Steve Georganas
Adelaide · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“It reflects one of our most important national values. Health care should be available to everyone, not just to those who can afford it. Many people prioritise their health and paying their everyday essentials. That is a fact.”
“That means more than 172,000 occasions when individuals and families have been able to receive urgent medical care without needing to attend an emergency department or a public hospital and without needing to face out-of-pocket costs.”
“That is really important because that gives the confidence to those people that I spoke about earlier, those families that are doing it tough that may have previously considered whether they received the health care that they really required and was a necessity or whether they put food on the table.”
“People receive treatment earlier, chronic illnesses are managed more effectively, hospital admissions are reduced and pressure on our emergency departments is eased. Every dollar invested in effective primary care saves costs elsewhere in the system while delivering better health outcomes for Aussies.”
“I too rise to make a contribution, just as the member for Pearce just did, on the Health Insurance Amendment (Incentive Payments and Other Measures) Bill 2026. At its heart is Medicare.”
“In my home state alone, bulk-billing has risen to 80.4 per cent across the state, representing one of the strongest improvements in the country. We heard, the other day, other statistics around the country. They are all increasing, and this is a good thing. It means people are having to fork less out of their pocket when visiting a GP.”
The complete record
Every one of 587 lines we hold for Steve Georganas, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 9 of 12.
“I present the report of the Australian Parliamentary Delegation to the 45th General Assembly of the Association of South-East Asian Nations Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Vientiane, Lao People's Democratic Republic, from 17 to 23 October 2024. I was very privileged to lead the Australian delegation to the AIPA general assembly, accompanied by the member for Nicholls. AIPA claims to encourage understanding, cooperation and close relations among ASEAN members' parliaments, observer parliaments and other parliamentary organisations. The AIPA theme for the general assembly in 2024 was 'The role of parliaments in enhancing connectivity and inclusive growth of ASEAN'. Participants were welcomed by the President of the National Assembly of the Lao PDR and AIPA president, His Excellency Saysomphone Phomvihane.”
“Optus must do much better, and we await the findings of ACMA into the tragic failure that resulted in last month's deaths. But I must commend the Minister for Communications and congratulate her for introducing legislation so swiftly. This legislation will provide certainty to Australians that this critical service is reliable and can be trusted by Australians in their most desperate times of need.”
“The report also says: Optus chief executive Stephen Rue says he will keep a tight lid on costs to improve profit margins at the Singaporean-owned telco group, after annual earnings rebounded following last year's hefty write-downs. But at what cost to the public? The report goes on: The average number of Optus employees fell 8 per cent to 6200 over the 12 months as the telco group cut jobs. I'd respectfully request that Mr Rue consider carefully how Optus operates in the future to ensure the company lives up to that trust that's been given to Optus by the Australian public. They should be judiciously looking at managing costs. Increasing profits and reducing the number of employees might sound good to shareholders, but, again, at what cost?”
“In addition, there were two deaths in WA linked to the outage. I'd like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere condolences to the families, friends and communities of the people who died as a result of the Optus outage. This should never, ever have occurred and must never, ever happen again. What I know will frustrate Australians is that Optus trade very, very successfully on a licence that's been gifted to them by the Australian government and as a result of support from the Australian people. On 22 May, the Australian Financial R eview reported: The telco group's underlying net profit jumped to $136 million in the 12 months to March 31 from $19 million a year earlier … I want to make this point.”
“Over generations, Australians have trusted calling triple 0 in times of emergency to connect with police, fire, ambulance and other emergency services. This trust deserves to be respected, and, if telecommunications companies breach this trust, then the Australian public quite rightly expects there to be serious consequences. This is why the September 2025 Optus outage in which hundreds of emergency calls failed and lives were lost is completely unacceptable. During the outage, thousands of triple 0 calls failed, which has been linked to at least four deaths. My home state of South Australia has, sadly, been impacted by this devastating technical failure. This includes the tragic deaths of an eight-week-old boy from South Australia and a 68-year-old woman from the Adelaide suburb of Queenstown.”
