Phillip Thompson
Herbert · Liberal National Party · Australia
“The schedule ensures that a former partner is not excluded from support services simply because their relationship with the serving member has ended. Facilitating access to assistance for safe separation and improving the safety of victims-survivors are objectives the coalition strongly supports.”
“The general public around the country expects members of our ADF to be at the highest standard, and so do I, because when the time comes—and history shows it will—we will ask our brave men and women to travel to a foreign land, to stand side-by-side with our allies with the Australian flag on their shoulder and their will to win.”
“There is a word that used to mean something in this country—trust. Trust was the commitment a government made to the Australian people. This Labor prime minister said from this dispatch box whilst in opposition: … you can only lie to people once. Well, it's clear that this prime minister doesn't take his own advice.”
“Effective oversight will be the key to ensuring that lessons of the royal commission are translated into lasting and systematic improvements. The coalition supports the objectives of this bill. We are mindful of the history of reform in this area. For too many, the system has been the source of frustration rather than support.”
“We approach this debate in a spirit of constructive engagement, acknowledging the valuable work of ex-service organisations, advocates and families who have fought for these changes. However, our support is cautious.”
“These are the metrics by which the parliament and further governments will be judged. The coalition supports the referral of this legislation to a committee inquiry in the Senate. This process is not about delay; it's about diligence.”
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“If you allow politicians to make up the idea and solution for you, you will be upset. Our job is to listen, work and deliver. That's what we do in this place. I honestly believe that every politician, regardless of shirt colour, wants the same thing here. We want to get to a point where people on the NDIS get all the support that they need—as well as love, care and everything—whilst we rein in the rorts that are ripping off the taxpayer and robbing our children of treatment. We all want to get there. Some of us might have a different way to get there, but I know that that's where we all want to be. I do not want to be hearing, 'It's a bit hard to go after the criminals.' It's not hard. Let's work together and do it.”
“I know that reforms are always good, that change is fine and that we need to work together, but we must communicate it to the communities. We must let the people know what we're doing. We must make sure that when there are changes or different programs that are coming up there isn't a gap in service and there isn't an unknown, where people can't get the support or the help that they need. We must be ultraclear on what we're doing. Everything should be focused on the information that we've been given from the participants and the families, because no good ideas come from politicians—not one. I haven't seen one yet. Good ideas come from the community and the people on the ground, and our job is to work with them to make sure that we can put the framework up and that it can work.”
“Then, several months has gone past, therapies have slowed down, and children regress. Early intervention is how people live a normal life. I've seen it firsthand; I've seen it with my daughter. She is going to thrive, she is going to kick arse, and she is going to live a great life because she has a loving family and she gets the supports that she needs. I am terrified for those that may not be able to get the supports they need for their children. I'm terrified of what happens if they regress because early intervention will turn into a postvention, and this will be ongoing. People talk about the cost. I can't put a dollar figure on my daughter saying, 'I love you, Dad.' I can't and I won't, and I refuse to allow the parliament or anywhere else to put a dollar figure on supports for our children.”
“It makes me nervous when we hear people who say, 'Well, there's going to be this thing called Thriving Kids.' We don't know what that is yet, we don't know where it's up to properly, and it's not been rolled out, but supports like AEIOU and like Autism Queensland are all being changed, having funding reduced or having had to close. There's no stopgap in between. There's no support for our children in between when these have stopped and now. I'm doing my best to be as bipartisan as possible, but the minister said, 'They can just call up the NDIS, and we'll find somewhere.' That's not how it works. You can't just call up the NDIS and say, 'We need a provider.' You can't call the NDIS; you have to go through your case coordinators and your case managers, then they'll get back to you via email.”
“My daughter isn't the only one that needs the support, the help, the love, the care and that extra professional support that she gets from a specialist but, because she's had that, she's gone from being non-verbal to counting to 100, to go from January to December and to go up to her sister and say, 'Hug, please.' This is what early intervention does, and this is why we must be ultra-laser-focused when we talk about the NDIS. My daughter and daughters and sons around the country are not inconvenient dollar figures. They're not. They're people, people that will grow, will laugh and will love, but they need the early interventions.”
