Louise Miller-Frost
Boothby · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“This has been a big week in parliament and a big week for delivery by the Albanese Labor government. The Solar Saver program started—three hours of power in the middle of the day. We expanded paid parental leave to a full six months. We opened the National Environmental Protection Agency and we opened a new veteran wellbeing agency.”
“More recently, we announced that we will strengthen consumer protections for those on Support at Home by empowering the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission to be able to order refunds for overcharged services and to be able to report publicly on investigations and enforcement actions; by producing each quarter a national summary of Su…”
“The demographics are not in our favour. Next year, 90,000 additional Australians will turn 80; 15 years ago that number was 15,000. This has an impact on the service offerings we need to provide, specifically in aged care and health.”
“While we listen to those opposite try to throw blame around and cynically, desperately, try to claw back some votes, we should turn to an independent arbiter as to why the aged-care system is where it is right now.”
“The government's plan to expand and improve aged-care services in Australia will also mean an expansion of end-of-life pathway, providing dignified care to older Australians in their final months.”
“We are confronted with this reality and we are confronting the reality with a plan—a plan that will ensure that every older Australian can get affordable and timely access to the quality care they need and deserve, and a plan that will improve and expand the system to make it fit for purpose and sustainable well into the foreseeable futur…”
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“These are often instigated by plan managers who seek to exploit the process for their own personal financial gain because reassessments can result in an average increase of 20 per cent in plan value. This bill will reset the total costs for social and community participation and capacity building daily activities to where they were last year. These programs are languishing and underperforming in their objectives. While many support workers do a fantastic job, many others are not meeting the basic expectations—expectations of creating connection, encouraging participation, fostering inclusion and treating participants' time with respect and dignity. The cost invested does not justify participants' current experiences of these programs. Four years ago, this stream of the NDIS was worth $4 billion.”
“The government will also invest $6 billion in foundational supports for people who require less significant support. I hear from people with disability and carers the fear that these services don't exist, and they're correct. They don't. They do not currently exist, but they will, and, again, they will be made with co-design. This bill also introduces planning measures and safeguards. It ensures that supports provided are relevant to the eligible impairments. It will provide clearer guidance and legislation on what reasonable and necessary support means. It will make changes to the circumstances for requesting unscheduled plan assessments by imposing stricter criteria. Currently, one in five plans are subject to unscheduled reassessments.”
“But it was always meant to eventually make way for an objective assessment tool. The new assessment tool will be developed through co-design with people with disability and the sector. The diagnosis gateway has put people on the NDIS who don't need to be because this was the only option for service provision for them, and so the government is developing the Thriving Kids program which children under eight with developmental delay or autism with low to moderate support needs will be able to access appropriate services in the future. Importantly, they'll be able to access the supports they need even while they are trying to find a diagnosis which can be difficult with young children. This enables them to access early intervention, which can make all the difference.”
“The National Disability Insurance Scheme Amendment (Securing the NDIS for Future Generations) Bill 2026 will restore the NDIS to its original intent, supporting people with permanent and significant disability. To this end, it will make access and eligibility requirements fairer, clearer and more consistent. Assessments will be standardised and evidence-based, and this means that a person's eligibility for NDIS will depend on an assessment of functional capacity. What do they actually need in terms of support? Under the old assessment model, eligibility was determined on the basis of a diagnosis alone. It did not require a judgement of functional capacity. In the early days of NDIS, these diagnoses or access lists were intended to be provisional, and it facilitated faster access to the NDIS.”
“Activists, advocates, carers, people with disability themselves—everyone wants to see the NDIS doing better, because the reality is that the NDIS cannot survive if it loses the confidence of the Australian taxpayer. It was a Labor government that proudly established the NDIS, and it will be a Labor government that takes responsibility for ensuring that the NDIS truly works for Australians with disability. Be in no doubt: people with disability are not the problem and they will be the centre of these changes. Their voices cannot be divorced from this process of reform. The problem lies with the system that has long failed people with disability and will continue to fail them if changes are not made.”