“When they come to that realisation, they may be competent and again in a position to sell themselves to the Australian public, but, at this point, I just cannot see what the argument is in terms of manufacturing and in terms of energy cost. They have to ensure that they do everything that they can, just as we are, to support manufacturing but also support renewables, because the more renewables we have in the market, the better off we will be and the cheaper the prices will be. (Time expired)”
“This is their way of saying, 'We deny climate change.' They remind me of the Japanese soldiers in World War II that were left in caves and thought that the war was still continuing. They were found many years after, and, when they were discovered, they still wanted to fight. Everyone was going: 'No, it's okay. The war is over. We're in peacetime now.' That's what the opposition is. They still haven't come to terms with the fact that the Australian public has moved on, that we believe in climate change and that we need renewables to ensure that we meet our targets, but also that the more renewables and the more energy companies that are in the foray, the cheaper prices will be.”
“That is, in South Australia, Defence building—not only in South Australia but in Perth, in Queensland and all over the country. Listening to the opposition talk about not supporting businesses et cetera is just beside me. I know that energy prices are high. I think we all accept that. We want to see lower energy prices, but the coalition spent the last 10 years with 22 different energy policies. How could any industry in renewables or in any energy come to the party and feel confident about the government? We've had to start afresh from the very beginning, because we saw that side with 22 different energy policies. They couldn't come to grips with what the reality was. Again, listening to them again today, I don't think this is a motion about supporting manufacturing. This is again about being denialists about climate change.”
“What I'm seeing in my electorate is many manufacturing jobs being created. We've created 7,000 new businesses since 2022. I've got to say that we want every opportunity for Australian businesses and industry to also participate in this once-in-a-generation manufacturing that's coming our way. In South Australia, we've seen the Defence industry. We've seen AUKUS. We are talking about thousands of jobs—just like my father and thousands of others who worked in the manufacturing industry in South Australia—because we were able to design a car from start to finish, from design to the showroom, with the production of motor vehicles. Thousands of people worked. We're on the cusp of another manufacturing revolution if the opposition supports it.”
“If you want to talk about manufacturing being offshored, the cars that were produced here in Adelaide, in Elizabeth, are now being produced in Asia and in Mexico, because of the direct intervention of the then coalition treasurer, Mr Joe Hockey. And the proof of that is that, two days after he made his speech here on the frontbench, Mr Devereux, who was the CEO of General Motors-Holden, came out on the front page of the Advertiser and said, 'We no longer have the support of the coalition government and we're moving offshore.' So, if you want to talk about supporting manufacturing, you should have been supporting the automobile industry. Today, we would have been building electric cars and exporting them around the world had the industry had a little bit of support from the coalition back then.”
“I'm just astounded by what I've been hearing from the other side—not just the last speaker, the member for Cook, but all the others. Those of you who were here in 2013 would recall quite clearly the coalition's then treasurer goading General Motors-Holden out of Australia. We recall it very well. Being a South Australian and the son of a manufacturing worker who worked on the production line in General Motors-Holden, I found that very offensive at the time. If anyone didn't support manufacturing industry, it was the coalition in government and in opposition. We've seen them oppose every bill that has been brought to this place to support manufacturing. We've seen them oppose the car-manufacturing industry. In my home state, General Motors-Holden alone supported over 40,000 jobs.”
“I'd just quickly look back on 19 May 2014 and the front page headline, 'Tony Abbott now admits $1.8bn in hospital cuts will begin from July.' That is the difference between this side and that side. And, to the member for Gippsland: I'm quite proud to hold up my Medicare card. I'm very proud of it, because this is a Labor initiative that gave every Australian free hospital cover, including doctors and other forms of health care. It's something that we on this side are very proud of. When you look at the record of the opposition when in government from 2013 to 2022, you see the freezing of Medicare bulk-billing, which was a real shame. (Time expir ed)”
“I too rise today on this side of the House to speak about the Albanese Labor government's record on cheaper medicine, Medicare and health care for all Australians. This government is strengthening Medicare, as we've heard, with more doctors, more urgent care clinics and even cheaper medicine. We're making the largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago. Our government is investing $8.5 billion to deliver an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits each year, hundreds of nursing scholarships, and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program ever. If you read the papers and other media this week, you'll see it talk about Labor's increase in health investment making a better healthcare system in Australia.”
“Australia and Ukraine continue to stand shoulder to shoulder as we seek a world where, regardless of size or power, no country dominates and no country is dominated.”
