Rebekha Sharkie
Mayo · Centre Alliance · Australia
“People often say to me, 'What's the greatest thing that you love about your job?' I would say—what I love the most is actually never in the media—that what I love the most is when my team and I can help somebody with their aged care issue or their NDIS package or a Centrelink problem.”
“For all of us, and certainly for me, that is my team members, and some of them have been with me for many, many, many years. Whether they've been with me for a short time or a long time, I've got to say that every single member of my team has been fantastic. They really have. I love the team of people I work with.”
“These have all been incredibly worthwhile and important projects that our whole community has backed in together. One that we've all really loved and enjoyed being on is the Amy Gillett Bikeway. That's now been extended from Mount Torrens to Birdwood.”
“Ten years ago today, the community of Mayo put their trust in me to represent them. I'd particularly like to acknowledge former senator Nick Xenophon. Nick Xenophon put his trust in me to represent his party.”
“I mustn't forget Kangaroo Island and upgrades to Hog Bay Road which have improved safety. We've had such enormous population growth, but there is so much more to do. There's always so much to do. When I look at health, we have emergency departments that have been upgraded at Victor Harbor and a new emergency department in Mount Barker.”
“He is constantly asked by children and teachers if his skin hurts, if the eczema is getting worse and, by some children, 'What's wrong with you?' There are thousands of children just like Angus in Australia whose severe eczema will cause some long-term physical and emotional harm if they cannot access new treatments.”
The complete record
Every one of 370 lines we hold for Rebekha Sharkie, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 5 of 8.
“The proposed bans on importing shooting clothing and equipment will not enhance public safety but will devastate law-abiding competitors from local club members to Olympic athletes. These provisions must be removed. The bill removes the right to review adverse intelligence findings for firearms licence applicants and allows AI-assisted decision-making, directly contradicting the Robodebt Royal Commission's recommendations. These provisions are unacceptable and must be reversed. If a buy-back proceeds, compensation must reflect full market value, including accessories, ammunition and business losses. This must be enshrined in legislation to ensure fairness. This tragedy exposes failures in oversight and inter-departmental accountability, not a lack of laws.”
“Australia already has some of the strictest firearm laws in the world, and the vast majority of licensed firearm owners comply fully and pose no threat to public safety. I am a competitive shooter and hunter and own a pump-action centrefire rifle for the quick and humane dispatchment of feral … pests as one of my rifles, along with a handgun for competitive target shooting. Since retirement, shooting sports have been my primary social connection and a vital part of my identity after a lifetime of public service. Measures that restrict lawful participation without improving safety are unacceptable. As inconsequential as it may seem, utilising a handgun through competition connects me to who I feel I am, after spending my entire adult life in Law Enforcement protecting the community at both a State and Federal Level.”
“Unless we properly address what has happened and properly address that we have Islamic extremists living in our suburbs—the government can't even say the words 'Islamic extremism', let alone deal with it, and that is the problem. This is just one of many letters I've received: I am particularly alarmed about the firearms provisions, which are reckless, poorly drafted and will unfairly punish law-abiding citizens. As a retired police officer with nearly 30 years of combined State and Federal service, including nine years in Close Personal Protection … within the Australian Federal Police … I can state unequivocally that this incident does not justify further firearm law reform.”
“Then there is a formal inquiry that often travels around the nation, giving people who would be affected by the legislation the opportunity to make submissions, to be heard in that process, and perhaps even to present to the inquiry. I'm told that the rushed Senate inquiry into this whole bill did not give many firearms owners or even organisations involved in sports shooting the opportunity to be heard. We have some of the strictest gun laws in the world. I've received hundreds of emails from locals angry that their lives will be impacted through buybacks or through the prohibition of accessories because two radical Islamic extremists full of hate wanted to murder Australian Jews. And I'm afraid that Bondi will happen again. Something like that will happen again. It's not the first time that we've had Islamic terrorism on our shores.”