“Many Australians rely on the NDIS for their care needs and know that they can rely on the NDIS for their care. I hear from so many Boothby constituents about the life-changing experiences with NDIS, but I also hear stories about where it isn't working, and these can be catastrophic. The social guarantee risks being jeopardised if the shortcomings in the system aren't urgently and comprehensively addressed, and we are determined to make sure that the NDIS does not fail. We want it to be sustainable and to last for future generations. To this end, reform is not negotiable. The reality is that many Australians have lost confidence in the NDIS. Increasingly, Australians believe it has become unwieldy, providers are untrustworthy and that changes therefore need to be made.”
“Labor has brought down the growth rate to 10 per cent, but, unfortunately, this is still well in excess of what was originally contemplated when the NDIS was set up and is still too high if we want the NDIS to remain viable. Under the changes that are proposed, the NDIS will continue to grow. But, rather than costing taxpayers more than Medicare and the PBS combined and rather than a total expenditure of more than $70 billion and participant numbers of 900,000 by 2030, compared to the Productivity Commission's recommended 550,000 benchmark, the NDIS funding will be $55 billion in 2030 and will provide for 600,000 people by 2030, bringing it back to its original purpose of providing services for people with enduring and significant disability.”
“Sadly, whenever there is a bucket of government funding, the sharks circle. Hence, the quality of care and support has also been compromised. These issues are perhaps not entirely unexpected. When the NDIS was established by a Labor government in 2013, it was the coalition that oversaw the initial period of its implementation. In 2022, the Albanese Labor government inherited from the coalition an NDIS that was growing at 22 per cent year on year—unsustainable. Since coming into government, we have sought to make the NDIS better, more reliable and fit for purpose in the long-term—sustainable. We have sought to make it safe, effective and ethical.”
“Labor is the party that does the big innovations that make life better for Australians—Medicare, the superannuation guarantee, paid parental leave, the NBN—and it was a Labor government that conceived of the NDIS. The Albanese Labor government is committed to maintaining this promise. We are committed to seeing the NDIS succeed well into the future. But, after 13 years, the NDIS risks running afoul of its original charter. After a decade of poor implementation and management under those opposite, the NDIS ballooned beyond all recognisable proportions in terms of costs and numbers of participants. While most providers are doing the right thing for the right reasons, we know that there are also fraudsters, grifters and rorters in the system taking advantage of those whom the system is there to ostensibly protect.”
“After 13 years, Australia's universal health and support system would be inconceivable now without the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The scheme has become an important part of Australian life. It's part of our national identity, it's part of our national story and it's one of the greatest social achievements. It is part of what makes Australia the envy of the world. The scheme is the fruit of years of hard work by people with a disability, disability advocates and carers who recognised that Australia was falling short of its human rights obligations to protect and care for some of the more vulnerable people in our community. It was a Labor government who answered that call—their call that people with disability should be given choice and control in the matter of their own care.”
“While older Australians will continue to receive a concession on their private health insurance based on their income, aligning with the rebate received by all Australians, the additional funds will be invested back into the improvement of the aged-care system more broadly by creating an aged-care system that will be affordable, accessible, fit-for-purpose and provide the highest standard of care for generations to come. This government is committed to investing in the future of all Australians.”
“Cheaper PBS medicines with a maximum price of $25 per prescription and $7.70 for pensioners and concession card holders have already saved Australians more than $2.3 billion. And with almost 3,800 fully bulked-billed practices right across Australia, more bulk-billing clinics means a projected nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030. The Albanese Labor government has a long-term vision for this country—a fairer Australia for all Australians, including the right service mix for our changing demographics to meet the demand now and into the future.”