“Recently I went to the Ukrainian community, and they were absolutely grateful for the support Australia is giving. We need this war to stop. We must not relent on this. Giving way to Putin and Russia is giving way to bullies in this world. It sends a strong message to the rest of the world—people and nations that perhaps do not abide by the international rule of law—that they too can get away with it if we back off. Ukraine needs our support. It needs the support of every free nation and democratically elected nation around the world to ensure that the Russians retreat and leave the Ukrainians their own sovereign nation to determine their future. As I said, Australia will continue to support a just, lasting, comprehensive peace for Ukraine, and security and stability in Europe.”
“These measures ensure Russia pays a heavy price for its illegal invasion of Ukraine, including by denying it access to Australia's markets and ensuring Australia does not inadvertently fund Russia's war machine. Most recently, the government has imposed another two waves of targeted financial sanctions on 44 individuals and entities across several of Russia's critical industries, as well as targeted sanctions on 60 shadow fleet vessels to help starve the Russian war economy of oil revenue. This is in addition to other measures that restrict the import, purchase and transport of oil coming from or originating in Russia. Mr Putin needs to show that he is serious about peace. The attacks over the weekend that we saw on our TVs show that he is not serious about peace.”
“Australia has provided more than $1.5 billion in support, including $1.3 billion in military assistance—making us the largest non-NATO contributor of military assistance to Ukraine—and more than $85 million in humanitarian assistance. In August Australia deployed Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft to Europe, with up to 150 ADF personnel under Operation Kudu, to help protect a vital international gateway for humanitarian and military assistance into Ukraine. We continue to work closely with Ukraine to provide them with the support they need. Australia has imposed a comprehensive and strict suite of over 1,500 sanctions and trade measures against Russia.”
“On 24 August I was proud to join the Ukrainian community in my electorate for an independence day event at the Ukraine community centre. I'd like to start by congratulating His Excellency Vasyl Myroshnychenko, Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand. Ms Kateryna Argyrou, the Chair of the Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations, was there. I'd like to pay tribute to Mr Frank Fursenko, the President of the Association of Ukrainians in South Australia. His leadership and the leadership of the ambassador and Kateryna Argyrou in the local community during this terrifying time has been truly inspirational. The message I'd like to convey to my parliamentary colleagues here is that our support of Ukraine is truly appreciated. I heard that loud and clear.”
“I'll just start off by saying Friday 24 February 2022 was a very dark day in human history. On this day, just over 3½ years ago, the world witnessed in dismay the full-scale, unlawful, illegal invasion of Ukraine by Russia. What we saw that day—and it's been going on for 3½ years now—was the illegal invasion of a sovereign nation by brute force. On that day, the lives of 40 million Ukrainians changed forever. The invasion has been a catastrophe for many thousands of Ukrainians. We've seen these scenes on our televisions every day for the last 3½ years. In fact, only this weekend and last week we saw the bombardment and missiles attacking Kyiv once again. The invasion has been absolute catastrophe the Ukrainian people. We see it on our televisions every day.”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes that 24 August 2025 marks three and a half years since Russia's illegal, immoral and unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine; (2) reaffirms Australia's continued support for Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity; (3) condemns Russia's: (a) attacks on Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity since Ukraine gained independence in 1991; (b) backing of separatist militias in the Donbas; (c) illegal attempted annexation of Crimea; and (d) full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as well as its interference in Ukraine's domestic politics; (4) supports: (a) the Government's: (i) efforts since the full-scale invasion to provide military, humanitarian, energy, reconstruction and recovery assistance to Ukraine; and (ii) measures that impose costs on Russia for its violations of international law, including trade sanctions and targeted financial sanctions; and (b) Australia's continued calls on Russia to fulfil its obligations under international humanitarian law and end its illegal invasion of Ukraine; and (5) endorses the Government's commitment to continue to support a just and lasting peace for Ukraine.”
