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.”
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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 9 of 10.
“We've listened carefully, and the support for this bill is broad and deep. The Australian Communications Consumer Action Network supports the bill. The Consumer Action Law Centre supports the bill. The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman and the Australian Communications and Media Authority support it as well. The Communications Alliance, which is the peak body for the telco industry, supports it too. It's telling that they do. It tells me and it tells the public that this reform is measured but that it's also necessary. It balances the feedback received from industry but also the really important feedback of consumer advocacy groups and consumers. It lifts the standard for everyone. Obviously this bill is not about punishing the entire sector.”
“We're also expanding and clarifying the authority to increase the infringement notice penalties. The current provisions are a bit messy and need to be cleaned up. In some cases they don't even allow for the minister to increase penalties for more important obligations. This bill cleans that up as well. It gives the government the ability to respond to changing market conditions, consumer needs and emerging risks with clarity and consistency. Our regulators need to have that flexibility because they shouldn't have to operate with one hand tied behind their backs. All our regulators should have a full suite of modern and flexible enforcement tools, and that's what this bill seeks to do in the telecommunications industry. As with all our reforms, we take them seriously and we've consulted widely.”
“Under the new scheme, every carriage service provider must register with the ACMA. That means the regulator will know exactly who is operating in the market. It also means that, if a provider is found to pose an unacceptable risk to consumers or if it has repeatedly caused significant harm, it can just be stopped from operating altogether—not fined or not warned but stopped. This is vital in a sector where some small operators may try to fly under the radar, avoid scrutiny, take advantage of their customers and target vulnerable customers. A shady provider with no track record, no safeguards and no accountability should not be allowed to play with such an essential service and with people's livelihoods. The registration scheme gives us transparency but also gives the regulator the power to say no and to get on top of these issues early.”
“And it means that we are aligning telco penalties with those in other major sectors, other essential service provisions, like energy and banking, and other consumer law protections. Telecommunications, as I've said and as other speakers have said, are essential services, and they need to be held to the same level as other essential services. Another crucial reform in this bill is the establishment of a new carriage service provider registration scheme. This is about transparency and visibility. It's about empowering the ACMA to act before the harm is done, not in response to complaints or breaches. Right now, there is limited oversight over who operates in the telecommunications space. That makes it harder for regulators to spot risks before they become major problems.”
“Under this bill, if a provider continues to bill customers for services they never receive and, say, gains a $1 million benefit, we propose to increase the fine so that they have to pay $3 million, three times more than what their benefit is, a true disincentive to continually making these poor decisions. That's because we're cracking down on enforcement and introducing these tougher fines. Penalties can now reach up to $10 million or three times the benefit gained or 30 per cent of the company's turnover, whichever is greater. That's a message to these providers: treat your customers fairly or you will be held to account. It means that big telcos won't be able to shrug off these smaller penalties, which are only in the hundreds of thousands of dollars currently, as pocket change. It means that the punishment will fit the crime.”
“The consequences were that families and consumers suffered, racking up thousands of dollars in debt for services they didn't consent to. Customers were left confused, disempowered and unable to access basic remedies. This legislation also tackles other forms of poor behaviour that have become too common—for example, ongoing billing for cancelled services; failure to adequately assist people in financial hardship; and unresolved complaints that drag on for weeks or sometimes months, something we've all been party to. These aren't just minor oversights; they're signs of an existing culture that doesn't put the consumer at the heart of some of these service providers, and this bill will change that.”
“It helps the honest providers out there who do the right thing and who are tired of being undercut by some in the industry who don't do the right thing. It helps build a stronger and fairer telecommunications sector for everyone. These reforms are a response to repeated, well-documented failures in the telecommunications industry—failures that leave customers frustrated, financially hurt and, in many cases, really vulnerable. Just last year we saw the ACCC commence proceedings against a major telecommunications provider in Australia for engaging in unconscionable conduct in contravention of the law. It was reported that sales staff signed people up to multiple postpaid mobile plans they didn't want, couldn't afford and, in some cases, didn't even understand due to language barriers.”
