Angie Bell
Moncrieff · Liberal National Party · Australia
“Twice the Prime Minister was directly asked whether he could guarantee that house prices wouldn't tank as a result of his government's housing policies; twice he refused to answer.”
“At the same time, the government's own budget papers show rents are set to rise. Do those opposite realise that cheaper house prices mean nothing when the cost of living makes it impossible to save for a deposit? We already see young Australians locked out of independence, forced to live at home longer as rental stress worsens.”
“Over 2½ thousand people experience homelessness on the Gold Coast on any given night, and the money raised from this event will go directly to supporting those locals getting back on their feet. I want to thank everyone who donated so generously to the CEO Sleepout.”
“Back to the bill in front of us, this is a bill that changes a process, to give more power to a minister—the same minister who had to pay back the debt—and a bill that nobody has asked for. The government has not justified the need for a change in process.”
“Labor is more interested in their bottom line than supporting grassroots sport and the communities—like the communities of everybody in this place—who rely on it. At a time when families are tightening their belts, affordable community sport has never been more important.”
“I want to start by talking about sport, the inspiration that is sport and what it can do for young lives. I was inspired, as the federal member for Moncrieff, just a few weeks ago when I attended the Benowa State School, where there was a boccia tournament for three primary schools across my electorate.”
The complete record
Every one of 431 lines we hold for Angie Bell, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“This also leads me to be deeply concerned about what else the Albanese government is failing on when it comes to the environment. For that, I need to look no further than my own region and my deep concern over the lack of a funding commitment for koala chlamydia vaccines. The new member for McPherson and I recently visited the Currumbin Wildlife Hospital, hosted by Jayme Cuttriss, the CEO of the National Trust of Australia, which oversees Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary and the hospital, and Dr Michael Pyne OAM, the head vet at Currumbin. Michael and Jayme lead one of the busiest wildlife hospitals in the world, treating 252 species and over 16,000 patients per year. They also host thousands of schoolchildren through their educational programs and many tourists.”
“Bart Butson, a local fisher at Pork Wakefield, saw hundreds of dead cuttlefish floating on the sea and has seen southern calamari absolutely disappear. Tourists are cancelling their holidays in caravan parks. They're deserting local operators and hospitality venues. Stansbury publican Rob Rankine's revenue is down more than a thousand dollars a day compared to this time last year, and shopkeepers' revenues are down 15 per cent. Businesses simply can't cope with that. A mercy dash on the eve of parliament returning is simply not good enough. South Australians—all Australians—should be disappointed in this Labor government, because all of this could and should have been addressed much sooner. If only they had listened to the scientists.”
“To date, more than 14,000 marine animals have died because the Albanese government failed to listen to scientists. Local fishing and tourist businesses are hurting. They are in a lot of pain because of the Albanese government's failure to respond sooner. Trade has completely ceased for commercial fishers at Port Vincent and Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula. This is an area that I know well. I spent my family holidays growing up on the Yorke Peninsula, and I still have family in the area. I know it very well. I went crabbing as a young girl in Ardrossan and fishing for King George whiting in the gulf, and it is heartbreaking to see what South Australians are going through. Oyster farmer Steve Bowley hasn't sold an oyster in over 80 days. Fisher Paul Germain hasn't caught one single fish in over 80 days.”
“I want to talk tonight about two significant environmental issues. The first one is the failure of the Albanese government on the algal bloom calamity occurring in South Australian waters at the moment. The second one is my deep concern over the lack of a funding commitment for koala chlamydia vaccines. Australians should be disappointed with the Albanese government's failure to act on the algal bloom that's been blooming now for months and has significantly affected the South Australian coastline. The Labor government failed to listen to scientists 18 months ago who simply wanted funding to monitor what is going on in South Australian waters and the Great Southern Reef. The Albanese Labor government failed to listen to scientists four months ago, when dead fish were washing up on metropolitan beaches in South Australia.”
“You've come into government and failed us again today. The minister representing the minister is missing from the chamber. Australians deserve better than this Labor government, which is clearly and ultimately missing in action. It failed to turn up on the South Australian algal bloom, it failed to deliver any outcomes, and it is failing Australians miserably.”
