government advertising, but certainly with legislation that does protect their copyright—legislation that protects the work that they create and the work that the people they invest in create. I know that former treasurer Josh Frydenberg—may he come back soon—in 2021 did a lot of good to strengthen the companies in Australia that do invest in Australian content and Australian journalism. At the time, he flexed his muscle and bent the arm of these big companies that, if you let them ride roughshod, will just take the content and plonk it in their own publications with no copyright paid.”
“I know that the—I won't say the coalition's position; I'll just say that the Liberals' and the Nationals' position is to support the legislation. I appreciate that it has gone before the Senate Standing Committees on Legal and Constitutional Affairs and inquiry thereof, but it is important and noteworthy. There are several schedules to the bill, which I'll refer to in a moment or two. I also want to acknowledge the work that the previous coalition government did in relation to supporting publishers against the big meta companies. Yesterday's edition of the Daily Advertiser , which I once edited, was just 16 pages. I cannot recall in all my time as the editor of that publication it being so thin. Their advertising has fallen off the cliff.”
“He writes about what he calls 'at least two big questions': Will enough readers pay enough money to view online news to offset the loss of advertising revenues from the printed medium? What is the best paywall model that will hit the sweet spot of subscription revenue and at the same time ensure there are enough readers to maintain advertising yields? He says that the jury is out on both—and, indeed, it is. Our media is under pressure like never before. We need to help and support it, and encourage any moves of the government. I know that the government has done something in this regard, and I encourage that. This bill is important because it puts some framework around copyright, and, while it's a complicated matter, it's a very important matter.”
“We have an abundance of information and opinion at our fingertips, all jostling for our attention.' He says: 'In order for democracy to flourish, it is vital that the citizen has various sources of information and access to proper forums for open and fair debate. The media plays a critical role in stimulating debate about important issues, presenting facts and reporting news, uncovering corruption and misconduct, and providing a vehicle for diverse perspectives.' And he's very right. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in this subject. Further on in the book there is a chapter by no less than former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull, a journalist of some note—and I think once a journalist always a journalist.”
“Far be it from me to start quoting Labor members of parliament or former members of parliament, but I note that in the chapter titled 'Free Speech, Responsible Media, Law and Liberal Democracy', by former Attorney-General from 1993 to 1996, Michael Lavarch, he writes—and quite correctly too—about the role of media in a democracy. He notes: 'The media plays a central role in our lives, even more so now that we can access a range of media sources through the gadgets we all carry around. I do not just mean social media but also more traditional forms, such as television, radio and newspapers.”
“Whilst the Copyright Amendment Bill 2025 is largely a technical bill, it is, as the member for Griffith quite correctly points out, an important one. It's not going to grab headlines, but headlines are what it's all about because we live in a digital media age. We live in the information age. When I was a newspaper journalist, indeed a newspaper editor for more than a decade, I was fortunate to have some of the experience imparted upon me by Bruce Burke. Bruce Burke is a very good defamation lawyer, particularly specialising in the media. He won the Australian Press Council Press Freedom Award in 2022 for his work. He was very good at the traditional print media, and the media landscape has changed vastly. I refer to the book, More or Less: Democracy and New Media , edited by Helen Sykes.”
“I think a lot of city people think that their milk juts comes from the fridge in the supermarket. It comes from a cow; it's milked. It gets put into cartons, it gets put on a truck and it gets taken to the cities. That process is all under threat. Those drivers are all at risk, and they're at risk because of sham contracting. They're at risk because the margins are too small for the trucking companies that have served this nation for decades and have done it so well and deserve the applause and the gratitude of the government—a government that, at the moment, is very unfeeling and uncaring about an industry that keeps this nation moving.”
“It's the Geoff Crouches and the Ron Finemores and the Peter Rodneys of the world. They love their industry and they're desperately worried about how it's going to be fixed. Looking for solutions—they've got solutions; they just need a forum through which to put their cards on the table. Is the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government listening? I doubt it. I do. Is the government caring? I doubt it. I haven't heard anybody from the government side talking about trucking or talking about what we can do to help the transport industry. I'll stand corrected, but I would love to see somebody get up in question time and talk about the trucking industry and thank the trucking industry for what they do for our nation. I don't think anybody really knows.”