“It opened in 1972, and it has served as a hub for Italian culture ever since, actively promoting a sense of togetherness and inclusion, and maintaining the culture, heritage and language, which is so important. It's because of this that I'm so proud to represent the South Australian Italian community and the SAIA board, a team of highly competent, dedicated professionals. As I said, they have recently re-established the Italian Community Language School, with a mission to deliver accessible Italian language programs. (Time expired)”
“Many of our basic communications with other countries are done through the community groups that we have who have so much connection to other countries, whether it be through their parents, grandparents or even great-grandparents. It's great to represent a community such as the South Australian Italian Association. They started out as the Catholic Italian Welfare Association in 1949, and they became incorporated in 1952. They merged with other Italian organisations and formed the Italian-Australian Centre in 1965. From there, the South Australian Italian Association was born in 1967. The current building, as I said, stands in Carrington Street.”
“Certainly it is very important, especially for many children to communicate with grandparents, which many of us in this place take for granted. But, when you think about it, as people get older they lose their second language ability and, as we go down the generations, they lose their first language abilities that perhaps their parents, grandparents or great-grandparents had. So it's more crucial than ever. The speaking of two languages in this country is very crucial. I think it's something that we should try and maintain as much as possible throughout our communities. There is nothing greater than being able to speak a second language, but it assists our nation as well for trade, foreign affairs and a whole range of things.”
“It was a great cause and it allowed people to foster connection with their heritage and their family's language. There's some great news: they've started it again. Under the auspices of Phil Donato, the president of the club, they're restarting the Italian language classes not just for people of Italian heritage but for everyone. The teaching of community languages and the Italian community schools is very important. As we're getting into the next generations—the third and fourth generations—it's getting harder for them to maintain their language. There has never been a more crucial time than now for this community Italian language school to get up and running. We have written to the education department to see what assistance can be given. They've already got some students starting.”
“There's also a very energetic group, the Italian Pensioners of Thebarton and Suburbs, that has been meeting for a number of years at the West Torrens community centre every Wednesday. Once a month, they put on a lunch. I've been very blessed to have been invited to most of their events. I pay tribute to Frank Violi, who has been the president for many years and just retired from the position recently. But I rise to speak about something even more important. Most of these clubs are under the auspices of the South Australian Italian Association, which is in my electorate in Carrington Street. For many years they ran Italian language classes—in other words, Italian as a community language—for second- and third-generation Italian Australians. But, unfortunately, that stopped, going back a few years.”
“I rise today to speak about a particular group within my electorate that I'm very, very proud of. That is a community that has been thriving since World War II and prior and has done many, many things not just in my electorate but right around Australia, including the member for Sturt's electorate. That is the Italian community of South Australia. I'm very proud to represent nearly 10,000 people in my electorate who claim to have Italian heritage. I am very proud to have many clubs in my electorate, like the Casa D'Abruzzo Molise Club, the Anzano club, and certain places of religious worship, Catholic churches, that many Italian social clubs congregate around, such as the Queen of Angels Church at Thebarton and the Sacred Heart church at Port Road, Hindmarsh.”
“Certainly, the attack on the Jewish community has been dreadful and horrendous. Not only was it an attack on the Jewish community; it was an attack on the whole of Australia. That's why the government has acted. We saw the Prime Minister yesterday ensure that the Iranian government was directed out of Australia, in terms of their ambassador. Certainly ASIO has determined that the Iranian government directed at least two attacks that we're aware of on two Jewish interests in Australia since late 2024, and many more are being investigated. But we need to have the facts. You need to get the facts. We have received the facts. The Prime Minister has received the reports from our intelligence agencies and has acted on them, unlike the other side, who screamed for us to jump and do things without us having had the facts in front of us.”
“But they are a minority. So to raise issues like this—and I know that it's been dreadful for the Jewish community in the last couple of years. I have a Jewish museum and synagogues in my electorate, and certainly we've seen the government put things in place like more security. I know that the Jewish museum in Adelaid—and those all around Australia as well—has received funding for better security. But we must ensure that racism is taken out of our community, that we discuss it in a reasonable manner when it does occur and that we do everything we can on both sides to be able to nip it in the bud and get rid of it, and not use it as a political football as we've seen. As I said earlier, had section 18C been taken out, where would we be today with the issues that we hear about and see?”