“But, with early intervention at AEIOU with Autism Queensland, now she can say, 'I love you, Dad.' That's what early intervention can do. That's what the NDIS can do. But my daughter's plan has changed, has not been updated and has been cut. I'm very lucky to be in a fortunate position to be able to fund that extra support—what she's not getting through the NDIS. But, if you put a review in, you'll wait 12 months. What happens in 12 months for a child that needs the early intervention now? They get worse; they regress. This is what's happening around the country. This is what's happening throughout all of our communities. I know how much and how important these supports are for our children; I really do.”
“I do support the NDIS, but I support it in a way that provides the care, treatment and support for those that need it, not a way that props up the bank balance of criminals and not a way that allows people to run a business for accommodation, where people will live, and, when found to have done the wrong thing, phoenix that business—the owners of the company travel overseas, come back and start another company doing the same thing. That's who we need to be going after, not cutting services. If people think that services aren't being cut, you're wrong. I know this firsthand because Emery, my daughter, has level 3 autism and needs support and love. Without early intervention, she would still be non-verbal; she wouldn't be able to talk.”
“So there's no availability for occupational therapy, behavioural support or physiotherapy without waitlists going well into the 12-month mark. And still, to this day, many of those parents have had to resign from their employment and can't find a place to get treatment for their children, with many talking about leaving Townsville and moving to a capital city. Townsville is the largest city the furthest away from a capital city. It's the capital of northern Australia, and we don't have enough of these supports there. It breaks my heart.”
“What happens to the young people who need those supports? You regress if you don't get to see your specialists. Children need early intervention so they can get that support now and get the treatment and help that they need so that they can have a functioning life and have a normal life. AEIOU's doors were open one day, and then, in the afternoon, they told the parents, 'Starting tomorrow, there is no more AEIOU.' So parents that were working, contributing to the economy, whether they were a nurse, an accountant or a soldier, now have to pause their employment and rush to find specialists for their children. We've heard people talk about how it's hard to get a specialist or hard to get treatment for children on the NDIS in the city. Times that by 100, and that's what it feels like in the regions.”
“No-one's loved one should feel like an inconvenient dollar figure on any government's budget bottom line. No-one should be worried about treatments being cut or stopped to their children and to their loved ones. Sadly, over the last few months, this is what has occurred. In the electorate of Townsville, there is a school called AEIOU. That school is a specialty school for children with autism. They provide therapeutic services. They provide supports. The children are there for the whole school period, the whole school day. During that day, these children would be able to rock up and get the food therapy that they may need, get the behavioural support, get the OT support, get all of these supports that were then covered by the NDIS. Sadly, AEIOU in Townsville and around the country—those places have now closed.”
“The Prime Minister should be ashamed. This government is eroding the Australian way of life, punishing aspiration, abandoning small business, weakening defence and threatening hardworking Australians.”
“Tradies, cafes, retailers and manufacturers are being driven into the ground while Labor pats itself on the back in Canberra. And while Australians struggle, Labor is cutting defence capability and failing our veterans. Veteran families of our war heroes are fighting for basic support while ministers and their spouses rack up taxpayer funded travel bills without hesitation. Australians are sick of the double standard. This government is selling off defence land and strategic assets while our region becomes more unstable and dangerous. At the exact time Australia should be strengthening its national security, Labor is weakening it. And what are the government's priorities? There always seems to be money available to bring back and support these ISIS members, but everyday Australians are being told there is nothing for them.”
“This government is now locking this broken panel in for another seven years. First home buyers choose from 33 lenders under the Commonwealth scheme. Our veterans get three. We need to do right by those who serve. This budget is a fraud on the Australian people. Labor promised Australians cheaper power bills; instead, families are paying hundreds more. They promised cost-of-living relief; instead, Australians are skipping meals, draining savings and falling behind on mortgages. They promised economic responsibility, yet small businesses are collapsing at record rates under the crushing weight of Labor's inflation, energy costs and red tape. Across this country, family businesses that survived floods, fire and COVID are now shutting their doors because of this government.”