“I think they should be in the summit as well, because some of the regulations that they put on trucking companies need to be looked at. Maybe they're right; maybe they could be improved. But, whatever the case, we do need to look into this sham contracting. We need to get to the bottom of this sham contracting. If we don't, then those trucks that you see going up and down the highways and those trucks that you see on the byways and little country roads are going to disappear because nobody will be able to afford to run them. If Geoff Crouch can't run a successful operation, then I don't know who can. They love their companies, they love their workers and they love to see their trucks out on the road—the big rigs, the big heavy haulers, the freight movers, the people who keep this nation running.”
“They want to open the doors of their small businesses. They want to make sure their kids get to school. They want to make sure their kids get to sport. They want to make sure that they live a good existence, but they can't do it if they don't have food on the table, they can't do it if the supermarket shelves aren't filled, and they can't do it without trucking companies. Regional Australia will suffer because many of these trucking companies emanated from regional Australia, and they're all over regional Australia. They're in Albury, they're in Wagga Wagga, they're in smaller towns as well, and they're doing it hard. They're doing it tough, no thanks to this government, which has made it so very tough. State governments have a role to play, too.”
“Get a group together where the likes of Tom, Ron Finemore and Peter Rodney are all able to have their say and lay it bare on the table so that we know what the problems are, because they do know. But they will also have solutions, and I think it's incumbent upon the government to adopt those solutions because, if we don't, then all the goods that are being ferried around the nation are going to grind to a halt. Deputy Speaker, you know who will suffer the most? It'll be the mums and dads trying to pack their kids' school lunches, trying to get the kids off to school, because out there we talk a lot about all sorts of things—the inner machinations of the parliament and whether the coalition is together and this, that and everything else. Out there in voter land, they just want to get on with their lives.”
“Trucking enables goods to be transported all around Australia. And without trucking, as I said, all of that stops. The nation grinds to a halt. But what is this government doing about it? Zip. Nothing. Absolutely nothing. We should be having a summit—a major gathering, a come-to-Jesus moment, if you like—for our trucking sector. And, yes, call in the unions. Let them have their say too. I'm not against that. I think what we saw when we had the productivity summit was a union talkfest—a gabfest. But I wouldn't be against the unions coming in, because they're part and parcel of this, and they might have some interesting input. I'm sure they would. But get the drivers in, young and old—mainly they'll be old, as I said before.”
“The mainstream media has just cottoned on to the fact—even though I have been banging on about this for some time—that the sham contracting arrangements are doing a great disservice to our trucking industry. Under a sham contracting arrangement, you'll get an ABN. That'll be paid, but the drivers miss out on all the add-ons. Of course, that company saves the additional expense. I'm told it's reasonably widespread and that that is how some operations are able to offer cheaper prices to haul freight than other companies. There's not a level playing field, and that is a problem. It requires, I believe, the transport minister to have a summit. We had a summit last year about productivity, and, if there's one thing we talk about when we talk about productivity, it should be trucking, because trucking enables productivity.”
“And this is one of the reasons why our trucking sector is in such a perilous state. Here are some facts about trucking. Forty-seven per cent of drivers in Australia in 2024 were 55 years or older, and only 5.4 per cent of those drivers are under 25 years of age. Projections by the International Road Transport Union predict 21 per cent of Australian drivers are due to retire by 2029. That cliff is not far away. In 2024 we had 28,000 unfilled truck driving positions in Australia. It's no wonder Ron Finemore advertises so extensively. It's no wonder Peter Rodney, who has his own group, is despairing and often calls me about the number of trucks he has backed up to the fence in his yard. Allowing for the projected retirement of more than 50,000 drivers, the shortage will grow to more than 78,000 unfilled positions by 2029.”
“It, too, is a third-generation business, founded by Ron and Beverley Crouch in 1978. It started carting hay for a single client and grew into quite a powerhouse. Certainly, it's a large company for Wagga Wagga. Thankfully, a buyer has been found, and that is some relief for Geoff Crouch, the son of Ron, and indeed for the workers who are in that company. But look at other companies that went to the wall. Newnham Trucking in Queensland, Aava Logistics, Truck Repair Group in Queensland and BDS Group in Victoria all collapsed last year. And the common denominator is this: it's a Labor government that has not acknowledged that the trucking sector is in crisis. It's a Labor government that has brought about a cost-of-living crisis. It's a Labor government that does not care about small business.”