“These are issues that should be approached with level heads on a non-political basis, where things are discussed to better them, rather than with the megaphone politics being used at this point. I represent a seat like many of us on this side and many around me here—I have over 85 different ethnicities and nearly 200 religions within my electorate. Every weekend I am attending a different community, and I see the harmony. We're a harmonious country. We are a country that respects people's diversity and we are a country that has done so for many, many years. We're a shining light, a model, for the rest of the world. Of course there are people in our communities that have hatred, that have issues for whatever reason, but they're only a minority. They're a very small minority. Many of them have a loud voice and are heard over the majority.”
“I say so because the member for Berowra was here in 2016. For our newer members that are here, I have a bit of a history lesson. In August 2016, there was a bill that was brought to this place to change the antidiscrimination law. It was to change section 18C. This is what those on that side wanted to do— I'll read section 18C out for you. Section 18C makes it unlawful to commit a public act that is 'reasonably likely' to 'offend, insult, humiliate or intimidate another person or group of people' based on their race. This is what they wanted to take out of the antidiscrimination act of 1975 that was brought in by a Labor government. Can you imagine, had that been taken out or watered down, what the ramifications would have been today? It would have been their own doing. It would have made it much worse.”
“I too would like to start off by saying there is absolutely no place in our nation, in this country, in Australia, for the kind of antisemitism, hatred and violence that we've seen recently, and there's also no place for racism in this nation. We're a multicultural nation that has been built—our foundation is—on multiculturalism. We've lived harmoniously and continue to live harmoniously in this country. Every single Australian deserves to feel safe in their communities, no matter what their race or religion is. I'll start off by saying issues like this should be dealt with in a bipartisan way, not politicised and not with megaphone politics. Therefore, I am disappointed that the member for Berowra, who I regard and respect as a good member of parliament, has raised this issue in a way that politicises it.”
“More than most sports, football or the round-ball game allows for the joining of individual efforts through the foundation of shared passion, optimism, belief and commitment, and this ability of sport to create, connect and cement relationships explains the authenticity and nature of this great partnership between the club. It champions the efforts of its young migrant players. We've seen many players come through Adelaide United that are playing at the top level. Thank you to everyone that assisted on the campaign, and I look forward to working hard for the federal seat of Adelaide over the next three years.”
“Emily Bourke, the South Australian Minister for Recreation, Sport and Racing; Grace Portolesi, former South Australian minister for multicultural affairs and a good friend; Catherine Scarth, the CEO of AMES Australia; and Nathan Kosmina, the CEO of Adelaide United, to announce this wonderful partnership and this wonderful foundation that will promote and assist new arrivals and people of refugee background to help settle into our communities. It's important that we make people feel part of our community if we want them to integrate.”
“In other words, they've partnered to be able to use the club and its players to help settle some of our newest arrivals. A lot of them gravitate towards the club, and they feel like they're at home when they play soccer or football. You can imagine it is an extremely lonely time when you've arrived in a new country, and sport is a great facilitator in getting you into the community, whether it be through football, cricket or whatever. Adelaide United have played a big role in partnering with AMES. Earlier this month I was joined by the Hon.”
“There was also the Unley Swimming Centre, which has been electrified—not to confuse that with electrifying the water and causing damage! Basically, it was about their pumps and the energy they used. There was an announcement from Chris Bowen during the campaign of $1.055 million from this government to electrify the entire swimming centre through the electrification project, and I'm very pleased that the Mayor of Unley announced that during the lead-up to the election. Some of the other things that we've been working on include a great announcement we made a few weeks ago about the Adelaide United, the A-League football club in my electorate, and AMES Australia, which is a settlement service for refugees and migrant communities.”
“There's also the Unley cultural club through the Thriving Suburbs Program grants. We contributed $2.66 million towards the creation of a new cultural hub in an expansion of the existing Unley Museum, and the upgraded museum will provide for an increased and improved gallery space with the capability to feature national and regional exhibitions. And, of course, there's the Hutt Street revitalisation project. This is within the CBD. The government has contributed $7.32 million towards the Hutt Street revitalisation project in the City of Adelaide. The street is lined with cafes, restaurants and small businesses, and this project will beautify the street and bring more people into Hutt Street, making those businesses more viable. I'd like to thank Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, the lord mayor, for her efforts in helping this project come to fruition.”
