Susan Templeman
Macquarie · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The three key focuses of the government's action are, firstly, to disrupt and dismantle border threats to stem the flow of illicit tobacco and vapes to Australia before they make it to our shores; secondly, to enhance detection, disruption and destruction of illicit tobacco and vapes at the border and within the community; and, thirdly, t…”
“AUSTRAC is working with the banks and service providers to shut down the money flows that keep illicit tobacco profitable. Hundreds of accounts have already been closed and payment systems stopped.”
“We need to keep fighting it and not blame each other. Those opposite need to recognise that, just as we supported the steps they made, we need their full support in taking these actions.”
“That's not good enough for participants, it's not good enough for employers and it's not good enough for the economy. That's why these reforms are so important. This is the most significant change to employment services in 30 years. At the heart of these reforms is the end of the one-size-fits-all model.”
“The Commonwealth, states and territories are working together to reverse the equation for organised crime at every step and in every way to make the illicit tobacco trade more risky and less profitable, disrupting the illicit supply chain and shutting down illegal shops. This bill is another step in that process.”
“Mr Robert, at that time, spoke of the actions they were taking and the changes they were making on duty liabilities being paid when tobacco is imported into Australia.”
The complete record
Every one of 617 lines we hold for Susan Templeman, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 4 of 13.
“Now, when people first start thinking about getting support for mental wellbeing, it's really easy just to have a picture of long appointments, big emotional conversations or really complex therapy. For some people, that's exactly what's needed. But for others, especially when they're just starting to see symptoms, a more practical kind of and immediate sort of help can make a difference. That's where the Medicare Mental Health Check In starts. It offers a starting point for better wellbeing, giving people some straightforward everyday skills to help them feel steadier, more supported and more in control. And it is up and running now. You don't need a diagnosis or a referral. You don't even need to know exactly how you're feeling. You just need to be finding things tougher than usual.”
“I want to start with the Medicare mental health centre that is already operating in Richmond, and the one in Penrith, which provides walk-in support without a referral or mental health treatment plan being needed. This appropriation bill covers our expansion of this service. We're expanding these walk-in Medicare mental health centres, and I want to point out that many of them are open six or seven days a week; they're not confined to Monday to Friday, nine to five, because anyone who knows anything about mental health challenges knows that they rarely happen Monday to Friday, nine to five. The times where support and action is needed are often outside those times. So we're expanding into digital support, with the Medicare Mental Health Check In.”
“So whether it's looking after yourself at home, getting help from a health service in your area or just getting advice before you hit the road, 1800 MEDICARE is there. You can also access key health information, electronic prescriptions and more through the 1800MEDICARE app, all on your phone. These are things that the Albanese government believes in, because we know that your health is the first step to being able to really fulfil the potential of your life. It is an absolutely fundamental need. One of the things that drove me to politics was a desire to see improvements in the way mental health issues are treated. I am very pleased that we have been able to establish much greater access to mental health services, and I want to take a moment to talk about some of those.”
“We've also added new PBS listings for a wide range of medications and conditions—contraceptives, menopausal hormone therapies, prostate cancer treatments, Parkinson's disease treatments and things for neuroblastoma, endometrial cancer, cystic fibrosis and melanoma, just to name a few. These are things that make a tangible difference to people's lives and make a huge difference to their cost of looking after themselves. Continuing on the health deliverables we've had, we've got 1800MEDICARE. That means you can ring a free 24/7 helpline where you speak to a registered nurse about any health condition. I've used this service. I needed some advice before I jumped on a plane to Perth, and the nurse was able to talk to me about my symptoms, guide me through the right steps—the most sensible things I could do.”
“It recognises that it's on a big learning curve and it is also going to have a role at uplifting the skills and understanding of GPs right across the primary health network. Both the urgent care clinic and the endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic are exactly the kind of practical outcome that makes a real difference to residents across Macquarie, but another measure that's making a very big difference is the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme and prescription medicines being set at a maximum of $25 a script. We've also frozen the cost at $7.70 for concession card holders, and, of course, that lasts till the end of the decade. For stable health conditions, the 60-day prescriptions are a convenient and cost-effective pathway for patients.”