“Just this morning, this legislation, the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism (Firearms and Customs Laws) Bill 2026, was made available for us to view. How does that give anyone in this place who respects their job as a lawmaker time to properly scrutinise this government's bill? We'll have just 90 minutes of debate, and then debate's going to be gagged, this bill's going to be sent to the Senate, where a deal has already been done with the Greens party, and then it's going to be passed. What contempt of the parliamentary process! When we rush legislation, we make mistakes and the Australian public suffers the consequences. The normal process for contentious legislation—everybody in here knows this—is that there is an exposure draft, we have a look at it, there are early discussions and then the government may present the bill.”
“Even now this vile antisemitism continues in my state. They live in fear quietly, but it's a fear they should never have to experience. My condolences go to the Australian Jewish community. There is no place for hatred in our country, and I am so truly sorry that we, as a nation, did not do more to protect you and stand by you. My community of Mayo is united in sorrow, and we are determined for a peaceful Australia. We will not stand for what happened at Bondi or for antisemitism in any form. It is wicked, and we will not let it divide us or define our country's future. To all the families that have lost a loved one, to those who have lost friends and people who were close to them, and to those who have been injured: my thoughts and prayers are with you every night.”
“What should have been a day of joy and light, celebrating the start of Hanukkah, was destroyed by the vile actions of two very evil men. My thoughts are also with the witnesses, the first responders and those who were injured in this unforgivable attack by Muslim extremists. Muslim fundamentalism leads to Muslim extremism, and to think that such evil lives in our suburbs is utterly horrific. We must not allow Islamic extremism in our nation. For too long Jewish people have been targeted and have suffered. I have talked with many Jewish Australians in South Australia, my home state, and they have said to me that they noticed a very sizeable shift after 7 October. Since that time, the Jewish community have suffered in silence. They have suffered the vandalism, the graffiti, the firebombing of synagogues and cars and the threats to life.”
“The events of 14 December 2025 changed our country and challenged the fabric of our nation. My deepest condolences to the victims, their families and their friends. Today we remember 15 innocent people whose lives were taken in the most awful of circumstances: the youngest, 10-year-old Matilda, a happy little girl who loved the outdoors, animals and her friends and family; Rabbi Eli Schlanger; Dan Elkayam; Rabbi Yaakov Levitan; Reuven Morrison; Peter Meagher; Tibor Weitzen; Marika Pogany; Sofia Gurman; Boris Gurman; Edith Brutman; Boris Tetleroyd; Adam Smyth; Tania Tretiak; and the oldest victim, 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman. These senseless deaths should never have happened. The hateful sentiment behind them has been building for some time.”
“I like to think that all of us in here can sail across the water like ducks or swans, but that's simply because we each have an extraordinary team of staff doing the hard work. Those legs are paddling very fast underneath us. So I'd really like to acknowledge my team—those who travel to Canberra and those in my electorate office—and I wish everyone a very safe and Merry Christmas.”
“I'd like to acknowledge everyone who's going to be working over the Christmas season—our emergency workers, our nurses, our firies and even those working in the service stations on Christmas Day, who never get acknowledged. Thank you for what you do for the rest of us, to make sure that our country keeps running. I would also like to acknowledge our farmers across Australia. There will be many farmers, particularly dairy farmers, who will be getting up and working on Christmas morning and working on Christmas night too. And they're not necessarily getting double time. I'd like to close by acknowledging my team. I have an extraordinary team. Many of them have been with me for several years.”
“They really need our support this summer. I'd like to remind everyone in our community about road safety. Unfortunately, Mayo has a very high proportion of South Australia's crashes, so we need to make sure that we all slow down on the roads. And I think that that's a nationwide message: make sure that we all slow down on our roads so that we can be there for Christmas with our families. Make sure when you're in Mayo this summer, particularly over Christmas, to try and shop locally whenever you can. It is so important for our community. So many of our small businesses really are doing it tough, and we need to do everything we can to support them.”
