Jerome Laxale
Bennelong · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The interim report makes 13 recommendations in time for the government and the parliament to consider their implementation before the next federal election. The committee has recommended reviewing the thresholds under the significant third party and associated entity framework to capture coordinated involvement in elections at scale.”
“Many describe this assault by third parties identified in submissions to the committee, like the Plymouth Brethren and ADVANCE, as a fundamental disruption to the foundations of our free and fair voting process. This parliament cannot ignore this evidence.”
“On behalf of the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, I present the committee's interim report incorporating dissenting reports entitled Inquiry into the conduct of the 2025 federal election . Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e).”
“These recommendations respond directly to the many accounts of overwhelming, unsafe and intimidatory experiences at polling places during the 2025 federal election in targeted electorates.”
“It is also considering universal voter access and the suitability of authorisation requirements, noting our rapidly changing communication technology. The inquiry is also looking at domestic interference in our electoral processes. There have been 360 submissions to the inquiry to date.”
“In order to protect the electoral process, the committee recommends that the matter of domestic interference be considered and addressed as a priority.”
The complete record
Every one of 480 lines we hold for Jerome Laxale, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 6 of 10.
“Mr Baker recently shared with me the story of Samantha Pratt, who has lived a story of inspiration, dedication and come-back. Supported by the New South Wales Institute of Sport Para Unit and head coach Jacob Curcio, Samantha followed a hiatus from swimming with spectacular performances at the 2025 Australian Short Course Championships, claiming a gold and a silver medal. I couldn't be more proud of the Lane Cove swimming club, as both a model sports club and a leader in community engagement—from those who just want to dip their toe in and give swimming a go for a bit of exercise, to those who do it competitively. Another great community club is the Eastwood Rugby Club—the Woodies. And didn't they have a great season in 2025? The Woodies club is built on excellence and development and young talent.”
“The Lane Cove Swim Club has grown exponentially since COVID and has quickly become the largest club in New South Wales and the third-largest swim club in Australia. The club has produced champions who personify the bright future of swimming, like national medallists Eliza Damian and Harrison Reid. President Joshua Baker, who led his team to its accolades, was asked how the club achieved its feats, and he said that they're not there for the widespread fame and fortune; he said they are inextricably linked to their community—and Lane Cove is a fantastic community, which I am now so lucky to represent. There's no doubt about that link, because inclusivity is paramount to their club. They cater for any swimmer, from babies to the elderly. All Lane Cove residents are given an opportunity to stay active.”
“It's so important to recognise that these events, and all this training and this travel, cannot happen without the dedication of families, volunteers and staff, including head coach George Dimech and chair Corina Wotherspoon, so a massive shout-out to them. And it doesn't stop there. I can let the House know that the Lane Cove Swim Club, based at the Lane Cove aquatic centre, was recently named Club of the Year in the metropolitan category by Swimming New South Wales. This 2025 accolade comes hot on the heels of their huge win in 2024, where they were crowned Australian swim club of the year. Whilst these are outstanding testaments to the club's extraordinary approach, they come as no surprise.”
“I rise today to celebrate three outstanding sports clubs right across my electorate of Bennelong. I'd first like to welcome home the Ryde Dragon Boat Club's Auroras, who represented Australia at the 17th World Dragon Boat Racing Championships in Germany recently. Seventeen young individuals engaged in a rigorous training schedule, which they managed alongside school, work and interpersonal commitments. This year, the championships were the largest ever, with 4,000 athletes from 33 countries. Almost all of the Ryde Dragon Boat Club's Auroras who were competing achieved a bronze, silver or gold medal, with some participants being as young as 16. And this was a club that only started during COVID—a young club, sending athletes across the world, winning gold, silver and bronze for Australia. Congratulations to them.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government focused on delivering the benefits of renewable energy to Australian families? Why is focusing on the needs of Australians so important, and what are the risks to affordable and reliable energy?”