“It took 20 years for me to get the Endo diagnosis that shocked my doctors, and did not at all surprise anyone else. I'm so glad to see the progress in this space and to see women being diagnosed younger and younger. In fact, one of the questions that came up at our endo high tea was, 'How old do you have to be to seek help?' The answer is that there's no age limit—no bottom limit, no top limit. These endometriosis pelvic pain clinics also offer menopause support. This is one place where women who have experienced challenges over many years or who are just experiencing challenges now can go and get expert help. I really commend the attitude that Winmalee Medical Centre is taking.”
“The Winmalee Medical Centre opened our endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic in recent weeks, and again I am looking forward to the official opening of that coming up. I held an endo high tea for Endometriosis Awareness Month at the weekend, and we heard from Practice Manager Leanne, GP Doctor Lakshmi and Nurse Navigator Kaylene about how the intake process would work and the referral pathways that they're developing up and down the mountains, across towards Penrith and including into the Hawkesbury for the whole range of endometriosis and pelvic pain treatments that may be required to meet women's needs and support them through what is a very difficult condition. As my constituent Rachel wrote to me: I wanted to reach out and let you know how encouraged I am by your continued efforts in this area.”
“This is a great outcome and this is exactly the kind of urgent-but-not-life-threatening situation that urgent care clinics are there for. I'm so glad our Hawkesbury community has the service now, with other urgent care clinics also located in Penrith to service the Lower Blue Mountains part of my electorate and in Rouse Hill for other parts of the Hawkesbury. The other really important health change that we have made and funded is the new endometriosis and pelvic pain clinic for the Nepean Blue Mountains Primary Health Network. I want to talk about this clinic and the difference it makes in women's lives. It's particularly pertinent to be talking about it, because we are in Endometriosis Awareness Month.”
“Now, we know how useful the urgent care clinic is turning out to be. I've had the privilege of visiting it and I look forward to the official opening of it next week. But it's already up and running, and people like Jenny are writing to me about it. These are her words from an email: I had told my family the details of the Urgent Care Clinic and they saw Facebook posts. Yesterday. My great granddaughter suffered an accidental face plant resulting in a cut lip. The parents took her to Hawkesbury Hospital, were seen straightaway by a triage nurse but the wait time was not pretty for a distressed one year old. So they took her to the Urgent Care Clinic in Windsor, were seen immediately, were reassured and back home before normal bedtime with a happy little girl. What a great outcome for all. I agree with Jenny.”
“The appropriation bills provide a great opportunity to step back and take a look at how this government, the Albanese government, is delivering on the commitments we've made across vital portfolios—health, education, social services, climate change and energy—and the cost-of-living assistance that we have been able to deliver. In my own electorate of Macquarie, I want to start with our Hawkesbury urgent care clinic, which is up and running in Kable Street, Windsor. This is something our community wanted; thousands of people signed my petition to get a Hawkesbury urgent care clinic. The data backed up the need for it, too, to ease the pressure on the busy Hawkesbury District Hospital, where around 42 per cent of presentations in 2024-25 were for semi-urgent or non-urgent conditions.”
“At a federal level, we've made investments in this vital road corridor with improvements, most recently at Little Hartley and Medlow Bath, but all of us know there is significant and difficult work to be done to improve the Great Western Highway, especially between Katoomba and Mount Victoria—and urgently now down the Victoria Pass. My state colleague Trish Doyle and I are determined to see ongoing improvements to the Great Western Highway. The federal government provides funding for projects following requests from state governments. The state government is then responsible for planning and delivering these projects. We have a budget coming up. If Minister Aitchison in New South Wales puts a budget request on this to Minister King, I'll be backing that investment and backing my community.”
“People who travel the Great Western Highway across the Blue Mountains are facing a terrible situation, with the highway closed and a detour in place because of defects at the historic Victoria Pass convict bridge. Safety comes first, and the New South Wales government is working quickly to identify the issues. They're diligently working through the problem, looking for potential solutions. This is difficult terrain. If the fix was easy, it would have been done long ago. That's why I think everyone's priority is getting the existing convict era bridge reopened as soon as it's safe to do so.”
