Meryl Swanson
Paterson · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The Albanese government is also expanding the Help to Buy scheme, which will help even more Australians achieve homeownership. Under Help to Buy, eligible Australians can buy a home with a deposit of as little as two per cent.”
“We're already seeing the difference that the programs we've already initiated are making. Across my electorate, 2,323 people and families have already taken up the first-home guarantee, helping them purchase a home with just a five per cent deposit. That's 2,323 families that are in homes.”
“Today is a landmark day. Today the Australian Labor Albanese government has reinvigorated the great Australian dream, which—let's face it—was becoming a nightmare, particularly for young people. We have stared down the darkness. This is the cold, hard light of day.”
“More people are choosing to live in regional Australia, and that's pushed up house prices and rental costs, creating real pressure for young people and all people trying to get ahead. I regularly hear from young people who work really hard, and they are saving and they do make sacrifices.”
“In communities like Maitland and Port Stephens, we're seeing pressures that come with rapid growth. Almost 96,000 people now call Maitland home, and we welcome around 2,000 new residents every year. By 2041, that number is expected to reach 145,000 people. Our region's growth is a sign of strength.”
“Importantly, support is also available through the family-home guarantee, which helps eligible single parents purchase a home with a deposit as little as two per cent. For single parents balancing work and family responsibility and the cost of living, this support can make a real difference.”
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“I rise today to speak about the strength, resilience and future of one of the most important sectors in our nation, Australian agriculture, and what it means for communities like mine in the broader Hunter region. Across our region and right across the country, farmers, fishers and freight operators are navigating a period of real uncertainty. The world is in flux at the moment. The ongoing conflict in the Middle East is creating pressure on supply chains and global markets, and people on the ground are feeling it. We see you. In the Hunter—where agriculture, transport, mining and regional industry are deeply connected—we know these global challenges are never far from the farm gate or the supermarket shelf, but what I see every single day in communities like mine is resilience.”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes recently released forecasts from the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences show that: (a) Australia's farm gate production value is forecast to exceed $100 billion this financial year, four years ahead of the National Farmers Federation's 2030 target; and (b) agriculture, fisheries and forestry exports will reach a record high of almost $85 billion in 2025-26, with more demand than ever for Australia's world-class food and fibre; (2) recognises that this significant milestone was achieved with the hard work, resilience and skill of Australia's primary producers; and (3) acknowledges the significant investments the Government has made in agriculture, fisheries and forestry since coming to Government in support of the industry's target including: (a) strengthening biosecurity with more than $2 billion in new funding to keep Australia free from the world's most invasive pests and diseases; (b) boosting the agricultural workforce bringing employers, unions and government together to tackle the workforce challenges impacting Australia's agriculture and processing industry; (c) making agricultural trade the most diversified it has ever been through 256 market access achievements since July 2022; and (d) building a climate resilient agriculture sector through the Agriculture and Land Sector Plan backed by more than $2 billion in investment to ensure our farmers and producers can confidently face our climate future.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese Labor government supporting Australians, and how does the government's leadership differ from that of others? And, Prime Minister, why is consistency of leadership so important?”
“We had a little sign, and it said, 'If you can't remember your code, phone Linda.' She was the keeper of all of the secrets and all of the important information. She did all of my financials. She kept the wheels turning in our office. You can't imagine the shock that we all felt in hearing that she had been diving at her beloved Port Stephens and had had a very sudden medical episode. We were all terribly shocked on 8 November. It was a Saturday, and I'll never forget when I got that message. Linda was the embodiment of loyalty, care, quiet strength and respect. She didn't seek any recognition, but she most certainly earned it. When I spoke to the Prime Minister in the days before her funeral, he said, 'She was a true believer, wasn't she?' And I said, 'She sure was.' She's terribly missed, not just by me and my team but by her family.”