“This is our moment to prove that this parliament can deliver, that we can work together and, importantly, that we can listen to the Australian people who re-elected an Albanese Labor government to deliver these reforms. That's two mandates received to deliver an independent environmental protection agency, two mandates delivered to ensure that our environment doesn't continue to degrade and two mandates for us to deliver this bill, to rise to the challenge and to get this done. As Graeme Samuel said, this is about the future of nature for our children and our grandchildren. That's the legacy we have the chance to leave here, and I call on all sides of this place to work together over the coming weeks, nut out a solution through the House and through the Senate, and get these reforms through.”
“Renewable energy projects will continue to be delayed, and our biodiversity and environment will continue to be impacted upon by laws that simply are not fit for purpose. The time for politics on this is over. The time for partnership is now. It's just unacceptable for people in this place to say that they want stronger protection for the environment and then block a plan when it comes to parliament. Wanting environmental reform isn't enough. Delivery is all that matters. This parliament simply must deliver these changes, because this bill does what the experts, businesses and communities have told us we need to do. They want things better for the environment, better for business and better for our community, and this bill delivers on all three of those measures.”
“Sure, it won't be perfect, and some will want to go more, to go harder, to bring more into this bill. But we also need to get it through. We also need to be faithful to our children and to our grandchildren and to their children, because this has just gone on for too long. This bill delivers the strongest environmental standards in a generation—an independent EPA; higher penalties for environmental wrongdoers and the power to actually enforce the law. The Australian people are asking us to deliver on the environment and to deliver on climate, not to continue to delay and to divide. They don't want another decade of fighting over this; they want progress. If this bill doesn't pass soon, our environment will keep going backwards.”
“Right now and before us, we have the opportunity in this parliament to show that we can rise above division and deliver reform that's lasting. As the environment minister said at the National Press Club, it's now or never. We had a go at this in the last term, and we've recommitted to doing it again. I welcome that the minister has made this a priority, and I welcome that the government have brought this on to be debated and hopefully sorted by the end of the year. Our environment can't wait for us to continue to argue over this. Everyone agrees these reforms need to go through. Everyone does. These laws are based on the review that the opposition commissioned and handed down. The minister has made it very clear that he's willing to listen to all sides so that we can reach a consensus.”
“The net gain principle ensures that projects contribute to restoration, not just compensation, an incredibly important aspect of this bill—that we don't just preserve what we've got but contribute to getting back what we've lost. Stronger penalties will make sure environmental wrongdoing is never just the cost of business. If someone breaks the rules, they should cop massive fines. That's what this bill proposes. It's a disincentive for businesses to break the rules. Of course, First Nations participation will be embedded throughout the decision-making process, recognising the custodianship and traditional knowledge central to protection and environmental protection as well. These reforms can replace the current mess we've got now with focus, with clarity and with accountability.”
“We had our petition out there for the creation of an environmental protection agency, and this was overwhelmingly the feedback that I received from locals at Lane Cove, at their rotary fair, and also at Eastwood, at the Granny Smith Festival. Scores of people were coming up. We would raise this issue with them, and it was like, 'We've got to get this through; we have to get these reforms through.' This bill builds a modern, credible and accountable framework for environmental protection. Environmental Protection Australia will be created, independent, science based and empowered to enforce the law, ensuring its decisions are transparent and trustworthy. National environmental standards will set clear and consistent rules so decisions are fair and practicable.”
“We have an opportunity to restore trust in this parliament to do good things about the environment, to fix a very clear problem. We tried to do this last term, and we hit a roadblock—as was the flavour of the Senate in the last term. Please, let's not do this again. Let's not do this again, because our environment cannot wait another five years, 10 years or 25 years for this law to change. We can make approvals faster and clearer and fairer while continuing to protect our environment with important concepts like net gain, not only protecting our environment but making it better. This bill represents the chance for a massive leap forward on environmental protection and on certainty for business. Australians want to see us work together to deliver it. I did two really big street stalls recently.”