“XL Express, a national company, went under in August, after 35 years in business, leaving around 200 employees without jobs. That's 200 employees in a cost-of-living crisis. Where do they go? What do they do? Don Watson Transport, another national company, closed its doors in June last year after 77 years of successful operation, carting much of the refrigerated transport demand. They're a logistics company with more than 300 staff, who transported cold goods between Sydney, Wodonga and Melbourne. There are over 140 trucks up for sale. Transtar Linehaul, another national company, entered administration in July 2025, leading to the company auctioning off their 38 prime movers and their 56 trailers. Closer to home for me, in Wagga Wagga, there is Ron Crouch Transport.”
“Without trucking, the nation stops. Australia is so heavily reliant on our transport industry, particularly our truckies. They do a power of good, and they've never been under more pressure than right now with all the rules, compliance, obligations and regulations. They appreciate that they have to do the right thing, and, by and large, they do. But the onerous nature of what is expected of them is becoming all too much. Under this government, so many of these wonderful trucking companies are going to the wall. D.J.K. Transport in New South Wales went into liquidation in August 2025 after operating for 57 years. A K G Trucking, from the same state, also entered voluntary liquidation in the same month and on the same day as Round Em Up Transport.”
“This is what he said: 'This is Australia's fight. Jews are the canary in the coalmine. It is critical the government supports the victims' families in a big way. Many of them have very limited financial means. Securing the royal commission was the result of people power.' And he's right, of course. Josh, as has every Jew, has especially felt this tragedy—this unnecessary tragedy. Jewish Australians have been let down. They have been badly let down. No more. May light always conquer darkness. May justice be served on the perpetrators and all of those who seek to do harm in words or actions to Jews in this life or the next. Shalom to the 15 victims and their families, whose lives have been irrevocably changed by this awful event.”
“When a state premier, Chris Minns, and a police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, ask that a particular protest not go ahead, those requests must be upheld and honoured by the judiciary who head up our courts. Our New South Wales police, and all first responders to this incident, were magnificent. They were. They ran to help when harm threatened. The ordinary, everyday heroes were courageous in the true Australian spirit of mateship, of bravery and of humanity. Locally, for my electorate, candlelight vigils were held at Wagga Wagga on 18 December, when the mercury hovered around 40 degrees Celsius, and three days later at Yass, when it rained heavily—tears from heaven. Both were touching ceremonies. Thank you, Riverina. I communicated this morning with my good friend Jewish Australian Josh Frydenberg, the former federal treasurer.”
“What took place on that day of infamy should never, ever have happened—not anywhere and certainly not here in our law-abiding, peace-loving country. But let's be honest. Let's look deep into our hearts and minds. If we were that law abiding and peace loving, then how does something so terrible and terrifying occur? We need to be better as a nation and as a people. But will we? Already, in the short, sad days since the worst terrorism attack on Australian soil, we have seen and heard more of the antisemitism, the radical Islamist extremism, that has been allowed to spread like a cancer through society across our communities, even regionally. This must stop. It has to end now, for little Matilda's sake if nothing else.”
“Fifteen blessings. Fifteen rays of light. Fifteen beacons of hope. Fifteen beautiful, innocent lives gone—lost, taken, stolen—in a hail of hateful bullets, a mad and bad fury of mere minutes when iconic, peaceful Bondi Beach changed forever. These were 15 Australians—strangers to most, but Australians. They loved and were loved. This country is girt by sea. We know this because we sing it every time we join in the national anthem. Bondi provides some of that girt. It encircles, fastens and helps to bind Australia. Our Jewish Australian community does the same. On 14 December, hundreds of Jewish Australians gathered at Bondi to celebrate and to commemorate. Hanukkah is about the victory of light over dark.”
“Yes, we have lost a combative person from the halls of parliament, but we've also lost a beautiful man who had so much more to give. And I know he gave all he had. To Amanda and D'Arcy, and to the Labor Party, the Labor family: my and Catherine's deepest condolences. I will miss him greatly. I loved him dearly. Vale, Graham Richardson.”
“We all just have the same desires, the same hopes, the same ambitions and the same aspirations. The thing that Richo and I shared was a love of this nation. And I know we all do, but I will never forget the support and encouragement that he gave me. It was when you were at your lowest ebb—and I'm sure that goes for other people too—that you could always expect a call out of the blue from Richo. I say 'always expect', but it was out of the blue. He'd send a text, he'd give you a call and he'd say, 'Keep on going.' He would be there to support you when the party political way would be, 'Let's get stuck into him, and let's ruin this bloke forever.' No—that wasn't the Richo way, and that shows the deep love that he had for this nation, for his fellow human beings.”
