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
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“Easter is a holy time. It's a time when families get together, and they look forward to those reunions. Often, they look forward to having their city cousins coming to the regions. But this won't be happening this weekend for many, many Australians. The reason for that is our metropolitan friends won't be able to visit the country, as they normally do, because they won't be able to afford the fuel—that's if they can actually get supplies of fuel. This is a disaster. This is a national crisis. Not that Labor would admit that, just a few short weeks ago, but all of us— There are supplies, I hear the minister say. If there are supplies, why aren't they getting out to the regions? Why is Andrew Duff at Gooloogong, who is out of petrol, having to take his trucks off the road for three weeks because he can't get fuel?”
“There will also be a further statutory review by 2030, providing an opportunity for a more comprehensive assessment of the implementation of the royal commission's recommendations. This amendment strengthens transparency and reinforces accountability. It does not alter the commissioner's independence or powers. The coalition stands ready to work in a bipartisan way to achieve strong outcomes for veterans, while continuing to scrutinise legislation where necessary to ensure those outcomes are delivered. I thank the House. Question agreed to.”
“Originally, the coalition proposed a reporting date of September 2026. However, in its submission to the committee's review of this bill, the Acting Commissioner of the Defence and Veterans' Services Commission raised concerns that there may not be sufficient time for the government to implement all the royal commission's recommendations. The coalition listened to those concerns and adjusted the proposed date from September 2026 to February 2027. Importantly, the government supported this amendment, and it was agreed to by the Senate. We acknowledge the government's constructive engagement in recognising the importance of bringing the first reporting date forward.”
“As originally drafted, the first assessment of the government's implementation of the royal commission's recommendations was not required to be completed until December 2027. This would have meant the report may not have been tabled until 2028, almost four years after the royal commission reported. That timeframe, we felt, was too slow and risked weakening accountability. The coalition's successful amendment requires the first implementation assessment to be completed by no later than 5 February 2027. That timing is reasonable and practical. It marks more than two years since the royal commission's final report and more than a year since the commissioner commenced operation. That is sufficient time to assess whether early-stage reforms are being delivered and whether government commitments are translating into real and genuine action.”
“The coalition moved an amendment to bring forward the timing of the first implementation review by the commissioner. I do want to thank the previous shadow minister for veterans' affairs, the member for Gippsland, and his office for the work they put in with the government to bring about this particular amendment and the effect of this amendment. This reform sits within a broader framework originating from the coalition's 2020 policy to establish an independent national commissioner for defence and veteran suicide prevention, as well as the coalition's decision to establish the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. This legislation reflects that policy foundation, and we welcome seeing this important reform brought to fruition.”
“We've seen it all too often in recent times. I have personal experience of this, of police officers not being protected by their own. Police officers do a darn fine job, and I commend them for it. I'm just glad that we've now got in Mal Lanyon a police commissioner in New South Wales who will stick up for his officers, and I certainly give him every respect in that regard.”
“Reports are that Dezi Freeman, who shot and killed two police officers in Victoria, has been shot and killed himself, and there won't be much mourning done for this cop killer. Anybody who draws weapons on police deserves what is coming to them. We have seen a rise in recent times of sovereign citizens in this nation, and it is extremely worrying. I wrote an editorial many years ago—many, many years ago—and said that police officers who draw their weapons were damned if they did and dead if they didn't, and there were a number of people who were criticising police at the time in a number of high-profile incidents where police did what the community expected of them. We have seen, in both Queensland and Victoria, officers slain by people who have drawn weapons. We have to protect our police. Police have to protect their police.”
“Labor have now been in government for near on four years and they can't keep using the excuse, 'It's the coalition's fault.'”
“With consumers struggling to afford apartments at what it costs to construction them, builders just don't have any margin left to absorb these costs. In regional Australia it's so difficult, too. We went to the election last year with a good plan to help councils offset water and other amenities to new subdivisions. Of course, we didn't win the election. More's the pity, but working with local and state governments in particular is going to be key to solving this housing crisis. But, first and foremost, we need to get the cost of doing business down. It's going to be about pulling those levers of the economy, to get the cost-of-living crisis sorted, because people simply can't afford to buy a house. They simply can't afford to pay the rent to put a roof over their head. That is the great crisis.”
