Anne Webster
Mallee · National Party · Australia
“The government's first duty is to protect its citizens and, arguably, its most vulnerable citizens—in this case, children. Today that duty extends into a digital world, where the playground has actually moved online and where too often it is unpoliced and unsafe.”
“We know that, despite the ban, large numbers of children are still accessing these platforms because enforcement has been weak and the regulator has not been given the tools it needs.”
“They worry about exposure to violent content; harmful algorithms; cyberbullying; scams; predatory, paedophilic behaviour; and the relentless pressure that social media can place on young people's mental health. These concerns are real, and they deserve to be taken seriously.”
“For many young Australians, social media is where they access news, educational content and creative learning. It's where they stay connected with friends and family. It is where they participate in their communities and engage in public debate.”
“My constituent asks that there be some sort of agency or protocol where these accounts can be collated, investigated and closed where applicable.”
“Labor rejected it and then, in the 2024 budget, accepted it. We pledged in June 2024 that we would deliver the under-16s social media ban, which Labor, thankfully, copied.”
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“This bill implements measures intended to protect the integrity of Medicare, enhance the regulation of goods under the Therapeutic Goods Act and amend the tobacco act. Some amendments in the bill form part of the response to the recommendations of the Independent Review of Medicare Integrity and Compliance, undertaken by Dr Pradeep Philip. The Philip review identified potential improvements to administering health benefits schemes—in particular, the power to detect, respond to, investigate, disclose and deter misconduct, fraud and noncompliance. The bill seeks to address a range of impediments to the department conducting efficient, timely and effective compliance activities. Given the widespread implications of this bill, the coalition is seeking further scrutiny of its effect and implications through a Senate inquiry.”
“GP bulk-billing has fallen by 11 per cent to 77 per cent under the Albanese government, while out-of-pocket costs have increased by 11 per cent, and that is in the past year alone. To put this into perspective, the GP bulk-billing rate rose to 84 per cent under Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Opposition, as health minister, and it continued to rise cent under the former coalition government, getting to 88 per before we left office. Under the Albanese government, Medicare is currently covering the lowest percentage of GP fees on record. On average, Australians are being forced to cover 45 per cent more of the cost to see a doctor from their own pocket, in comparison to what they covered under the former coalition government. Labor loves talking about when Mr Dutton was the health minister, but they don't like to talk about those facts.”
“Before I begin speaking on the Health Legislation Amendment (Improved Medicare Integrity and Other Measures) Bill 2024, I have to call out the emotive, manipulative spin Labor uses in the health portfolio. This bill and Labor's track record demonstrate that outcomes do not match the pre-election rhetoric. Those of us on this side of the House believe in outcomes rather than spin. Labor's rhetoric about saving Medicare and celebrating anniversaries is desperate when you compare that to actual outcomes, because their record is not good. Not only do they keep the Department of Health under the thumb and unable to provide us or the public with data on outcomes; they manipulate departmental resources to claim bulk-billing rates are improving. They're not.”
“Mallee's regional communities are tied to the railroad tracks, screaming for their city cousins and the media that metropolitan Australians rely on to pay attention before it is too late. Thankfully, Whycheproof-raised Peta Credlin, on Sky News, is raising the alarm on the national stage. Labor's deeply unpopular energy plans have been exposed as costing $600 billion, according to Frontier Economics, compared with $263 billion under the coalition—44 per cent cheaper. Sunraysia, Mallee and regional Australia deserve a fair go from Canberra, and I expect a return to government with the Nationals will get the country back on track.”
“Over the same three-year period, Labor has barely invested one dollar for every $20 I secured. It gets worse, Deputy Speaker. My fellow regional Victorians suffer the double whammy of two on-the-nose Labor governments, under Prime Minister Albanese and Premier Allan, who together use regional Australia as a doormat. Even when fires burned in my electorate, the Prime Minister and the Premier did a quick flyover of the Grampians. The Leader of the Opposition, on the other hand, visited fire-affected communities like Halls Gap, with me, on the ground. Mallee is not a dumping ground for bad policy. Labor are railroading regional communities with deeply unpopular energy projects, fast-tracking approvals while their shambolic locomotive gathers steam.”
“The coalition will deliver lower inflation through a stronger economy and responsible economic management. We will stop wasteful spending, reduce taxes and cut red tape, easing cost-of-living pressures for families and businesses. Energy prices are a major driver of pressures on the cost of living and the cost of doing business. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, promised Australians some 97 times that by 2025 household energy bills would be reduced by $275. Now, in early 2025, that pledge has officially been broken. One-off relief over four quarters simply doesn't cut the mustard. Labor is also robbing regions to buy votes in the cities. In my first term as the member for Mallee, I secured over $2 billion in funding for Mallee.”
“For instance, under the Albanese Labor government, a family with a typical mortgage has spent an additional $50,000 of interest since the Prime Minister came to power. Since Mr Albanese became Prime Minister, Australian living standards have fallen further than anywhere in the developed world, by 8.7 per cent on the latest data. The International Monetary Fund projects that this year Australia will have the second-highest inflation of any developed country after the Slovak Republic. Respected economics firm Deloitte say that Australians' standard of living will not recover until at least 2030. Core inflation remains at 3.2 per cent, outside the Reserve Bank's target band of two to three per cent. Australians are experiencing the longest sustained period of inflation since the 1980s. We've been in a household recession for 21 long months.”
“Australia is at a turning point, and the ship of state is rudderless under the weak leadership of this Prime Minister, who is more focused on accusing the Leader of the Opposition of the very division that, on his watch, the Albanese Labor government not only facilitated but allowed to fester. Worse still, the Prime Minister and Treasurer Chalmers's economic mismanagement—again, on their watch—sees Australians' living standards collapsing. Families and pensioners are struggling to make ends meet, making sacrifices just to afford the weekly shop and to cover their rent or mortgage. The Albanese Labor government's wasteful spending has driven up inflation and interest rates, resulting in the cost of mortgages, rents, power bills, groceries, insurance, health and education going up to a point most simply cannot afford.”
“The community is well aware that the Prime Minister only did a flyover with the Premier of Victoria just before Christmas. With the Leader of the Opposition, I urge Australians to visit the Grampians to support a fire-ravaged local economy.”
“I rise to speak on our first sitting day of 2025 about the bushfires that are burning across my electorate of Mallee. Sadly, I have fires south of Kaniva and Nhill and still in the Grampians National Park. The Little Desert National Park fire has destroyed the Little Desert Nature Lodge, and there have been fires this week at Colignan and Ouyen. Halls Gap small businesses were badly hit by bushfires forcing closure of the town during the peak tourist season, costing $13 million and a further $19 million in expected loss in gross regional product. I walked the deserted streets just before Christmas, and it was surreal; it was like a ghost town. Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, visited Halls Gap small business owners with me in January at my invitation, along with shadow ministers Perin Davey and Dan Tehan.”