“Merry Christmas to you, Deputy Speaker Boyce, and merry Christmas to everyone in the parliament. I would also like to, of course, extend those wishes to everyone in my community of Mayo. Christmas is a beautiful time in Mayo; we really do celebrate Christmas in style. I'd like to just remind everyone in my community that, even though we've had a lot of wet weather, the bushfire season is upon us, and it's not too late to be bushfire ready. We do have the algal bloom in South Australia this summer, but that shouldn't detract us from spending time on our beaches. It's not on every beach and it's not there every day. Our Mayo beaches and beachside communities are wonderful places to spend the summer. So I really do encourage everyone to go down to Victor, to Yankalilla or to anywhere in between. Do go along to our beachside townships.”
“Anything we can do to support them is really important. I'll go back to my daughter. We were able to help her, but many of her friends at uni—and she was included in this—were not able to receive any assistance under this scheme during the last practical that they did because the last practical they did was only 80 hours over that fortnight. The threshold, she was told, was 80 hours. That's two weeks of no money at all. That's very, very hard for young people who are just trying to cover the cost of rent and food and everything else. This is an excellent program, but I think it can be improved. I'd hate to think we would wait several years to review it and do that. I think that we could do that more quickly. I commend the member for Indi for bringing this to the parliament. Let's work on this now and not in years to come.”
“For young people, in particular, who are perhaps the first in the family, come from families who can't afford to financially support them or, indeed, are out of home, it's such a barrier to studying. So we really need to get this right. This placement payment is designed to provide those most at risk of placement poverty with costs-of-living support to help ease the financial pressures associated with placements. I would even say that perhaps there are other areas of study we could look at expanding this to in the future. We really do want our young people to be able to undergo those prac placements. I didn't realise until I started talking to young people in my community who are studying physiotherapy or other qualifications how much placement they need to do as part of their degree. It really is quite extraordinary.”
“Truly, she has done things in the last two weeks that I could not even possibly do, but she also has two other jobs. She lives independently from home. She lives in another state while she is studying this. She's not allowed to do any work on those weekends in between when she's doing prac placement or, indeed, nights. So, financially, it is a huge impact for young people, for anyone—young or mature age—who is studying. Not only are they doing, in her case, two lots of 40 hours over a fortnight; to not be able to do any of your other casual jobs is a huge financial impost. We need to capture everyone that this should apply to. That does include those who are studying medicine.”
“We just need to finesse it and make sure that we're capturing everybody that it should apply to. From 1 July this year, this scheme provides $331.65 a week. It's payable for students who undertake a mandatory placement in select disciplines. Those placements, they might be doing a diploma of nursing or they might be studying a degree in teaching, nursing, midwifery or social work, or a masters degree. The requirement is for the placement to be an average of 30 or more hours per week and must prevent them from maintaining paid work. I want to touch upon that. This is for my daughter, who is studying her diploma in nursing. It just blows my mind. She's just finished a prac placement and told me all about the work that she's doing.”
“I'm very pleased to speak to this MPI by the member for Indi. This is an area that I know the member for Indi has championed for a very long time. I would like to read a quote that's come from the Australian Medical Students Association, and it's this: I want to go home and tell potential future doctors in my rural community to choose a career path in medicine, as we have a government that will support you through the long, hard journey to become a doctor. But I can't, because we don't have the support we should at all. That powerful statement is from a member of the Australian Medical Students Association, disappointed at the lack of support for medical students under this Commonwealth practical payments scheme. I think this scheme is brilliant.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. The CSIRO has recently announced that 350 science and research jobs will go, and this is on top of the 800-plus CSIRO support roles that have already been cut this year. This is due to government funding not keeping up with costs. Will the government immediately invest the $75 million needed to stop the loss of these important jobs in science and research?”
“I thank Bronte, who is the coordinator, and all the mums who so generously opened up to me and talked about their lives. Each one of them are extraordinary heroes in our community. I commend each one of those mothers for the work they do in raising their beautiful children.”