“You only have to hear from the likes of the New South Wales head of the Urban Development Institute of Australia, Stuart Ayres. He's a former New South Wales cabinet minister, and he said there were real fears the construction industry could flatline. He was speaking last year—goodness knows what he might be thinking now. He said: The rapid escalation of costs for construction businesses has put many construction businesses under pressure and seen an increasing number forced into liquidation. Developers can't deliver the housing we need without competitive construction businesses to do the building work. Taxes, compliance and regulatory requirements and a shortfall of skilled labour all have cost implications for business.”
“When I addressed this particular issue of getting product in the House of Representatives, I was talking particularly about the timber industry in Victoria being shut down by the state government, and the then housing minister, the member for Franklin, interjected and said, 'Well, what does timber have to do with it?' Well, it's got a lot to do with it, because you build homes out of timber. I just heard the member for Solomon talking about what they're doing in the space of the trades, but you cannot find tradespeople—carpenters, electricians, bricklayers and all of those people who are vital in the construction of houses—in regional Australia in particular. If you can, the costs are so very high and getting higher. It's at breaking point—it absolutely is.”
“The following year, 2023-24, there were 1,409. In 2024-25 there were 1,567. Dare I say, I'm sure that number will sadly, unfortunately, probably be even higher in 2025-26. I know this from personal experience. My wife, Catherine, was the regional manager of Dennis Family Homes. It was bought out by Simonds Homes in November 2024, and Dennis Family closed their regional operations. Such a pity. It was due to economic conditions. It was due to lack of land availability. It was due to the difficulty of getting people, contractors and product.”
“We can talk until we are blue in the face about the home situation—people getting a roof over their heads, renters, and making sure the economic conditions are right for construction companies—but out there they are feeling a sense of frustration. They have been badly let down by this government when it comes to the housing sector. You only have to look at the construction insolvencies per financial year to know that what I'm saying is true. In the last full year of the coalition government, there were 351 construction insolvencies in 2020-21. The following year, that number increased to 494, and that was on the cusp of the government changing. Prime Ministers Keating and Howard both famously said that when you change the government, you change the nation. Then, in 2022-23, we see 981 construction insolvencies.”
“This is not just now; this is just a week or a fortnight ago, when the crisis first started. They were only able to get their tanks half filled. Then they were paying $3 a litre and then they were having to pay cash. I've got to tell you those sorts of reports are alarming. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission needs to investigate all of those allegations, because, obviously, if it's only a cash system, then somebody is pocketing that money, and I dare say that that money wouldn't be going through the ATO. But, anyway, I digress—”
“Haven't we been caught short when it comes to ensuring that we have ready-made Australian supplies on hand and available. I know the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has been going on and on about the fact that supplies are okay—nothing to see here. Well, I'm sorry, but there is a big issue, and it's not just about affordability of prices. I saw the other day, in the Northern Territory, a report of diesel prices of $4.25 a litre. Certainly, across my electorate, diesel is now selling at $3.30 a litre. That's if you can get it. So it's not just about affordability; it's about accessibility and availability. The supplies just aren't getting out to regional stations. Then you've got farmers putting their tanks down under lock and key, and there are reports of farmers being charged.”
“It just takes the political will, the courage, the know-how and the bipartisanship to make it happen. The situation with our liquid fuels is that 50 per cent of the nation's imports by weight are liquid fuels. You can add another 10 per cent on top of that with petrochemicals. We need to do everything we can to ensure that those ships continue, that those contracts are met. We also need to make sure, as the member for Nicholls said, that the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill 2026 takes into account the absolute need to ensure that oil, gas and coal are part of this government's deliberations and regulations and legislation. Export Finance had this mandate not that long ago, under this government, to reject and rebuff those fossil fuels. Haven't we been caught with our pants down.”