“Until now, if a telco breached its obligations under the industry code, ACMA had to jump through hoops—go through a number of steps—to get it rectified. Step 1 was to issue a formal direction to comply; step 2 was to wait and hope that the company listened; step 3 was to take further action, but only if they failed again. It was delayed justice. It disempowered the regulators and, all in all, left consumers waiting for justice. This bill fixes that. It empowers ACMA to act immediately and decisively when there's an alleged breach. Providers will know that if they breach the rules they will face the consequences swiftly and appropriately. It doesn't just help regulators; it helps consumers, who expect their complaints to be taken seriously.”
“For too long, some telecommunications providers—not all of them but some of them—have treated compliance like an optional extra. For too long, penalties for doing the wrong thing were so light that they could simply have been factored in as a cost of doing business, rather than acting as a disincentive. This amendment ends that. It marks a line in the sand by giving consumers the stronger protections they deserve, and it gives the regulator in charge of compliance, ACMA, the Australian Communications and Media Authority, the teeth it needs to bite back and to take action when things inevitably go wrong. One of the most significant changes in this legislation is a shift in how these consumer protections are enforced.”
“It's about protecting consumers, it's about listening to Australians who have had some really horrible experiences with telecommunications providers, and it's about ensuring that there's a minimum standard for consumers of an essential service. In 2025, remaining connected is essential. It's essential for how we live, how we work and how we participate in society. As such, it's only fair that Australians should rely on our telecommunications sector to serve them and not to continually short-change them. That's what this bill is about. It's about shifting power back to the people and ensuring that those who keep us connected are held to better standards of responsibility and care. It's about modernising our laws so that rules protect every Australian and so that these big companies are held to account.”
“This is stuff that good governments should prioritise, not stuff to be left for new governments when they come in to clean up the mess. This is about good, ongoing governance. Time and time again, across portfolio after portfolio, you see that the former government really dropped the ball, particularly in the latter end of their time in government. All these issues existed and were around for a long time. They had been brought to the attention of the Morrison government, the Turnbull government and the Abbott government before that, and they weren't being addressed. They were not being addressed. In our first term in government, we've done plenty to address these issues because that is what Labor governments do—we listen and we reform. And that's what today's Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 is about.”
“I want to commend the member for Macquarie, particularly for the last points of her contribution where she outlined some of the steps that the government have taken in less than a term to fix up the mess that was left behind for us, particularly in protecting consumer rights. In this first term of the Albanese Labor government, we've taken action on payday lenders to make them operate in a much fairer way to protect consumers. We have regulated buy-now pay-later and made it a credit product when it wasn't. We're taking action on debit card surcharges and we're working with the RBA to ensure that Australians don't get pinged for using digital payments, particularly when it's their own money. The action on scams led by the Assistant Treasurer is world-leading stuff.”
“There's the waste, the safety concerns and the distinct lack of social licence to do it. They never mentioned once in their 22 energy policies they would do nuclear; they're just doing it now because of their ideology. We reject it.”
“We approved over 80 renewable energy projects, enough to power 10 million Australian homes. In New South Wales alone, we have backed six dispatchable energy projects, and in Victoria and South Australia investor interest has been so strong we've received 32 times more bids than we needed. Households are buying in on this, too, with more than three 330,000 rooftop solar installations in Australia last year. If it works on the small scale, it's going to work on a large scale as well, isn't it? The more we invest in this, the more returns our communities will get in lowering emissions and putting more of the cheapest form of new power in the grid. Then you get into the fact that nuclear is illegal in many states—there is a huge impediment there—because it comes with baggage.”
“Since we came to office in 2022, we've overseen a 25 per cent increase in renewable electricity generation in the national electricity market. It's helping to push down emissions, and, as AEMO have said many times, it's helping to put downward pressure on wholesale power prices. Emissions from the grid are now at record lows, and they will continue to go lower under Labor. We're building the transmission we need through our Rewiring the Nation program. We're investing in batteries, both in grid-scale and in communities, just like in Bennelong at North Epping. Through our Capacity Investment Scheme, we are unlocking over 32 gigawatts of new, clean dispatchable energy. It's happening. Last year, there was 5.9 gigawatts of renewable energy generation, enough to power 1.7 million homes.”