“Not only did he do all that work, back in 2020, setting up this review, but, if you've seen some of the interviews he's given and his contributions very recently, he has reminded us of why this parliament needs to stop playing games with environmental protection. He said: What we are talking about here is the future of nature for our children, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He called on every side of politics to set aside grievances and to not let the perfect be the enemy of the good. These are good reforms. These laws are based on the Samuel review commissioned by the opposition, and his words are powerful. They're a message for all of us, because, in front of us here in the House, and soon in the Senate, we have an opportunity.”
“Australians are tired of hearing that it's either one or the other—that, if you protect the environment, it's at the cost of business, or that, if you're pro business, it's at the cost of the environment. That's a false choice. This bill—and this package of bills—represents core Labor values, in that we believe we can protect the environment and also provide certainty for business. As former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry put it, with 'glistening ambition', Australia can 'build an efficient, jobs-rich', 'low-emissions nature-rich economy', with the passage of these bills. That's the future this bill can help deliver, if we work together to get it right. I'll go back to Graeme Samuel's words again, because I find that his involvement in this debate most recently has been incredibly powerful.”
“This bill is based on the foundation of the Samuel review, and the Samuel review found that the laws were outdated, fragmented and failing to stop environmental decline. These laws that we currently have are not working for the environment, they're not working for communities and they're not working for business. You only need to look around to see that that's true. Species are under threat. Ecosystems are under strain. Housing and renewable energy projects are delayed, year after year, because of the inefficiencies under the current law. In Graeme Samuel's own words, these reforms had a 'broad consensus'. Nearly every stakeholder he consulted—scores of them—supported this, bar one hold-out. From business groups to environment groups, they all supported the findings of his review—bar one.”
“These laws are a perfect example of community led, ground up policy development, that sets Labor apart from all others in this place—from the community, for the community. LEAN pushed for this reform. LEAN supported people like me to get into this place to vote for this bill. I will be voting for this bill, because we desperately need reform. Our current environmental laws are just broken. Faults were identified in these laws shortly after they came into force in 1999, when the former member for Bennelong was Prime Minister of this country. Of reviews there have been more than one, but of course the latest, on which we've heard—commissioned by the current Leader of the Opposition when she was environment minister—made the case for urgent reform.”
“They're people like Felicity Wade, David Tierney, Erin Watt, Ella Factor, David Mason, Louise Crawford, Janaline Oh and all the rank and file members of the Labor movement, like John Gain and Penny Pedersen and scores more, who drove across branches, across the country, over 500 branches, including all the branches in Bennelong: Eastwood, Gladesville, Ryde, Macquarie, Epping, Lane Cove, Hunters Hill and Willoughby Castlecrag—all branches who've passed motions to get this policy to where it is today, who've pushed this policy from the ground up, making the Shorten-led federal Labor opposition commit to this in 2018 and then the Albanese opposition commit to this in 2022, and then again the Albanese government commit to it at the 2025 election.”
“The environment and climate are core Labor business because we understand something fundamental: a healthy environment is not the enemy of prosperity and jobs; it's the foundation of them. This bill builds on years and years of advocacy from the environment movement but also, importantly, Labor's environment movement. I'm proud to be the New South Wales patron of LEAN, the Labor Environment Action Network. I can tell the House that this policy, to reform our environmental laws, started from LEAN, from the ground up, from community members right across the country, way back in 2016.”
“Australians are sick of it, because what it also leads to is a massive decline in our environment and biodiversity, and that's what we need to stop. We've been living through this for 20 years, and this bill seeks to end it. Protecting the environment has always been part of Labor's DNA. It's Labor governments that care for and protect our environment, be it with Whitlam's creation of many of our national parks, Hawke saving the Franklin, Keating protecting the Daintree and Kakadu, Rudd and Gillard making climate policy central to a modern federal government, or, of course, the Albanese Labor government cementing the energy transition and emissions reduction policy that those before it couldn't, expanding our marine parks and protecting our biodiversity.”