“I stress again that there is urgency to act on flood risk and flood insurance. This is not just an issue for Macquarie; it's for every one of those 1.3 million properties at risk of flooding and already—or at risk of—being priced out of insurance. It's also a reality that those without insurance will turn to the government of the day for support should the worst happen. Our role should be to find a pathway to help people who live in floodplains have the financial resilience to cope with the inevitability of a flood.”
“This is something we have to tackle head on as a government, but we can't do it without the industry. We've started the work through the Hazards Insurance Partnership, the HIP, which the government established in 2023 to look at solutions for easing pressures on insurance premiums. In addition, I've worked with insurers exploring and learning more about models used elsewhere. I can say that no single country has nailed this. The Albanese government also created the Disaster Ready Fund in 2022, dedicating a billion dollars over five years for investment in disaster mitigation. But I want to see a greater focus on flood defence, especially for my region, and we await the New South Wales government's Hawkesbury-Nepean Valley Disaster Adaptation Plan to understand their priorities.”
“Since 2022, floods and storms in Macquarie have led to more than 3,000 properties requiring a rebuild by insurers, $107.6 million in insured losses and $193.6 million in total economic costs. Flood insurance is a problem. The link between high flood risk and lower socioeconomic status is strong. We're talking about 70 per cent of homes where median incomes are below the national median of $92,000 a year, and 35 per cent of these are in areas where the median income is below the poverty line. When people are quoted insurance premiums for flood coverage, as they are in parts of Macquarie, of $10,000, $20,000 or $30,000 a year, it is understandably completely out of reach for homeowners. The Insurance Council of Australia estimates around 80 per cent of homes that are in severe to extreme flood risk are not insured for flood.”
“As we've watched flooding occur around the country in recent days and weeks, there's deep empathy for victims from my electorate who live on the Hawkesbury-Nepean floodplain. This season we've been lucky so far, but that doesn't mean we can ignore the need to act urgently on flood mitigation, flood resilience and flood insurance. Around 1.3 million properties around the country are at risk of flooding. About half of them are without the flood resilience measures of modern planning and building standards. Around 240,000 of those properties, homes and businesses face at least a two per cent or five per cent chance of flooding each year—many are in Macquarie.”
“Danielle Le Poidevin very kindly and graciously shared her personal experiences of trying to navigate this very challenging condition. I think we were all moved by her bravery as she talked about the efforts of self-advocacy that she had had to undertake, and we hope that this new service will make it much easier for women to get the help they need. Thank you to the Gourmet Trefoil Guild for feeding us so well for the afternoon.”
“Yesterday, I joined with dozens of women from across the electorate of Macquarie to eat scones, cake and sausage rolls as we marked the start of Endometriosis Awareness Month. As well as marking the start of a really important month for people to learn more about endometriosis, we also celebrated the start of the new endometriosis, pelvic pain and menopause clinic that is now operating at Winmalee Medical Centre. The general practice manager from Winmalee, Leanne Dale, joined me, as did Doctor Lakshmi Gribble and the nurse navigator Kaylene McDonald, to talk about how the service will work and what experiences women will have when they first reach out with a pelvic pain, endometriosis or menopause issue to investigate.”
“So I look back on those days and see how far we have come, particularly thanks to the NBN and the expansion of the mobile phone towers that I fought for for so many years. This is the next step—to make sure that, when people go outdoors into the wild almost anywhere in Australia, if they can see the sky they can make a voice or text call. Our vision is absolutely clear. This is about making Australia the most connected continent in the world. I'm very pleased to support this legislation as a key part of bringing telecommunications law into the 21st century and beyond.”
“The UOMO is a critical part of our comprehensive work to reduce the digital divide, increase productivity, support economic growth and meet Australia's growing demand for data and seamless connectivity. I know a decade ago it was almost impossible to work from home in many parts of my electorate because of the quality of ADSL. The NBN, as it came online, improved that, step by step. The increase in fibre to the home has been a game changer for people in the Blue Mountains and Hawkesbury in being able to run their businesses effectively and successfully from home. I know I tried to do it in the early 2000 with dial-up, followed quickly by the first version of ADSL. It was hard as a small business having to manage that communication side and the volume of material that you could send.”