“She had worked for the former member for Eden-Monaro, Mike Kelly, and, when I phoned Mike to tell him of her passing, he too was deeply shocked and saddened. He said, 'Mate, she was a massive part of my show.' She'd worked for him for around 15 years. He had a lot of responsibility, particularly in defence, and I know Linda played a pivotal role in that. Around five years ago, Linda decided to step back a little bit from the political-staffer life and retire to Port Stephens because she loved scuba diving. But she couldn't give it up completely—the political-staffer life, not the diving—so she came to work for me part time. Really, it wasn't ever part time, because she was always on the emails at home and she was always just a phone call away when I would invariably forget a password or someone needed the code for the lock on the door.”
“We in this place all know that we couldn't do our jobs without our teams. They are the engine rooms behind us all. So it was with incredible sadness and shock last year that I received a message advising me that one of my team members had suddenly and most unexpectedly passed away. I am speaking about Linda Ann Colman. She was 65 and she was affectionately known by her family as 'Lindy-Ann from Queanbeyan'. Linda was born and bred in Queanbeyan, and she was one of those people who are gems from start to finish. She was a stalwart of the Australian Labor Party and she was old-fashioned Labor—she believed in a hard day's work for well-earned pay. She also loved a very cold espresso martini. Linda came to work for us five years ago.”
“My question is to the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. How is the Albanese Labor government working with farmers to manage the impact of the conflict in the Middle East on agriculture, and what steps is the Albanese Labor government taking to improve food security?”
“It's still full of risk, but it's also full of good reward, and it's something that each one of us in this place can feel proud of, not only because of the employment it provides the people of Australia but because of the wealth that it provides our nation as well. I commend the bill to the House.”
“This bill is grounded in fairness, practicality and respect for working people and those who employ them. It acknowledges the central role of coalmining regions like mine, the mighty Hunter. It supports employers to do the right thing. Most importantly, it ensures that workers, the men and women who have given so much to this industry and our country, can access the long service leave entitlements that they've earned. As the daughter of a coalminer and as a proud representative of the Hunter, I really want to commend this bill to the House, and I want to thank those people who get up early in the morning, go to work and don't go to bed until very late or work through the night. It is a hard job in the coal industry. No-one denies how hard it is.”
“Finally, this bill strengthens compliance with the Coal Long Service Leave scheme by addressing a technical defect related to the additional levy applied to late payments. The additional levy exists to encourage employers to pay their levies on time. However, it's currently calculated using a rate that's no longer published by the Reserve Bank of Australia. As a result, it doesn't effectively deter late payments and doesn't align with the scheme's original intent. This bill that we're moving in the House today fixes that defect by tying the additional levy to the Reserve Bank of Australia's cash rate. This restores the integrity of the compliance mechanism and supports timely payments into the scheme, ultimately benefiting workers and allowing employers to know where they stand in relation to the RBA cash rate.”
“The bill also provides a time limited opportunity for employers to access a more streamlined onboarding pathway, one that's expected to be significantly faster than the current bespoke onboarding process, which can take up to 12-to-18 months. The streamlined pathway includes simplified wage calculations, reducing the need to recreate historical payroll slips, which can be a bit of a nightmare. It allows for reasonable assumptions to address unavoidable historical data gaps, and it enables payment arrangements to progress without needing to resolve every historical data issue up front, ensuring that debt repayment and worker connection to entitlements are not unnecessarily delayed.”
“In addition, where employers have already paid long-service leave entitlements directly to employees upon cessation of employment, those amounts can be deducted from their historical debt. This avoids double payment and recognises good-faith actions already taken by employers. I want to thank the employers who do the right thing for that. It is very important. Importantly, participation in the payment arrangement scheme is entirely voluntary. Employers can choose the approach that best suits their circumstances, and, if an employer chooses not to opt in, employees still retain the ability to pursue queries about their eligibility for the scheme through existing mechanisms.”
“We should never forget that. Under this bill, employers will be able to repay the historical levy debts in a predictable and manageable way over a six-year period. This gives businesses certainty, stability and time to plan, while ensuring that the scheme receives the funds needed to support workers' entitlements. It is a win-win. This bill also introduces a 20 per cent debt waiver for employers who opt into the payment arrangement scheme. We want to reward these proactive employers who want to do the right thing. We're going to reward them with a 20 per cent debt waiver. Particularly for businesses with significant levy liabilities, it encourages participation rather than avoidance.”
