Mike Freelander
Macarthur · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“She started the longest and biggest prospective study of allergy and anaphylaxis in the developed world, called HealthNuts, which is still ongoing. She had a PhD, and her PhD thesis was on liver cell transplantation using a mouse model of Wilson's disease, a very rare but well-known cause of liver failure.”
“I knew Katie Allen in a professional capacity prior to her entering this place as the second paediatrician to be elected to the House of Representatives. I dealt with her professionally in her role as the head of the Centre for Food and Allergy Research in the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.”
“She was a really deep thinker, a really decent person and someone—like many paediatricians—who understood the implications of the social determinants of health and was willing to work hard to make sure that Australia led the way in paediatric health care. She was brave and she was steadfast. She was someone who stood up for her views.”
“Recently, we celebrated Australian Made Week in Macarthur, and to mark that occasion I visited the fantastic team at Sebel, a manufacturing business which produces chairs, stools, tables, desks and storage units in Minto in my electorate of Macarthur.”
“It's great to see the Sebel tradition of high-quality products being maintained now in my electorate of Macarthur. Harry and Queenie are long gone, but their legacy continues with a business that is employing lots of people and providing innovative products and 21st century manufacturing, including recycling.”
“It was founded by my friend Ross Doonan in 2004 and has gone on to national and international acclaim, producing products with coating. You often see them on railway stations—the signs and chairs that have wood coatings on aluminium products. I myself am doing a home renovation that will be using DECO products.”
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“I personally experienced the difficulties involved in obtaining a Medicare provider number, as have many of my colleagues, in particular my young medical students, once they finish their training and work as residents and registrars are looking to further their professional lives, either as general practitioners or as specialists. Over many years there have been refinements to the scheme, but this bill is long overdue and is an important way of increasing people's access to medical care, increasing bulk-billing and ensuring the availability of doctors. In my electorate, which is outer south-western metropolitan Sydney, there are still huge difficulties in attracting doctors to work in our communities, at both a general practice and a specialist level. Improving access to Medicare provider numbers will help with that a lot.”
“I rise to speak on the public importance of the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No.1) Bill not just as a member of parliament but as someone with a deep understanding of the importance of providing efficient health care to everyone in an equitable manner and the firsthand experience of administrative bottleneck. It took me weeks and weeks to get my Medicare provider number. Even though the scheme had been explained and well resourced at the beginning, it was a huge bureaucratic nightmare. The relief I got when I got my provider number was unbelievable. It's been the mainstay of my professional life since that time, over 40 years.”
“The number '478444X' probably means nothing to any of you here in this room, but it is very important to me. That was the Medicare provider number that I got when I started my private practice, in the same week that Medicare started, in 1984. It's the same provider number I use now, to this very day. Before the coalition gets too excited, I don't use it to bill Medicare. I use it because it's required for some procedures, such as referrals to specialists et cetera, and to make sure patients get access to some of the government schemes, such as the supporting kids with autism scheme, so they can get allied health approvals.”
“We have one in Campbelltown, which is taking a lot of pressure off our hospital emergency department. We recently opened a Medicare mental health centre, which is a walk-in centre providing enormous support to people with psychosocial problems in Macarthur. We are doing a great job of delivering health care around the country. The coalition do not understand health care. They are doing a very poor job now in opposition. I have no expectation they would deliver proper health policy in the future. Medicare is part of our DNA.”
“Medicare has been the backbone of my professional life as a paediatrician for 40 years. The coalition does not understand the importance of a universal health insurance scheme. They just don't understand it. Gough Whitlam's Medibank was destroyed by the Fraser government. The Howard government attempted to destroy Bob Hawke's Medicare. We saw the previous coalition leader, Peter Dutton, the worst health minister we've ever had, try to introduce a co-payment. Those on the other side had no health policies to deliver in the previous election—none at all, other than 'me too'. But they just don't understand Medicare. We understand Medicare. It's part of our DNA. We are delivering health care for all Australians in an equitable manner. We're introducing our Medicare urgent care centres.”
“My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. How is the Albanese Labor government ensuring that life-changing medicines continue to be listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme? Why is this so important?”