“I remember he texted me one day, and he said, 'Only idiots think we can do without that black stuff.' He was sensible, and he was pragmatic—unusually so for this place. I say 'this place' across the aisle because he didn't always go with what you would expect him to go with. He didn't always just go with the grain and fall into line because that was the party political position. And that's what I liked about him most. He was a little bit maverick. But when Graham Richardson spoke, not only did the parliament listen, but the nation did as well. And, as I say, I loved the bloke. He was so, so good, and for somebody from the National Party to be saying this in a condolence motion about somebody from the Labor Party—it boils down to the fact that we're all just human.”
“His articulate thoughts in the media—and they were articulate—always cut through. Even when Scott Morrison went on his little overseas trip—and I know; I was the DPM at the time!—and the whole nation was on top of Scott for doing that, Richo defended him. Richo was in there, and he was saying: 'Well, prime ministers need holidays too. They need a break.' The one thing that he fell upon in that argument defending the then prime minister was the fact that it was about family. Richo believed in family. He believed in core values. I'll be a little bit political here. Even though he was a former environment minister and we can thank him for what he did to preserve, save and protect the Daintree rainforest, he also believed in—wait for this—coal. He did!”
“I know that he gave that promise to D'Arcy—lovely, smart, intelligent, beautiful, young D'Arcy—that he would live until D'Arcy had completed his Higher School Certificate, and he did. He kept his word. You know why he kept his word, Deputy Speaker? It's because he was a man of his word, and he was. If he said he was going to do something, then he jolly well did it. As the Deputy Prime Minister has just said, he had so many surgical procedures. He had so much going wrong with his health, but he didn't complain. You didn't know about it; he just got on with the job. He was mortified as to his inability to do the normal daily everyday things that most of us just take for granted, but he was mortified as to what he was doing to Amanda or asking her to help him in every possible way of life. That was the Richo we know and loved.”
“Yes, it was whatever it took. Yes, he was a rogue. Let's call it for what it was. He was a bit of a rogue in his younger years, but who isn't? None of us are perfect—absolutely none of us are perfect. But he gave so much to this nation. He gave so much to politics and to the Labor movement. He wore his heart on his sleeve, and I understand and know full well that he was one of Labor's powerbrokers, numbers men. He was ruthless when he needed to be, but he got on well with people across the political spectrum, and that's the important thing. He loved his country—there's no doubt about it. You didn't have to second guess Richo, because he was a plain talker. He was upfront and he was honest. He was straight to the point. He meant what he said and he said what he meant each and every time.”
“He sent a beautiful bunch of flowers. That was special. He would be the first on the phone to ring and to offer his advice but also to pep you up when he thought you needed it, and that's rare in politics. I know the Deputy Prime Minister and I have a good relationship, and I admire the job that he's doing, although I'd never admit it publicly—I think I just did!—and I know the Attorney-General and I have a very close relationship. You form these friendships across the aisle, and you do it because you want the best for our nation. I hope the member for Dickson and I can, eventually in the future, as well. We're only custodians of the job for as long as the people who get to vote us in decide that we are still the person for the job. Richo gave his all when he was the health minister and other portfolios as well.”
“But I have to say Australia has lost one of its brightest beacons with the death of Graham Richardson. He was always so very supportive and encouraging. He happily gave his wise counsel. I'm from the National Party—go figure this. You've got a Labor doyen, somebody who is entrenched in—call it for what it is—the union movement, the labour movement, who reaches out across the aisle, across the political divide, and wants to help and support a National Party person at a time when that National Party person was having a pile-on against them. I'll tell you the other person who did this as well—it was Simon Crean. Simon Crean and I were very, very close, and I cried the day I learnt that he had passed, and I don't cry very easily. But when my wife, Catherine, just after Easter last year had open-heart surgery, Richo reached out.”
“Richo was horrified at the fact that Alan Jones—it was his show—stepped in and, you know, nipped the interview in the bud. But, whilst the show was on air, you could sense this friendship that was forming between Graham and I, and it was a friendship that endured and endured to the day that he passed. I was very, very upset when I learnt that he had died, not just because I didn't get to experience that long lunch that we'd been promising to do for some time but because I'd lost a very true and dear friend, and Catherine had too. I wasn't aware of how close Catherine and Amanda were, but they were texting on the day. I saw Amanda in the corridor the other day. I know she was in the parliament this week for the Prime Minister's and the Leader of the Opposition's fine eulogies and fine memories of Graham.”