“This really matters, because the modern coalmining workforce is very diverse. It extends well beyond the mine gate, and it includes thousands of skilled workers whose labour is essential to the safe and efficient operation of the industry. This bill also recognises the realities facing employers, particularly in the light of recent legal activity. Findings in the Hitachi and Orica cases have clarified coverage for many employers in the coalmining industry. As a result, some employers have now accrued substantial historical levy debts, often going back many years. This legislation does not ignore that reality. Instead, it introduces practical, sensible measures to support compliance while easing the financial and administrative burden on employers. We can't forget that these employers need to generate a revenue too.”
“In other words, this bill places the focus where it belongs: on the worker, not on the paperwork or on the gaps that no longer serve any legitimate purpose. The benefits of this bill will be felt across a wide range of employees in the coalmining industry. At this stage, it's difficult to quantify the precise number of workers who will benefit, as employers will need to submit service records and eligible wage data. But what we do know is that the Coal Long Service Leave is actively engaging with dozens of employers to assess eligibility. These employers operate across a broad range of activities within the industry, including maintenance and repair services, labour-hire firms supplying maintenance and repair workers, shotfirer employers, emergency service providers and businesses conducting testing, inspection and certification.”
“And that's precisely what this bill seeks to address. This bill is designed to fix the problem at its source. It incentivises major employer compliance with the coal long service leave scheme with clear and practical focus on connecting workers to their full long service leave entitlements. Importantly, where records are missing—and there will be people listening to this wondering about their records—because records that are more than seven years old sometimes are not kept, they are no longer required to be kept. This bill allows for reasonable assumptions to be made. This is a critical reform. It ensures that workers are not denied their entitlements simply because the historical records are incomplete, unavailable or have been discarded.”
“When his claim was finally approved, his accrued long service leave increased from roughly 300 hours to around 900 hours. He told me it was about fairness. He was working side by side with employees directly engaged by the mine. We refer to those people as the 'permanent shirts' as opposed to the contractors. He was doing the same job on the same crew day after day, sometimes night after night. They were accruing 13 weeks after eight years. He was accruing far less. It's simply not right. Stuart now has two young children and, like many long-term miners, he hopes one day to use his accrued leave to either spend extended time with his family or as a bridge into retirement. As he said, if you're working on a coal mine, you should clearly be covered. It shouldn't depend on what logo appears on your payslip or your shirt.”
“Stuart, from Maitland, spent nearly seven years working almost entirely on coalmine sites while employed by a contractor. About 90 per cent of his time was on coalmines. There was no question he was working in the mining industry, but, because of the way the law operated at the time, his employer was able to avoid paying the black coal long service leave scheme. In effect, it was a loophole and one that left workers like Stuart carrying the cost. Eventually, workers challenged it. The matter went through a major dispute and was ultimately recognised but only after a significant fight—and with the support of the Mining and Energy Union, I might add. Stuart lodged a claim for his long service leave. He had to gather years of evidence—site login records, employment documents and detailed work histories—just to have his service recognised.”
“But the reality is that for too long some workers have been unable to accrue or access those entitlements not because they were ineligible but because of prolonged disputes about employer coverage under the scheme. Over many years, a number of employers have disputed whether they employed eligible workers in the coalmining industry. These disputes had very real consequences. They have left workers without service records in many cases, they have prevented accrual of entitlements and in some cases they have meant that workers who dedicated years of their life to the industry walked away without the long service leave they were, in fact, entitled to. That's just not acceptable. I want to share an example from my electorate of Paterson.”
“It's about making sure that workers in the coalmining industry can access long service leave entitlements that they've lawfully earned—entitlements that recognise the physical demands, the risk, the long-term commitment required in this industry and, as was just pointed out by the member for Riverina, also the changing nature of work in the industry. In coal in the Hunter, we're not so much FIFO workers as in fly-in fly-out. People drive long hours on top of a 12-hour shift in our region. Sometimes they'll drive up to two hours to get to work, work for 12 hours and then drive home again. It's a very long day. That's why these people need to be paid fairly and properly. Eligible workers in the coal industry are entitled to portable long service leave under the coal long service leave scheme. That has been the law for decades.”