“It will mean 20 additional Specialist Dementia Care Program units and an expansion of the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support Program, providing crucial transitional support for older Australians going from hospital into residential aged care. These are in addition to the Albanese Labor government's ongoing commitment to provide more accessible and affordable health care for all Australians, including older Australians. This includes making urgent care clinics a permanent part of Medicare, with 135 urgent care clinics across Australia and more being built. This will mean four in five Australians will live within an only 20-minute drive from urgent health care. An extra $25 billion, on top of $220 billion already committed, is going to our public hospitals over the next five years.”
“Currently, we are not meeting that demand and the entire system risks collapsing under its own weight. So any savings from the change in rebate arrangements will be redirected to expanding and improving the provision of aged-care services in this country. This will mean more aged-care beds, more packages and better care. It will mean 5,000 more beds year on year. It will mean being able to build and maintain quality residential accommodation. It will mean a Support at Home program that is fairer and more affordable, with faster and improved assessments and shorter wait times. It will mean free personal care services, such as showering assistance, dressing and continence support alongside free clinical care. It will mean an expansion of the end-of-life pathway to provide dignified care for older Australians in their final months.”
“Older Australians will continue to receive a rebate between eight and 24 per cent based on their income level, settings which will apply to all Australians. These changes are about providing older Australians with financial support to access private health care according to their income, while recognising another urgent reality that is affecting the provision of aged-care services in this country. We have an ageing population and so the demand for aged-care services is increasing. Those opposite ignored this reality, not even implementing the recommendations of the royal commission into aged care. A new aged-care home needs to be built every three days for the next 20 years in order to be able to service our cohort of older Australians at the rate at which it is now growing.”
“The changes to the private health insurance rebate are about a fair go for all Australians. It's also about having a long-term vision for the provision of aged care in this country. The extra subsidy previously provided to older Australians over the age of 65 for private health cover was the legacy of an era when Australia was able to take full advantage of the mining boom 20 years ago, when we had more working-age taxpayers and fewer retirees. Over 20 years later, Australia finds itself in a dramatically changed position. We have more retirees and so the service mix that this government needs to provide includes a stronger emphasis on aged care—at home and residential. So, instead of applying subsidies according to age, subsidies will be applied according to income level, a much fairer outcome for all Australians.”
“This is a responsible budget, a reforming budget, a budget designed to promote economic resilience. It's a budget for all Australians, young and old, no matter your background. And it's a budget that recognises the urgency of the moment, a moment that the Albanese Labor government is determined to meet. I commend these bills to the House.”
“While the opposition continue to distract themselves with their search for political identity, culture wars and negativity, we are acutely conscious of the fact that we must act now on these critical issues, or it will be too late: we will let the housing crisis run away from us, which will mean that young Australians will certainly never be able to afford to buy their own home; we will let the cost of living run away from us, which will mean reduced standards of living and poorer health outcomes; we'll let the aged-care crisis run away from us, which will mean older Australians will no longer be able to receive the quality care that they need and deserve; or we'll let the global fuel crisis run away, which will have severe impacts on our national productivity. But we're not here for that; we are here to do the right thing.”
“The result will be a boost in housing supply by another 30,000 homes over the next decade, and we will see 75,000 more homeowners being supported into the market. The reforms are about levelling the playing field and giving every Australian the opportunity to get their foot in the door of owning a home—a fair go for all Australians. This budget is perhaps one of the more important budgets in recent times, because we find ourselves at a juncture, at a crossroads.”
“That's not fair, and that's why we're making the tax system fairer by removing negative gearing on established builds and changing the way capital gains are taxed. Because Australians that want to buy their own homes should not be put in a position where they will be outcompeted by an investor who is able to exploit tax advantages. What this means is that, for new investments, negative gearing can only be applied to new builds, and capital gains will be adjusted for inflation before being taxed at a minimum rate of 30 per cent. These reforms will mean that more Australians can get into homeownership and younger Australians can get into the housing market, and any new negative gearing investments will go to building new homes, which will increase the housing stock.”