“Last week, I had the great privilege of meeting with a group of parents—in fact, they were a group of mums—at MyTime in Stirling. MyTime is a national group. It supports the parents and carers of children who are living with a disability. I think one of the important reasons why it's called MyTime is that we know that parents get very little 'me' time—particularly a parent of a child living with disability. It was extraordinary to meet the mothers. Each one of them shared with me their experiences, their life, what keeps them up at night and the joys of their children. It is a wonderful collaborative way for people to come and have a cup of tea and some biscuits, and sit down, debrief and chill, and just talk about the challenges in life.”
“We have the power in this place to do something about it, yet, here we are, nearly 900 days later, and the government is really saying: 'This is not an issue for us. This is not a priority for us.' I've stood here, I've given speeches before, and I've been really cranky; now, I'm heartbroken. I'm heartbroken that we are doing nothing about something that is affecting so many young people in our nation. It's our last sitting week of the year, and we could do so much better. We could do so much more. So, please, Prime Minister, allow a free vote for your backbench. They desperately want this leadership from you.”
“I would say to the Prime Minister—really, I plead with the Prime Minister. You love your Rabbitohs, and you love a sports game. Think of what it was like when you were 20 and you were going and watching your beloved Rabbitohs or think of what it was like when you were watching them on television—you were not bombarded like a 20-year-old is bombarded today. They can't get away from it. This advertising is being targeted particularly at young men. We know that, between now and Christmas, there are going to be people who can't escape the advertising, who are so triggered by the advertising, who feel that there is no hope in their lives and who will not be here at Christmas. How awful is that!”
“She wanted to make sure that she finished this report to the absolute best that she possibly could, and there are recommendations from that report that the government hasn't even bothered to formally respond to. One of the most important recommendations on there was to ban gambling advertising, because it is pernicious, it is saturated, and it is everywhere. There is not a young person in Australia, I would say, that hasn't seen that advertising. We're banning social media because we recognise that, for under-16s, there is an inherent harm there. But, once you're 18, it's open slather. You can be targeted with advertising from Sportsbet, BetStop, Ladbrokes and the whole list. You can't even watch a game—you can't go to a game—without seeing it everywhere. We have normalised this so much in Australia.”
“Decades ago we banned advertising because we recognised that there were inherent harms in smoking. It's a legal product, but there are inherent harms, and gambling is exactly the same. It has been 29 months since the Murphy report, called You win some, you lose more , was released. Every day, when I walk into this place, I go through the House of Reps gardens. There is a bank of roses, and those roses, which have plaques in front of them, are for members who passed away while they were in this place. And Peta Murphy's name is there on that plaque. I often stop and look at the roses—they're all in bloom at the moment—and I think about Peta Murphy. I think about her courage and I think about how she gave so much of her last months of life to this place and, in particular, to this report.”
“It's a privilege to second this motion from the member for Clark. I've stood in this place for nearly a decade and talked about the harms of gambling. I've stood in this place for nearly a decade and talked about the families that have been torn apart and the people who have taken their lives. We are in this last week of parliament. Surely now is the time to do something right by the Australian people, so I urge the government to look at this motion, to follow this motion and to simply just allow a free vote on an issue that your government presented a unanimous report in support of—the ending of gambling advertising. It's not saying: 'Ban gambling.' We know that's not going to happen in this nation. We know that this is a legal thing to do. It's like what we did with smoking.”
“That investment needs to be long-term and sustainable. If we don't invest in research and development, we don't innovate. We'll lose our best people, we'll lose our brightest minds, and our best ideas will all go overseas. And where would that leave us as a nation? I implore the government to look at this issue carefully. It's just a nonsensical, short-sighted decision.”
“Why would they go into science, if there are no opportunities? Where will Australia find its future science leaders, its future researchers? And what will happen to the potential life-changing discoveries and breakthroughs? These CSIRO cuts are the tip of the iceberg. Australia's investment in research and development has been steadily declining for the last 15 years. It's now just 1.68 per cent of GDP. That's well below the OECD average and well below what we need for our country's future. So what can we do? Well, for a start, we need to put on hold the predicted 350 cut of scientists and researchers. That will require a $75 million investment by government. In the longer term, we need to make research and development a priority by boosting our investment to around three per cent of GDP.”