“When young Australians put on the uniform and commit to defending this nation, we make them a promise: that their sacrifice will be honoured. The Defence Home Ownership Assistance Scheme is one of the ways we keep that promise, by helping ADF members into homes. But, right now, that promise is being broken. I have been informed by those in the industry that the closed three-lender DHOAS panel charges veterans up to 80 basis points above market, costing around $130,000 over the life of a typical loan. In many cases, the panel rate swallows the subsidy entirely, and some personnel are locked out altogether because they don't fit any of the three lenders' credit policies. I put this to the parliament back in 2022, yet nothing has changed. The royal commission identified housing stability as critical to Defence Force retention.”
“You've just got to go to the Department of Veterans' Affairs and put a request in, and you may be able to get some extra help and support.' A person at DVA told me that that could take several months. If you're in a dark place and the only bit of light that you can see is the treatment that you're getting and if that gets taken away, what happens next? You go into a worse place; you self-medicate. And some people may not be able to pull themselves out. This is the reality. The member for McEwen can interject as much as he wants, but I've sat in that dark place, and we couldn't get pulled out of that place.”
“Breaking a promise can have dire consequences. When veterans around the country learnt that this Labor government had gone back on its commitment to provide allied health support and to provide psychosocial support, they were rightly concerned and angry. Since yesterday, I have been contacted by thousands and thousands of veterans who are worried. They're worried about what will happen when they fall over, they need a hand up and that hand is no longer there. If you need to see a psychologist and you have a shoulder injury, a knee injury or any other injury on top of that, then your $5,000 cap that this Labor government has put on will be capped out, and you won't be able to get the support you need. The minister has said: 'You've just got to ring up.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. I refer to the Prime Minister's broken promise to ration allied health services for veterans at $5,000 per year. How many veterans will be out of pocket and forced to pay for another Labor broken promise because the Prime Minister has chosen to rip the guts out of allied health services for our veterans?”
“What happens when you run out of your $5,000 cap? This government is failing our veteran community, and we've seen that again with the defunding of Invictus Australia. Invictus Australia has more than 10,000 participants. They travel. They use sport as a method of recovery. They bring veterans together. And this government has decided: 'No. That's no good. We're going to scrap it.' The Invictus Games have saved lives—saved lives. This is shameful. If you want to pick a fight, we will have it.”
“For all of Labor's out-of-control spending, they somehow manage to find a way to cut services to veterans, and they think that's okay. A $5,000 cap on allied health services is what this government is bringing in. I've heard from veterans, but I've also heard from staff at the Department of Veterans' Affairs who have told me they're deeply concerned about the recent budget decision to cap allied health support to $5,000. From what I see on the ground, this change will have serious and unintended consequences for many veterans. For veterans with complex and chronic service related conditions, allied health is not optional or short term. With the government's view of cutting services and saying that this is all that veterans can get—if you need psychosocial support, if you need physio or if you need OT, what happens?”
“This government needs to have a long, hard look at itself when it comes to what its priorities should be. Because I know that Invictus—I've heard testimony from families who have said that, without this sporting event and without this coming together as veterans, their son, their daughter or their husband wouldn't be here any more. This needs to be overturned. Invictus Australia should be funded.”
“People need more physio, more occupational therapy, more time in front of the GP and more time in front of the doctors, but, with this cap, they will be out of pocket or living with chronic pain. This is a bad cut. This shouldn't have happened. Another part of this budget that I think is quite concerning is the defunding of Invictus Australia. Invictus Games is a tier-1-level sporting event that supports people who have been wounded, injured or ill from their service. Prince Harry was the founding father of it. I have been at Invictus Games events. I was at the inaugural one and then went back as a coach. I've seen it change lives and I've seen it save lives, because sport is a healing power. To cut veterans' services, to cut supports to veterans, is absolutely shameful.”