“These determinations are taking too long, and it's deeply concerning that Labor's lack of action is causing investment in Australia to decline. It's decreasing Australia's attractiveness as a place to do business and, most importantly, it is costing livelihoods and jobs across the nation. It's important that we have an effective process that looks after the environment, because we care about the environment. Our environment has been going backwards under Labor. Opposition members interjecting— Come on, the endangered species list has increased! You do not have a record on the environment that you can talk about. We care about the environment, and it's important to have an effective process that looks after the environment and looks after the economy with a sensible balance. Labor has failed on the environment. You've failed Australians.”
“He was just covering himself for the sittings in parliament after pressure, no doubt, from his Labor colleagues, from the coalition, the Liberal Party, from the Greens, and from South Australia. That's what he was waiting for before his mercy dash down to South Australia. During the last term, the then environment minister, the member for Sydney, proved completely unable to deliver Labor's promise of an overhaul of the EPBC Act. She promised, multiple times, that the overhaul would be finalised by the end of 2023, but it was continually deferred. What we are left with is a very long process that doesn't serve the environment and doesn't serve jobs. It doesn't serve industry. It doesn't serve our great nation—our flora and fauna—but it doesn't serve jobs or industry either.”
“He made a quick dash down there, to stand up and do a presser— An opposition member: Look at the dead fish. Look at the dead fish quickly. I'm sure he didn't walk along the Ardrossan jetty. He tried desperately not to show up. Where's the minister representing the minister now? He's not going to speak to this. Again, Labor is missing in action when it comes to the environment. You failed in the last term. Labor failed on their environmental policies last term. They did not reform the EPBC Act. They stalled—absolutely stalled. While Labor's drop-in-the-ocean funding announcement is certainly welcome—it is welcome; the people of South Australia welcome that tiny little bit of funding, of $10,000 per business. I mean, at the press conference, the minister didn't even know what the money was for!”
“There's no certainty—none whatsoever—of when this situation will be overcome, unfortunately. South Australians—all Australians—should be disappointed in this Labor government because all of this could have been prevented. It could have and should have been addressed much sooner. I mean, if our marine life had started washing up on Bondi Beach, on Coogee Beach, on Cottesloe Beach—goodness me! Member for Fremantle, if it had been there, I'm sure the minister would have been there much quicker. If this had been the Great Barrier Reef, it wouldn't have taken the minister so long for. Instead, it took 18 months for the Albanese government to do, well, something. Under pressure from his colleagues, the minister did a mercy dash down to South Australia just before we reconvened in the parliament.”
“The significance of that is that they make up at least 30 per cent of the catch, and sometimes the whole catch, for these fishers. Trade has ceased—completely ceased—for commercial fishers at Port Vincent and at Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula. And it's a crying shame. The member for Grey also knows that the wider impact on local businesses is devastating. Tourists are cancelling their holidays in caravan parks. They're deserting local operators and hospitality venues. Stansbury publican Rob Rankine is 18 per cent down on last year for the corresponding 11 weeks. That's over $1,000 a day of turnover he has lost. That is his livelihood; that is what he lives on. And it has stopped. Shopkeepers' revenues are down 15 per cent. Businesses can't cope with that. The Albanese government has failed the local fishing and tourism industries.”
“Oyster farmer Steve Bowley and Port Wakefield fisherman Bart Butson have spoken openly about the pain their communities are feeling with disappearing stocks, months-long shutdowns and no end or certainty in sight. It's been over 80 days since Steve sold one oyster—one oyster! The new member for Grey, Tom Venning, has spent time with members in his electorate who have been affected. The member for Grey knows that it's been over 80 days since fisher Paul Germain has caught one single fish—one fish! And the member for Grey knows that Bart Butson, the local fisher at Port Wakefield who fishes in the Gulf of St Vincent, saw hundreds of dead cuttlefish floating on the sea and, from that time, has started to see southern calamari disappear—and now there are none to catch whatsoever.”
“The Albanese government has, under two ministers, failed to respond to the scientists for 18 months. The Albanese government failed to respond when the marine life started washing up dead on the beach in March. This calamity has harmed the environment, and it has harmed the local community and the local economy. My colleague Senator Ross Cadell has been working hard to support the local fishing businesses, and he knows that industry leaders like the oyster farmer Steve Bowley and Port Wakefield—there's a great bakery there. I'll shout-out the people that work at the Port Wakefield Bakery and the Kitchener buns that they have there.”