“The jewel in our science crown is being forced to make tough decisions because the federal government funding has not kept up with the reality of rising costs. Where will these cuts come from? All across the country, in areas such as mineral resources, agriculture and food, health and biosecurity, and the environment. This is not a time to skimp on science. We need scientists, we need research and we need them here in Australia. It's so important that we have sovereign capabilities. If we lose those incredibly skilled people overseas, we won't get them back. Not only will we lose their experience but their breakthroughs as well. While this funding shortage for research and development is at a critical juncture, our young people are still being encouraged to go into STEM degrees. What's the future for them?”
“The CSIRO is our country's national science agency. For more than a hundred years, its goal has been to improve the lives of people everywhere through science. Its scientists and researchers are looking at the big issues, like climate change and AI. They're behind amazing innovations, and many of which have become part of our everyday lives. The CSIRO invented fast wi-fi, plastic banknotes, long-wearing contact lenses, low-gluten barley, Aerogard—which is incredibly important this summer—the Hendra virus vaccine, the popular Total Wellbeing Diet and so much more. But now this important organisation is facing job cuts—350 scientists and researchers are about to lose their jobs. More than 800 support staff have already gone in this past year.”
“So, when you say you're going to put the care back into aged care, do it. Don't just say you're going to do it; actually do it, because you're not doing it right now.”
“They need to get them into residential aged care, but they can't, because there are no places, because the government hasn't funded the places. In fact, if you look back at the last couple of budgets, you will see that they've cut funding for residential aged care. And so we have a system right now where we have state Labor ministers getting up and complaining to the federal government about this situation. They've been left with older Australians in hospital care when really they should have been properly cared for at home or they should have been properly cared for in residential care. So, while people can have all the talking points in the world in this place, I can tell you it's worse today than it was nearly a decade ago. That is the fact. That is the reality for older Australians.”
“So we have all these people stuck in the hospital system because they can't get support at home. There is no support at home for them, and they can't get a residential aged-care place either. And so they are paying, in many cases, a very high bed fee per day and they are in there, in many cases, for months and months on end. And they don't want to be there. Across our nation, we have more than 3,700 patients in that very experience, who are probably going to be spending Christmas in a hospital bed instead of being properly supported at home or, indeed, in a residential bed in an aged-care facility. I talk with older people in my community, particularly those who are trying desperately to support their partners with dementia.”
“There are 120,000 people who have been assessed who are waiting for a package, and that is why we have so many people in our hospital beds. We have so many older Australians who are desperate for home help, haven't received that home help, then injure themselves, have an infection and end up in our hospital systems. In South Australia, 245 patients, as of 18 November, were in our South Australian metropolitan hospitals while they were waiting for a residential aged-care place. Let's talk about residential aged-care places. The government in 2024-25 funded a net 578 additional operational residential aged-care places across the nation. Yet there were more than 10,000 places, according to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, needed per year.”
“Ring these places,' and people in my community ring up and tell me, 'They're not even taking my name.' That's the CHSP. That's the low-level support. Then we look at the new program with respect to home care, and we see that if you are a part pensioner or if you are a self-funded retiree under Support at Home, you're paying anywhere between 50 and 80 per cent of the cost for simple basic help around the home. It's 50 per cent co-charged for a shower if you're a self-funded retiree. It's up to 80 per cent for help with meals and shopping. That's the new system. Then there are the people that are paying those costs if they're not grandfathered. There are 116,000 people who are waiting for an assessment nationally. It has never been so bad.”
“I have had the great privilege of representing my community for nearly a decade in this place, and in that time I have seen changes to aged care. I was here before the royal commission. I was here during the royal commission. Of course, I am fortunately still here representing my community now post-royal commission, post this new act, and I can stand here and say that aged care in Australia is worse today for older Australians than what it was five years ago and what it was eight to 10 years ago along every single area where older Australians touch into the system. If we're looking at CHSP, Commonwealth Home Support Program, no new funding's been put in that, and you can't get CHSP—you just can't get it. Places have closed their books. Forget it. The government will give you a code and say, 'Ring up.”