“Despite all the government spending, we are still left asking, 'Why doesn't life feel easier?' The reality is this: if inflation stays higher for longer, interest rates stay higher for longer, and that hits regional communities like Townsville particularly hard. Townsville is growing, and growth is a good thing, but growth without enough housing, infrastructure and planning puts enormous pressure on everyday Australians trying to buy, rent or build. In this budget, many papers have now reported that there have been significant cuts to veteran services—a $5,000 cap on allied health that veterans can get starting next year, which is not enough for those that have been injured, wounded or ill from their service.”
“When small businesses lose confidence, fewer people get hired. And, when businesses are hit with high operating costs, families end up paying more at the check-out. Families are already dealing with rising grocery costs, power bills, insurance premiums and mortgage repayments. Despite all the announcements and spending, inflation is still expected to remain high. That means interest rates could stay high for longer, and, for many households, that's the difference between coping or falling behind. Small-business owners are carrying wage pressure, energy costs and supply costs, while customers themselves are cutting back.”
“Last night's budget was presented as a plan for relief, but, for many in Townsville—small businesses and investors—it will feel more like pressure with better gimmicks and branding. People are working harder than ever, but they don't feel like they're getting ahead. In Townsville, mum-and-dad investors are not the big end of town. They're just teachers with one investment property, tradies trying to build some security for retirement, or small-business owners who have backed themselves and taken risks. Many of them are now feeling like aspiration is being punished instead of rewarded. This budget adds billions of new taxes over the coming years, including higher taxes that will ultimately affect investors, small businesses, superannuation and housing. Because, when investors pull back, fewer homes get built.”
“This budget is un-Australian. It treats aspiration like a problem to be managed, not a value to be rewarded. You know the system's wrong when Queensland got a tokenistic acknowledgement of country mention, but there was not a single mention of infrastructure in this budget. This Labor budget's message is simple: lower your expectations and clap politely for crumbs. The Labor treasurer really should have included that in his talking points on how to mislead the Australian people. You can't claim to back housing while punishing the people who actually provide it. Mum-and-dad investors are not monopoly men; they're nurses, tradies and retirees just trying to get ahead. The Treasurer said 'war' more times than he said 'Queensland'. You have to be real here. This is four years of poor decisions by a Labor government, not a four-month-old war.”
“They come from the experts, and it's our job to listen, work and deliver for those ESOs and defence groups and veterans that come to us and say, 'Hey, why aren't we rolling out this?' or, 'How do we move it quicker?' We will not stand in the way of this bill. A strong, fair, effective military justice system is essential to maintaining discipline, operational effectiveness and the confidence of the Australian people in our Defence Force. Our servicemen and women deserve a system that is transparent and timely. We must do better by those who defend us, our families and our way of life. The implementation of the royal commission recommendations is a critical step in that direction. Debate adjourned.”
“I do think this is an appropriate change, and we do support this. It marries it up and makes a lot of sense to me. We remain deeply committed to addressing the high rates of suicide among our defence and veteran community. I know that is a bipartisan statement in this parliament. Last year the coalition supported the legislation to establish the Defence and Veterans' Service Commissioner, which was recommendation 122 of the royal commission. It is imperative that we work together to roll out these recommendations. We will continue to engage with key advocacy groups to ensure the unique challenges of Defence personnel and veterans are prioritised. No good ideas come out of Canberra. No good ideas come from politicians.”
“If you're in Defence and the Defence Force are investigating you, you get stood down and are given appropriate support, and it's up to the command element around your pay structure, but, if you're investigated by the Queensland Police Service or another state police service for a serious crime, then at this stage you would not be stood down. We have seen cases in Townsville, Darwin, Brisbane and Tasmania, at different units, where an alleged perpetrator of sexual assault was working with the alleged victim. That is not good enough, and this is a protection to make sure that that doesn't occur, because in many cases where an alleged perpetrator does get convicted and becomes the perpetrator, this poor victim has been made to work with the person that has assaulted them, sexually assaulted them or been convicted of raping them.”