“This measure is part of what Australia is getting from the Albanese government: improved lifestyle, improved affordability and reduced costs across the housing market and the cost-of-living issues, which we are doing to make life better for the families that I care for. I congratulate the minister, and I commend this bill to the House.”
“No matter how much they try and talk themselves up as financial managers and being more prudent et cetera, they clearly have not shown that expertise in housing. They had 10 years of a deteriorating housing market in Australia to do something about it, and they did virtually nothing. That put large numbers of Australian families at a huge disadvantage, and now we're trying to play catch-up. Whilst it is hard, the housing minister, Clare O'Neil, has done a wonderful job at improving housing affordability in Australia across the age spectrum and across the electorate spectrum. This has made things a lot better for those families and for those young people. In the future, it will also mean our younger people will find housing affordability better.”
“This will not only make the housing situation better for young families but create stability in the housing market. It means kids' schooling will be stable. As a paediatrician, I'll stop having to do the process of applying to different schools all the time for support packages for kids with disabilities who have to move all the time. It will really make things a lot better for young families and older people across the age spectrum in all our electorates. As I said, I'm really proud to be part of this, and I congratulate the housing minister. I think that those opposite, in the coalition, need to think really hard about why they lost so many electorates around the country. Part of it was housing policy.”
“They see the challenge, and they try to correct it. I congratulate Clare O'Neil, the Minister for Housing, for the amount of hard work and thought that she's put into this process. It is a really important change and something that will help families whose kids I've looked after for almost half a century get into their homes earlier. We're building more homes. We've increased rent supports, as well, and we're making it easier to access the housing market across the country. From the disadvantaged electorates in rural and regional areas to outer metropolitan areas like my own electorate of Macarthur and around the country in every state and territory in Australia, that's really important. I'm really proud to be part of this process.”
“There are families with parents who are in their 30s or 40s who are still saving to buy their first home. Our schemes will help that and will help it significantly. I truly hope that people across the age spectrum take advantage of the scheme. Under this program, a first home buyer could take up to eight years off the time it takes to save for a deposit on the median $844,000 home in Macarthur. On the way, they could save about $34,000 in mortgage insurance and could pay up to a quarter of a million dollars towards their own loan rather than paying rent. The median home price in Australia today is $844,000. Five per cent of this is around $42,000. The last time $42,000 covered the 20 per cent deposit for the median home was around 2002, more than 20 years ago. That shows you the scope of this change. That's what good governments do.”
“However, this is a real policy that will deliver real progress in our government's fight for achieving better housing affordability outcomes for all Australians. With our five per cent deposit policy, there are no income limits or limits on places, and there are house price caps that better reflect the cost of homes across Australia. Five per cent deposits will cut years off the time you need to save for a deposit, saving thousands in lenders mortgage insurance and rental payments over time and getting you into your own home much sooner—really important for the young families in my electorate of Macarthur and around Australia. It bothers me greatly to see my constituents, of all ages, struggling to get into the housing market. That includes older Australians as well as young families.”
“We've got 28,000 social and affordable homes, supported by our government, in planning and under construction. We know that the long-term solution to address the housing crisis in our country is to build more homes, both in terms of social housing and housing that people can afford to buy. Our five per cent deposit plan is helping Australians gain homeownership even sooner, as it slashes the amount of time required to save for a deposit. This is very important for young families and the families in my electorate that I've looked after for many years. Even better, we're delivering this three months earlier than we previously announced, meaning it will now start from 1 October. As I said earlier, this housing crisis was not created overnight, and it sadly won't be fixed overnight.”
“Our $43 billion agenda is focused on three things: (1) building more homes; (2) making it easier to rent and making it more stable to rent; and (3) making it easier to buy. Since being elected, our housing policies have made a real difference to many Australians. Over 180,000 Australians have bought their first home with our five per cent deposit scheme. On average, there are 6,000 more first home buyer loans a year under our government than there were during the coalition's previous period in government. One million households have received a nearly 50 per cent increase in rent assistance, 500,000 homes have been built since we came to office, new housing approvals are up 30 per cent and construction costs have stabilised after skyrocketing under the previous coalition government.”