“I know, when we had COVID and we had issues around transport, some of the finest ministers, would you believe, came on board when trucks were taking hours upon hours to get over the border. Having had that meeting of the ministers that night—and I specifically refer to Rita Saffioti and to Jacinta Allan, Labor ministers in Western Australia and Victoria—they were able to work with me to ensure that we were able to get trucks across the border in next to no time. That relationship worked well, and I have to say that it provided the difference between trucks being able to deliver groceries and medical supplies in a matter of minutes and what we were encountering, which was a matter of hours. It wasn't going to work, and we knew that. So I know it can be done. I know it can be achieved.”
“Eromanga, since 1986, has produced mining-grade oil. Let's see what we can do there. You only have to recall COVID—it wasn't that many years ago. We were apparently going to be out of sanitiser. Well, we looked at what we could do. We got our manufacturing online, and within days, not weeks, we were able to produce the hand sanitiser that the nation needed at an affordable rate, and accessible and available. We can do the same. We have the know-how, we have the skills, we have the expertise. This government must be pulling every lever to make sure that we've got available fuel, available oil, available diesel. We need it. As I say, National Cabinet will work with the Prime Minister of the day.”
“He has had a plan on the desk of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy for at least two years, if not a lot longer, to see what can be done to upscale the southern and northern oil refineries. We could call them re-refineries because what they're doing is converting sump into usable oil. More than that, his plant at Gladstone has the potential, with a bit of engineering and some political will, to convert old tyres into usable oil and prickly pear, acacia into oil. This must be considered. We have to get sovereignty in our fuel reserves, in our oil stocks. We must. That particular proposal that Mr Rose has had on the table, in the inbox of the minister, must be retrieved, dusted off and examined thoroughly. As part of the oil product stewardship program and the role of the minister, we have to have some political will in this space.”
“And what a food security crisis leads to is a national security crisis. I'm not being melodramatic. I am just being absolutely truthful. I heard the member for Nicholls talking about biofuels and biodiesel and the difficulty of getting that online straight up, and I realised that this is something that does take years. It does take long-term planning, but we have to, as he would acknowledge, start now. I know that Tim Rose, in my hometown of Wagga Wagga, has Southern Oil Refining. It's been there for some time. It now produces 20 million litres of very fine oil and, along with his plant at Gladstone, the Northern Oil Refinery, which produces 50 million litres of oil, it converts sump into 70 million litres of oil a year. Now, in the scheme of things on the national fuel front, they are small numbers, but that can be upscaled.”
“It is the start of an important part of their yearly cycle; that time of year where they either direct drill seeds straight into the ground—dry ground in many parts—or start scarifying their paddocks in order to sow. Unless they can get diesel in their big heavy farm machinery, they don't sow. Our farmers are not only the best stewards of the environment; they are the biggest risk-takers in this nation, and we cannot do without them. If they don't get to sow now, if they don't get their crops in by the end of April or early May, then we are going to be in a world of trouble come harvest time—traditionally around October, November and December for those dryland crops—and it is going to cause an issue of food security. We have a fuel security crisis now. We will then, in six or so months time, be in a food security crisis.”
“He got it wrong when he, some might cruelly say, cost the now government the opportunity to get in earlier when he brought in those franking credits, which was going to be a tax on ordinary everyday Australians. They rejected what the opposition had to say at the time, and of course, he famously said, 'Well, if you don't like it, don't vote for us,' and they didn't. That was the 2019 election. We're at a crisis at the moment, and that has finally been acknowledged by the government. I will say that it's not just a national crisis; it is an international crisis. I listened closely to the Prime Minister in question time when he said, 'We do have a war in Iran, and we acknowledge that.' But we've also got, as the member for Nicholls quite correctly pointed out in his excellent contribution, farmers who are in the sowing season.”