“I have to say during my time as DPM there were times when there was a pile-on, and you knew that when there was a pile-on most of the media, most of those in politics, would also pile on. They would kick and they would kick hard. Richo was somebody who would come across and put his hand out. He would defend you. And, when I met Richo the first time in a political sense, he was there defending me. He came to my wife Catherine's and my house, our home, and he had Amanda with him. He had D'Arcy with him—what an impressive young man D'Arcy was and is. You could tell there was this deep bond between those three, that close-knit family. Richo interviewed me for Sky, and he did a special on me which was cut short by one Alan Jones.”
“Fine words by the Deputy Prime Minister from another, former deputy prime minister. I love Richo. I really did, and he was so good to me. You can only take people as you find them. You can only take people as you see them, as you have experiences with them, and Graham Frederick Richardson AO was so very, very good to me—unusually so, because, as you just heard from the Deputy Prime Minister, the member for Corio, Richo was a Labor man through and through. He loved the Labor Party—he did—but he loved his politics more, and he wanted Australia to be the best possible place it could be. I think he also loved the fact that he could help and defend somebody who was being kicked, somebody who was down.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. I refer to reports that imported materials from China, used to build wind towers in Australia, contain asbestos. What action is the minister taking to address this?”
“They deserve better from a parliament that understands the service and sacrifices they have made, not in their name but in their mate's name, in the duty of their service in the Army, Air Force or Navy, for the flag and for the patriotism of our nation so that others may live, because, as St John once said, 'Greater love hath no man shown than to serve and lay down one's life for one's friend.' I commend the bill.”
“Mateship, honour—he didn't do it for a medal. He didn't do it for a piece of tin on his chest. He did it because it was the right thing to do and because that's what Australian soldiers do. That's what Australians who go through Kapooka do. Under the changes that were passed by the House of Representatives—brought into the House of Representatives by the minister at the table—that was all going to be taken away for future heroes. That was wrong. That was dishonourable. Thankfully, the minister has, through pressure, through advocacy and through common sense—and, I will say, through decency because you are a decent man, Minister—has taken that piece of legislation, that folly, off the Notice Paper . Let it never see the light of day again, because our heroes deserve better.”
“I know the minister, as I said before, is a principled person, but he should not have listened to the Department of Defence, to the bureaucrats, when they came to him with the changes to Defence medallic recognition. I know that he knows I was going to say this. For people such as Richard Norden, a recent Victoria Cross for Australia recipient—he would not have been eligible under the system that was proposed and even passed this House of Representatives. He would not have received that long-overdue recognition, that highest of honour that the military could provide and that Australia could provide to someone who, at the Battle of Coral-Balmoral went into danger not once, not twice, but thrice—again and again and again placing his life at risk—to rescue a mate. Isn't that, after all, what service and sacrifice are all about?”
“They truly do. But veterans' experiences may well be different to those of their comrades and former comrades. This bill ensures a smooth and fair transition to this new system. It's written in such a way that veterans do not accidentally lose entitlements in the process. Thank goodness for that. It's not a new policy proposal; it's about fixing cross-references, it's about definitions, and it's about transitional clauses in the law—making sure they work properly when the new system takes place and begins. Importantly, the bill guarantees that veterans with existing claims under the Veterans' Entitlements Act or the Safety, Rehabilitation and Compensation (Defence-Related Claims) Act keep every right and review option that they currently have. Nothing is being taken away. Minister, this is where the brickbat comes in.”
“But, for those who are affected and for those who have done their time and done their service, proudly so, and are going back into civilian life who are affected—we must be there for them. As a parliament, we have to be. I have to say that making sure that compensation and rehabilitation come under the one banner, under a single piece of legislation, is to be acknowledged and is to be applauded. It replaces the outdated patchwork of laws veterans currently face. Not every veteran's relationship or association with the Department of Veterans' Affairs is going to be a good one. Some choose not to even go through the DVA process at all. But I would encourage veterans to take advantage, to avail themselves of all the services available. The DVA has very good people. Our public servants in that area are very good, and they want to help.”
“He put in place a veterans' employment program which is to be acknowledged and applauded. I know he would often say, during his days in the Lodge, that not all of our veterans are broken. And they are not. The member for Sturt touched on that in her contribution, wisely so. Many of our veterans come back, and they're used to the formality and rigidity of military life. It must be hard for them to adjust back into civilian life and back into family life, and yet many of them do and contribute mightily to our nation. All of them have put in, all of them have given, all of them have served, and all of them have sacrificed. Not all of them are broken, and we should acknowledge that.”