“I know that there are people in Macquarie who recognise that they have not enjoyed the benefits in the same way that people a few kilometres down the road have. We know, when we live in wild places like the Blue Mountains and the Hawkesbury, when we choose to live in the middle of World Heritage, there are choices that we make, but making a phone call in an emergency is something that I believe everybody should have the right to do. So this is a real game changer for people for when they're doing their adventure travelling through the canyons and the tracks of the Blue Mountains. When they're out with family on camping holidays and adventures, it will give another degree of safety. So I'm keen to see this as soon as is practicable by the industry. This legislation does send them a very strong signal about how quickly we'd like to see it.”
“I might reflect that perhaps changes could have been made to this some time ago, but, by doing this now, we're also creating a framework that can protect consumers and ensure mobile services if the industry doesn't deliver in the national interest. I want to point out that support for this has come from many organisations but, in particular, in my electorate, the farmers. I want to refer to the National Farmers' Federation's views about this. The NFF president, Hamish McIntyre, said the legislation has the 'potential to redraw' the mobile coverage map. He said: Getting this bill into Parliament is a big moment. For too long, farmers and people in the bush have been on the wrong side of the digital divide.”
“This timing, while it is challenging, is sending a really clear signal to the market on what we see as the importance of equitable and accessible outdoor mobile coverage. It tells the market very clearly that this is a priority for the Albanese Labor government. It's a priority that these services be available to people as soon as possible. We're not sitting around just waiting for the issue to fix itself and for technology to catch up. We are acting early to make sure that Australia is at the forefront of this technology. The legislation brings mobile services into this longstanding universal services obligation regime that I mentioned earlier. It previously only covered legacy copper based voice services.”
“The direct-to-device technology, known as D2D, is an emerging technology and is still being rolled out in Australia and around the world. What we're legislating now is to ensure that this critical new technology is widely available and deployed as quickly as possible to ensure Australians can benefit from it. Given the emerging nature of D2D technology, this bill sets the default date for the commencement of the Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation as 1 December 2027. I know from the conversations that I've had with the telcos that they realise they've got a lot of work to do to have the technology ready by that date. While they will be working hard at it, this bill does allow for flexibility to adjust the date to accommodate market readiness.”
“What we heard from people is that they want to be able to access whatever technology there is that allows the function of being able to dial triple zero or make a call to another point of contact when things are difficult. The UOMO legislation requires the mobile network operators—Telstra, TPG, Optus—to provide universal baseline outdoor mobile coverage where reasonably possible. It's anticipated that they will do this via a combination of terrestrial and new direct-to-device technology available from the low-Earth-orbit satellites, the LEOsats. We should be really clear that this is not about replacing traditional mobile coverage. It's about expanding the coverage to areas where, despite significant industry and government co-investment, it hasn't been feasible to provide mobile coverage.”
“I've heard people talk a lot about how much we rely on telecommunications to support our families, our businesses and our communities, but I really want to focus on the bit when you need to seek help in an emergency. These are the calls you might not ever want to make, like when you are in one of the valleys and you've lost your way. The traditional mobile coverage currently provides about 99 per cent coverage where Australians work and live, but it actually only covers one-third of the landmass. There is a big area where you can't currently make a triple zero call using traditional mobile services. The big question is: how will this work? It is only possible thanks to the improvement of technology and the low-Earth-orbit satellites, the LEOsats, which now move around our globe.”
“I think the community and governments have already worked out that providing this universal coverage is not viable with mobile phone towers. It just isn't possible to put mobile phone towers everywhere that you need them, particularly in rugged country like mine, world heritage country, where there are tall mountains and low valleys and it's very hard for those signals to transmit. Having said that, we've made a significant difference, including towers like Mount Tomah, upgrades at Colo Heights and Bilpin and the towers in Yellow Rock, Hawkesbury Heights, Maraylya and Megalong Valley. All of these towers are making a difference, allowing people to maintain communication as they go about their day. But what the UOMO means is that when you're not in your normal place but you need communication you will have it.”
“I've certainly personally experienced those times when my community was on fire and my street needed to be able to text each other and find out where our kids were or who was able to give someone a lift out of an area that was about to be hit. It's so vitally important that in these times of crisis you have a reliable message or voice service, and that's what this will do. The Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025—very catchily known as UOMO—is going to change what we think about in emergencies as the bill rolls out. Whether you're between the mobile phone towers on the Putty Road in Macquarie, hiking down in the Kanimbla Valley or on horseback in the Upper Macdonald valley, it will be comforting and potentially life-saving to know that you'll be able to dial triple zero from your mobile.”
