Kevin Hogan
Page · National Party · Australia
“Deputy Speaker, you know and we all know on this side of the chamber that Australian families, Australian businesses and Australians generally are despairing right now. We've had 15 interest rate increases under this Labor government. The average mortgage costs have gone up—not total, they have gone up—by $30,000 a year.”
“As I've said earlier, every member over on that side of the chamber should hang their heads in shame by deceiving every single one of their electorates at the last election. You know that, Speaker, and I know that.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Prime Minister, you said that families will be better off under your government, but, under Labor, interest rates have increased 15 times, meaning an average new mortgage holder is around $30 a year worse off.”
“We have always been the country that has driven trade deals, and we have been very successful at it. Members have been talking about fuel security. I want to remind everyone in this chamber right now that we sell about $650 billion worth of stuff overseas every year, and there are four big ones: coal, iron ore, gas and food/agriculture.”
“This is not me saying this; this is actually in the budget paper, so I assume it's Treasury saying this. Why do you think it's a good idea, when we don't have enough housing stock, that tax proposals you announced on budget night will mean that 35,000 fewer homes will be built over the next 10 years?”
“I have about three or four questions to the government and to the minister, and the first one is: why did you deceive the Australian public? There's an issue of integrity that's really important here. I understand that people might have opinions on certain policies and might want to do stuff.”
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“I acknowledge and congratulate members of my electorate who received Australia Day Awards in the Ballina Shire Council area. Senior Citizen of the Year was Kenneth Brown. Volunteer of the Year was John Smith for the Marine Rescue Ballina, where he helps out. The Arts and Culture Award went to Jim Hawkins and the Community Event of the Year went to the North Coast Show and Shire, a wonderful event. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees from the Ballina Shire Council area. I acknowledge and congratulate all members in my community who received Australia Day Awards in the Coffs Harbour City Council area. Citizen of the Year was Keelan Birch. The Young Citizen of the year was Mayada Oso. The Senior Citizen of the Year was Lorraine Kaempfel and the Aussie Spirit Award was awarded to the Lifehouse Care Pantries.”
“It's great to see that back. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees in the Clarence Valley. I acknowledge and congratulate members of my community who received Australia Day Awards recently in the Richmond Valley. Helen Cowan was named Richmond Valley Citizen of the Year. The Young Citizen of the Year went to Connor Shepherd. The Volunteer of the Year was Phil Cornish. The Young Volunteer of the Year was Isabel de Wit. The Sportsperson of the Year was Tony Curtis. The Young Sportsperson of the Year was Crystal Gill. The Community Organisation of the Year was Frangipani Care. Frederick Teudt received the Australian Fire Service Medal. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees from the Richmond Valley area.”
“Sports Team of the Year went to the wonderful Marist Brothers Rugby League Football Club. The Environment Award went to Ina Engermann. The Arts and Culture award went to Jacklyn Wagner. The Economic Excellence Award went to Felicity Hyde. The Academic Excellence Award was given to Chris Ingall. Michael Berry received an OAM for service to the community of Dunoon, and Geoffrey Plante received an OAM for service to town planning. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees in Lismore. I acknowledge and congratulate all members of my community who received Australia Day Awards recently in the Clarence Valley. Citizen of the Year was Allan Woods, Young Citizen of the Year was Reny Dooley, and the Local Hero was Haley Hodgson. The Community Achievement (Group) Award went to the Cane Harvest Festival Committee—wasn't that a great event!”
“I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges: (a) the Order of Australia is the highest national honour awarded to Australian citizens for outstanding contributions to our country or humanity at large; and (b) community members recognised through Australia Day 2026 Local Citizen of the Year awards; and (2) congratulates all the recipients of awards on Australia Day 2026. I acknowledge and thank and congratulate members of my community who received Australia Day Awards recently in Lismore. Citizen of the year was awarded to Rebekka Battista—congratulations, Bek. Young Citizen of the Year was Charlie Murray. The Service to the Community award went to Bruce Sheaffe. The Service to the Community (Group) award went to Rainbow Roos. Junior Sportsperson was Cooper Williams. The Sportsperson of the Year was Connor McCarthy—congratulations, Connor.”