“It will mean that practical work can begin right away on water, roads and utilities, which will enable an additional 65,000 new homes to be built over the next 10 years. In South Australia, local and state governments and utility providers will be eligible for more than $130 million in funding. We've already helped 250,000 first home buyers get into housing through the government's five per cent deposit scheme, but we recognise that they continue to be inherently disadvantaged by a tax system that works against them. First home buyers, owner-occupiers, have been outcompeted in property purchases by investors who are subsidised by the taxpayer. The investor can pay more for a property, knowing that any loss they will make will be compensated by the taxpayer.”
“In 1990, an average Australian home cost approximately 2.6 to four times the average wage. Now it's anywhere between 10 to 16 times the average wage and utterly unaffordable. No wonder we hear from first home buyers and young people that they don't think they will ever own their own home. That isn't good enough. So, in addition to all we have done in housing in the past four years, we're doing more. The government has announced in this budget a $2 billion investment in the enabling infrastructure that will unlock much needed housing development. The Local Infrastructure Fund will assist local and state governments and utility companies in closing that last mile that has often posed a barrier to housing completion.”
“It will mean free personal-care services—like showering assistance, dressing and continence support—alongside free clinical care. It will mean an expansion of the end-of-life pathway to provide dignified care for older Australians in their final months. And it will mean 20 additional Specialist Dementia Care Program units and an expansion of the Hospital to Aged Care Dementia Support Program, which will provide crucial transitional support for older Australians going from hospital to residential aged care. We have also made, unsurprisingly, housing a crucial plank of this budget. Homeownership is a key part of the Australian dream, but for the past four decades this country has not built enough houses to keep up with demand. The tax settings that benefited investors over owner-occupiers drove housing prices up and up.”
“We know that the demand for aged-care services, in-home and residential, is growing and will continue to grow. A new aged-care home needs to be built every three days for the next 20 years in order to be able to provide the services our cohort of older Australians will need. Currently, we're not meeting that demand, and the entire system risks collapsing under its own weight. Older Australians will benefit from the Albanese Labor government's commitment to expanding and improving the aged-care system. This will mean more aged-care beds, more packages and better care. It will mean 5,000 more beds year on year. It will mean being able to build and maintain quality residential accommodation. It will mean a Support at Home program that is fairer and more affordable, with faster and improved assessments and shorter wait times.”
“In South Australia, we expect to receive $2.7 billion in hospital funding in the next financial year and $3.3 billion by financial year 2029-30. And Australians have already saved more than $2.3 billion with cheaper PBS medicines, with a maximum price of $25 per script or $7.70 for pensioners and concession cardholders. In Boothby, that's over three million cheaper scripts, and across South Australia that's over 31 million. We're investing in more bulk-billing GPs, with now almost 3,800 fully bulk-billing practices right across Australia, and a projected nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030. The reality is that Australia is experiencing a rapidly growing older population. We have more retirees and comparatively fewer working-age taxpayers. Our demographics are changing, so our service offerings need to change as well.”
“With 135 urgent care clinics across Australia and more being built, this will mean that four in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of one. In South Australia alone, urgent care clinics have delivered over 172,000 bulk-billed visits since the network's inception in 2023. In the Marion Medicare Urgent Care Clinic, in my electorate of Boothby, there have been nearly 31,000 visits since November 2023, when it opened. The proliferation of urgent care clinics will mean reduced wait times for patients seeking urgent care, while also taking pressure off our emergency departments and services. The budget also commits an extra $25 billion in addition to the $220 billion already invested in our public hospitals over the next five years.”
“This budget will see Australians receive more tax cuts from 1 July this year, in addition to the previous three rounds of legislated tax cuts, to help relieve cost-of-living pressures. This includes a $250 tax offset and a $1,000 instant tax deduction for working Australians. The $250 tax offset will benefit 13.3 million workers, including 880,000 in my home state of South Australia, while the $1,000 instant write-off will benefit 6.2 million workers, including 450,000 in South Australia. We will also ease cost-of-living pressures by making access to health care easier and more affordable. The government has in this budget committed $1.8 billion over five years to our urgent care clinics, making them a permanent part of Medicare.”