“It is very clear that the quality has deteriorated significantly over the years and that it just isn't enough to say to people, 'You're guaranteed to have a landline; that's going to do it for you'. So, as always, the Albanese Labor government is dragging something from the last century into this century—dragging it into the 21st century and setting it up to see us through for many years to come, with a piece of legislation that says that, no matter where you are in Australia, if you can see the sky, you should be able to make a phone call or send a text message. I'm not talking about uploading to TikTok or being able to necessarily jump on TripAdvisor and tell everyone what the view is. What we're talking about are those emergency and important times when you need to make a voice connection or get a message through.”
“Among the members of this House, there are those of us who remember when the original universal service obligation came in—in 1991. I remember this because I was actually working for Telecom at the time. The Hawke government initiated reforms that ensured that Telecom, now Telstra, was required to provide voice services and payphones to all Australians, regardless of their location. That was part of broader national carrier responsibilities they had, as competition came to this sector. There was more done to really cement the universal service obligation, under Richard Alston in 1999. Good work was done then. But a lot has changed, and having a landline is not the thing that gives you peace of mind and comfort. In fact, I've heard members in this House comment on the quality of landlines.”
“For the past 15 years, I have worked hard to improve the connectivity for the community of Macquarie. This region might only be 75 to 100 kilometres from the centre of Sydney, but you can find yourself in remote and rugged country. In many places, even those that appear to be quite suburban, you might be outside the reach of mobile coverage. I'm very pleased to say that it's improving, thanks to much better mobile phone tower coverage, but the gaps remain in places where it's really difficult to put a string of mobile towers. When you've got fire or you've got flooding, an obligation by a telecommunications provider to provide you with a landline really doesn't cut it, but that's what the current situation is.”
“We also honoured his service as a nasho at last Sunday's National Servicemen's service, which Merv and Narelle have led for many years. Narelle continued to do him proud. As well as being involved in community organisations like the Upper Colo progress association and the Colo ratepayers association, in the sixties Merv helped form the Hawkesbury Potato Growers Cooperative in an attempt to realign the imbalance of power in the wholesale fruit and vegetable market—something that resonates with us still today. He was part of the bushfire brigade service, giving his shed to firefighting appliances rather than his own tractor because there was no actual brigade. That's the kind of person he was. Merv was also a key member of the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association, serving as a senior executive for almost 30 years.”
“It is open to everybody around the country. It was a sad day at St Matthew's Anglican Church when we joined the wife of Merv Ward, Narelle, from Upper Colo, and family and friends to honour his life. Merv was 92, and I take this opportunity to recognise the service he gave to our community over many decades. I've known Merv and Narelle through their many community activities over the last 10-plus years, from the Hawkesbury District Agricultural Association, the Hawkesbury District National Servicemen's Association and the Upper Colo community, and through bushfires and floods. Merv's history of service began way back in 1952 when he was called up to national service, choosing to remain in what we would now call the Army Reserve until 1960. He then served as a civil defence warden right through to the early seventies.”
“Cole's artwork depicts his mum in uniform and wearing breathing apparatus, with smoke, a fire engine and an overhead drone. His very proud family were with him when he accepted his award. The People's Choice Award was won by Elsie Kuhn, who's in kindergarten at Blue Mountains Grammar, for her work 'Girls Can Do It'. This was voted for by the public. In her own words: 'Girls can do anything and help each other look after people and animals. Firefighters are brave and strong, especially girls. This is a drawing of my aunty and I saving the day.' It was a beautiful work of art. The theme for this year's competition at the Museum of Fire is 'Dogs in Firefighting'. I am looking forward to seeing the shortlisted works next January, and I encourage every student in every school around the country to enter.”