“We have to remember that Labor's aggressive net zero 2050 policy is that they want Australia to lower emissions faster than three very important countries: the US, China and India. Why do I mention those three countries? It is because they are the biggest emitters in the world. China's emissions go up more every year than Australia's total emissions. Labor wants to race ahead of those countries, which is causing great economic damage to our country. Interest rates and power prices are going up, bringing economic ruin to a lot of families and businesses.”
“This week has been a terrible week for mortgage holders in Australia. We've seen, this week, the 13th interest rate increase under this Labor government. That's obviously had a huge impact on the average family; in fact, the average family mortgage payment has gone up by over $20,000 per year because of those interest rates. So that obviously eats into family budgets and how much money they can afford to buy food and how much money they have to do many other things. As we know, many economists around the country blame these interest rate increases firmly at this Labor government's economic policy decisions. The other issue I want to raise today is this government's net zero 2050 policy. Deputy Speaker, you know and I know that this policy is making power prices go up and unaffordable for many families.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. AMP Chief Economist Shane Oliver and many other economists have warned that record government spending is adding to inflationary pressures and keeping prices higher for longer. Treasurer, why is this government making Australians pay more for mortgages, groceries, fuel and electricity?”
“You only need to read the Old Testament to get a concept of antisemitism and how prevalent it's been in the world for thousands of years—World War II being a recent example of antisemitic behaviours. There was that as well. I commend this motion and give my love and wishes to the Jewish community in our country.”
“You could see cars and other things in the area with bullet holes in them. Nothing had been moved. It was very traumatic just being there. Some of the stories were very disturbing. At the same time, though, there were some very uplifting moments, and I do want to finish on a positive note. There was spontaneous singing of the national anthem. There was spontaneous singing of 'Waltzing Matilda', because of one of the victims having the name Matilda, and the reason she had that name. There is much to do. There is good and evil in this world. Good and evil have been in the world for thousands of years, and antisemitism has been in the world for thousands of years.”
“I had prearranged, a week or two before, to be in Sydney on the Tuesday after the Chanukah by the Sea event, so I was in Sydney and went to Bondi. I know the member opposite, who lives close by in Randwick, would have been to Bondi very soon after the attack. You could feel the grief. You could feel an emotion in the air, almost coming from the clouds. It was oppressive. There was a lot of trauma there. I bumped into people who'd been there on the Sunday and had been through exceptionally traumatic events, helping children and victims who had been shot. It was quite eerie, too, like one of those terrible scenes from a movie. It was a crime scene, as you know, so there were bikes and cars just randomly left behind. The tape was still up and you couldn't move anything at that stage.”
“People had their limbs cut off in front of their family members—a horrendous and horrific act. I was shocked when, a couple of nights later, there were people celebrating that at the opera house. I think that was a bit of a wake-up call for all of us. There are lots of forms of evil, but there's a form of evil in our country called Islamic extremism. Islamic extremists hate people of a certain different religion. We have to acknowledge that. In acknowledging that, we can arm ourselves to do what we need to do to combat it. Bondi, as I said, is an iconic and famous geographic setting in Australia. I think that choice was purposeful. And Hannukah, as we know, is a Jewish celebration of light over darkness, so there's irony in that.”
“Two men felt it was okay to randomly shoot a 10-year-old girl and to randomly shoot defenceless old people, and they felt that it was a good thing to do. It's quite horrific to think that there are people who have that much hate in their heart. In this case, they were Islamic extremists, who hate some people because of their religious practices and beliefs. Australia has changed forever. Bondi has changed everything, and I'm sure a lot of us agree on that. Going back two years to the terrible and barbaric attack on Israel by Hamas—I know the two attacks are very different and not comparable, but I think some of the thought processes may be aligned—we had men who went into Israel and were randomly killing, raping women and even delimbing people. I have seen some of the graphics of that.”