“When those opposite were in government, whilst they spruiked their grand plans, nothing happened. It must have been a very light tackle when they said they were tackling this issue in previous governments, because the issue only continued to get worse. They voted against the Help to Buy scheme that we advocated and promised in fact to abolish the scheme. Those opposite have a really poor track record on housing affordability and accessibility in New South Wales at both the federal and state levels, whereas our government has grabbed the issue and run with it since coming into government in 2022. I am proud that our government is the boldest and most ambitious Australian government on housing since the postwar period.”
“Since coming into government in May 2022, after 10 years of the coalition's neglect of the housing situation and putting of barriers in place in front of people who were looking for housing, over 870 households in Macarthur have participated in our Home Guarantee Scheme, equating to almost 2,000 individuals. This means almost 2,000 people have been able to start the exciting next chapter of their lives—homeownership in a secure manner—which is not only great for them but great for our communities, and it's great for our kids to continue to thrive. Housing affordability has long been an issue. We saw the coalition not only do very little in their 10 years of government but actively work against the government in the last term when it was trying to provide adequate housing solutions. Housing affordability has been an issue for many years.”
“Although I'm really not sure that the parliament has been waiting with bated breath to hear from a baby boomer about housing, accessing housing is a major concern for my constituents. Despite rapid development in my electorate over the years, being able to find secure, affordable housing remains a huge challenge. As a paediatrician, nothing is more disheartening than to see families have to frequently uproot their children from schools to move because the owner of the house they were renting wanted to sell it or move in or because the house wasn't big enough for an expanding family. It is very disheartening. That's why I'm very proud of our government's efforts to provide better housing opportunities for Australians, as it is providing real outcomes for those trying to get into the housing market in Macarthur and electorates way beyond.”
“But it is very frustrating, disappointing and indeed inequitable that south-west Sydney doesn't get the same treatment, especially when south-west Sydney is growing by tens of thousands of people every few months, making it larger than Tasmania and Canberra in population, and we are not predicted to slow down; its continuing all the time. Having a link from south-west Sydney to Western Sydney Airport is absolutely critical, and we can't turn our backs on it. It's critical for our economy, it's critical to reduce road congestion and pollution, and it's vital to securing the viability of the new airport and the Aerotropolis. It must be done. Our roads in south-west Sydney are already highly congested, and a bus service to the airport is not the solution. This is not acceptable. (Time expired)”
“I'm speaking out about this because I think the New South Wales government's response is terrible. On the other hand, when the New South Wales premier made his decision not to build or manage rail services from Western Sydney Airport to our region it was met with shock and incredible frustration by residents, businesses and local councils. Our federal government's land acquisition project helps ease the cost on the New South Wales government, who would maintain rail services by New South Wales transport. It's quite literally the perfect arrangement, yet the New South Wales government is walking away. The Metro Northwest rail project is brilliant; it's fantastic. I've ridden on it myself, and it really does connect the north-west part of Sydney to the centre of Sydney and all the surrounding services.”
“This would mean no new stations in Camden, Narellan, Bringelly, Oran Park, Leppington or Catherine Field which would connect the airport with existing stations, such as Macarthur, Campbelltown and Leppington. It's an appalling response from the New South Wales government, especially considering that our federal government understands the importance of this project for the region and is pushing ahead with our $1 billion land acquisition project to secure rail corridors in south-west Sydney to connect the region with Western Sydney Airport. This was announced by the Prime Minister in March, and we are incredibly passionate about making sure this continues. It was very well received by local residents, businesses and local councils, and it is a pragmatic, commonsense policy.”
“They say Rome wasn't built in a day, but it would have been completed much sooner if they'd had a rail line to connect their workers to the site. That's why I'm very passionate about the need for rail connectivity from south-west Sydney to the new Western Sydney Airport and the surrounding Aerotropolis and why I am absolutely appalled at the New South Wales premier's decision not to provide such vital transport infrastructure to my electorate from Western Sydney Airport. Recently Premier Minns stated that the New South Wales government does not intend to build rail services to connect Western Sydney Airport with south-west Sydney. It's an absolute tragedy.”