“Part 16 amends the DFDA to relocate all disciplinary infringement provisions from part IA into a standalone schedule 1. The aim of this amendment is to improve readability and simplify the numbering of infringement provisions. Finally, schedule 6 provides a transitional rule-making power to the minister. This will allow the minister to make rules by legislative instrument. The government sees this as a necessary measure to deal with unintended outcomes or unforeseen issues as we move from the old framework to the new. The coalition expects the minister to use the powers judiciously, ensuring that the rules made are in the interests of justice and accord fairness to all proceedings. The highlight of the bill, for me, is around streamlining and marrying up the offences.”
“These amendments ensure that DFDA investigations are conducted appropriately by appropriately trained people and support the professionalism of Defence investigative practice. Part 14 amends section 84A of the DFDA to expand the existing removal order power so that it applies not only to cyberbullying offences under section 48A but also to any service offence that involves the provision of intimate images of another person via social media or electronic services. This ensures service tribunals can order the removal of harmful intimate image material whenever it is posted or otherwise shared as a part of the DFDA offending, not only when it constitutes cyberbullying. Part 15 creates a power to extinguish historical homosexual service offences.”
“This is to reflect the increased scope, over the years, of the director. Part 10 amends the DFDA to expand the statutory functions of the DMP to include representing the CDF and other service chiefs in specified Federal Court and High Court proceedings relating to the DFDA. Part 11 amends the DFDA to modernise and harmonise the termination provisions for the JAG and the DJAG, aligning with contemporary judicial office termination standards. Part 12 amends section 146 of the DFDA to enable regulations to apply, adopt and incorporate evidentiary rules that operate in the Jervis Bay Territory, for use in the DFDA proceedings. Part 13 amends the DFDA to modernise and broaden the concept of the investigating officer.”
“Part 7 amends the DFDA to increase the maximum term of appointment of legal officers appointed under section 154 from three years to five years. This part also clarifies that a reviewing authority should not commence a review without obtaining a report on the proceedings, which can be provided by a legal officer appointed under section 154 or a DJAG. Part 8 makes amendments to vest all statutory discipline powers to the CDF rather than with the CDF and other service chiefs, allowing the CDF to delegate those powers to service chiefs and other Defence Force officers at or above the rank of commodore, brigadier or air commodore. Part 9 amends the Defence Act 1903 and the DFDA to update the title Director of Defence Counsel Services to Director of Defence Legal Assistance.”
“Part 3 amends the DFDA to enable the disclosure and protection of certain information in proceedings before service tribunals or for law enforcement purposes. Part 4 amends DFDA service offences, removing outdated location based elements and modernises the scope of assault and harassment related offences. These amendments seek to ensure that service offence provisions reflect contemporary expectations. Part 5 amends the maximum term of imprisonment that may be imposed by a restricted court martial from six months to two years. Part 6 amends the DFDA to ensure that a reviewing authority cannot consider a petition relating to proceedings that it has already reviewed under section 152 as part of the automatic review process. This is seen as a fairness measure.”
“I spoke with three service people yesterday, including a warrant officer class 1. In some jurisdictions they already carry the taser. I am sceptical of it. I am worried that it's going to be used on enlisted soldiers more than on officers. I think we've got to keep an eye on this. I know what I was like when I was a soldier! I'm glad there were no tasers then! Part 1 does allow for specified military police to use specified policing equipment: tasers. Part 2 amends the DFDA to update prescribed quantities for drug offences by repealing definitions of 'controlled drug' and 'controlled plant'. Part 2 also repeals a new definition of 'prescribed quantity'. This will align the DFDA definitions to other Commonwealth legislation.”
“Schedule 5—this is the one I had a little bit of concern about—contains 16 parts. It's very big and it covers a broad range of amendments. In particular, the part that I am concerned about—and I thank the minister for allowing some defence members to go through the process with me—is the establishment of a clear statutory basis for Defence Force police members to carry, handle and use specified policing equipment. That means MPs, military police, would be able to hold tasers. MPs can't use tasers on the civilian force; they would only be able to use them on those still serving or to defend a military base against those who have broken in. As a former enlisted soldier, I am concerned because the likelihood of who these tasers would be used upon would be enlisted soldiers. I have some concerns around this.”