“I want to talk about a matter of great national importance: the government's failure on the algal bloom that has been blooming for months and has significantly affected coastal South Australia in the Gulf of St Vincent but also in the Port River region and on Adelaide beaches. Scientists in South Australia have been asking this government for 18 months—18 months!—for $4 million over 10 years to fund monitoring of the Great Southern Reef and the algal bloom that has been reported as killing 13,800 marine creatures since March of this year alone and affecting over 400 species. Notable marine species are squid, which I talked about; octopus; cuttlefish; benthic sharks; rays; sea dragons; lobsters; reef fish; and seagrass fauna. Beach monitoring has logged nearly 5,000 wash-up events as of June 2025, with thousands more seen offshore.”
“Many members in this House may not know this—I will start with a small snapshot of my life—but I grew up in South Australia and spent my childhood playing on the beaches of the Yorke Peninsula, crab fishing in Ardrossan, eating King George whiting for breakfast and flattening out calamari with beer bottles. Mum used to fry them in the pan for breakfast, freshly caught in the Gulf of St Vincent. And what I want to talk about today is the disappointment of the South Australian people, who have been let down miserably by this government, because, today, that beach, in the great electorate—magnificent electorate—of Grey, is a very, very different place.”
“Scientists in South Australia have been raising the alarm for over 18 months on this, and, according to the Guardian , 13,800 marine creatures have died since March of this year alone, and over 400 species have been affected. Not only has our precious marine life been impacted but the local economy in South Australia has also been severely impacted. It could have been addressed much, much sooner. South Australians and all Australians should be very disappointed in the Albanese government. This is an environmental failing of epic proportions. If our precious marine life started washing up dead on the Great Barrier Reef, there's no doubt the minister would have acted within days. They've failed to listen, they've failed to act for 18 months and they've let this algal bloom go from bad to worse.”
“Former treasury secretary Ken Henry said just last week that Australia's environment protection laws have both failed to stop the degradation of Australia's natural environment and held back economic growth, and they are undermining productivity. It's true that, under the Albanese government, not only are Australians worse off, with soaring cost-of-living pressures, but Australia's environment is also worse off. We only need to look at Labor's failure on the algal bloom in South Australia, which has been blooming for months and months. On the eve of parliament returning, Minister Watt made a mercy dash to South Australia regarding the toxic algal bloom crisis.”
“Early childhood educators are too important to be treated this way. As the shadow minister for early childhood education and care, I look forward to engaging with the minister on these safety matters to make sure that we get this right. There's much work to do to safeguard children's safety, and more must be done for Australian families and children. Finally, just as the minister said, I would like to take a moment to say thank you to the incredible early educators across Australia. To those who take such pride in the important work they do supporting children and supporting families, and to those who care for, educate and protect our children: thank you.”
“While it's crucial to stamp out bad behaviour in the sector, we need to make sure any regulatory changes do not punish the educators who do the right thing—those who go above and beyond to provide safe and quality education for our children. We need to make sure this doesn't just become another layer of bureaucracy that makes life harder for families and our hardworking educators. The government must be sure this doesn't become another broken promise, like the worker retention payment or cheaper child care—because we know that, over the last three years, the cost of child care has risen by over 22 per cent. Since the rollout of the government's changes to the childcare subsidy, out-of-pocket fees have risen by nearly 13 per cent. So I rebut what the Prime Minister says and what the minister says about cheaper child care.”
“The safety of our children is far too important for such superficial measures. The headlines might be good, but child safety should be about more than that. What's the point of any sort of code if no-one is even keeping record of who has voluntarily agreed to it? Again, I urge the minister and this government to make sure they get the detail right when it comes to all of the regulatory changes they are planning, including those the minister says are set to take effect from September. The government must work hand in hand with the sector to make sure the rollout of such changes is seamless and effective.”