“Also, beforehand, we met with Leigh Ninham, a local Campbelltown champion of men's health, who runs our Mr Perfect barbecues on weekends to help men with mental health issues get out of the house and into social interaction and supports in our community. It was a great week for Macarthur. I really thank both the ministers and Dan for coming to my electorate. We had great fun, but we also were able to deliver some really important services to the Macarthur electorate which I'm very proud of. I thank St Gregory's College for having us there. I hope that they enjoyed it as much as I did. It's a really great sign that the Albanese government is serving the community. (Time expired)”
“I was a bit taken aback when we were up on the stage, talking to the students, and Dan told them that if I'd eaten my vegetables when I was a kid I would be as tall as him! He provided those kids, as well as their teachers and parents, with a great insight into men's health—how it starts in childhood and how they can have healthy bodies and healthy minds in the future. Dan's role is unfortunately increasingly important as men of all ages struggle with mental health and physical health. We need to make sure our kids are well prepared for the adult life that they will face. The kids loved it.”
“It will form an important link between our hospital services and people in the community with mental health issues, providing services at a time and place where people can access them. The centre is going to be staffed with social workers, nurses, peer support workers and mental health workers and will have access to psychiatry services et cetera. It's very close to Campbelltown station and very close to our hospital. And it gets even better—it will provide free walk-in mental health services across the board and across the age spectrum, including for children, adolescents and adults. It's a big win for Macarthur, as individuals of all ages, incomes and backgrounds will be able to access care. Last week we welcomed the Special Envoy for Men's Health and expert beard grower Dan Repacholi.”
“MDS now have an array of centres around Macarthur which enable those living with a disability to learn very important skills and supports. The minister and I were treated to some terrific cups of coffee made by their in-house cafe team, who learn barista service and waiting skills, helping them gain experience to take into the world of hospitality. I thank Minister McAllister for her visit. The assistant minister for mental health, Emma McBride, then visited the soon-to-be-completed Medicare mental health centre in the heart of Campbelltown, the first of its kind in our region. It's an incredibly important initiative which will allow people to get walk-in access to mental health care.”
“The arts centre not only provides a space for these creative individuals, whose artwork you can find proudly on display and for sale in the arts centre shop, but also gives lessons in art and in social engagement. It's a great service for the people of Macarthur with disabilities. We then visited the incredible team at Macarthur Disability Services at their Campbelltown office. I've worked with MDS for the last 40 years. They have a long and continuing track record in providing supports for people with disabilities to get into the workforce and train in a whole range of areas, working in hospitality, factories, transport et cetera. MDS have done a great job for many years. They have worked with patients of mine with disability, ensuring they can get into the workforce once they leave school, and I'm very proud of their work.”
“It's been a very busy couple of weeks in the Macarthur electorate, especially for those with an interest in health related matters, with visits from the Special Envoy for Men's Health and member for Hunter, Dan Repacholi; the Minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Senator Jenny McAllister, and the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Emma McBride. And we've had a great time. Firstly, Minister McAllister joined me to meet with the terrific teams at Macarthur Disability Services and the Campbelltown Arts Centre's Little Orange Studio. We began our day at Little Orange Studio, which provides services for people with disabilities, including people with hearing loss, vision impairment, intellectual disability and autism.”
“We have a tremendous health team working towards this, and we won't stop our efforts to improve our healthcare system, which I might say is the envy of the world. I've been to many different countries, from the USA to Europe to our Pacific neighbours, and that demonstrates so well that our healthcare system is the best in the world. I'm very proud of it, and I'm proud of the healthcare workers that work to continue a satisfactory and better system. (Time expired)”
“Labor is continuing to look at ways to improve the health care of all Australians. We are working very hard to address cost-of-living concerns, and medication and health costs are part of that. We've improved healthcare access and affordability, but we know we need to continue to work on it. I'm very proud to be part of this government, and I'm very proud to work for the health minister, Mark Butler, in his efforts to make sure that there's more equitable access to health care and that health care is available to all Australians, no matter where they live across the country, to improve their health and that of their kids. Australia's healthcare system is there to protect Australians, but it's also there to make sure we have a more productive economy. That is very important, and that is part, as I've said, of the DNA of a Labor government.”