“This part is to commence by proclamation or on 1 January 2028, to allow for the negotiation of state and territory funding to access facilities. We urge the government, and will work with the government, to expediate these discussions. Schedule 4 seeks to simplify the middle tier of the disciplinary framework, creating the summary contravention scheme. The current three-tier system can be complex and a major source of delay and inefficiency. This bill replaces that system with a single streamlined scheme. The new scheme is administrative, not criminal, and uses the civil standard of proof. It allows Defence to manage minor misconducts in a proportionate way while reducing escalation into the service offence system. This balances the need for efficiency with the fundamental right to a fair trial.”
“Factors that must be considered to dismiss the charge include 'the nature, severity and expected duration of the mental impairment' and 'the nature and seriousness of the charge'. Part 2 of schedule 3 establishes a Defence mental health tribunal. This will allow for the provision of a clinically informed alternative to the outdated custodial provisions, which are currently in the Defence Force Disciplinary Act, allowing for orders related to treatment, care or appropriate detention. These orders will be reviewed every six months, ensuring that the restriction of liberty is always proportionate and subject to clinical oversight. This is a trauma informed approach that supports the wellbeing of the accused while also maintains confidence in the discipline system.”
“The current framework lacks the mechanism to address mental health conditions that fall short of legal incapacity but still impact an accused person's wellbeing or the fairness of superior tribunal proceedings. This bill introduces new diversionary measures permitting a service tribunal to adjourn proceedings for up to six months. Under the proposed subsection 137E, a service tribunal must dismiss a charge entirely where 'reasonably satisfied that the accused person is suffering from a mental impairment', the judge advocate rules that 'trying or continuing to try the charge is not in the interests of maintaining discipline in the Defence Force' or 'the prosecution has had an opportunity to be heard'.”
“We note measures to align court martial proceedings to contemporary civilian practice may prove more difficult in practice owing to the unique nature of court martial, where it could be argued that there is no direct equivalence between a court martial and a civilian jury. Schedule 3 updates the provisions of the Defence Force Discipline Act concerning the management of mental impairment in service tribunal proceedings. Part 1 of the schedule updates the powers of service tribunals. We're dealing with those suffering from mental health impairment, with part 2 establishing a defence mental health tribunal as a specialised decision-making body.”
“This includes the ability to seek a trial by judge advocate alone, the escalation of proceedings from restricted court martial to general court martial or a referral of a matter from a Defence Force magistrate to court martial. To reduce the likelihood of retrials and improve trial continuity, the Registrar of Military Justice is granted flexible powers to appoint and substitute judge advocates and panel members in response to illness or operational demands. This is reform that seeks to ensure the wheels of justice do not halt due to the unique pressures of military service.”
“This schedule also makes changes to the trial phase, where the complex task of sentencing is becoming the responsibility of the judge advocate and not a lay panel. The government has stated that these measures are intended to align the practice of the superior tribunals more closely with those of the civilian justice system. The bill also provides for matters to be prescribed by a regulation, enabling the framework to remain responsive to future reforms and developments across civilian judicial jurisdictions. To strengthen procedural fairness, the schedule also introduces reforms allowing either the accused person or the prosecution, prior to a plea being entered, to apply for the election of the reform or mode of trial.”
“Additionally, in line with recommendation 63, the bill removes stigmatising language like 'malingering' from the Defence Force Discipline Act, replacing it with descriptions that do not carry the same negative connotation for wounded, ill or injured members. Schedule 2 streamlines superior tribunal procedures. This gives effect to recommendation 34, which required a review of provisions where court martial panels were not required to give reasons for punishment. This legislation now requires that any conviction and sentencing decision by the superior tribunals or reviews is to be accompanied by formal reasons. By requiring these reasons, this bill seeks to enhance transparency and accountability within the system.”
“This can create inconsistent and unsuitable outcomes where serious criminal offences do not trigger the same protective actions as minor service matters. The bill resolves that inconsistency by introducing a new suspension power where a member is under investigation by civilian authorities. Furthermore, schedule 1 implements recommendation 20, requiring service tribunals to consider victim impact in sexual offences cases. It also addresses rank disparity in sentencing. We also see the implementation of recommendation 21, establishing a framework to ensure serious service convictions are disclosed to the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission for inclusion in the national policing records.”