“At the last two elections, they voted for progress on climate and the environment, and this bill, the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, represents the most significant reform in a generation. It gives us a chance, for the first time in 25 years, to rewrite some laws that are, quite frankly, completely busted and to finally deliver a system that protects what's left of our environment but also helps us restore what has been lost for the very first time. We've all seen what happens when the environment and climate become a political football. Unbelievably, we're going through it all again right now—well, those opposite are. Our plans are clear, and our determination to deliver this long-overdue reform stands. We've seen inaction, and turning this into a political football has led to delay and division.”
“For too long, environmental protection has been pulled between competing politics. We had a perfect illustration just then from the contribution by the shadow environment minister, the member for Moncrieff. She says she wants more environmental protection in our law, yet she stood there for 20 minutes attacking every measure to achieve it. She says reform is long overdue but then also says that this bill is rushed. She said that she wants to protect the environment, but when this bill and the related bills first came out she then wanted to split the bills so that environmental protection would be kicked down the road. Australians are tired of this pointscoring when it comes to environment and climate policy. They're sick of it. They want progress.”
“This is welcome and overdue. This comes after the horrendous actions of the IRGC in antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne, but it's also acting on calls from the Iranian Australian community in Bennelong and across the country, who have been calling for this action for a very long time. In the past and into the future, I'll always stand up for Australian values and be a voice for the Iranian Australian community in Bennelong. Listing the IRGC is a necessary step and will send the world a message that Australia stands against terror abroad and at home.”
“This Labor government has taken stronger action against Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps than any other government in Australian history. This is something that matters to the very large Iranian Australian community in Bennelong. Since coming to government, Labor has sanctioned 200 Iranian linked persons and entities. We've co-sponsored and campaigned for the UN Human Rights Council investigation into human rights violations in Iran. We're at the forefront of calling for Iran's removal from the UN Commission on the Status of Women, as part of the 'Women, Life, Freedom' people's campaign. That's because we recognise the threat that the IRGC poses to international and domestic security. Following advice from our security agencies, Labor will change the law so that we can list the IRGC as a terrorist organisation.”
“There'll be more than 1,000 Build to Rent properties that are currently under planning or construction—just in my electorate, let alone across the rest of the country—all because of policies that those opposite not only voted against but are now complaining are not delivering when they are. Instead of whingeing, we're getting on with the job, and we'll keep on doing it.”
“We've set the really ambitious target of 1.2 million homes. We're delivering 55,000 social and affordable homes through the Housing Australia Future Fund. Those opposite say it's not working, but it is, and I'll give you an example in my electorate. Link Wentworth housing were going to build around 150 apartments. Before the Housing Australia Future Fund, half of that was going to be social homes and half was going to market, because that's the only way they could make it stack up. With the Housing Australia Future Fund—a signed agreement—now it'll be half social homes and half affordable homes. By removing the need to have that private market housing to fund the construction—the HAFF will help them top it up—we'll have more affordable homes in Bennelong because of the Housing Australia Future Fund.”
“There are no solutions in their sprays. For nine long years, they did nothing. They didn't take ownership of the housing crisis, and, in fact, they made it worse. In their nine years, 373 social and affordable homes were built. That's it. Not per year, not per month or week—in the entire nine years, that's all they built. They walked away from the housing challenge. During the pandemic, when industry experts were saying we should boost our economy by funding the construction of more housing, they came up with a policy to fund renovations for people who already owned homes—ignored experts who were saying, 'Build more social housing during the pandemic; it'll help our economy and it'll help solve the crisis.' They did nothing. The opposite can be said of this government: real delivery.”
“I wanted to be part of a federal government that took ownership of this problem and had policies to help deliver on it. Now, at two elections, we've been elected with policies to attack this challenge that we face, because you can't just keep on turning up to this place and talking about it; we actually have to do things about it, and that's what this government is doing. We've allocated $43 billion to date to deal with this generations-old problem. It's built on three pillars. We want to make it easier to buy a home, we want to make it better to rent a home and we need to build more homes. Now, if you listen to member for Fadden and the member for McPherson, there's no ownership of their contribution to this crisis. They're just sitting here slinging mud, throwing out acronyms and blaming some report or this other report.”