“Our government is encouraging more medical students to enter the rewarding field of general practice, and that's something where we're working on other measures as well. These are real changes that are producing better outcomes for all Australians. More money in our constituents' pockets mean better financial flexibility, which is a major concern for all Australians. People in my electorate of Macarthur, for example, have saved over $11 million since our cheaper medicines policy came into effect. Yes, there are still issues that we need to address, and it is important that we continue to look at how we can improve the system. Nobody should be pushed into impossible choices between medicine and meals or into skipping treatments, including some really life-changing medications, because they can't afford them.”
“I look forward to further increases in the availability of medications over a longer period of time in the future. We've frozen the cost of PBS medicines. Co-payments have not risen with inflation and will not do so, for the first time in 25 years. We have invested a significant amount of money—over half a billion dollars—into our women's health programs to improve access and awareness on health related matters affecting Australian women. There is much more to be done in this space as well, and I look forward to further action. We shouldn't forget the work we've done to increase Medicare incentives and GP bulk-billing rates, which will come into force through even stronger mechanisms with bulk-billing incentives on 1 November.”
“I know the health minister is looking at that. We had almost 10 years of, essentially, inaction by the Liberal-National government, up until the advent of our Labor government in the last term. We have done so much more in that short period of time than the coalition did in almost 10 years. We have more free and cheaper medicines, sooner, and there has been a reduction in the cost of prescriptions for everyone, including those on concessional payments. One big advance that we've had, in spite of the fact that the coalition fought tooth and nail against it, is the introduction of 60-day prescriptions. That's made a huge difference to people, in terms of both the time they needed to get their medicines and the cost of their medications.”
“I'm proud that the Albanese Labor government is following in Labor footsteps during these difficult times and also looking forward to how we can design our health system to be even better in the future. There are a thousand and one factors that affect the cost of living, many of which are outside the realm and scope of government action. However, it is in legislation like this, through supports to the healthcare system, that we can produce meaningful benefits for all Australians. We have to be ever vigilant, and we need to look for ways that we can improve access—and equitable access—to health care. My thoughts are that there are many more things that we can look to do, such as improving access to dental care through our healthcare system and making it more equitable for us to be able to afford visits to specialists.”
“Labor government, we must also remember, introduced the Hospital Benefits Act 1945 at the end of the war, providing for the Commonwealth to subsidise our public hospitals. The present health minister is looking at how we can improve our hospital system as we look to get agreement on the public hospitals act with the state governments at the present time. I laud the incredible efforts of the Whitlam government and later the Hawke government, through Medibank and later Medicare, to help lead us to a health system which is for all Australians and has helped pave the way for the legislation we're speaking on today—and there will be further measures to come. It's a great legacy of Labor governments. These towering Labor prime ministers—Curtin, Chifley, Hawke and Whitlam—have made Australia a prosperous economy, healthier and more productive.”
“It is very important. It's something that we feel helps not just our health care but our whole economy. In fact, I did message the Treasurer about the importance to our productivity of making sure regular and equitable access to health care is part of the productivity gains we can look for with better health care. We can trace Labor's history in improved healthcare, as I said, back to the beginnings of Labor government with the first Labor prime minister. It's Labor's way. We really support the PBS, which is thanks to the efforts of John Curtin and Ben Chifley, the Prime Minister and Treasurer in that time during the end of the Second World War and just afterwards. The PBS provides for medicines, materials and appliances to be available to all Australians at an affordable cost.”
“If, for example, you have a child with something like asthma, it is maybe two or three medications that they need, including the regular preventer medication. These changes are what good government does. It's important to know that our healthcare needs are changing, and this is a Labor government that's prepared to do what is important for families, No. 1, to keep them healthy and, No. 2, to make sure they can afford the cost of their medication. The Australian Labor Party is consistent in our beliefs and our ability to implement strong healthcare policies to improve the outcomes for all Australians. We govern for all Australians. It's a matter of equity, it's Labor's way and it's something I'm very proud to be part of. I thank the minister and I thank the assistant ministers for all their efforts in bringing this bill to the parliament.”