“It's happening right now, delivering for households, businesses and communities across the country. It's not only the cheapest source of new power generation; it's also the quickest to dispatch. It's one of the safest to operate, and it's the most sustainable in reducing emissions. When backed by storage and gas, which we can turn on or off when we don't need it, this smart investment in the grid is capable of delivering reliable and resilient power across the country, particularly for our manufacturers. This report shows that we don't need to gamble on this technology in 20 to 30 years time. We already have the tools to lower power bills, we have the tools to cut emissions, and we have the plan to get enough energy back into our system.”
“They're not serious about climate action now, and their nuclear push is not about getting energy into the system in the short term. It's about an ideology; it's about delaying action, and it's about locking in fossil fuels for another generation. Don't take it from me; take it from the Leader of the Nationals who admitted on radio that their plan is to sweat out coal assets into nuclear. In other words, they want to run ageing coal power stations as long as possible—they are unreliable and breakdown; some are always out of action—and for us to cross our fingers because nuclear, they promise, will show up one day in two or three decades time. That's not a plan. That's a cover to extend the life of fossil fuels in our energy grid. Renewable energy is the path forward to solving our energy challenges. It's not a theory or a hope.”
“Every dollar spent on nuclear is a dollar taken away from proven technologies that are cheaper, faster, dispatchable and already working. That doesn't even factor in the enormous first-of-a-kind cost Australia would have to pay because we do not have a nuclear power industry here. We'd be spending $16 billion per reactor—money that would come straight from cuts, higher bills, increased taxes, or a combination of all of those things. We've been here before. The same people who told us that climate change didn't matter are now saying that nuclear is the answer to it. The same people who delivered zero large-scale generation projects in nearly a decade now want us to trust them when they are in opposition with nuclear reactors. They didn't support renewables when they had the chance.”
“By contrast, firmed renewables backed by batteries, pumped hydro and flexible gas can respond in real time. They are adaptable and scalable, and they are already being built. We heard the minister for the environment say the other day that in our term of government we've added 15 gigawatts of renewable energy generation into the grid, which is more than the Liberals plan for their seven nuclear reactors. We're doing it; it's happening right now. So trying to force nuclear into a renewables backed grid is like trying to jam a square peg into a round hole. It's inefficient, drives up system costs and makes it harder to deliver the flexible energy that Australians need. Nuclear doesn't complement renewables; it competes with them, and it will destroy them.”
“Their latest Gen C ost report confirms that reliable renewables, firmed solar and wind, are the cheapest form of energy. They price it from $83 to $120 per megawatt hour by 2030. In contrast, the same report shows nuclear power, even the so-called small modular reactors, would cost up to $382 per megawatt hour to produce electricity. That's up to eight times more than renewables. Even if nuclear weren't prohibitively expensive, it still wouldn't work because nuclear power simply isn't compatible with renewables. It is inflexible, needs to run constantly, can't ramp up or down quickly and can't respond to fluctuations in solar or wind output. That makes it a poor fit for a modern grid that needs clean, variable sources of energy in it.”
“They didn't introduce a nuclear plan when they were actually in government, and then they left us with four gigawatts less power in the system while only introducing one gigawatt of new power. That's a deficit of three gigawatts. With power exiting the system, with coal-fired power shutting in the next decade, we need new power in the system now, not in 20 years—the time we'd be waiting for their expensive and risky nuclear reactors. In the interim, prices will go up. And what's going to happen with power in between? Are the lights going to go out? What's going to happen to manufacturing? What's going to happen to industry? Their plan is not just reckless; it's a fantasy. Independent experts at the CSIRO and the Australian Energy Market Operator have made these facts plain and simple for us to read.”