“Already she has been given the task of reviewing the Water Act—no mean feat; it's a big job. Now she's been tasked with the role of doing the job of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. She has been given his job, and being the Fuel Supply Taskforce Coordinator is going to require a lot of her time. She's going to have to balance her water responsibilities with her fuel responsibilities, and, as the member for Nicholls knows, fuel and water doesn't always mix. I'm sure she's very qualified, but the Minister for Climate Change and Energy has, in so many ways, abrogated his responsibility. Here is a minister who just keeps getting it wrong. He got it wrong when he allowed 800 boats and 55,000 illegal arrivals on these shores.”
“When the government follows the coalition in policy, you know you're on a good thing. Certainly with the halving of the fuel excise, that's what was called for last week, and that's what's been done. And the road user charges—there's some relief there. To be fair, let's applaud the government for that, but it took them to be dragged kicking and screaming to the table, albeit the National Cabinet table, to do this. But credit where credit is due; there will be some relief at the bowser. Again, as has been said, will it solve the issues of accessibility and availability of supply to regional petrol stations? That remains to be seen. Is there a credible, workable plan going forward? That remains to be seen. I do worry about the workload that the government has put on Anthea Harris.”
“Then, of course, you've got Dick Honan, another great risk-taker, who has invested more than $1 billion in this nation, in infrastructure, in recent years. Dick Honan, of Manildra, is proposing—and has proposed for many, many years—an ethanol mandate. We have to look at these sorts of things as this oil crisis, this fuel crisis, confronts our farmers, the greatest risk-takers in this nation. If they don't get the fuel to fill up their tanks to sow the crops then we are going to be in a world of hurt. It's not just a fuel security problem. It's a food security problem. It's a national security issue.”
“He has had a proposal on the desk of the Minister for Climate Change and Energy for some time, for some years, and, sadly, it has not been acted upon. The Southern and Northern Oil refineries have, since 2001 and 2014 respectively, produced millions of litres of oil. Indeed, the current equivalent is 50 million litres of oil at Gladstone and 20 million litres at Wagga Wagga. These are not insignificant numbers, particularly with the crisis that is currently besetting the nation. If we can invest in this and have the political will and the pluck to do the right thing—to make sure of the oil stewardship program, the funding, the capacity at those two plants—then we can create jobs and, more importantly, create oil. Isn't that what we're all seeking to do at the moment?”
“The curriculum vitae of Wagga Wagga's Tim Rose describes him as a chemical engineer with degrees in both environmental science and business. It talks about his more than a quarter of a century of experience in industrial operations and re-refining. What it doesn't say is that he is a risk-taker—and indeed he is. He is the proprietor and brain, along with his wife, Camille, of the Southern Oil Refinery at Wagga Wagga and Northern Oil Refinery at Gladstone. Here is the potential key to unlocking our national fuel crisis, because what the Southern Oil Refinery and Northern Oil Refinery do is re-refine sump oil. They have the potential, in Gladstone, to turn prickly pear, acacia and old tyres into usable oil, usable fuel. This could well hold the key to future oil capability, sovereignty and success.”
“What I was reading sounded like M ad Max , and it was M ad Max , but it's also 'Mad Australia' in 2026, and it's happening right now. Central casting need look no further than the government frontbench to find its characters for the 2026 version of M ad Max . But, I ask, who will play the central roles of Jim Goose, Grease Rat, Clunk and Grinner? We know who they will be.”
“There's petrol hoarding, panic buying, fuel theft, abuse being slung at servos and empty bowsers across the regions. I've just read you the prices of fuel. It's not a low-budget dystopian action film; it's the here and now, right now, tragically. Why won't the Treasurer provide some relief at the bowser by cutting the fuel excise or increasing the fuel tax credit? There are actions that can be done, that should be done, that must be done—but they're not being done. Farmers and trucking companies are copping it in the neck. Why won't the Prime Minister pull the levers available to him to help the situation? He'll say, 'Well, I am,' but it's not happening. Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, just do something—anything. Minister for Climate Change and Energy, we need real action and we need it now.”