“I rise to commend this motion. Obviously, a lot of very heartfelt speeches have been made today. There's been a lot of grief and trauma in this chamber today. We've had survivors and families of the victims here, and we respect and pay our acknowledgements to them. What happened on 14 December is not uncommon around the world, but it's certainly more uncommon in Australia. We literally had evil, in its worst form, walking on the soil of Bondi. I know that everyone in this chamber has struggled to get their head around the idea that two men felt that it was okay, because of their hatred of a certain religion, to walk to a public space—a very iconic place in Australia, too, Bondi Beach, and I'm sure the choice was very purposeful—and randomly shoot people they didn't know.”
“And it's a fairer plan because what we're doing is cutting emissions in line with like-minded countries. Obviously, Labor want to race ahead of this, but we think our plan is much fairer. Why do we want to do this? Ask Tomago. Ask the lead smelters in Port Pirie and Hobart. Ask the zinc smelters in Mount Isa. Ask the nickel industry in Western Australia. Ask the copper and zinc refineries in Townsville. Our plan is about prices first. It's about lower energy prices—not like this Labor government, which is sending the price of everything through the roof.”
“Australia makes 1.2 per cent of global emissions, and Labor's net zero 2050 plan is increasing the cost of everything in our country. Labor have a plan to cut emissions faster than most countries around the world—certainly faster than China. They certainly want to cut emissions faster than the United States. They certainly want to cut emissions faster than India. Why have I mentioned those three countries? Because those three countries are the biggest carbon emitters on the planet. So we are not pariahs in wanting to cut emissions slower than the Labor Party because the world's biggest emitters are cutting emissions slower than the Labor Party. We have a plan that will cut emissions in line with the OECD average. It's a very sensible plan.”
“I hope the sun shines soon. My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The energy minister, in his part-time role, just confirmed he signed up to an agreement which compels Australia to phase out three of our top 10 exports, including gas, coal and crude petroleum, with a combined value of $163 billion in trade. When asked yesterday about this action by the full-time president, the minister for trade said, 'I don't tell him how to run his portfolio; he certainly doesn't tell me how to run mine.' Whilst working as a part-time minister, did the full-time COP president consult the minister for trade before signing this executive order?”
“I'd like to congratulate Glenn Faulkner, who is retiring after an incredible 45 years with Australia Post, 29 of them at Alstonville post office. He's a valued member of the community. All his children attended Alstonville Public School and Alstonville High School. He has enjoyed playing and coaching local footy, has been a dedicated volunteer and loves riding his pushbike. Many locals refer to him as down to earth, a legend and a friend. He has always been so helpful in his job. Congratulations on your retirement, Glenn. I hope you enjoy spending more time with your wife, Jan; your children, Jason, Alison and Brent, and their partners; and your five grandchildren, Emily, Lydia, Flynn, Rory and Arlo.”
“I'd like to congratulate Emma Webber from Grafton High School, who has been named Australia's most outstanding regional educator at the National Excellence in Teaching Awards. Emma is an inspiring special education teacher. She believes that students should not be disadvantaged because of their location or their special needs. She dedicates her work to giving the same opportunities to regional children in our local community as those for children in the city. Emma is described as a hardworking and caring teacher that is making a real difference across the Clarence Valley. Congratulations, Emma, for everything you do in our community. I know your husband, Ben, and children Maya and Flynn are very proud of you.”
“In accordance with standing order 105(b), I wish to draw your attention to overdue questions in writing—questions Nos 26 through to 56. On 25 August, I asked the Minister representing the Minister for Trade and Tourism a number of questions of importance to the Australian community; 91 days later, I still have no response to any of them. Mr Speaker, I ask that you write to the minister and seek their explanation as to why they have chosen not to answer my questions in writing within 60 days.”
“The North Coast Hotel Group— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 11:45 to 11:54 The North Coast Hotel Group in Grafton was a finalist for Heart of the Community and Group Hotel Operator of the Year, and the Station Hotel in South Lismore was a finalist for Best Innovative Refurbishment, and so it should be—Joel Jensen Constructions did a great job on that. The Good Intent Hotel in South Grafton was a finalist for Best Regional Development and Best Cocktail List. Congratulations to you all.”