“Just ask the UK, where Hinkley Point C is now nearly a decade overdue and 20 billion pounds over budget, or the US, where Georgia's Vogtle nuclear plant has doubled in cost and is seven years late. This is a problem—a real problem—that those opposite do not acknowledge. Australia does not have the time to wait for nuclear power, because under the former coalition government, let's not forget, the operators of 24 coal-fired power plants announced their plants' closures. Ninety per cent of our coal-fired power is forecast to retire by 2035. That's just 10 years away. To make matters worse, during their 10 years in government they did next to nothing about this.”
“Australians deserve honesty, not a half-baked nuclear fantasy conjured up to distract from a decade of climate inaction by the Liberals and Nationals. Their policy proposal for nuclear is not a serious policy proposal, and, because of that, the Liberals and Nationals are not serious political parties. Their nuclear policy is a dangerous delaying tactic. It's a Trojan Horse for extending the life of coal-fired power stations. And it's a plan that would raise power bills, not lower them. The chair of the committee, the member for Hunter, summed it up best. He said it could be well into the 2040s before we might see nuclear energy generated in Australia—well into the 2040s. That's 15 years from now, at a minimum. And that's if everything goes right, which, we know, with nuclear, it rarely does.”
“I'd just like to pay tribute to the work of the member for Hunter in chairing this nuclear energy inquiry—yet another inquiry into the viability of nuclear energy in Australia. I think the member for Hunter did an extraordinary job on a very tight schedule. We do travel a lot, and it was a pretty hectic schedule, going all around the country, listening to plenty of submissions, hearing from a lot of experts and delivering what I believe to be a really robust interim report, which is absolutely crystal clear. Its findings say this: nuclear energy is too slow, it's too expensive and it's too risky. If the findings weren't in before, they're in now. The facts are here. The expert advice is consistent.”
“Dr Grace and her team do a fantastic job. We have unashamedly backed Medicare, because we know what the opposition will do with it. We just need to listen what the Leader of the Opposition says, 'The best indicator for future performance is past performance.' What did they do to Medicare when they were in government? They promised no cuts to Medicare, and then, as health minister, the Leader of the Opposition took the axe to Medicare: $50 billion cut from hospitals and a six year Medicare rebate freeze. We spent the last three years cleaning up that mess, and we know that Medicare will get stronger under Labor because we created it.”
“There was a lot of good news in last night's budget. We had tax cuts and we had more policy for housing and help for people to buy their first home. But something that my community are really passionate about is Medicare, and we have unashamedly backed Medicare in our four budgets that we've delivered. I'm very excited to confirm that the new Medicare Urgent Care Clinic in Chatswood was funded in last night's budget as part of $8½ billion budgeted for to increase access to GPs and to provide urgent care when needed. We've opened one in Top Ryde, and that's been going really well. There have been over 5,000 visitors there. I was there last week when my partner, Jo, had a little scare. We were able to go up to the Top Ryde Medicare Urgent Care Clinic at about 9.15 pm—they're open until 10 pm—and we were able to see a doctor.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. What has the Albanese Labor government done to help ease cost-of-living pressures that Australians are facing? Are there any approaches which would make Australians worse off?”
“She said this to the Sydney Morning Herald: 'Every patient that comes in the door gets cared for whatever their race, whatever their religion. Nurses will look after them. Everyone in New South Wales Health will look after them.' New South Wales nurses have their own issues at the moment. They're overworked, tired and deserve a pay rise, yet today nurses like Alison put that aside to show unity and strength—unity with all Jewish Australians and strength to call out antisemitism and say 'enough is enough'. I'm proud of Alison for taking a stand today, not only on behalf of nurses but on behalf of everyone who lives in Bennelong. We all stand against antisemitism. Thank you, Alison.”