“Pensioners and concession card holders will continue to benefit from the freeze to the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at its current level of $7.70 until 2030. This is a huge saving for families. I'd also like to add that this will go one step further and help save lives, as we know that patients that forgo their medication only ever do so if they can't afford it. This makes this bill even more important to me and my electorate. I decided to run for parliament in 2016 because I was sick and tired of my patients in the community being sick and tired—exactly that. I was sick of patients—or their mothers, usually, and their fathers—coming to me and asking me which part of the number of prescription medicines they should get first, because they couldn't afford to get them all.”
“These are incredible advances in health care that are supported by government action that reduces the cost of these medications to the families. When we first came into government in 2022, we began, of course, by introducing the largest cut to the cost medicines in the PBS's history when we dropped the cap on PBS medicines from $42 to $30. Now, with this bill, we're going to further reduce the PBS general patient co-payment down to $25, and this will make a huge difference to the many families who have children and adults on long-term medication. With this bill, this is now the biggest cut to the cost of medicine in PBS history. It will save patients over $200 million every year, with four out of five PBS medicines to become cheaper because of the almost $700 million investment by this government.”
“We're also in an age when many of the chronic genetically based illnesses that were previously untreatable are now treatable. For example, as a paediatrician, we now have treatments for things like cystic fibrosis that are genetically targeted and are incredibly effective. The life span of someone with the common form of cystic fibrosis, due to what's called the delta F508 mutation, has almost doubled from early 20s to now over 50. We look forward to it being much, much higher as the effects of the new medications come into effect. These medications can be very expensive, ranging in cost from $200,000 to $300,000 a year per patient every year that they're alive. These are very expensive medications. They now can be accessed, thanks to a Labor government, at a cost that will be, from 1 November, $25, or $7.80 for a pensioner.”
“That's a very important figure when we look at the larger numbers of Australians, our ageing population and the new developments in medicine. I myself take a long-term medication. It's actually one of the most commonly prescribed medications in Australia and in the developed world: a statin to reduce cholesterol, which reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, which used to be seen in my family as the family disease. We now know there are very effective ways of managing it and preventing cardiovascular events like stroke or heart attack by the use of things like statins and the treatment of blood pressure, and the treatment of the risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including diabetes. So we are in the age of chronic illness, and medication costs increasingly have an effect on the family budget that can be extremely significant.”
“People had an acute illness, usually infective; they sought the medication that could help them; and then it was about the person's individual health. 'The bug, the drug and the mug' was an aspect of our health care for many decades. Even in my own time as a doctor, infectious disease was a very important part of health care, and it was very important to make sure people could access the medications they needed. Labor, throughout the generations, has protected the PBS up until the present day. But we now live in a different time. We live in a time of chronic illness. About 60 per cent of Australians, or a bit more, have a chronic illness. Of that 60-odd per cent of the Australian population that have a chronic illness, about 85 per cent require daily medication on a long-term basis.”
“He was instrumental in imparting the view that a healthy society was a successful society both socially and economically. The Curtin and then Chifley governments continued this in Australia, with the development of our public health system, our public hospital system and, of course, what became the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme—which was a reflection of the cost of medicines and its effect on everyday families—as a way of making sure that working-class families could access the health care and the medicines that they needed. Health care has changed a lot since that time. It was said in the days of the Labor governments of the Chifley-Curtin era that it was all about the bug, the drug and the mug.”
“This bill, the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025, reflects really a key belief of mine, which is the importance of making health care more affordable and accessible to our society as a whole, and I thank the minister for his work on bringing this before the House. It's very important to see this as being part of the DNA of a Labor government. This goes back many generations, even to the time of the first Labor prime minister, Andrew Watson, who believed that a healthy society was a successful society. Further, it can be seen in some of the very strong Labour governments in other countries, such as the government in which health minister Nye Bevan in Great Britain developed the first British comprehensive public health system now known as the National Health Service.”