“I'd like to recognise outstanding local businesses who were finalists in this year's Australian Hotels Association NSW Awards, a celebration excellence across the hospitality industry. The Coramba Hotel was a finalist for Best Burger and Regional Hotel of the Year and won Best Steak Sandwich.Their chef Jamie Everson received highly commended for Regional Chef of the Year. The Seaview Tavern in Woopi was a finalist for the best family-friendly venue. Damien Duggan from the Crown Hotel Motel in Grafton was a finalist for Regional Chef of the Year. The Harwood Hotel—the Harwood Hilton, as we know it—was a finalist for Heart of the Community.”
“I'd like to acknowledge Jason Whitton, who works as a security guard at the Casino and District Memorial Hospital. Jason recently won the Small Acts of Kindness Award at the 2025 NSW Health Awards. Jason's work behind the scenes doesn't go unnoticed, with his colleagues and patients describing him as a respectful, positive and fantastic leader. Jason said: 'I just want people to know someone is thinking about them and they haven't been forgotten. I want to make their day a bit better.' Jason's willingness to help people has impacted everyone at the Casino memorial hospital, including staff, patients and visitors. I'd like to recognise and acknowledge his partner, Rebecca, and children, Cameron and Erika. Thank you, Jason, for everything you do in our community.”
“Today I'd like to recognise Father Peter Slack and Father Jim Griffin, as this year marks 50 years since they were both ordained as priests, which is a remarkable milestone in their vocation. Father Peter attended high school at St John's College, Woodlawn. He was ordained at St Augustine's parish church in his hometown ofCoffs Harbour in August 1975. Father Jim is an ex-student of Marist Brothers Lismore and was ordained in St Carthage's cathedral in September 1975. Father Jim celebrated his jubilee mass in September this year in the same cathedral. For decades now, Father Peter and Father Jim have been an integral part of our community. They have supported generations of families in their faith journey and in the delivery of the sacraments. Congratulations and thank you to both Father Peter Slack and Father Jim Griffin.”
“I encourage those opposite to read the plan. I encourage those opposite—because their net zero 2050 plan is killing regional Australians. It's going to export jobs. The infrastructure spending that you've taken out of this is also doing a terrible thing to regional Australia, and shame on all of you.”
“That's this government's response to that. The other thing that I need to talk about, because this government talks all the time about health and talks all the time about its commitment to Medicare, is the health issue. This government again made the decision very early in the last term of parliament that the thing that was going to change was the distribution priority area. So good on them if they think they're doing a good job by putting money into Medicare. The problem when they changed the distribution priority area for GPs was that a lot of our communities lost their GPs. So, if you can get to see a doctor or drive a long way to see one, you hypothetically, through Medicare, may not be paying as much as you were, but we've been gutted. Our health system, our GP system, has been gutted by decisions of this government.”
“We're going to close the local roads and the community infrastructure program.' Do you know what their solution is to the fact that they're not giving us any money for roads in regional Australia? Their solution is to make you drive slower—that's their solution. The minister is also reported as saying that this only relates to unsealed roads. I'd like the minister to confirm that it's only unsealed roads, because that's not our understanding. If we've got a sick child or we've got a family emergency and we're 100 kilometres from the hospital or 100 kilometres from a GP, guess what? 'Sorry. We're not going to give you money to fix up your roads; just drive slower to the appointment.' If you've got a 100 kilometre drive to work every day and you've got family commitments, bad luck! Just drive slower!”
“The mouth of the River Murray used to be shut all the time before the locks and weir system, because locks and weirs hold the water back. But this is an obsession by the Labor Party. The other thing I have to talk about is the live export industry, which has been gutted by this government. I was hoping to get a question up in question time today on this, but the other disregard that this government has for regional Australia is its solution for the roads problem—I'm glad the minister is here at the table. They have been ripping money out of local roads and the regional roads program. They say: 'We're not going to give you the road funding that we currently give you. We're not going to give you Roads of Strategic Importance.”
“Let's not do what they say they're going to do; let's do what they are actually doing.' The modelling would show that, with the ideological obsession that this government has, we would not be racing ahead. But we would certainly slow down this government's exporting of jobs. I commend that report to those opposite. While I'm talking about the disregard of this government toward regional Australia, I have to go over a couple of other issues as well. During the last parliament, some of the most damaging things for regional Australia were announced in this chamber. The one I always have to mention—because it's gutting communities in the regions—is the fact that this government took water away from our communities through the Murray-Darling Basin plan. They have this obsession that the River Murray can never be shut.”