“Each year the Penrith Museum of Fire holds an art competition for primary-aged children. For the 2025 awards, the theme was 'Trailblazers', marking 40 years since women were first formally allowed to join the New South Wales Fire Brigades—as it was then called—as firefighters. As Special Envoy for the Arts, I joined parents, families and children at the official awards event in January, and I admired the artwork celebrating the courage, achievements and enduring legacy of the women who stepped forward, broke barriers and helped shape the modern fire service. Two of the awards were won by Blue Mountains students. 'My Mum the Firefighter', by Cole Brown, from Leura Public School, won the Highly Commended Award for year 2 students.”
“When the Emu Plains Girl Guides told me they were fundraising for a new street library outside their guide hall, I was very happy to help make that happen. It's a work of art built by members of the Nepean Men's Shed, painted bright yellow and even featuring planter boxes on either side. The official launch was great fun. I love seeing young people valuing the good old-fashioned paper book as an alternative to screen time. The artworks painted on the street library draw inspiration from the local Dharug people, choosing symbols which represent guiding and Emu Plains. They include women sitting, meeting place, teaching, campsite and friends. 'Take a book, read a book, leave a book' is their motto, and I encourage kids in the area to do just that at the Emu Plains Girl Guides street library on Nepean Street.”
“I want to let veterans know we are taking action against bad actors who have been seeking to take advantage of the improvements in government service delivery and who have been putting in false claims for veterans health. Veterans should know that they can come directly to the Department of Veterans' Affairs. Claims are being processed promptly, there are independent processes in place and the integrity of that system is much improved in the changes we've made. We will stop medical practitioners and unscrupulous people from exploiting these veterans.”
“That includes the latest commitment in the announcement we've made around how veterans health is treated. We've often focused on reactive treatment. When something goes wrong, it gets treated. But, consistent with the findings of the royal commission, DVA will now have a greater focus on early intervention and prevention, working really closely with the Department of Defence to identify risks earlier and act sooner. The announcement this week around these improvements will make a real difference to people's lives. It includes using insights from the claims decision-making to support Defence's proactive approaches and making it easier for veterans to access treatment and rehab early.”
“My experience of being a member of the Defence liaison program, spending time in Iraq in Camp Taji and spending time at Amberley in Queensland, has shown me how tight the defence family is and what a big wrench it must be when you leave that defence family, particularly when it may be driven by a health reason and not necessarily the natural timing that you might have chosen. I've talked to many veterans who tell me that stepping away from Defence is one of the most scary things that they've done, and we hope that the veterans' hubs create a sense of place for people so that they can feel welcome in those places. As well as being so pleased to see this legislation as a key part of it, I've also been very pleased to see the work that we have been doing to improve veteran wellbeing outcomes.”
“All our thoughts are with Brett. He has an amazing committee who are continuing the work in his absence. The Scheyville National Park transformation means that a very dilapidated part of our community is now alive with activities and has such a bright future thanks to the very caring work that has been done, and it's been done with the work of local tradies and builders. I know Allscope Constructions had a very large hand in it, and I suspect they were very generous with the rates that they charged to do this important work. These are the sorts of things that are already happening on the ground to ensure that veterans and their families have places they can turn to so they don't feel isolated.”
“I'm very excited to see it evolve, and, of course, I can't wait for the beautiful renovation to be complete. At another part of the electorate, the same issues that this bill is seeking to address are being tackled in a different way, and that is through Taskforce Veteran, formerly known as the Hunter Anzac Memorial Limited, who have been working on the properties at Scheyville. They're working on historic veterans' housing—it has been a veterans' and migrants' centre at different times—and, thanks to a $5 million federal grant, are transforming dilapidated buildings into something really special. I particularly want to mention the key person who has driven this: Brett Wild. I want to wish him all the best, because he has suffered a stroke and is in hospital. I really want to see him continuing the fantastic work he's done at Scheyville.”
“It's a building that has not been used and has had no purpose for many years but will come to life to provide a hub and support for the many veterans and defence personnel and their family in the Hawkesbury. When it's complete, around 20,000 veterans and families who live in the Hawkesbury—and then it will be linked to one in south-west Sydney—will be able to access tailored support close to where they are. What we've seen from the hubs really speaks to the piece in this legislation that is focusing on the recognition of mental health and wellbeing as being fundamental. The hubs offer better access to support, resources and services all in one location and—in some ways, more importantly—provide an opportunity for that social and community connection.”