“That's because there haven't been enough homes built in the cities and the regions for decades. Young people feel like they'll never be able to own a home, let alone find an affordable home to rent. Parents tell me that they struggle to give their kids the same stability they had, and that all comes down to housing. That all comes down to successive local, state and federal governments that have not built enough homes. One of the main reasons I decided to run for federal government was, after a decade in local government, I knew we needed a federal government that took action on housing, didn't just talk about it like those opposite—not like those opposite who didn't have a housing minister for half of the time in their last term of government.”
“Whenever we talk about housing, we need to acknowledge a few things. One is that this is a housing crisis generations in the making. It didn't start in 2022 when the Albanese Labor government was elected. This has been going on for decades because, for decades, we've had poor housing policy by all levels of government and, for decades, this country simply hasn't built enough homes. People in my community and across the country are doing everything right. They're working hard, they're saving but they're still finding it hard to afford to rent a home in many circumstances and even harder to buy a home. The queues in my community for rental properties are staggering. That's not because the Albanese Labor government was elected, and that's not when it started.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government strengthening Medicare, easing the cost of living and reforming the economy? How does this compare to other approaches to health and the economy?”
“Their advocacy has ensured that no other parent will ever have to face the same uncertainty they did. Also, we need to thank the parents and families who have shared their stories, many in our correspondence inboxes, in support of this bill. These families have pushed for fairness and have turned their pain into a good purpose. This parliament often debates numbers and concepts and percentages, but every now and then we pass a law that speaks directly to our humanity, and this is one of those laws. With the passage of this bill, I say to every parent: if the unthinkable happens, you will have certainty, you will have time, and you will have the compassion of this parliament. Through this bill, baby Priya's name will live on not as a story of loss but as a story of love, of courage and of change.”
“If we were to go and speak to communities right across the country, I can't see that there would be much objection from many people to this law. Good governments find these loopholes, work with communities and promptly fix them. That's what the minister has done with Priya's parents, and that's what this government will do in support of this bill. Lastly, I'd just like to acknowledge Priya's parents. It can't be easy to go through this. We all saw them in the gallery when this bill was introduced, with the photo of their baby Priya. Listening to the minister speak must have been an incredibly emotional time for them. I would like to thank them for their courage and for their strength and for turning their deeply personal tragedy into good public policy.”
“We believe in a fair work system that supports people when they need it most, through wages, through conditions, through support, through leave, through paid parental leave. It's a system that we always need to work on, that we always need to make better, that we always need to modernise, just like we did with reforms to our paid parental leave system, including superannuation payments, so that families are supported and that women's retirement savings in particular are boosted. We're modernising the Fair Work Act to make it fairer, more certain and more compassionate. We're strengthening workplace rights by supporting parents and ensuring that the laws that support them reflect the values of our nation.”
“No-one should have to go through what we did.' When parents are going through the worst possible experience, they don't need forms, they don't need to negotiate with their employer, and they certainly don't need to negotiate entitlements and policies; they need time, they need compassion, and they need to know that the world around them understands that their grief is real and that they are supported through that grief. This law seeks to remove unfairness to give parents the time and space that they need to heal. This bill, I think, also reflects the broader values of our Labor government, something that the member for Calwell so eloquently put in his contribution beforehand.”
“As a parent, I can't imagine what it's like, the pain of losing a child—the heartbreak that comes when all these hopes and all those plans suddenly stop. Whether it's through miscarriage, stillbirth or the death of a baby in those early weeks, that loss changes a person, changes a family, will change a community forever. This reform exists because those parents who experienced that and who went through what Priya's parents went through found the strength at a time of enormous darkness to speak up. They could have stayed silent. They could have sheltered their grief. But, like the best in our society, they said: 'I need to use this pain so that no-one else has to go through what I've been through.”