“A fair, effective and timely system is essential for protecting personnel and ensuring that the Australian Defence Force remains mission-ready. I'll turn to the specifics of the bill. Schedule 1 directly implements several of the royal commission recommendations designed to protect victims and enhance accountability. Recommendation 18 called for enhanced safeguards to ensure alleged victims are not required to work alongside alleged perpetrators during investigations. This sounds like something that shouldn't have occurred, but it has occurred in many units over many years. Currently, a member suspected of a minor service offence can be suspended, but a member suspected of a serious civilian criminal offence, such as rape, sexual assault or even murder, often cannot be suspended.”
“That is why, at the last election, the coalition committed to implementing an agreed response to the royal commission to deliver better outcomes for the Defence Force and veteran community. The coalition remains committed to addressing the unacceptably high rates of suicide among Defence Force and veteran communities. This bill provides the necessary framework to implement recommendations 18, 20, 23, 34 and 63. It also introduces reform to the military justice system, which is an integral framework underpinning military discipline and command. The coalition understands that delays in resolving discipline matters adversely affect morale, welfare and operational effectiveness. Prolonged uncertainty places a strain on personnel that can undermine unit cohesion and trust.”
“They deserve truth, accountability and genuine reform. With more than half a million Australians having served or currently serving, we have a profound obligation to ensure that issues identified are acknowledged and that necessary action is taken. The coalition believes we have a personal responsibility to care for the physical and mental wounds of our Australian Defence Force personnel past, present and future. Our Defence Force and veteran community must always be recognised for the incredible sacrifices they have made and continue to make, and their unique health challenges must always be prioritised and addressed. We've seen far too many of our brave men and women succumb to their war within—their invisible wounds.”
“This legislation implements key recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, a landmark inquiry that was established by the former coalition government. It was in 2021 when I stood, in government, in the corner, and looked up and saw families of those whose sons had died by suicide sitting in the gallery holding photos of their sons and saying that we must have a royal commission. The coalition called it. The Labor government is implementing it, and I thank the minister for his genuine bipartisanship through this process. When we established the royal commission, we said its aim was to shed a light on the critical steps needed so we can reduce the heartbreaking cases of suicide. The findings confirmed what service members of the Australian Defence Force, veterans and their families have been saying for years.”
“I start by acknowledging all those that continue to serve our nation in uniform, our veterans and their families. And I note that the freedoms that we enjoy today are on the back of hard fought battles, wars and sacrifices that they have made through peacekeeping missions, natural disasters, humanitarian and combat operations. In recognition of their service, it is incumbent upon us in this parliament to ensure that Defence Force members, veterans and their families are treated with respect and dignity and get the appropriate support that they deserve. Today I rise to speak on the Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026. The coalition will not oppose this bill.”
“The Easter bunny is going to have his work cut out for him because this government is not doing anything to lower the fuel prices. If you can't fill up your car, you can't go to the shop. If you can't fill up your car, you can't get the supplies that you need. Australians need a government that acts, explains and leads. Right now, all they're getting is deflection. This prime minister and this Labor energy minister should be marching in here—not worrying about what the opposition is doing—and explaining to the Australian people what they're going to do to fix this fuel crisis.”
“We are seeing M ad Max levels around the country right now. Farmers' fuel is being stolen; their fuel drums are being drilled and drained. And what is this Labor minister doing? Nothing! When Labor's Minister Chris Bowen was the immigration minister, he couldn't turn a boat back, but now, as the energy minister, he has somehow been able to turn back six ships full of fuel that Australians desperately need. It's quite remarkable. People can't afford to fuel up their cars to drive to school, to work or to sporting events, because of this Labor minister's inaction and the gaslighting from the Prime Minister. Parents are going to have tough conversations, coming up to Easter, about the travel that they can't afford to go on, about the extra Easter eggs that they won't be able to get at the supermarket because the trucks can't deliver them.”