“Countless small and medium providers—family owned services which have been operating in communities for years and even decades—are facing similar problems. These hardworking services, providers and educators have been completely let down by this government. I welcome the news that the education minister has agreed in principle to all recommendations under ACECQA's child safety review, and it's pleasing to hear that all actions are on track. I encourage the minister to provide more detail on this. The minister made note of the national model code and guidelines which were released last year to embed child safety practices around the use of electronic devices, and, while this is an important step, we know that it is, in fact, voluntary. In fact, governments do not maintain records of providers who have chosen to adopt it.”
“There was a review of in-home care and inclusion support, and there was thechild safety review by ACECQA. We are yet to see formal responses to any of these. The truth is that this government has made things much harder for the sector. Think about the worker retention payment and the difficulty services and educators have faced. Just last night, on A Current Affair , an early learning provider revealed they are nearly $200,000 out of pocket because of the complexities of this government's grant scheme. A trusted early childhood education service is now seriously concerned about the impact this will have on their viability and, most importantly, the quality of education they can provide to their families. This isn't the only service who find themselves in this situation.”
“As the shadow minister for early childhood education, I welcome her move to working closely with the sector as well as state and territory counterparts to make this a reality. There is no doubt we need the entire sector to be able to work better together and weed out the unscrupulous actors. But the devil is always in the detail. While the coalition welcome the minister's sentiments, we urge her to make sure these are not just empty words or platitudes. Sadly, families and educators have come to expect not much more from this government, and one must ask why it has taken three years, on the eve of an election and in the wake of a damning news report, for the government to finally take this action. There have been countless reviews of the sector by the ACCC and the Productivity Commission.”
“The coalition have always shown our commitment to keeping all children safe, whether at home, at school, in child care or online. It was the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, who created the Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, which played a critical role in tracking down one of the worst child sex offenders—a predator who had been hiding in plain sight as a childcare worker. The coalition, as Peter Dutton outlined in his 2023 budget-in-reply, has committed to doubling the size of that centre to further strengthen that very effective child safety mechanism. We must do everything we can to make sure that something like this never, ever happens again. That's why the coalition supports in principle the minister's move to crack down on bad providers and educators.”
“We know the sector has faced workforce challenges, and we know that many families, no matter where they live in Australia, are languishing on very long waiting lists. Despite all these challenges, the overwhelming majority of educators and service providers do an amazing job. They provide a safe environment for children, educate them and nourish them. However, as the minister said, a small number of providers and educators are doing the wrong thing. It is those people who are letting their staff down, those people who are failing the parents who have entrusted them with their precious children and those people who have betrayed the innocence of children. I echo the minister's sentiment that there is absolutely no room for this. And I stress again: there is nothing that is more important than the personal safety of our children.”
“Affordability, access, quality, choice, flexibility—all these things are key to thriving in early childhood education and care and for the sector to grow. Unfortunately, this government's policies have failed to address these issues in a meaningful way. Regional, rural and remote communities in particular are struggling the most. In fact, according to the Mitchell Institute, around six million Australians—close to a quarter of the population—live in a childcare desert. That means they live in an area where three or more children compete for each childcare place. This has a devastating impact on these communities, as young families struggle to work and raise their children because of the lack of support available. It's meant that these communities struggle to attract new families and critical workers.”
“Nothing is more important than the safety of our children, and early childhood education plays an incredibly important role. It provides our littlest Australians with a good start in life, a chance to learn and a chance to make friends. Early childhood education is also crucial for parents who are studying, training and working. Our early educators are so very important in shaping these young lives. They deserve all of our respect and gratitude for the work that they do, because it's not an easy job; that's for sure. I know from the hundreds of educators and service providers that I've met over the last three years that they do it out of love and out of care. But there's no doubt that both families and the sector have faced many challenges over the last three years.”
“I will just finish by saying that if you need any extra support and you're not sure where to turn, please feel free to contact my office. My team will put you in touch with someone who can help you directly on the ground. If you need some volunteers to help you clean something up or to move some furniture—whatever it is that you need done as a result of the impact of Cyclone Alfred—please reach out to us and we will help you in any way that we can.”