“Indeed, come harvest time, if they haven't planted, it's going to be a food security disaster—if it isn't already. Consider this: the setting is a collapsing Australia, plagued by fuel shortages; one of humankind's most precious resources, oil, has been depleted; the world has been plunged into war, famine and financial chaos; the countryside is losing its way; what little water there is, people are fighting over; food security is almost non-existent because you cannot grow food without fertiliser, fuel or water; and the government is nowhere to be seen. Am I reading the plot for the 1979 blockbuster M ad Max ? Sadly, no. I'm not. This is Australia in March 2026. I'm not over-egging it. I'm not being melodramatic. I'm not hamming it up. This is the truth. People are getting out of control.”
“When you look at the E10 and diesel prices in the Riverina electorate, it's terrible, awful reading. At Coolamon, E10 is 274.9c and diesel is 330.9c a litre. But you go through them. Cootamundra is 262.9 and 328.9; Cowra is 259.9 and 319.9; Crookwell is 263.9 and 314.9; Grenfell is 259.9 and 327.9; Gundagai is 252.9 and 315.9; Junee is 259.9 and 313.9; Lockhart is 264.9 and 314.9; Temora is 260.9 and 316.9; Tumbarumba is 266.7 and 324.7; Tumut is 254.9 and 320.9; Wagga Wagga—a big city, the largest inland city in New South Wales—is 247.9 and 313.9; Yass is 246.9 and 312.9; and Young is 247.9 and 305.9. They're figures that are too high, and that's if you can actually fill your tank. And it's sowing season. Our farmers are out there about to scarify their paddocks, direct drill, and get ready for sowing.”
“This matter of public importance debate is on 'the government's failure to provide national leadership', moved by the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Hume. Never has there been a time to look at leadership more than right now. In question time today, the Prime Minister used the word 'overprepared'. We're certainly not overprepared when it comes to the national fuel crisis. We heard the Minister for Climate Change and Energy say, on Monday, 'I'm done,' and he certainly is when he outsources his work—his job—to Anthea Harris, who, at the moment, is doing the review into the Water Act. Now, she's also been tasked with the Fuel Supply Taskforce coordinator role, which should be something that the minister does himself. Now, all politics is local—we all know that.”
“The consequences of that are felt every day in regional communities. The communities that grow and provide our food and much more! And she's right.”
“Australia has one of the best health systems in the world and every Australian should be able to access affordable, high-quality specialist care without risking financial hardship. I don't think there's anybody in the parliament who would disagree with Associate Professor Fielding's remarks. She said: But many patients face a different barrier. They can't see a specialist at any price, because there isn't one locally. Rural Australia has 2.7 doctors per thousand people compared to Cities which have 4.3. Potentially preventable hospitalisations are 30 per cent higher in outer regional areas and 70 per cent higher in remote communities. Thirty per cent of the country's population are too often overlooked, and for too long, our health system has been built around metropolitan centres.”
“I refer to that 5 March gathering where Associate Professor Fielding talked about the issues and the vast difference between accessing health services in country areas and elsewhere. She said: Across Australia, too many people are doing the same, travelling long distances or unable to travel, worried about accessing the care they need. She was referring to questions her 90-year-old mother had raised: How much will this cost me? What if I can't afford it? How long will I have to wait and how far will I have to travel? Associate Professor Fielding went on to say: They're getting bills they didn't expect, or they're avoiding a referral altogether because they don't know what it will cost. The Minister recently told Parliament that over 800,000 Australians delayed specialist care last year because of affordability. That is a serious problem.”
“Particularly at the moment, as the member for Mallee outlined, there are so many people who cannot access their health diagnosis. They cannot get to their doctors' appointments at the practice or the surgery simply because they can't afford to pay for the fuel—that's if they could even fill up their tank, because, at the moment, we've got a crisis. We've got a national crisis with the availability of fuel. There are more than 600 petrol stations which are out of fuel, and that is causing problems, particularly in regional Australia, and particularly for chronically ill people—and even for those who just need to see their doctor because they may have got an overnight sniffle, or worse—and that's not good. That is not good.”