“It ensures that grieving parents will be able to have the time they need with certainty, dignity and compassion. It brings employer funded leave into line with government funded and unpaid parental leave. It removes confusion both for parents and for employers and it ensures no-one has to make a discretionary call in the middle of a time of immense grief and tragedy. It also preserves the right of employers and employees to bargain in good faith and to continue negotiating above standard conditions if they choose, because we need to also acknowledge that many employers pay paid parental leave and provide these provisions above the minimum standards. This law is about clarity and compassion. At the heart of this bill is humanity.”
“Some were aware of the loophole but stepped in at a time of grief and they should be applauded. Others do not know what their responsibilities are and that is understandable as well. Then there is obviously the minority who do not really care. This law seeks to bring fairness to paid parental leave legislation, remove that uncertainty, provide clarity for parents and—importantly—employers through what would be just an incredibly terrible time of grief and sadness in a person's life. This bill makes clear that if a child is stillborn or dies, employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled or taken away. I will repeat that because it seems pretty clear to me what it is here for. If a child is stillborn or dies, the employer funded paid parental leave cannot be cancelled or taken away.”
“Before this bill, the law was not clear. Employers provide government funded paid parental leave but many also offer their own employer funded leave. Fundamentally, that is a good thing. It is something that, as a Labor government, we encourage. Government funded paid parental leave of course was a Labor creation in 2007, which, importantly, was reformed and modernised last term, with it being extended to six months and, for the first time, having superannuation added to it—good reforms to a good public policy. This bill is also a good form of public policy that our nation needs. If a child is stillborn or has passed away, the current law does not clearly say whether that employer funded leave could continue. Good employers still protect parents.”
“This is a bill about Baby Priya and about fixing a loophole in a law identified by her grieving parents. It is not about anything else. It is not about a culture war. It is not about what the member has just put as a question. It is a bill born from heartbreak and from the hope of Baby Priya's parents to fix a law that was broken, and nothing else, Member for New England—nothing else. This bill carries the name of a little girl who lived for just six weeks. After Priya passed away, her parents—her mother in particular—faced something no parent should ever face: not just unimaginable grief but a call from her employer asking when she would return to work. She had to renegotiate her paid parental leave while grieving the loss of her child. No parent should ever have to go through that, and I'm sure those opposite degree.”
“Women's workforce participation is at a record high, with the gender pay gap at a record low. They call all these measures wasteful spending. I won't have a bar of that and neither will Australia, it seems, because they returned us to office with this record, and we'll keep on delivering. Inflation is at the lowest rate in four years, within the RBA target band for nine months. Their alternative was $600 billion on a nuclear fantasy, nine years of rorts, waste and robodebt. It's a fantasy that you guys think you're the better economic managers, because the facts don't show that you are.”
“Cheaper child care is one of our spending measures. Would those on the other side say that's a waste? I certainly wouldn't. You can come into my electorate and tell hardworking mums and dads that their child care shouldn't be cheaper. We've got better wages for early educators. We initiated that spending. Do you think they need to be paid better? We've got better wages for aged-care workers. We've got cheaper medicines. We've got energy bill relief. We know that they don't support energy bill relief because they voted against it. We've delivered tax cuts for every taxpayer, including tax cuts in the last financial year legislated—and we know they don't support that either, because they went to the last election promising to increase taxes. We've delivered 1.1 million new jobs since coming to office.”
“They promised restraint, but they spent without purpose. While they want to talk about responsibility, we actually deliver it. In just our first term, we've delivered the largest turnaround in history, $209 billion better than forecast. But we've also made tough decisions—$100 billion in savings and reprioritisations, with spending growth held at 1.7 per cent, which is less than half the average of the Liberal Party. We've banked 70 per cent of revenue upgrades and reduced debt by $188 billion. The last time I checked, I think the Morrison government only banked 40 per cent of revenue upgrades and the Howard government about 30 per cent. So we banked 70 per cent of revenue upgrades, which has helped reduce our debt, because that's what responsible management looks like. They call our spending wasteful; we call it targeted.”