“() (): We have all seen the video of two health workers making disgusting and hateful comments towards Jewish Australians. This video is abhorrent, their words are vile, and it is right to unequivocally condemn them. This morning, nurses who had planned a pay dispute picket line outside the New South Wales parliament instead held a solidarity rally following the release of this video, and leading the pack was a Bennelong local—Alison Brannelly. Alison lives in Denison and works at Concord hospital. Alison could only watch part of that video last night. After a few seconds, she had seen enough. She rallied today because she wanted to send a message of solidarity for all the people cared for in the health system.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. How is the Albanese Labor government's responsible economic management helping to ease cost-of-living pressures? Are there any alternative approaches that would leave people worse off?”
“It is Labor that has delivered cost-of-living relief, back-to-back surpluses and more than halved inflation. It is Labor that is investing in urgent care clinics and delivering cheaper medicines. It's Labor that's investing $32 billion to boost housing supply and it is Labor that is backing students with free TAFE and will also wipe 20 per cent off all student debt. There will be a choice at this election, and in Bennelong that choice has to be Labor.”
“It's an election year, and soon voters' minds will start to focus on the choice they face. Let's do a little compare and contrast. The Liberals opposed our tax cuts for every Australian. They voted against energy rebates for homes and small businesses. They opposed cheaper medicines and cheaper child care. They blocked and voted against action on housing and they opposed free TAFE and cuts to student debt. That's just in the last three years. What's next? Their slogan is 'Back on track'. Back to what? Back to secret ministries, rising inflation and deficit after deficit after deficit. Back to frozen Medicare rebates, cuts to hospitals and a GP tax. Back to no action on housing and a denial of climate change. That's not what Bennelong voted for. We deserve better than going back. We deserve a government that listens and acts.”
“This motion talks about Medicare as if it stood still in time, but the Greens political party know that's not the case. Labor has tripled the bulk-billing incentive—the biggest boost to Medicare in 40 years—ensuring millions more GP visits are bulk-billed and reducing out-of-pocket costs for families. We promised 50 urgent care clinics, but you know what? We've delivered more than 80—80 urgent care clinics to cut emergency room wait times and deliver cost-of-living relief. We've committed more funding to housing in three years than the Liberals did in 10. We've committed $32 billion to deliver rental homes, social homes, affordable homes and market housing, whilst also helping those renters who want to buy their first home. We've wiped $3 billion in student debt, with more to come if we get re-elected.”
“Unemployment remains at 50-year lows, and 1.1 million jobs have been created. These numbers represent real Australians with jobs, real families with more money in their pockets and a real difference in the cost-of-living pressures that people have been facing. We have been able to deliver this economic reform and deliver increased multinational taxes while also delivering cost-of-living relief. If you read the Greens political party motion, you would think that no Australian is getting that relief, and that is simply not true. We've had tax cuts delivered to every taxpayer—all 13.6 million of them. That's every nurse, teacher and tradie keeping more of what they earn, because we know that it's working people who drive this economy.”
“This legislation was a critical step in line with our OECD global tax reforms. Under our change, any multinational enterprise with global revenues exceeding $1.2 billion will now be subject to a 15 per cent minimum tax rate. That'll end the race to the bottom on corporate tax dodging. If small businesses in particular in Ryde, Epping and Eastwood are paying tax on their profits, then multinational corporations making billions in Australia should be doing the same. This is real action. If you believed the Greens political party, you would think nothing is being done. This motion is about playing politics instead of supporting progress. When we took office, inflation had a six in front of it; it has now fallen to something with a two in front of it. Real wages are rising again.”
“We came to government and made it clear that multinationals should not get away with exploiting loopholes and shifting profits offshore while hardworking Australians often pay more than some of these multinationals. For too long these big corporations have dodged loopholes and used these loopholes to dodge tax, whilst everyday Australians, like nurses, teachers and tradies—and small business owners, I might add—have to pay their fair share. That's not right. What do we do? We introduce laws to set global and domestic minimum tax for multinational corporations. We ensure that companies making profits in Australia pay tax in Australia. That is a government that works. That is a government that introduces the laws that we need, not just empty motions and no-shows here in the Federation Chamber.”