“All too often, I believe, this government is outsourcing more and more of the work that should be done by ministers, who have the final say. The buck has to stop with them. The second change to which I referred broadly aligns with the current process for premium changes for existing products while enlarging ministerial oversight of premium setting of new private health insurance products. The change is attempting to address the risk of product phoenixing, where an existing insurance product can be closed and an identical or similar new product then opened at a higher premium, skirting and getting around the requirement for premium change approval. The coalition is not going to stand in the way of this, because what we want to see is people being able to access help, certainly in regional areas.”
“The second change contained in this bill is focused on regulating private health insurance premiums. It requires insurers to seek ministerial approval for premiums for new products and for existing products where certain changes are suggested. I'm not against ministers having more powers. In fact, I've spoken a number of times in recent months about government ministers—Labor ministers—abrogating their responsibilities when it comes to actually doing their jobs. The jobs of ministers should not be fulfilled by the bureaucrats in the Public Service. Whilst we have some outstanding public servants—I acknowledge that—they are not the ones who have the final say and the imprimatur on a piece of legislation coming before the House or the Senate. They are not the ones who make the calls and the decisions.”
“The member for Mallee, the shadow minister for regional health, has also just given a fine speech to the House of Representatives about the issues for people in country areas accessing health. The Health Legislation Amendment (Improving Choice and Transparency for Private Health Consumers) Bill 2026 is a bill which makes two key changes to Australia's private health system. First, it brings in transparency by default, with amendments to allow the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing to publish information on the Medical Costs Finder about the medical fees charged by medical practitioners, including specialists and GPs, and the likely out-of-pocket costs patients will incur through their private healthcare experience. That is a good and wise step.”
“This legislation is about health, and, certainly, I want to acknowledge the member for Pearce and her contributions to the parliament. What she does and how she does it—she's somebody who shows a lot of pluck, and I do absolutely applaud you, Member for Pearce. You are an inspiration; you truly are. I want to also acknowledge the member for Lyons, the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care, for attending a 5 March professionalism framework launch of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges. That particular meeting, a very important one, was addressed by Associate Professor Kerin Fielding from Wagga Wagga, who is president of the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges. She's also an orthopaedic surgeon. She laid bare the difficulties with regional health as opposed to metropolitan services.”
“I spoke to former president Biden on the sidelines—I suppose you could call it that—of the late pontiff's funeral, in Rome, and he was so pleased that they were partnering up with Australia, because if you ask any American Marine, any American serviceman or servicewoman, they will tell you that the best partners in the world are Australians. They know of our defence capability; they know we train them well—of course at Wagga Wagga, through the home of the soldier, Kapooka—and they know that, if Australia gives its word, it means it.”
“I appreciate that Adelaide suffered greatly when the car manufacturing companies left, and we needed to absolutely make sure that all of those highly skilled jobs were retained in Adelaide, in South Australia. It's an important part of our national fabric and certainly of our manufacturing in this country. In September 2021, an 18-month consultation period began into how Australia would acquire nuclear-powered subs and which model it would go with. I know that there were important talks going on between Prime Ministers Morrison and Johnson, from the UK, and the then president of the US, Joe Biden, and there was agreement to determine by March 2023 the optimal pathway for an Australian conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarine capability.”
“I was part of all of those discussions and I know full well why we had those doubts and why we did what we did as far as AUKUS was concerned. There are no greater friends—let's face it—than the United Kingdom and the United States when it comes to defence. The proposal for AUKUS was presented in May 2021 to the full National Security Committee, which gave permission to approach US and UK leaders with an official government policy that had been brought about because of what was going on at the time—which of course has followed on since then. When AUKUS was announced, on 15 September 2021, it was a red-letter day for Australia and a red-letter day for South Australia, no less, because it did mean that there were going to be ongoing jobs and security.”