“They value their food security. But, here, we just think God's going to make more of it. Well, he's not. We know that, with climate change, we're going to get drier and drier as a continent. We know that where that line is—we have Goyder's Line in South Australia. They say that it's going to become lower and lower and that the arable land will get smaller and smaller. In South Australia, just four per cent of our farmland is highly arable farmland. That should be protected for that purpose. It should be farmland. We need to have national leadership, and that is why this is being called on in this parliament. I would urge the parliament to act on this today for future generations tomorrow that deserve our doing something today, while we still can, to fix and address this.”
“They said that, if rural lands continue to be alienated at the rate and in the manner permitted in the past, the state will be faced with a serious conflict between commercial farmers and other land users and, ultimately, significant losses in primary production are likely. That was 34 years ago, and I can tell you that, in my state, since that time, we have gone further and further. The urban sprawl just continues to go further and further. I look at where we used to grow wheat. I look at where we had cattle, where we had strawberry farms, where we had mushroom farms—just beyond. And now it's all housing, and it's going to get worse and worse. We should be making decisions in this place that protect that farmland. As the member for Calare said, over in Canada—if anyone here travels to Europe, they will see that they value their farmland.”
“We're going to have nowhere to grow food. And what does that mean? Where do we get our food from? We're still going to need to eat as a nation. Do we import all of our food? Does our milk come from overseas? Does all of our food—everything you buy in the supermarket? It's bad enough now how difficult it is to find Australian food on our supermarket shelves. In generations to come, that will become worse. We must support this bill and we must debate this bill today, because in my electorate, whether it's down at Sellicks; at Mount Barker, outside of my electorate; out to Roseworthy; or further out, we are just carving up more and more of the nation's best farmland. In fact, in South Australia back in 1991, the South Australian government's natural resources management standing committee did a report on the alienation of rural farmlands.”
“We are going to get to a point in our nation where we have nowhere to farm, nowhere that has quality land, because it's all going to be housing. What are we going to eat? These decisions that we make in this place today affect generations to come. The decisions that we make in this place today are decisions about which in 100 years time fellow Australian are going to say: 'What on earth were you doing? Why did you not protect our most important resource?' That is why we must debate this today. I commend the member for Calare. I second this motion and commend him for this bill, for his foresight and for his insight, because right across Australia our local and state governments, through greed and through laziness, are continuing to carve up every decent bit of farmland, turn it into 300-square-metre blocks and stick a house on them.”
“I second the motion because it is imperative and it is urgent that we debate this bill today. The reason why is that God's not making any more land but in Australia we act like he is. We continue to concrete over our best farmland in our nation. We don't value our farmland. We think that there will just be more of it, and there won't. It is a finite resource that belongs to all Australians. Look at South Australia, my state. Only 11 per cent of our land is considered arable, only nine per cent is under production and only four per cent of the total land area of South Australia is considered highly arable farmland, where you have 500 millimetres of rainfall a year on average. And yet it is that four per cent that is under the most threat in my state, and it's under threat from the expansion of housing—the continual urban sprawl.”
“My question is for the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. Every Mayo home-care provider that I've researched is lifting its fees on Saturday, by 40 per cent to 100 per cent. One provider is charging non-grandfathered self-funded retirees and part-pensioners a co-payment of up to $132 per hour for meal preparation and up to $101 per hour for showering on a Saturday. Most older Australians can't afford this. Will you please look at price capping and bringing it forward?”
“It would be a successful and profitable step for the government to support and take action in strengthening local businesses, so they can thrive. In turn, more taxes could be generated, creating a stronger Australia and a brighter future. Imagine a future where everyone has easy access to local businesses, where people don't have to drive kilometres upon kilometres just for a simple carton of milk. The future of Australia rests in its small towns. Let's make the future happen today! Thank you to those wonderful young people, and congratulations to Ashleigh Streeter-Jones, the founder and CEO, who has created a wonderful program for our young people right across Mayo and Australia.”