“I certainly will be staying at home and enjoying the benefits of being a Gold Coast resident, with our fantastic dining offers and our tourism experiences—everything from jet skis, boats and sailing to the surf clubs along the beach. I've certainly got nine of those in the electorate of Moncrieff, and they really need your support at this time so that they can get back on their feet and continue the work that they do of saving lives on our beaches. To the faith leaders and those not-for-profit organisations in Moncrieff and the wider Gold Coast, thank you for what you do every day to help those families who are struggling, particularly right now with food security, paying their electricity bills and paying their mortgages whilst trying to recover from the adverse effects of Cyclone Alfred, which are far and wide across the Gold Coast.”
“It was so very important that that messaging was clear, and that was the clear message that I got back from schools in the following days when I was visiting schools and welcoming students back to school. I also want to thank the Leader of the Opposition for coming to the Gold Coast and meeting with the member for Fadden and with some local councillors, including the Mayor, Tom Tate, and Deputy Mayor, Donna Gates, at the disaster management centre. I want to thank them for their time and thank him for his time on the Gold Coast and for coming to visit us and interacting with all those people who were working at the disaster centre. It's been a difficult time for many Gold Coasters, and we're still recovering. Our economy is also suffering, so, if you're a Gold Coaster, I encourage you to stay at home at Easter.”
“In fact, it's changing daily, and our city's mayor has outlined that by Easter we'll absolutely be ready for our tourists to return to our pristine beaches and, of course, our theme parks and tourism attractions, which are so very important to jobs and to hospitality businesses and tourism businesses on the Gold Coast. We have a 'love Gold Coast' campaign that the city has launched. Spend $50 and get $50 to use across accommodation, experiences and dining providers. I also want to commend Premier Crisafulli for his very strong messaging. His clear and concise communication left no doubt—particularly for schools, for example, about when they were closing and when they were able to reopen—how the state was helping volunteers and the SES.”
“I did convene a Moncrieff community cabinet before the storms to speak with faith leaders and not-for-profit community organisations across my electorate so that we could help the city with a list of resources that we could put forward that they could use in terms of meeting rooms, community halls and those sorts of things as additional resources for the city. I want to thank my community cabinet for coming together before the storms and again after the storms. I convened a meeting after the storms so that we could discuss how we could improve, the medium- to long-term recovery of our community and how we could best help with food security and other measures. I want to praise the City of Gold Coast for the preparation and the recovery work, and I also want to assure Australians that the beach recovery is well underway.”
“The city informed me that there were 800 trees down across the city and some 2,000 jobs that were required and logged to fix that and get trees off the road, the paths and the powerlines to restore power. I thank all the emergency workers and also those that work for the City of Gold Coast for their continuing work which is being undertaken today. We do see the best come out in people at the worst times, and I want to thank my neighbours for sandbagging the front of my place while I was helping others in the community with serving our people and sandbagging their houses. I came home to a house that looked a bit safer than when I left, so I was very grateful for that.”
“They've lost that and, of course, are going through applying for payments and making insurance claims at the moment. On the Gold Coast we had damage to infrastructure and to beaches. Whilst Cyclone Alfred hovered off the coast, he took our patience, but he also took our beaches. Southport Surf Life Saving Club in Main Beach was particularly impacted. We lost about 6.4 million tonnes of sand, which is the equivalent of 320,000 semitrailer loads. Some of the surf conditions were quite incredible, with a record-breaking 12.3-metre swell that was recorded off Main Beach. Residents across the coast felt at risk from those storm surges at very high tide, and we were very grateful that our rock wall was not penetrated during the storms. There was about two months worth of rainfall in 24 hours.”
“It was quite harrowing with the wind, the rain and the noise that could be heard from the inside of homes. Of course, I felt for all Gold Coasters who then went without power, and very many of them—again, including me—were faced with a situation where there was no power for some time. Some Gold Coasters were without power for five days or more. I was only without power for about 36 hours. The work involved in preparing your home and working through the impacts of the cyclone as you're inside your home—stuffing the windows and doors with towels and, in the aftermath, cleaning all of that up—but also losing the contents of your refrigerator or freezer impacts your family in this cost-of-living crisis that we're having at the moment.”