“It is an important part of our story. Coalmining isn't just an industry in our region; it's actually part of the fabric of who we are—our identity. It's powered our nation, sustained regional economies like the Hunter and provided generations of working people with good incomes, with secure, skilled employment. And it will continue to be an integral part of the Hunter for many years to come. That's why it's so important that, when we say we back the coal mining industry, we mean we're backing its workers 100 per cent of the way. This bill is doing exactly that. At its heart, this legislation is about fairness.”
“I can remember that a big deal in my house was when mum got an extra small washing machine to wash dad's overalls so she didn't have to clean out our normal machine after washing those clothes. Times have changed in the coalmining industry, and that is a good thing. My father was a coalminer at Bloomfield colliery, and I'm proud to say that my grandfather worked there, too. To this very day, we still extract coal out of that mine, which is less than a kilometre from my house, where I live now. We've been doing so and sending it to Japan for 90 years. That's the depth and the breadth of coal and how much it means not only to my region and the people who extract it but also to our country and the revenue we gain from it. I want to thank each and every one of those workers who continues to extract coal from Bloomfield to this very day.”
“I too rise today to speak in support of the Coal Mining Industry (Long Service Leave) Legislation Amendment Bill 2025. I do so not only as a member in this place and the very proud member for Paterson but also as the proud daughter, granddaughter and great granddaughter of coalminers and the proud friend, the proud aunt—someone who is well and truly still enmeshed among those who either used to work in the coal industry or still do. I grew up in a household shaped by the rhythms of the coal industry, by shift work. My father worked dogwatch, which these days is known as night work, for the last 17 years of his career—17 continuous years of dogwatch. I remember seeing him come home just as I was about to go to school every morning.”
“For the factory worker, for the aged-care worker, for the young apprentice working to be a tradie, for the enrolled nurse, for the hospitality worker, for the shiftworker, for the miner, for the part timer and for the casual, these bills are changing Australia for the better. It's a reform that builds a stronger, fairer super system and I commend it to the House.”
“These values mean that the system should work for ordinary Australians, that concessions should be targeted fairly, that women and low-income earners deserve support and that sustainability of the system really matters over the long term. Superannuation is one of the greatest achievements of modern Australia. It has transformed the retirement of millions and, quite frankly, those superannuation funds have changed the trajectory of the investment of our nation as well. They are an incredible wealth for our country. We must continue to refine it and strengthen it, to ensure that it serves its core purpose. These bills do exactly that. They deliver more help to more people. They better target concessions. They strengthen equity. They safeguard sustainability.”
“We can support retirement incomes, we can support fairness and we can support fiscal responsibility all at the same time. That is what this legislation does. It ticks all the boxes of what it means to be Australian: proud, fair and generous. When I speak to people in my electorate, they don't ask for special treatment. They ask for fairness. They ask for security. They ask for the opportunity to retire with dignity after decades of hard work. And, let me tell you, in my seat I've got some of the hardest working people in some of the toughest industries that generate the most income and wealth for our nation. I see them driving to work and doing that work every single day, and I respect them for it. This legislation reflects my values and it reflects their values. They are, largely, Labor values.”
“I want nothing more than to be a self-funded retiree and pay my fair share, and I want other generations to be able to do that too. I'm Labor like that; I believe in fairness. You need to work hard and pay your way, but you should get what you're entitled to as well. That's what we believe in. This bill does this. It preserves concessions for everyone saving for retirement, it improves equity by reducing concessions for a very small number with extremely large balances and it strengthens the budget in a responsible way, because, if we don't take measured and sensible action now, the cost of super concessions will continue to balloon, placing pressure on future budgets and limiting our ability to invest in essential services.”