“We come here and we work. We work to solve some of these problems that the Greens identify. They just identify the problems; they don't do much about them. They just talk about it or hold up their placards, but, when it actually comes to doing what we need to do in this place to change the lives of Australians, to make our tax system fairer and to help with the cost of living, they are no-shows—absolute no-shows. I cannot wait to tell my community about this—how the Greens perform out there in front of their supporters but then can't come here and actually have the debates that we need to move our country forward. Like the Greens, I believe that multinationals should pay their fair share in tax. But, unlike the Greens, we actually do something about it.”
“Is there anything that sums up the Greens political party more than what we're going through right now—a performative motion full of wedge politics aimed to elicit an emotional response? I was expecting them to come up here and come out fighting. They didn't even show up! What's going on? It shows that they're performative politics at best. They put up the words and they don't back it with action. They will spread this motion out to their supporters and say how they're in Canberra fighting the good fight and they're in the Federation Chamber putting up this motion. Here we are today; it's 7.26 pm. We've got hardworking members of the Albanese government here speaking on this motion and putting the record straight, and they couldn't even be bothered to show up to debate their own motion. That just sums up the difference between us.”
“But the approach is very different. While we've been advocating for and actually doing stuff about affordable early education, the Liberals and Nationals continue to shun evidence based reforms that put Australian families first. We had a Liberal senator in the other place making ludicrous claims that 'early education destroys the family unit' or that early educators 'infect children with a woke mind virus'. This is just crazy stuff—views that are held by members of the Liberal Party. It's absurd. Only an Albanese Labor government will keep delivering cheaper child care, better wages for educators and a future where every child gets the best start in life.”
“From 2026, we'll replace the outdated activity test with our three-day guarantee, giving children of 66,700 families across the country access to three days guaranteed subsidised early childhood education per fortnight without forcing parents into unnecessary trade-offs. That will save these families an average $1,370 a year. And, for First Nations families, we're making sure children can access 100 hours of subsidised care per fortnight. We just heard the member for Casey talk about childcare deserts. He'd be pleased to know that an Albanese government will continue to expand our policies in early education through the $1 billion Building Early Education Fund, ensuring families can access quality early learning in outer suburbs and regional communities, by building childcare centres in these early education deserts.”
“Our 15 per cent wage rise will mean, on average, a full-time early childhood educator who is paid at the award rate will receive a pay increase of at least $103 per week, increasing to at least $155 per week from December 2025. Already, these wage rises are attracting new workers to the sector. For educators, these reforms will mean better wages, greater job security and the ability to focus on what they do best—supporting young kids in their early years. For families, more affordable early learning means less financial stress and greater flexibility to work, study or balance other responsibilities. And we're not stopping there.”
“We appointed the ACCC and the Productivity Commission to each review the early education sector, ensuring consistent reflection of progressive development towards early learning. Our government puts the needs of our communities first and is focused on how best to improve them. Our goal is for a truly universal, affordable and accessible early education system for every Australian child. But we will not get there without the incredible educators who show up every day to support our kids, and, for too long, those workers were undervalued and underpaid. To right those wrongs, Labor delivered a historic 15 per cent wage increase over two years to retain the current workforce and to attract new workers to the sector. The universal system, which is our own, will need a well-paid, well-skilled and well-staffed workforce.”
“Since coming to government, we've cut the costs of early learning by over 17 per cent, putting money back into the pockets of families during current cost-of-living challenges. An Australian family on an income of $120,000 a year, paying the average quarterly fee for 30 hours child care per week, is approximately $2,768 better off since September 2023. That's money for groceries, rent or savings, and that's real cost-of-living support for local families. Compare that approach to that of the former government. Under their government, they neglected the value of affordable child care, with families watching costs skyrocket by 49 per cent—twice as much as the OECD average. They refused to act and worked families to struggle while they stood by. That has changed under our government.”