“It would help to lower taxes and find another way of making money to pay for government services. You could also lower the tax on petrol, making it cheaper, which would mean Supermarkets would not have to increase their prices as they are not paying high transport costs. We could get wealthy companies to pay more tax and individuals to pay less tax. Thank you for listening to our voice. And 11-year-old Carson talked about supporting small local businesses. He said: Imagine a future where every single child in Australia lives in a thriving community, with access to shops and essential amenities. By investing in and supporting local businesses, our government has the opportunity to empower young people with access to local communities and jobs.”
“It will save the government money because having healthcare will mean that people will get illnesses or diseases addressed before it turns into a big problem. That's good because it keeps more people out of hospital so they're saving money on our hospitals. About 46% of Australians have put treatment off due to cost. That's why I believe that the government should increase the amount of bulk-billing doctors in Australia. Samuel and Izaac are 10-year-olds, and I met them recently at their beautiful school in Aldinga. They said: To the Honourable Members of Parliament There are many ways the government can support young Australians to have a better future. Living costs are so high. Petrol costs are so high. Our parents are struggling to pay for our needs.”
“I'm going to give some wonderful speeches now that I didn't write; they were written by young people in my community as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign. The question young people were asked this year is: 'What steps should the government take to build a better tomorrow for young Australians?' The young people in my community have not disappointed. Scarlett, who is 11 years old, said: Healthcare is a concern for young Australians but effects all of us. 1 in 4 Australians struggle with accessing healthcare. The government should make a change because it will earn them more money and save them money. When you're not sick you're probably at work to earn money, and lots of that money would most likely go into the economy.”
“The remainder of the transcript will be published progressively as it is completed. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Lawrence ) took the chair at 09:30.”
“But we need to ensure that workers receive the entitlements they are absolutely entitled to have. This is part of their salary and it must be paid, and that is the long and short of it. I want this bill to succeed in order to prevent more of my constituents being blindsided by unpaid superannuation. Often it's a year or so before they realise that they're not getting paid superannuation—just like my constituent, Katherine. I don't want to hear from more employees who are struggling, particularly those who haven't been able to find other work and are still in that workplace, having to have those very difficult conversations with their employers about why their superannuation hasn't been paid. I commend the bill to the House. The House of Representatives transcript was published up to 12:02 .”
“While unpaid wages, along with leave and redundancy pay, can be claimed under the Fair Entitlements Guarantee—the Australian government's compensation scheme of last resort—in cases where there's a business insolvency, the Fair Entitlements Guarantee does not at present cover superannuation. I think that it really should so that, in cases such as this, workers will be looked after by the FEG in terms of their superannuation entitlements. It sends a very clear message that superannuation is as important as wages. I call on the government to take that next step and to consider amending the Fair Entitlements Guarantee to include superannuation guarantee contributions aligned with the ability to claim unpaid wages. I understand how businesses can get behind. Wages and super are some of the largest expenses that businesses experience.”
“Super entitlements are usually last in line after wages and business debts—they're certainly well behind secured debts—with ASIC data showing that, in 2022-23, 15 per cent of insolvency cases involved unpaid wages but 45 per cent of cases involved unpaid superannuation. Just this week the Herald Sun reported that 200 workers for a disability provider will be missing out on their unpaid super following the company's collapse. It is reported that 174 staff are due a total of $264,000 in unpaid superannuation contributions, with the company having 74 unsecured creditors owed $330,000 and a net bank balance of $3,000.”
“While 9,594 fines were issued in the 2021 period by the ATO, only 43 per cent of them required a business to pay a penalty above the unpaid amount, and less than one per cent included the maximum 200 per cent penalty. And the burden of reporting remains with workers, who report 78 per cent of recoveries, with automated detection by the ATO remaining very, very low. We need prompt and proactive compliance. Recovery action really is the best chance for people to get that super back into their balance, because we need that interest to compound. Further work will be needed in future on recovery of entitlements for workers in cases where there's business insolvency.”