“China's emissions go up by more every year than the total emissions of this country, but this government is hell-bent on an ideology to cut emissions at a rate that, literally, is going to mean we're not going to be exporting anything except jobs. Jobs will be the biggest export in this country with Labor's emissions reduction targets. We released a plan on the weekend with emissions reductions—a very sensible plan, I believe, for doing our fair share. We actually took China and India out of the modelling because we thought, 'If we kept them in, we could still keep raising our emissions.' We looked at OECD countries—like-minded and similar economies to ours. We said, 'Let's match them.”
“We agree that we should do our bit for emissions reductions. But let's not fool ourselves; Australia contributes one to two per cent of global emissions. The three biggest emitters across the globe are the United States, China and India. And none of them—not one of those economies—has signed up to this government's aggressive emissions reduction targets. They may feel very righteous. They may feel like they're going to save the globe, but I can tell you right now that you could shut Australia down today—turn off every light and every electrical appliance and stop driving any car or any vehicle. You could do all that and what would that mean? That would do nothing to the temperature of the globe.”
“In New South Wales, just in the last couple of weeks, you have Tomago, an aluminium smelter, needing assistance. In Queensland, you have a copper refinery and a zinc refinery in Townsville and a copper smelter and a lead smelter in Mount Isa. In anyone's language, when you have all this happening in a very short space of time—most of those have all happened over the last few months—you have to ask yourself: what is going on? what is the problem? There's a link, and it's not a very difficult link to draw. The problem all of them have is their energy bills. Our energy bills in Australia are now higher than in Japan—and we export energy to Japan. Work that out! This is linked to the emissions reductions in Labor's net zero 2050 plan. You might say, 'We should do our bit for emissions reductions.' I agree.”
“The whole Future Made in Australia plan will be a fantasy land because no-one will be able to afford to compete with anyone in the rest of the world with what they're trying to do. Here's a map of Australia. I certainly won't hold it up, but I'm just going to refer to it while I go through some of the examples here. These are companies or industries that either have shut down or are looking for assistance because they otherwise will shut down. In Western Australia, you've got the nickel smelter in Kalgoorlie. In Kwinana, in Western Australia, you've got a nickel refinery and an aluminium refinery. In South Australia, you have the steel mill in Whyalla and you have the lead smelter in Port Pirie. In Hobart, you have an aluminium smelter and a zinc refinery asking for assistance.”
“But, again, there's more just in regional Australia that's been very damaging. Because of Labor's plan, thousands of hectares have been locked up. Productive agricultural land has been locked up, unable to be used for agriculture because of Labor's plan. Right now, this is all occurring every day, and it has to stop. One of the problems, I believe, in this plan that was released is that Labor's emission reduction ambitions are much faster than the rest of the world's. They're certainly much faster than China's, India's, the US's and those of many other countries. The pace of what they are proposing is sending us broke. I have a map of Australia here that I want to go through. They talk about Future Made in Australia. I can tell you right now that, if Labor's plan continues at the rate that it is, we won't have anything made in Australia.”
“I'd ask you the question: should regional Australians, as an example of Labor's reckless renewable-only plan, have to absorb 60 million solar panels for that plan to work? I would say no. Should regional Australians, because of Labor's reckless renewable-only plan, have to absorb 20,000 wind turbines in regional Australia? Again, I would that say the answer to that is no. Should regional Australia have to absorb 20,000 kilometres of new transmission lines or poles and wires through pristine forest and important agricultural land, dividing communities about those? I would say again that the answer to that is no. But there's more than that as well. We are seeing job losses being announced—thousands of job losses have been announced already—because firms in regional Australia, especially heavy industry, cannot afford their power bills.”