“There are crazy people doing crazy things; we know that. They're in the minority. We must act against them, but they have occurred for generations. I remember well the firebombing of the Bankstown synagogue in 1991, when it was destroyed. The antisemitism that occurred after the Second World War had supporters on both sides of parliament, but they were in the minority. The Australian parliament in general has acted in a bipartisan way to make sure our parliament reacts against antisemitism and racism in all its forms. We will continue to need to be vigilant in this space. But, as has been suggested, the Persian community in Australia does not support the Iranian regime, and many in the Jewish community do not support the actions of the Israeli government. (Time expired)”
“What's been presented to the House today as a matter of public importance is damaging our social cohesion, and those opposite must know that. We take this very seriously. I have many friends across many different communities in my electorate, from the Persian community to the Lebanese community to the subcontinental community, and we strongly believe and support social cohesion across all those communities, and they supported me in the most recent election and continue to support me now. What is happening with this weaponisation of antisemitism is shameful, and I believe those opposite should be ashamed of their actions. However, I'm not going to lecture them about that. I hope that we can help preserve our social cohesion. Antisemitism has occurred throughout generations in Australia.”
“We've also banned hate symbols, as well as referring antisemitic incidents—in which there has been an increase—on university campuses to the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights. We've done many things. It's vital to try and prevent antisemitism. However, we will never stop it altogether. Our government continues to support the Jewish community, but we are never going to stop antisemitism, racism and other hateful crimes in Australia. They are crimes and must be treated as such. But they have existed since the Jewish community came to Australia—including my ancestors—as convicts in this country. They have created successful and flourishing lives and families through many generations, and I'm very proud of that. Attacks on our social cohesion are dreadful and must be prevented.”
“It is true that due to the sad and pathetic acts of certain individuals there has been an increase in unease and concern among Jewish Australians, and that's never okay. I must stress also that no government can entirely prevent what sad, crazed individuals will do. However, governments must react effectively and empathetically to these episodes, and I am proud to say that the Albanese Labor government has done just that. We have tackled antisemitism with decisive, not divisive, action, whether it's through enhancing legislation and security to protect Jewish Australians, through improving education and awareness regarding what antisemitism is or through many other supports for the Jewish community, including millions of dollars in enhancing security in Jewish synagogues and schools.”
“Antisemitism has no place in Australia. I know this, the Albanese Labor government knows this and Australians know this as well. I do have some respect for the member for Berowra, and I appreciate his work in this House. He worked with me as the deputy chair of the health committee in the last parliament for a time. However, as a Jewish Australian of the ninth generation and a proud member of the Australian Labor Party, I am actually ashamed that the member for Berowra has brought this accusation forward to this House. I must remind him that our government has and is keeping Jewish Australians safe, and I draw his attention to the Prime Minister's remarks following the Adass Israel synagogue attack in 2024 and his comments that antisemitism is evil and there is no place for it here.”
“I know there is more to be done, and I know we need to do more with Medicare and getting people access to dental care. I know there is more to be done around the health issues with the NDIS. I know there is more to be done with a whole range of issues. I know that with the PBS there is a tsunami of new treatments and new medications being presented every day to the Australian system. We have the best system in the world. Of that there is no doubt. It is part of my belief that if we protect our healthcare system we will have a healthier economy and a healthier social system that protects all Australians. I'm proud of this legislation, I'm proud to be part of this government, and I commend this bill to the House.”
“By investing in and adjusting our healthcare system to ensure it's fit for purpose, we're reducing costs and improving outcomes for all Australians. This bill is another example of our government ensuring that Medicare belongs to the Australian people, and we will protect and reinforce it. These changes brought by the minister are crucial to ensure that every dollar allocated to Medicare is used for its intended purpose, which is to provide quality, affordable health care for every Australian. I am proud to be part of our public healthcare system. I still work in the healthcare system, although not as much as I did previously. I'm proud of the legacy of the Whitlam government with the first national public health insurance scheme, and I will fight to protect it as every Labor member will. I'm proud of this history.”