“We halved the fuel excise, reduced the heavy vehicle road user charge to zero and empowered our consumer regulator to be able to impose larger financial penalties on petrol companies that take advantage of the conflict and of their customers and artificially inflate their prices, because everyday Australians should not have to pay prohibitive sums in order to drive to work. Yes, it's an ambitious budget, and, yes, we are making the hard decisions now in order that future generations won't have to. With $63.8 billion in savings, this budget constitutes the largest savings package ever. What this means is that debt will be lower and our budget position will be stronger year on year in the medium term because it is a deliberate principle of this budget that we save so that we can pass on the benefits in tax cuts to everyday Australians.”
“We will make gas companies reserve 20 per cent of their exports for domestic use, because it simply defies moral logic that Australians should be left in the lurch when it comes to the natural resources that we own. At the moment the Middle East conflict erupted, the Albanese Labor government acted to relieve pressure at the pump for everyday Australians. The Prime Minister, Foreign minister and others negotiated with our South-East Asian neighbours to ensure that we had security of fuel supply.”
“The economic repercussions of the conflict in the Middle East have been felt not only in Australia but in countries across the globe. Those repercussions have dragged on far longer than what we initially expected. Like other countries, we are confronted daily with the challenge of fuel security due to the unpredictability of the situation in the Strait of Hormuz. This budget seeks to shore up our future fuel security to prepare us for unexpected global energy shocks and disruptions, which are, more often than not, out of our hands. To this end, we have committed to purchasing more fuel and more fertiliser and to growing our national reserves of jet fuel and diesel to 50 days.”
“It is one in which all Australians are able to contribute fully to our national economic life and reap the benefits of doing so. It's a vision in which no Australian is left behind, whereas what we've seen from those opposite can hardly be considered serious at all. They presented not an alternative financial proposition. It's been an unabashed demonstration of dog whistling. The Albanese Labor government have proven time and again that we are the only serious and capable economic managers. We are the government of lower taxes and sound economic management. We are the government that delivered the first budget surplus in nearly two decades and then backed it up with a second. But the Albanese Labor government is also prepared to be upfront about our fiscal position in relation to global uncertainties.”
“It is now harder for younger Australians, because they find themselves in a historically unprecedented housing situation, to achieve the traditional milestones that Australia has prided itself on being part of being an Australian—owning a home, raising a family and saving for a more secure future. Our aged care system, on its current trajectory, will be unable to keep up with the rate of growth in population of older Australians, because they are one of the fastest growing populations. Younger Australians deserve access to secure housing and the opportunities to build their future—our future, Australia's future—and older Australians deserve the secure retirement and services that they have worked for. The Albanese Labor government's vision is simple.”
“This suite of appropriation bills shows that the Albanese Labor government is prepared to make the decisions that count. It's an ambitious budget because it needs to be; the times demand it. The global context in which we find ourselves demands it. The bottom line of this budget is about providing financial relief for all Australians while undertaking the necessary reforms to create a more resilient economy for our future. It is about ensuring that Australians keep more of what they earn, and it is about ensuring that health access and affordability are a right, not a privilege. It's about ensuring that all Australians, younger and older, no matter their background, are able to get ahead and stake their share in the Australian dream.”
“These are staggering achievements that have made a real difference to Australian women's lives. But, as I stated at the outset, this is only the beginning, and there is so much more to do. It is vital that the Women's Budget Statement, an in-depth look at how budget measures affect women, remains a fixture of the political landscape, because ignoring a problem—like different gender impacts—doesn't make it go away, and it's important that the budget works for all Australians. In the words of former prime minister Julia Gillard, 'A gender-equal world will be better for everyone.'”
“We have already made medicines for women cheaper and more accessible, with savings in excess of $647 million across 139 million PBS prescriptions for contraceptives, menopause therapies and the like. We'll be investing a further $2 billion to make medicines more affordable and more accessible. Also, $2.7 million will be invested in making long-acting reversible contraceptives, like IUDs and implants, cheaper and more accessible. The data shows material improvements in the lives of Australian women as a result of the Albanese Labor government's practical and long-term plan. Women's participation in the workplace is at an historic high, the gender pay gap is lower than it has ever been before, women have been earning approximately $300 more per week since 2022, and Australia has risen in international gender equality rankings from 43 to 13.”