“I'm very proud to say that, as a child, I used to go to the Western Youth Centre. We used to have Boys' Brigade. I don't know if anyone remembers Boys' Brigade and those blue uniforms. When my kids grew up, they used the Western Youth Centre. They played tennis there. They went to kinder gym there. Now my grandchildren are there at kinder gym. I'm very proud. I've seen the great work they do, and that's why we've contributed $7.53 million for this new facility. I thank Mayor Michael Coxon and the City of West Torrens for their support and their efforts in making both these projects possible—both the Karkungka Reserve project with the National Servicemen's Association and this particular project. I've got to say that Mayor Michael Coxon's a true asset to the community that he represents.”
“This will include upgrades to the National Servicemen's Association building, which is housed there as well, and the former Child and Family Health Service building. The new centre will be a remembrance centre, and it will replace the existing National Servicemen's Association building and provide space for the NSA, the Hilton RSL sub-branch and other service and veteran groups to connect. The space will also be available to other community groups as residents use the programs, activities and events. And we've got a great new community recreation facility at Cowandilla Western Youth Centre. The Western Youth Centre is a great organisation. Many sporting clubs are associated with or are members of the Western Youth Centre, and it forms part of a number of things, from judo classes to kinder gym.”
“Following the election in May, there will soon be one in the Norwood/St Peters area adjacent to my electorate, which is very close. I look forward to these clinics being established in the future, which takes the load off our public hospitals. That is the whole purpose of these Medicare clinics. You have a place to go after hours which bulk-bills so you don't have to line up in hospitals, clogging up serious injuries et cetera that need to go to the emergency services, so it's very important. We've also announced the Thriving Suburbs Program in my electorate. It's very important funding. There's a contribution for Karkungka Reserve of $3.6 million, together with the City of West Torrens upgrade to community facilities. It's a reserve project which will be called Karkungka. There's an existing reserve there, the Keswick reserve.”
“There's $90 million going into that. That project has started. It forms part of the $850 million package of broader network upgrades that are being undertaken as part of the River Torrens to Darlington project. These are all offshoots of that project. The intersection upgrades include two through lanes on all approaches, two dedicated right-turn lanes for traffic going from Grange Road into Holbrooks Road and travelling south. Those people that live around there will know what this means for them. It's certainly very welcome. Those are just some of the infrastructure projects. We've had Medicare urgent care clinics. There are three Medicare urgent care clinics in Greater Adelaide thanks to this government. They're located close by in Oaklands Park, Royal Park and Para Hills.”
“I just have to make a correction—when I said 5 May, it wasn't for that particular project; it was for this project, because I remember it was two days after the federal election. This is $85 million, which is being jointly funded by the federal Labor government and the state Labor government. More than 60,000 vehicles pass through the corner of Sir Donald Bradman Drive and Marion Road every day. It's a very busy intersection, and there were 28 crashes at this intersection between 2018 and 2022. So you not only fix up the bottleneck but also avoid serious injuries et cetera. This upgrade will make the journey through this intersection safer and more reliable. Then we have Grange Road and Holbrooks Road. It encompasses three suburbs: Flinders Park, Allenby Gardens and Hindmarsh. It's a huge bottleneck as well.”
“So, it's not just the infrastructure; it's also the jobs being created—5,500 jobs per year during main construction, with 90 per cent of labour hours to be undertaken by South Australians, which is a great thing for my electorate and for South Australia. The government is also contributing $7.7 billion of the $15.4 billion, half the funding for this project, with the other half coming from the South Australian Malinauskas Labor government. Another project is Marion Road and Sir Donald Bradman Drive, which is very close to the airport. It gets congested traffic, back to back, bumper to bumper. For years this has been going on. For years I've had constituents talk to me about it. Major works commenced in May on the upgrade to the Marion Road and Sir Donald Bradman Drive intersection.”
“As I said earlier, this Labor government takes infrastructure seriously. In May this year—in fact, it was exactly 5 May, because I remember it was the Monday after the election—I went out with the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport in South Australia, Tom Koutsantonis, and we announced that construction had officially commenced on the non-stop South Road project. This project will allow motorists to bypass 21 sets of traffic lights between the River Torrens in the electorate of Adelaide and Darlington, saving up to 40 minutes of travel time in peak-hour traffic. The project will support approximately 5,500 jobs.”