“Nine years of government; nine surpluses promised. Do we know how many they delivered? None! Not one surplus delivered. And then they come in here talking about how we've got wasteful spending. They didn't deliver one surplus in their nine years, and we delivered two. They doubled the debt before the pandemic. They left a trillion dollar tab and riddled the budget with waste and rorts. They promised fiscal rules. I mean, I don't know what those rules were worth. They weren't worth the paper they were written on, because they made those rules but never followed them. Was one of the rules that you were going to keep delivering deficits? It should have been, because that's what happened. You promised nine surpluses; you delivered none. They promised discipline, but they delivered deficits.”
“In our three years in government, Labor has delivered two consecutive surpluses, the first back-to-back surpluses in almost 20 years; we've had the biggest nominal budget improvement in Australian history, a $209 billion turnaround; and we've got record low historical unemployment rates—all while delivering real cost-of-living relief for Australian families. They call that cost-of-living relief wasteful spending. We call it backing Aussie families. That's a record that we can be proud of. That's responsible fiscal management, making tough decisions and making savings while also spending to help Australians. We're helping people earn more and keep more of what they earn. We're not bringing out these black mugs saying, 'We're back in black.' We've delivered results. Let's not forget their record.”
“Those opposite want to come here and talk about spending, but they don't want to talk about results. With motions like this, they want to keep on coming into this place, feigning that they're the great economic managers of Australian politics. They're still trying to ride the coat-tails of Howard and Costello. They're still trying to hoodwink to Australians that they've still got it. They don't got it! They're not the great economic managers that they believe they are. They're not it. And that's not subjective; that's fact. There's only one major party in this place at the moment that has the runs on the board when it comes to responsible economic management—and it's not them. While they just keep on talking about it, we deliver.”
“Minister Watt has done an extraordinary job in a very short amount of time, not only to get this back on the agenda but to have legislation in place to bring to this parliament before the end of the year. I urge all here in this place, on behalf of Bennelong, to do what's needed to get it through the parliament.”
“On top of an open letter, I received over 100 signatures from Bennelong residents earlier this year who want to see the games end. They don't want this legislation to fail. They want the Senate and the House to work together to get these reforms through. We know that the current laws are simply broken. You don't need to listen to politicians to tell you that these laws are broken; listen to the reviewer, the very eminent Graeme Samuel. He just gave an extraordinary interview a few days ago where he said he was becoming 'frustrated' and 'angry' at the political posturing. For someone like Graeme Samuel, that's a pretty extraordinary thing to say publicly—that he's angry at the political posturing that exists on this at the moment. We need to come together.”
“People in Bennelong have written to me and have made it very clear that they want this parliament to get reforms through. They don't want them to fail again. I've spoken about environmental action and climate action before in this place on behalf of Bennelong. It is something the people of Bennelong really care about. Themes of progress, leadership and environmental protection are always at the top of discussions I have in my community. At the Lane Cove Sustainability Festival a few weeks ago, people were actively raising this issue with me. At the Granny Smith Festival, where we celebrate the Granny Smith apple—which was created in Eastwood, in Bennelong—people were talking to me about this legislation. They know about it; they care about it.”
“Soon this parliament will have an opportunity to consider one of the most important environmental reforms in a generation, legislation to establish Environmental Information Australia and a federal EPA. The choices this parliament makes will decide not just what kind of country our children inherit but what kind of parliament we choose to be. Australians, and particularly those in Bennelong, care deeply about our natural environment. They expect us to get this reform right. They're paying close attention not only to the laws we will bring before this parliament and the detail within it but also to how we will debate this legislation over the next two to three weeks. This is the third attempt to change these laws after a number of really significant and detailed reviews, and these laws have failed before.”
“Households get it in the regions and the suburbs. Communities understand it. Bennelong understands it. The government understand it but the opposition do not. The last update I had from the minister was that across our community 321 new home batteries have been installed. I would like to ask the minister if I can please get an update on the rollout of Commonwealth funded EV chargers.”