“Since 2022, the government has provided $3.9 billion in new funding for legal assistance services, $41.8 million for 1800RESPECT, and 10 days paid domestic and family violence leave and has fully implemented Respect@Work, meaning women have stronger protections from workplace sexual harassment. In this budget, we have committed to an additional $61.2 million for the 500 Workers Initiative, which will create 500 new jobs to support victims-survivors of family, domestic and sexual abuse. Unsurprisingly, issues of health are a major concern for women, and what appears to be innocuous in the first instance can have major impacts on how women navigate their day-to-day lives. This is why, in this budget, we are making a record investment in women's health.”
“This is just one facet of the government's overall $308.6 million in continued investment to end gender based violence, and these commitments are in addition to the previous work the government has done to improve housing security for women and children. Since 2022, the government has invested $1 billion to help women and children escape from abusive circumstances into crisis and transitional accommodation. This is on top of our 50 per cent increase in Commonwealth rent assistance, the $10 billion Housing Australia Future Fund, 30,000 new social and affordable homes and a leg-up for first home buyers, with the five per cent deposit and help-to-buy schemes, because every woman and child deserves a place to call home—a safe place to call home.”
“The budget will also provide more secure housing for women and girls in crisis because every woman and girl experiencing domestic and family violence should not have to make the decision between staying in a violent relationship and being homeless. As the former CEO of Catherine House, I understand the crucial importance of resources being readily available to women and girls who have otherwise nowhere to go and no-one to turn to. Unfortunately, the trend continues. It is women and girls who are the largest cohort and the most likely cohort to seek out homelessness services, and young women in particular are more likely to leave home due to gender based violence. The Albanese Labor government is therefore investing $59.4 million in the community housing sector to support young women who are victims of gender based violence.”
“Currently, there is up to $2 billion in unpaid child support debt, or an average unsatisfied debt of nearly $8,700 for every woman. To combat this, the government is investing nearly $183 million in the biggest reforms to child support in 20 years. These reforms aim to put an end to the weaponisation of the child support system and make it safer and fairer for women to navigate. This is something the sector has campaigned on long and hard, and I'd like to recognise Dr Terese Edwards from Single Mother Families Australia for her excellent work in this field, and I congratulate her on recently receiving her doctorate.”
“We're also cracking down on abuses in the child support system by making it safer and fairer and ensuring that women receive the funds that they need and are entitled to in order to be able to support their families. The child support system supports around one million children every year. One million children are vulnerable to parents who maliciously weaponise the system—parents who weaponise this system by withholding funds that they are legally obligated to pay to support their children. This can be for cruel purposes to harass, control or inflict intentional harm. It is, more often than not, women who are subjected to this cruelty because recipient parents of child support payments consist overwhelmingly of women.”
“That is why the Albanese Labor government increased funding for early child care. Families are entitled to three guaranteed days of subsidised child care per week. Cheaper child care has already benefited more than one million families. This supports women having choice about if and when they want to return to work, something that has significant impact on their financial independence. We have invested $1 billion in building more early childhood education and care centres. We've extended paid parental leave by six months. When I had my children, there was no paid parental leave, only unpaid. The parenting payment has been extended to when the youngest child reaches 14 years of age.”
“It is this affirmative posture that the government is taking We have put gender-responsive budgeting at the very heart of this process, which means that every measure has also been considered for its impact on women. Be in no doubt; these measures will make real and long-lasting difference in women's lives. Women will be able to keep more of what they earn. From 1 July this year, the government will be delivering more tax cuts for every Australian to help with the cost of living, and 6.3 million women will benefit from our $250 tax offset and a $1,000 instant tax deduction. The combined tax changes will mean women will be better off by nearly $3,000 a year. The cost of child care is a factor that every family considers when making decisions about whether both parents want to and can afford to work outside the home.”