“There is no more critical investment for our nation right now than defence because the world is a volatile place. We are facing headwinds, on both economic and certainly defence positions, that we haven't seen since 1945, the end of the Second World War. They are worrying times. They truly are. You only have to turn on the news of a night or just look at your phones at any minute of the day and you'll see the contest for the Strait of Hormuz and see the price of petrol and diesel at the bowser. This is all because of global worries, global concerns and global interventions. The AUKUS timeline is an interesting read. You'll see that, in late 2019, then prime minister Morrison tasked defence officials to look into the feasibility of acquiring nuclear powered submarines after doubts over the French contract.”
“I know the member for Sturt has brought this important—and I will say it's important because AUKUS is important—private member's bill into the parliament. I know that Labor often does this victory lap when it comes to talking about defence spending and investment in the most critical area of government—that is, the protection of our people. But just listen to these couple of statistics. These are from the former coalition government. It's the last three years of delivery, in numbers: 70 defence vessels and 1,700 vehicles built in Australia, 100,000 defence industry jobs and 15,000 small and medium business supported—supported by both the member for New England and me, as former deputy prime ministers, supported by the coalition and supporting Australians.”
“I find myself in furious agreement with the member for Spence, and, when I finish my remarks, the member for Spence—if he's still here—and the member for Adelaide should absolutely applaud. I'll tell you who else should be applauding, and that's Tom Koutsantonis, the Treasurer of South Australia, because, but for the investment, the hope and the opportunity that the Morrison-McCormack and Morrison-Joyce governments put into shipbuilding in Adelaide, his coffers would be nowhere near what they are going to be in the future. I speak to the Treasurer of South Australia often. He's a good fellow, and he would, I'm sure, in a bipartisan way acknowledge the work the former federal coalition government did in this space.”
“We cannot afford to be seen as a slow or unreliable partner, and we never are. We said—and we said it under the previous leader of the opposition, the member for Farrer, and I know the member for Hume feels the same way—that when there's good legislation, the shadow cabinet will consider it, we'll take it through the normal processes, and, if it's good legislation and it's good for Australia, then it will be good for the coalition. We'll certainly support it because that's the way the coalition operates. We do it in the best interest, the national interest. We're always operating in the national interest. When Australia makes commitments, they will be honoured, and that's important, too. You must keep your word. Keeping your word is something that is important not just in politics but in life.”
“Nobody is caring, nobody is monitoring, and we do not want a situation with the NDIS similar to that where it just gets out of control. I can remember Morris Iemma, who was a Labor state premier, was concerned about the health aspects of the New South Wales budget getting out of control. He said so, bravely. It was necessary to rein it in not to cut costs at the expense of people's health but to put a diligent ruler over what was necessary. We have to. We must, as an absolute priority, do it with the NDIS at the moment, lest it get out of control, if it isn't already. When it comes to this particular bill, this legislation before the House, we ought to do the same. The coalition ultimately supports these provisions because we must meet our international obligations. Our credibility in global economic institutions actually does matter.”
“That is having all sorts of consequences for employment, because a lot of people are acting as carers when they would otherwise be engaging in other services in our community, services that are now being left way behind—I refer to child care and aged care—under the guise of the NDIS, which is this all-encompassing monster. I'm sure that every single one of our electorate offices is being bombarded with complaints about NDIS issues at the moment. And this, in this particular bill, is concerning. The parliament should not be asked to sign blank cheques. All too often, particularly under this government, we have seen this parliament just push through legislation, and it seems as though the debt situation is just getting out of control.”
“As I said, we are at times very much at the whim of international global uncertainty and the financial markets and how they're shaped by other bigger players in this area. We are a competitive force, and we need to ensure that anything to do with this and other bills has that taken into accord and account. The bill introduces standing appropriations without a clear upper limit, meaning funding can be committed by the government without the same level of parliamentary approval each time. You can look at that a couple of ways. One of the situations that we've got at the moment is uncapped limits, it seems, on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.”