“A cheaper, better, fairer plan for all regional Australians—indeed, for all Australians—in relation to energy prices, cost-of-living pressures and emission reductions has been released, and I can tell you right now that this plan is much cheaper than Labor's $9 trillion net zero 2050 plan, it's better than Labor's $9 trillion net zero 2050 plan and it's certainly fairer than Labor's net zero 2050 plan. Deputy Speaker, you would know that every household in this country is struggling with its power bills. You know that there have been a lot of government bailouts, which I will go into. Industry and business are struggling in this country. But, Deputy Speaker, there's more to it than that.”
“We also have the 20,000 kilometres of new transmission and poles-and-wire systems that have been inflicted upon regional Australia through Labor's reckless renewable-only plan. The other thing that's happening already in regional Australia, from Labor's very expensive plan, is that thousands of jobs have been lost directly through industries who aren't getting a bailout and dismissing people like Tomago, as they may well do in a couple of years. Labor's $9 trillion plan is sending Australia broke. It has to change.”
“There is a cheaper, better, fairer plan for Australia's emission reductions and energy system than Labor's $9 trillion plan. Labor's net zero by 2050 plan is an economic disaster inflicted upon the Australian economy reflected through the multihundred-million dollar bailouts that have been requested from industry across Australia. It's also reflected in the fact that people are struggling to pay their own electricity bill. The other thing that Labor's reckless renewable-only plan is inflicting is 60 million solar panels that are inflicted upon regional Australia and the 20,000 wind turbines that are inflicted upon regional Australia from Labor's reckless renewable-only plan.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Tomago Aluminium supports around a thousand workers in the Hunter region of New South Wales and is looking at a potential closure. Tomago CEO Jerome Dozol has said, 'Unfortunately, all market proposals received show future energy prices are not commercially viable.' Minister, you say renewable energy is cheaper and that you're installing lots of renewables for the future. If that is the case, why can't Tomago get an energy price in the future that is affordable?”
“I want to conclude by lamenting that the Labor government wants to drop the default country road speed limit from 100 kilometres an hour to 70 kilometres an hour across regional Australia. Instead of fixing our roads, they just want us to all drive slower—be slower when we have an emergency, be slower getting to work—adding extra cost to regional Australia for the times for things to get around our regional communities. It's a disgrace from this government.”
“What we've said is, 'As a responsible sovereign nation, we should do carbon emission reductions like like-minded economies and like-minded countries—being the OECD.' We would benchmark our reductions to the actual reductions of those countries. What we believe will happen from there is we will maintain a competitiveness with energy prices. Policies like the safeguard mechanism, which is effectively a carbon tax on big companies here in Australia—those uncompetitive practices would not happen, which, very importantly, would keep those jobs and those industries in Australia. I'm very excited about that. I'm very excited now to have a mature debate about this in this country so that the Australian public can have an alternative to this commitment to net zero 2050.”
“Again, I think it's all linked back to things like the safeguard mechanism and other things, which are making these industries and our energy bills uncompetitive. It has to be fixed. Again, what I love about our plan is we have emission reduction aims. What we've done is pegged it to emission reductions of like-minded economies and countries, those being the OECD countries. We didn't even put countries like China and India into that mix, or that formula, because, if we did, we could put emissions up. China's emissions go up every year more than Australia's total emission output. Just get your head around that in the sense of what impact we have in the bigger picture of this.”
“We've had the nickel industry in Western Australia, which has been completely shut down. We had Tomago just last week, in New South Wales, the aluminium smelter, which looks like it's going to shut down in two or three years time, and I'll tell you why. It cannot get an energy contract that makes it competitive. We've had about seven or eight bailouts as well, in the last few months, of major industries around Australia—in Whyalla, in Port Pirie, in Hobart and in other major regional centres—where the companies have gone to the government asking for bailouts, often in the realm of hundreds of millions of dollars. What this tells you is we have a major issue in this country with competitiveness. We have major issues in this country in relation to being able to have these industries survive.”
“Australia could literally shut down tonight—we could turn off every light; we could shut down every industry—and, as a country that only has between one per cent and two per cent of total global emissions, we would not change the temperature of the globe at all. This is a global issue that needs a global solution. Yes, as Australia, as the Australian economy, as a sovereign nation, we need to do our part. But what's happening, as we race ahead and are putting mandates on that mean we will race ahead of many other countries in emission reductions, is we are exporting industries, we are exporting wealth and we are exporting jobs to other countries. This has to be unacceptable to everyone in this chamber. Why do I say that? Because the evidence is in the paper almost every week.”