“Their super balances are significantly smaller than their male counterparts. If all is okay, it is likely that they will be working into their 70s to ensure their super balances will sustain them, yet they're the most likely to have worked full time since their teens. Most have done unpaid work, and many have volunteered more than most. We can fix this for future generations, and therefore we should. And it's really that simple. If we're serious about protecting superannuation for future generations, we must ensure its sustainability. Tax concessions are a form of government support, and, like all government support, they should be targeted where they are needed most. 'Self-funded' can be an oxymoron if, by that simple term, you are forgetting that tax concessions are in fact a form of support. Let's not sugar-coat that.”
“Women retire with significantly less super than men, often because part-time work and time out of the workforce caring for children or elderly parents make their average wages lower. By boosting the income offset, paying super on paid parental leave and strengthening the system overall, we're addressing structural inequality. This is not just economic reform; it is social reform, and it's important. It recognises that care work, paid and unpaid, has real value—and I want to thank the women in my community who do so much work that goes unpaid. It ensures that women who have contributed so much to our families and our communities aren't left behind in retirement. Women in their 50s are the most likely to become homeless in Australia and are the most likely to find it difficult to find work in our ever-changing times.”
“It means that a worker can receive up to $810 per year paid into their super account. On average, affected workers will receive around $410 more. Over a working life, that's around $15,000 extra at retirement. That may not seem like a lot to someone who is very wealthy, but, to someone who isn't wealthy, $15,000 can be a game changer. It can be the difference between choosing to turn on your air conditioner on a 40-degree day and upgrading to solar power to reduce your electricity bills. In communities like mine, $15,000 can mean the difference between financial stress and financial stability or between relying entirely on government support and having a little bit of your own savings to draw on. We also need to acknowledge that there is a gender gap in super.”
“While a very small number of Australians with very, very large balances will be required to pay a minimal increase to their concession, affecting their overall wealth minimally, it will mean that those with lower incomes, like childcare workers, nurses and police officers, will receive a boost, meaning that they will be able to retire well with less reliance on the Commonwealth system. From 1 July 2027, the low-income offset will increase by $310, from $500 to $810. The eligibility threshold will rise from $37,000 to $45,000. This will ensure that low-income workers receive a fairer tax concession on their super contribution, aligning with the government's third round of tax cuts. Remember those tax cuts—the ones that the opposition did not support and did not vote for? What does this mean in practice?”
“These changes are simply about ensuring that superannuation is used for what it's designed for and that it's not a gateway to avoiding paying your fair share of tax. Australians are a proud people. We are diverse, we are humble and we value a fair go—'fair shake of the sauce bottle,' someone once said. I want to ensure that superannuation is fair, that it works and that it remains sustainable for my children and my grandchildren—and for everyone else's in this country, to be honest.”
“Earnings on balances above $10 million will be taxed at up to 40 per cent. Earnings on balances below $3 million will remain taxed at up to 15 per cent. In my electorate, the number of people impacted by this measure could comfortably fit inside the front bar of the Commercial Hotel in Morpeth. Meanwhile, the benefits of a stronger, more sustainable super system flow to millions—flow to many. That is not about punishing success either—it really isn't; good luck to those people with those big balances—but it is about making sure that the system is sustainable, designed to deliver retirement income and used for exactly that purpose. Superannuation is about providing income for a dignified retirement, not about warehousing tens of millions of dollars in concessionally taxed environments.”
“Fifty-four per cent of those concessions—that's more than half—goes to the top 20 per cent of earners, and that's just not fair. If we want to ensure superannuation and a comfortable retirement for everyone, then that's not suitable either. Put simply, superannuation was not designed to reduce the taxation of the wealthy—it just wasn't—banking their excess funds in low-taxing safety nets. That is not the premise of superannuation. It is meant to be fair. It was designed to provide a fair go for workers who work hard, pay their tax every week and strive to have a better life for themselves and their family. That is truly what superannuation is about. It's not about being a tax shelter. For the 2026-27 income year, earnings on superannuation balances between $3 million and $10 million will be taxed at up to 30 per cent.”