“Labor recognises the transformative benefits of early childhood education and care, not just for children but for families, communities and our economy. Early education is the foundation for a child's future and helps build social skills, supports cognitive development and sets kids up for success at school and beyond. That's why we're committed to making sure every family, no matter their circumstances, can access quality care. We understand that every child deserves access to quality early education because it's good for kids, it's good for families and it's good for the economy. That's why we fought to make child care more affordable, more accessible and fairer across the country. Our Labor policies have benefited 9,000 families in Bennelong.”
“I'm forever grateful for their support.' Carrie said: 'Dear Jerome, we just had our first experience with urgent care at Top Ryde. I'm very pleased to say we were seen very quickly and were bulk-billed for the care. We definitely would have gone to the emergency department if we didn't know about it." And Sigret said: clap emoji, clap emoji, heart emoji, heart emoji. 'Such a luxury.' I don't really know what it means, Deputy Speaker Young, but you get the drift. The urgent care clinic in Bennelong, in less than a year, has become a crucial part of our local healthcare network. It's open from 8 am to10 pm, and it's fully bulk-billed. We know that they are under risk under a Liberal government. Only Labor will protect our urgent care clinic and continue to strengthen Medicare in Bennelong.”
“The government are delivering on our promise to strengthen Medicare, and nowhere is that more evident than in our investment in Medicare urgent care clinics. These clinics are revolutionising bulk-billing in the suburbs. They're fully bulk-billed. The wait times are low, and the opening hours are long. In breaking news, the Top Ryde Medicare urgent care clinic is now open for two hours longer, from 8 am to 10 pm, seven days a week. Look, you'll hear us all bang on about this in this place, but don't take my word for it. Here's what locals are saying about the Top Ryde Medicare urgent care clinic. Yvonne said: 'The doctors and staff here are the best I've ever had. I recently attended, and I'm impressed with their protocol and their teamwork. It gave me great confidence in their handling.”
“For the first time, universities will be held accountable for their response, or lack of it, to safety concerns. We're also introducing a national higher education code to prevent and respond to gender based violence, setting clear national standards for how universities must address sexual harassment and assault. We'll unashamedly back those who seek a tertiary education. We'll back people if they go to TAFE, we'll back people if they go to uni, and along the way we'll make it fairer.”
“In Bennelong, we're so fortunate to have access to Macquarie University and three TAFE campuses—at Meadowbank, Ryde and soon St Leonards. Students from all these incredible institutions will benefit from the most significant reforms to student debt in our history. But we're not just fixing the cost of education; we're making universities safer too. For years students have been calling for action on sexual violence and harassment on campus. Reports like The red zone report have exposed the toxic culture of hazing and abuse in university colleges. Brave student advocates have been demanding accountability for over a decade. In response, we've established the National Student Ombudsman, an independent body with the power to investigate and resolve student complaints, including those related to sexual violence.”
“We saw that problem, we did the work we needed to and we backdated the change. Refunds have flowed to those who were hit by this inequity. But it doesn't end there. If we're re-elected, we'll wipe 20 per cent off every student's debt, to make tertiary education even fairer and more accessible. Around the time that I went to university, my fees made up about 30 per cent of the cost of a degree, so my debt was lower. Under nearly a decade of the Liberals, that percentage went up to around 40 per cent. Thousands of Aussies were paying more than their predecessors. Wiping this 20 per cent off is about equity, it's about accessibility and it's about cost-of-living relief. In Bennelong, 23,692 locals will benefit from these changes, with an average of $5,700 wiped from their HECS debt.”
“From the moment we came to government we made it clear that we would prioritise tertiary education and support students, reversing nearly a decade of ideological attacks from the Liberals and Nationals. Our Australian Universities Accord set out a comprehensive blueprint for reform, focusing on accessibility, equity and long-term sustainability in higher education. Unlike the previous government, who ignored these challenges, we acted immediately on the accord's recommendations, addressing HECS debt relief, strengthening student protections and investing in a future-ready education system. Let's start with student debt. We've already wiped $3 billion off student debt by fixing the unfair indexation of HECS. At times of high inflation, it is not fair to index student debts at rates higher than wages growth.”