“That was a frightening last thought from the member for Brisbane—the Greens with the balance of power in a minority Labor government. I couldn't think of anything worse as a nightmare scenario than that being the case when we return from the federal election, apart from the fear that my community felt during the effects of Cyclone Alfred. I've never felt closer to my community than during the storm when so many sent me text messages and photos of the erosion along the beachfront in the electorate of Moncrieff and beyond. As we know, Cyclone Alfred severely impacted the Gold Coast across all three electorates of McPherson, Moncrieff and Fadden to the north, with 130,000 homes and businesses losing power, including my own. I was in a situation where I was at home, alone. My partner was elsewhere and couldn't get home on a flight.”
“Labor's worker retention payment has no transparency and is way too complicated—so complicated that, in fact, Labor has paid $11 million in grants to third-party groups to help services apply for the grant. And, of course, among the groups who got a share of this grant are unions! Labor must apologise for their absolute failure and broken promises to hardworking early childhood educators and to all of those educators across the sector as well.”
“Last year, the Prime Minister promised Australia's early childhood educators—200,000 of them—that they would receive a pay rise by the end of the year. But, in typical Labor fashion, it was just another broken promise. On 5 December, the education minister declared it was 'payday' for hundreds of thousands of early childhood educators. But this was yet another misleading headline, because we know that, by the end of 2024, fewer than 30,000 of those educators had received the promised pay rise, and, as of last month, only 19 per cent of eligible educators had received it. I've spoken to countless service providers and educators who say they feel cheated by this government. Many of them have found themselves tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars out of pocket because of this scheme. It's an absolute debacle.”
“We continue to call on the government to legislate a commission of inquiry into antisemitism at Australian universities. Everyone on a university campus deserves to be safe, including Jewish students and staff. There has been an alarming increase of antisemitism on university campuses since the horrific Hamas terrorist attack on innocent Israeli citizens on 7 October 2023. Antisemitic incidents are up by over 700 per cent, with many of these occurring on campus, compounded by the weakness of leadership from the Albanese government. TEQSA has been equally deficient in combating antisemitism as it has been in combating gender based violence. The Albanese government has failed Jewish students and staff in the face of the protests, encampments and other incidents which fuelled so much antisemitic hate and incitement on campus.”
“In August 2023, the Social Research Centre and the Australasian Union of Jewish Students released the Australian Jewish University Experience Survey. It revealed that 64 per cent of Australian Jewish university students had experienced antisemitism on campus, 57 per cent of Jewish students had hidden the fact that they were Jewish at university and 19 per cent had stayed away from campus at some point because of antisemitism. When antisemitism occurred, 85 per cent of students did not make a complaint. Of those who did complain, 61 per cent were dissatisfied with the outcome. The coalition has led the charge on holding the Albanese government and universities to account for failing to prevent and respond to antisemitism on university campuses.”
“The national code includes a provision that, 'A provider must implement any recommendations made by the ombudsman in relation to gender based violence, but not in relation to any other matters,' such as complaints of antisemitism. The coalition is moving an amendment to the bill to urge the government to introduce a second new national code, a national higher education code to prevent and respond to antisemitism: the antisemitism code. The regulatory framework established by this bill could be replicated to take account of student safety as it relates to antisemitism. Even before the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, on 7 October 2023, universities were failing to adequately deal with antisemitism.”
“While the coalition has some concerns with this bill, namely, the establishment of a regulator within the Department of Education, we are committed to seeing new efforts within the higher education sector aimed at preventing and responding more effectively to insidious gender based violence. The coalition will be moving an amendment to this bill to ensure the code, which governs the obligations of higher education providers relating to gender based violence, is extended to incidents of antisemitism. The coalition has long called for a National Student Ombudsman to provide university students with greater access to justice. A new National Student Ombudsman became operational on 1 February 2025. The ombudsman is empowered to respond to individual complaints.”
“Whilst TEQSA does not have the powers to investigate individual cases, TEQSA does have a range of powers which enable the regulator to ring the alarm bells about university failings, to keep students safe or to respond appropriately in relation to cases of sexual harassment or sexual assault. If things were so bad on campus, why didn't TEQSA alert the minister and make recommendations for action? The minister could have also acted to strengthen TEQSA's powers, but, instead, did nothing of the kind. It will be critical for the minister to ensure his secretary and departmental officials are appropriately qualified to fulfil these important regulatory functions. The bill also gives the minister the power to establish the national code by legislative instrument and gives the minister significant powers relating to the providers' approval.”