“Just think of that—for the 60,000 of Australia's best and bravest who came back from that conflict, the bloodiest war the world had ever known, there weren't the support systems and there weren't the wraparound services that we have today, more's the pity. They came back with trench fever, shell-shocked. They were conditions that no-one could possibly have understood. They were different men. Yes, there were women too. There were nurses who were on the frontline, and, no doubt, they too suffered. We gave mightily to World War I efforts. They called it the Great War—no war is great. We've learnt a lot from that conflict, and we've acted responsibly since, but we can never do enough for our veterans. I know that former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is being honoured this week.”
“The coalition backed the VETS Act when it passed the parliament early this year. We understood—because veterans are at the core of what we support as well—a simplification of veterans' compensation and rehabilitation, the system recommended by the royal commission. In her remarks, the member for Sturt talked about the royal commission, which shone a light—an all too tragic light—onto what some of our veterans have endured since leaving military life, and it's not a new thing. Indeed, former Australian War Memorial director Dr Brendan Nelson—he was probably the best prime minister we never had. He used to speak about the fact that as many veterans, diggers and Anzacs passed away in the decade after the guns fell silent on the Western Front in World War I on 11 November 1918 as did in the war years from 1914 to 1918.”
“It was so impressive to see them marching up the main street in khaki, blue and white, representing the three arms of the Defence Force. This Veterans' Affairs Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill is due to come into effect on 1 July next year. It establishes a single legislative framework for veterans' entitlements, compensation and rehabilitation. The minister would know, as would anybody who has served in any capacity in the portfolio of military, defence and veterans' matters, that getting simplification for entitlements for veterans is so crucial and so vital. The legislation introduces minor technical amendments to support a smooth transition from the three existing acts to the new Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025, quite simply known as the VETS Act.”
“His efforts in the Pacific in the Second World War are to be admired and respected. That is Blamey Barracks, Home of the Soldier, 1st Recruit Training Battalion Kapooka. We've got the Royal Australian Air Force. There's a sign that says 'Air power begins here'—and it does, right in Wagga Wagga. If you spend any given time in the Air Force you may well end up at Forest Hill. With that base, we have a Navy base as well, even though we are a long way from the nearest drop of seawater. There are 80 personnel serving the Navy proudly at Wagga Wagga, at that Forest Hill facility, and we thank each and every one of them. Recently all three arms of defence came out to mark one of the many commemorative occasions that we do in our defence training city.”
“I say to them, as we ought to say to everybody who has worn a uniform: thank you for your service—TYFYS. As the shadow minister, the member for Gippsland, quite correctly pointed out in his remarks, but for the service and sacrifice of those and many others before them we would not enjoy the benefits we do today. We live in the greatest country on earth. We have these democracies, these freedoms. I see a number of young people up in the gallery; they will enjoy a better life because of those people who have put on a military uniform and represented our nation. I come from Wagga Wagga. That city is a garrison city. We have Blamey Barracks, named after Thomas Blamey; what a hero he was. But for him, we may well be speaking a different language and this nation would be vastly different to what it is today.”
“It is funding which will save lives, and I say that because I know how important it is, as a former veterans affairs minister—and you don't get that job unless you are a good person, and the minister is a good person. I'm giving him some bouquets at the moment; don't worry, Minister, you'll get a few brickbats further on in my speech! I also acknowledge the service of the member for Solomon, who is speaking after me—a solid citizen as well; he went through Duntroon. I acknowledge the member for Herbert and the member for Canning, former reserves and may still be serving in some capacity—the members for Hasluck and Spence, and no doubt there are others. I know the member for New England has also done some service, and there could be other members in the House of Representatives as well who have.”
“A bouquet for the minister at the table straight up. I know he has veterans at heart, and I know that he and I share support for the two veterans facilities in Wagga Wagga, in the heart of the Riverina: RSL LifeCare, the Riverina Veteran and Family Hub at 240 Baylis Street, Wagga Wagga—the main street; and the Pro Patria Centre, in the western suburb of Ashmont. The minister announced funding recently for Pro Patria, for the defence shed, in September this year. Earlier, in November 2023, he announced $1.2 million for Pro Patria and $520,000 for RSL LifeCare. Those investments were welcomed. He was in Wagga Wagga to announce the 2023 spending.”