“The new Hawkesbury Veteran and Family Hub is part of ensuring that there is an easy point of access for current serving personnel and their families and for veteran personnel and their families. I'm very pleased to be attending an open day tomorrow—sorry, Friday. I'm a day ahead of myself—wishful thinking! I will be back in my electorate on Friday attending the open day for the Hawkesbury Veteran and Family Hub to really showcase the work that has already been done in a temporary location, underneath the Windsor RSL, while there is work being done for the permanent home of the Hawkesbury Veteran and Family Hub. I congratulate Brett and his team on the work they're doing in this interim period, and I also congratulate all of those working to restore the historic former Richmond Court House, which is right in the heart of historic Richmond.”
“It's one thing to listen; it's another to act, and that's what this bill does, so that the commissioner has the tools necessary to ensure the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission can drive system reform, because we do need to see an improvement in suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and ex-serving Australian Defence Force members. This legislation is one of the steps that we're taking. It was recommendation 122, one of the most important things to do. But we've already seen improvements happening on the ground that go to the objectives of this legislation in my own community, where, as I say, we have the Richmond and Glenbrook RAAF bases, which have been there for a long time.”
“It is not unexpected but very important that we have in this legislation the requirement that the commission will be publicly reporting on the government's progress on implementing the government response to the recommendations of the royal commission on the third and sixth anniversaries of the government's first response—that will be in 2027 and 2030. That public reporting will ensure that anybody will be able to measure it against what was set out to be achieved. In preparing for this bill, the government has listened to feedback from stakeholders and taken action on it.”
“I'm very satisfied that this has been done at a pace that allowed for sufficient input from all the stakeholders who are important—most importantly from veterans and Defence personnel and their families. The bill strengthens the independence of the commissioner by ensuring the role is appointed by the Governor-General after a merit based and public recruitment process. The bill strengthens the commissioner's powers in ensuring accountability and accessing necessary information. The bill also expands the scope of witness protection to ensure that a person is protected in providing information to an inquiry by the commissioner. That's a very important improvement. The bill improves the transparency of the work of the commission to ensure accountability for the commission itself and those who are subject to its oversight.”
“There is no doubt that families of veterans and Defence members play a vital role in the health and wellbeing of those who are serving or have served. They also face some unique challenges themselves, whether it's the moving from location to location or whether it's the fact that the hours and the operational requirements that their family member has mean that they're not always at home when they might want them to be. The whole lifestyle of being in a Defence family is a very different thing from what the average family experiences. So we're really pleased that, through this legislation, we're able to acknowledge the significance of veteran families. Under this legislation, the commission functions and powers have been reviewed, and there have been a bunch of amendments adopted.”
“The Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner Bill builds on the work that was undertaken by the parliament when schedule 9 of the Veterans' Entitlements, Treatment and Support (Simplification and Harmonisation) Act 2025 was passed and a Senate inquiry was undertaken. The submissions, the evidence and the committee's report have informed the development of this bill, and it's led to the implementing of a whole range of recommendations that they had. That's why we now have standalone legislation for the Defence and Veterans' Service Commission, which reflects its independence. I think it's really important for people to be aware that the commissioner also has a role in recognising veterans' and Defence members' families.”
“It has to have the functions and powers necessary to meet its objectives. Most importantly, it has to be able to maintain the trust of the veteran and Defence community. This bill delivers on the full implementation of these things by enshrining the legislative establishment of the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner and the Defence and Veterans' Service commission into its own standalone legislation, as was always intended. I note that the previous speaker from the opposition talked about things being rushed. Well, let's look at the work that has been done to get us to this point.”
“The role of this new statutory oversight entity really is to provide independent oversight and evidence based advice so that the system can be reformed to improve suicide prevention and improve wellbeing outcomes for the Defence and veteran community. The commission has a dedicated and sustained focus on suicide prevention, as it should, having come out of that gut-wrenching royal commission. The establishment and the framework will ensure agencies implementing royal commission recommendations will be held to account by promoting long-term change and driving the changes that are needed to reduce the rates of suicide and suicidality among serving and ex-serving ADF members. There are a lot of things that have to happen to make sure this is effective, and one of them is that the commission must have independence.”