“Cheaper, better, fairer—that's the plan that we announced on the weekend as the National Party. It's a very important issue that we all know. It deals with emissions reductions and our commitment to emissions reductions, and, also, because of that, it feeds into a whole lot of areas and issues within our economy—not least of all is energy. What we have at the moment is that the government is committed to net zero 2050. What that means is quite aggressive emission reduction targets—more than many, many countries. I'll tell you three countries that aren't committed to net zero 2050: China, India and the US. Why do I say those three countries? Because they're the biggest emitters that we have in the world.”
“She says one of her career highlights was placing third in the Wella New South Wales state championship in 1989 for service excellence. Gail and her husband and her children moved to Alstonville in 1990 and, within the community, Gail is known for her care and dedication. She's supported by Gary, who often drives her early customers to and from appointments. Beyond her salon, Gail has dedicated countless hours to the community through volunteering at St Bartholomew's church, its op shop and the local Quota club. Congratulations, Gail, on your fantastic 65 years of hairdressing and for what you've done for our community.”
“Generations of women in the Clarence Valley have shopped with Beverley over the years, and she's known for her very friendly and personal service. Many locals pop in to Clovelly. It isn't just about buying clothes; it's about catching up with Beverley, having a chat and feeling welcome. Beyond the shop, Beverley has given a lot to the Clarence Valley community as treasurer of the Maclean hospital auxiliary and by supporting local charities. I also want to acknowledge the support of her husband, Kevin. Congratulations on 50 years of ownership and for everything you do for our community. I'd like to recognise an outstanding small-business owner in my community, Mrs Gail Burley, who this year celebrates a 65-year career in hairdressing. She started as a 15-year-old apprentice before owning her own salon.”
“Today, Len's son, Shaun—who has been working at the printery since he was 15 and has now dedicated 50 years to the business—runs it with his team: Helen Cameron, Roann McFarlane, Robyn McMahon, Soren Hjorth, Karen Buttler, Lyn Johnson and David Cavanagh. Over the decades, the business has faced and overcome challenges, including fires and floods, but they continue to be a leading print provider. In 2021, they rebranded as the North Coast Print Hub. Congratulations to Shaun and the whole team for 75 years of dedication, services and support to local businesses. I'd like to acknowledge and congratulate Beverley Anderson on her 50th anniversary of running Clovelly Fashions, a ladies fashion shop in Maclean. She took over the boutique in 1975 and has built the business that people love to enjoy and shop at and visit.”
“I'd like to acknowledge the achievements of a young woman from Casino, Latahlia Hickling. Latahlia recently made her international modelling debut, working for Chanel at the Paris Fashion Week and appearing on the cover of Vogue Australia . Her success is a testament to her commitment to and passion for her profession. I'd like to congratulate her and I look forward to seeing her continue to inspire young Australians. Latahlia was a past student of Casino High School. She makes her family, friends and the community proud. I'd like to congratulate the Lismore City Printery, a local business in my community, on reaching a remarkable milestone of 75 years in business. Back in 1950, Len McGuiness and George Muldoon founded Lismore City Printery.”
“So we are now going to be importing hardwood timber into this country from countries who don't do it in the sustainable, environmental way we do this. I commend the member for bringing on this motion.”
“When you lock up a national park, you pervert that, because you can't do the firebreaks that you used to do and, of course, there's more fuel and these things become a huge tinderbox as well. The other thing—okay, you want to be righteous, and you still think that's a good idea—is that we still need the hardwood. Our demand—we want to build more houses, we want more furniture, you want to build some bridges and you want to do that carbon friendly. Guess what the most carbon-friendly way to do that is? Not concrete, not steel—it's actually timber, which sequesters carbon, as we know. So what are we going to be doing now as Australia? The states who pre-led this and banned hardwood timber harvesting in the states have had to go to other states to get it. Now there will be less, so you know where we'll go now? Overseas.”