“Don't believe some of the mistruths that are being peddled around on this. It does better target concessions for those very, very few Australians who do have a very large super balance—those that have more than $3 million in their account. If this is not you, then you don't need to worry about that. Super tax concessions cost the budget more than $60 billion a year, and that figure is projected to exceed the cost of the age pension in the 2040s. That means that those really-high-income earners with a huge amount of superannuation are paying the same tax as you. Around 38 per cent of super earnings concessions go to the top 10 per cent of income earners. That just doesn't seem right to me, and it probably doesn't seem right to those people that aren't earning that as well.”
“And now, through this legislation, we are better targeting super concessions and delivering more help to low-income workers. This is careful reform, it's principled reform, and it's reform that's grounded in fairness—the very basis of the superannuation system. Let's be clear about what this bill does and, quite frankly, what it doesn't do. Balances under $3 million will continue to have earnings taxed at up to 15 per cent—exactly as they are now. I say to everyone in my electorate: have a look at the balance of your super today. To clarify, if you have less than $3 million in your super, there will be no change. This is the case, and, if you're like me, it does not change. It does not change the concessional treatment of superannuation for you, which means that you won't pay any more tax than you do now.”
“That's why, since we've returned to government, we have increased the superannuation guarantee to 12 per cent, in keeping with inflation. We've legislated the objective of superannuation—'to preserve savings to deliver income for a dignified retirement, alongside government support, in an equitable and sustainable way'—to ensure that your personal super works for you. We've committed to paying super on paid parental leave, and that's massive. It's so that women are no longer left behind simply because they take leave to have a family and support that family. We've introduced payday super—that's such an important thing too—so that workers are paid their entitlements when they earn them, to ensure that they're the beneficiaries of those earnings from the moment they earn them.”
“It might be with your family; you might join the grey nomads; or you might simply enjoy the garden that you've worked on throughout your working life and will now have more time to spend in it. The Australian superannuation system is designed to ensure that your quality of life does not diminish when you finish your working life. I was 22 when superannuation was introduced as compulsory, and I'm very grateful to have been a recipient of this incredible legislation and forethought. My generation's retirement wealth has increased significantly due to this fair and significant legislation that creates a secure retirement for all working Australians. Like all legislation though, it must be amended for the challenges and changes of our time. We have to be nimble in government, with an eye to the future too.”
“Superannuation is about working for every Australian. It works for millions of Australians who rely on it, not just for a very few who have extraordinarily large balances. In my electorate, very few people have more than $3 million in their superannuation accounts. Nationwide, it's about 87,000 people out of a population of nearly 29 million. I just want to say that again: around 87,000 people in Australia have a balance of more than $3 million. And good luck to them. They've worked hard and they've accrued that, but it is a very small number across a population of 29 million. It's less than half a per cent. Superannuation provides working Australians with choices—choices as to how and where you live in retirement and how you choose to spend your retirement savings.”
“I rise today to speak in support of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. These bills are about fairness. They are about dignity in retirement. But before I talk in depth about those, I just cannot help but pick up on what the opposition are saying when they talk about fairness and taxation. Remember, this is an opposition that rejected both tax cuts that have been provided by this government. They voted against them. Never forget it. They are about making sure the superannuation system in Australia, the system built by Labor, is unfair. This bill is about fairness. Superannuation is a bit like compound interest; it is one of the modern marvels of investment in the future. It builds upon itself.”
“That is why we make sure future generations can hear these stories, feel these stories and be inspired by them—just as we are inspired by Corporal Horrie and the thousands of others whose service defines who we are as Australians—particularly those young school children who, I know, visit the memorial and are greatly impacted by the experience that they have there.”
“It continues. It persists. It matters. When I think of Horrie—who was affectionately known as 'Horrie the wog dog' back in those days—I think of the way the memorial tells his story and the story of every soldier, every nurse, every airman, every sailor and every family left behind. It reminds us that service is not about uniforms or medals. It's about courage. It's about loyalty. It's about sacrifice. And, quite frankly, it's about love. And that is why we invest in the memorial. That is why we ensure its sustainability.”