“That's around 30 per cent or around $4,000 off the cost of a typical home battery. As a proud South Australian, I'm delighted to see that five of the top 10 electorates in the country for the take-up of the Cheaper Home Batteries Program are in South Australia, and Adelaide is No. 7 in the nation, with 495 installations as of 18 August. I was very pleased to welcome Minister Bowen to the electorate recently, for a forum to discuss this new program with constituents on 5 August. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank a particular group who are doing some great projects in the electorate of Adelaide, Electrify Adelaide, who were there speaking to people about the different projects that they can assist them with. There are some great infrastructure projects taking place in my electorate.”
“This is cutting-edge technology in one of the suburbs not far from the CBD. It has already been touted as the world's best advanced mechanism for plastics and will no doubt be exported to other countries in the very near future. The government is helping households, small businesses and community groups bring down their energy bills with the Cheaper Home Batteries Program that was announced. I am pleased that South Australia has one of the highest uptakes already. This will save households with existing rooftop solar up to $1,100 off their power bill every year, and those installing a new solar battery system could save up to $2,300 a year—up to 90 per cent of a typical family's electricity bill. The Albanese Labor government is fixing that by giving all Australians a proper leg up towards the cost of a battery.”
“In my electorate of Adelaide, in the suburb of Kilburn—that you, Deputy Speaker Boyce, would be very familiar with—a company called Recycling Plastics Australia received $20 million in Australian government funding through the Recycling Modernisation Fund, RMF, plastics technology stream to install advanced polymer separation equipment, which will be able to recycle more plastics. They're already recycling thousands of tonnes. The project will expand RPA's existing operations—a HydroDyn cleaning and purifying hot washing plant will be installed to process 14,300 tonnes per annum of problematic soft plastics to a purity level capable of making new soft plastic packaging. It is described as the world's best advanced mechanical recycling of post-consumer soft plastics, replacing virgin resin in packaging.”
“Now this is very important—climate change and energy. We know climate change is something that we are absolutely committed to—ensuring that we reduce emissions. In Labor's last term we passed strong laws to make big polluters cut their emissions and committed to 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030. We're committed to net zero and embracing renewable energy, and we've already ticked off more than 87 renewable energy projects—enough to power more than 11 million homes. That's 11 million homes which will be powered by renewable energy projects, bringing down emissions and meeting our targets in the future. It's very important that this government is also investing in circular industries and the circular economy, with Australia's recycling capacity increased by more than 1.4 million tonnes a year to prevent more waste going into landfill.”
“The superannuation guarantee is increasing from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent, giving more security to Australians, as they retire in their old age, that they will be able to live with dignity. Working parents will now get two extra weeks of government Paid Parental Leave—to spend more time with their children and families—and, for the first time, will earn superannuation while on government Paid Parental Leave. That is a big step towards closing the gender retirement gap. My electorate is focused on growing our community and sporting clubs, as well as our multicultural groups, by creating housing, focusing on the cost of living and addressing important infrastructure matters around roads and transport—being a CBD seat with surrounding suburbs. I am very proud to be part of this Labor government, which takes infrastructure very seriously.”
“These are all very important pieces of legislation being brought forward in this place. Our legislation to reduce student debt, which will wipe 20 per cent off every single student's HECS, saving students an average of about $5,000. I'm very pleased and honoured to represent the universities in my electorate: Adelaide University, the University of South Australia and, with the merging of Flinders as well, the many, many students who live within the electorate of Adelaide. We're also investing in Australia's future in education and training. Eligible students—nurses, teachers, social workers and midwives—will now be paid during placements. If you're training to be a tradie—to help build those homes that Australia needs—there will be support there as well.”
“The Albanese government is getting to work straightaway, and we've seen legislation that went through this place at the last sitting and will go through this sitting to deliver more help with the cost of living. That's the No. 1 issue at the moment for all of us. That cost of living is something we must focus on, to make it easier for those people that put us here, as is more investment in the next generation and more support for working Australians. I'm very pleased to say that every household in Adelaide and across Australia will see $150 taken off their power bills, while three million minimum- and award-wage workers are getting a 3.5 per cent pay rise. We've strengthened Medicare to protect the PBS, delivered generational reform to the aged-care sector and secured the future of the NDIS.”