“Women are more likely to experience domestic, sexual and gender based violence. Women are underrepresented in boardrooms and executive roles across a variety of sectors and industries. By facilitating women's success, we access the talents and skills of all Australians and facilitate the success of our country. We become a happier, healthier, more productive society and a more equal society. This budget, as with the government's previous budgets, will continue the move towards social and economic equity for women. In the words of the late Dame Roma Mitchell, former SA governor and pioneer of women's rights: There is a need for affirmative action, not to give preference to women over men in employment, but to ensure that women do not suffer detriment by reason of gender.”
“The Women's Budget Statement was first presented by a Labor government in the 1980s. The Albanese Labor government revived the Women's Budget Statement in 2022 because we believe that, in order to seriously address the issues that Australian women face, it requires a planned, practical and sustained response. It requires remembering to think about the impact of women in our economic agenda. The reality even today is that women have a much smaller superannuation balance than their male counterparts on average, and hence we see more old women retiring into poverty. Women are likely to earn less than men to begin with and to experience unpaid periods away from the workforce. Women are more likely to be doing unpaid work, including the so-called 'second shift' when they get home at night.”
“Women's rights have made significant strides since we first got the vote in my home state of South Australia in 1894. It has been a hard slog to get where we are now. Women were only allowed to open their own bank account in the mid-1970s. No-fault divorce started in 1975. The national Paid Parental Leave scheme started in 2010, the same year that saw our first and only female Prime Minister, Julia Gillard. These are, in the context of the long span of women's rights movements, recent developments, and there is much more to do. The Albanese Labor government's budget recognises the disadvantage that women continue to face across many areas of life in Australia today. This budget doesn't and can't fix all of the issues that women in modern Australia face. But it's another stride in that long trek towards a better future for women.”
“My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government's budget supporting local governments to deliver the roads and community infrastructure Australians rely on?”
“They reflect our humour, our landscapes, our history and the everyday experiences that shape our communities across the country. They help young people see themselves reflected in the stories they read, and they help all of us better understand one another. Books do not appear by accident; they exist because someone decided a story was worth telling. Libraries enrich our communities and authors enrich our national life. This legislation recognises that both matter. If we value Australian stories, we must also value the Australians who write them. I commend the bills to the House. Question agreed to. Bill read a second time. Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced. Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.”
“These bills say Australian stories matter, literacy matters, creative work matters, and art work—writing—is real work and should be paid. People often see the finished product sitting on a shelf, but they do not see the years of work behind it—the research, the editing, the rewriting and the uncertainty. For many Australian writers, writing is done alongside other jobs, family responsibilities and everyday life. Very few authors become wealthy from publishing books, but their contribution to our cultural and educational life is enormous. If we want future generations of Australian writers to continue telling Australian stories, we need systems that make creative work more sustainable. Australian stories help preserve Australian identity.”
“Libraries are places to come together, places to find out information, places to learn, places to find an amusing or entertaining book and places to just sit and relax. This legislation is not about choosing between libraries and authors. We need both. Public libraries are an essential part of community life and should remain free and accessible. But creators should not be invisible within that system. This bill streamlines and modernises Australia's public and educational lending rights framework to ensure authors are fairly recognised when their works are held in libraries and educational institutions. It's a practical legislation, but it reflects something much bigger about what we value as a country, because governments make choices about what matters.”
“Places like the Mitcham library, the Tiwu Kumangka library, the Marion library and the Holdfast Bay Community Centre library are not simply places to borrow books; they are places where children discover reading, where older Australians stay connected to their communities and where people can access stories, learning, information and ideas, regardless of their background or income. Libraries are one of the best things we have. They are welcoming places, equalising places, places of learning and connection. In a past life, when I worked in local government, I had libraries in my portfolio, and they were always some of the most popular services that we provided to the local community.”