“Australian universities should be exemplary institutions. This bill puts universities and other higher education providers on notice. Failure to protect and respond to gender based violence will have serious consequences. This bill establishes a new specialist unit within the Department of Education as the regulator. This specialist unit will, in effect, be the regulator, and it is on this basis that the coalition retains some concerns. This, self-evidently, should be the job of the higher education regulator, and demonstrates the failure of the minister to ensure that TEQSA is exercising its functions adequately.”
“This bill, the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-Based Violence) Bill 2025, is necessary because our national regulator of universities, the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency, TEQSA, has not done its job in holding universities and other higher education providers to account when they fail to adequately protect students from and respond to incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault and other gender based violence. It is, however, important to ask the following question: why didn't the education minister demand a higher level of performance from the regulator? He has a range of powers to do so and yet this never happened. There is an emerging pattern of behaviour from this minister, an apparent weakness of leadership.”
“Stakeholders participated in expert reference groups, including provider peak bodies, accommodation providers and key advocates for the code, such as Fair Agenda, End of Rape on Campus, the Stop campaign, and Dr Allison Henry. The coalition acknowledges the important job that advocates have done to improve the safety of students and staff on campus. We also acknowledge the bravery of those who have spoken out about their experience of gender based violence, including through the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee inquiry into current and proposed sexual consent laws in Australia.”
“It is important to note that the survey included the entire university context and extended to off-campus areas, student and private accommodation, work experience and professional placements. These statistics were shocking at the time. They remain so today and are clearly unacceptable. The National Student Safety Survey 2021 also provided an insight into the ability for students to make complaints and seek support and assistance. More than half of students knew nothing or little about the formal reporting processes for instances concerning harassment or assault. Almost half of students knew nothing or very little about where to seek support or assistance. The national code was developed after a consultation process in May and June last year.”
“This is a bill to establish a national higher education code to prevent and respond to gender based violence—a national code. The coalition strongly supports this initiative and this bill. Everyone on a university campus or in student accommodation has the right to be safe. What we have seen recently at our universities is that students do not feel safe. Where there have been instances of violence—especially gender based—threats, abuse or harassment, our universities have not acted fast enough. The incidence of sexual assault and sexual harassment on university campuses was again brought to light by the Universities Australia National Student Safety Survey 2021, released in March 2022. The survey found that one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since they started university, and one in six sexually harassed.”
“I move the second reading amendment, as circulated, in the name of the member for Farrer: That all words after "That" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "whilst not declining to give the bill a second reading, the House urges the Government to establish an additional National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Antisemitism, which: (1) makes it clear to all higher education students, staff and providers that everyone on a higher education campus has a right to be safe; (2) imposes on universities a range of obligations concerning student and staff safety which is very important given the alarming increase in antisemitic incidents on university campuses since 7 October 2023; and (3) ensures that higher education providers must comply with recommendations of the National Student Ombudsman concerning the National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Antisemitism".”
“To finish, I just want to outline what I promised to you when I was first elected—that is, a leader who listens, who cares and who will speak with vigour and courage on your behalf when national debates arise; a leader who will affect your goals and aspirations and your trials and challenges; and a person who understands your struggles, your disappointments, your blessings and your triumphs. But, most importantly, I promise to put your needs before all else. That is my pledge to you. I hope to continue to do that after the next federal election, which is marching forward very quickly, so I can keep fighting for my community and keep fighting to get our country back on track.”
“I particularly enjoyed over the last term visiting Benowa State High School and St Hilda's School and doing saxophone workshops with their bands. I really very much enjoyed that. Thanks for having me. To the multicultural communities in Moncrieff—MFO, GCMCC and TMC—who work so hard with new migrants and our community as well, like the GOPIO community, the Chinese community, the Filipino community and the Indigenous community. Uncle John Graham, thank you for what you do for our community. I want to thank my shadow portfolio staff and my EO staff, my neighbours and my friends and, especially, my family for putting up with me not being there. As the grandchildren grow up, you miss some of that.”