“That includes the 3,500 dedicated serving members at the Williamtown RAAF base in my electorate and at bases across the country. The Albanese Labor government has provided the resources to make this possible, ensuring the memorial continues to stand as one of our nation's most important cultural institutions. And, just like Horrie's story, this redevelopment is about more than bricks and mortar. It's an investment in remembrance itself. It's about making sure that future Australians can continue to learn, to reflect and to honour the service and sacrifice of those who've worn our nation's uniform. I want to applaud the Australian War Memorial for staying open throughout this redevelopment. Australians can still walk the halls, see the exhibitions, explore the archives and remember—because remembrance is not paused for construction.”
“It is a national shrine of remembrance, a world-class museum and an archive preserving official records, artefacts and deeply personal stories for generations to come. Through these three functions, it leads remembrance and—potentially, the most important—it deepens our understanding of Australia's wartime experience. I'm a great believer that, if you understand the history, you've got a far better chance of understanding the future and charting a better course. Right now, the memorial is changing. A major redevelopment is underway, scheduled for completion in 2028. It's about more than walls and galleries. It's about ensuring there is space to tell the stories of contemporary service too—of the men and women of the Australian Defence Force who serve today, in our time.”
“They smuggled him home to Australia, where he lived out his days surrounded by the men who knew what service really looked like. Horrie reminds us that service comes in many forms. Sometimes it's courage in battle. Sometimes it's loyalty. Sometimes it's a tiny, flea-bitten dog that saves lives with his ears. Not only was Horrie afforded the rank of corporal, but also he was fashioned a uniform, and that uniform now is in the Australian War Memorial. And that's what the War Memorial captures. It's not just battles. It's not just dates. It is the humanity of service. The memorial was imagined not simply as a building but as a sacred national space—a space where a grieving nation could remember those who'd served and those who never returned.”
“Last week I shared a wonderful story celebrating a little corporal called Horrie. It was on the war animals remembrance day, and Corporal Horrie was a tiny, flea-bitten desert dog that was found by Australian soldiers in Egypt. He was hardly the image of a soldier, you might say, but the men who found him saw something worth saving. They took him in. They fed him. They trusted him. And, before long, he became one of them. He became a mate and a fellow soldier. Horrie travelled with them across the Middle East and the Mediterranean. He served. He survived shipwreck. He endured hunger, heat and hardship. And he had a gift: he could hear enemy aircraft long before the human ear could. That gift saved lives. And, when the war ended, his mates couldn't bear to leave him behind.”
“My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government furthering the delivery of high-speed rail? How does this compare to other approaches for rail projects?”
“This legislation will ensure agencies are held accountable to consider and respond to the commissioner's recommendations, and the enduring nature of the commission will ensure that the voices of veterans and their families continue to be heard after the headlines fade. Systemic issues that contribute to suicide in our veteran community cannot be addressed through one-off responses or short-term commitments. They require sustained attention, independent oversight and the courage to confront uncomfortable truths. This bill delivers exactly that. For the veterans paddling together in Port Stephens, for the families supporting them and for every serving and ex-serving member of the Australian Defence Force, who deserve a system that works for them, this legislation matters. I commend the bill to the House.”
“Those deadlines—2 December 2027 and 2 December 2030—align with the third and sixth anniversaries of the government's response and ensure progress is measured, visible and sustained over time. If you can't measure it, you can't find out whether you're doing the best, so I'm pleased that those dates are locked in. These timeframes recognise that system reform is complex and ongoing, and they also make clear that delay and inaction are not acceptable to this government. At its core, this bill reflects a government that has listened to feedback from stakeholders—who are often family—and taken action. The changes before the House today ensure the commissioner has the tools necessary to drive system reform and improve suicide prevention and wellbeing outcomes for serving and former serving Australian Defence Force members.”
“In addition, the bill expands the scope of witness protection. This is a crucial reform. People must feel safe to provide information to the commissioner, without fear of reprisals and without blowback. Protecting those who come forward is essential. If we are serious about uncovering systemic issues and driving genuine reform, this is pivotal. Transparency is another key pillar of this legislation. The bill improves the transparency of the commissioner's work, ensuring accountability not only for those subject to its oversight but for the commission itself. This includes statutory deadlines for the completion of two major inquiries into the Commonwealth's implementation of the government's response to the royal commission's recommendations.”