Alison Byrnes
Cunningham · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“Something I am particularly excited about is that, as of 1 July this year, Australia now has a national environment protection agency. It will be a national environmental watchdog with real powers, a clear set of rules, a clear mandate to monitor and enforce those rules, and big consequences for doing the wrong thing.”
“The ACCC has the funding and the power to seek penalties for supermarkets of up to $10 million per breach of our new laws or 10 per cent of their annual turnover in the previous year. It's just one of the ways that we're working to keep supermarkets competitive and fair for customers.”
“This disproportionately affects younger workers and those in insecure work, who are often lower paid and vulnerable. They are also the people who can least afford to miss out on retirement savings.”
“At the same time, 1 July saw three million workers receive a well-deserved pay rise, with modern award wages increasing by 4.75 per cent and the national minimum wage going up by six per cent. We have advocated for increases to the minimum wage at every annual wage review since we came to government.”
“The Albanese Labor government is delivering the investment the Illawarra needs to be a true force in the advanced manufacturing and clean energy industries. Illawarra company Sicona Battery Technologies is pioneering the next generation of battery materials.”
“This funding will help Sicona expand its production capacity by 300 times, taking the tech from pilot scale towards full commercial scale. As global demand for batteries continues to grow, particularly for energy storage and electric vehicles, this investment will unlock enormous potential across Australia and globally.”
The complete record
Every one of 328 lines we hold for Alison Byrnes, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 7.
“Today, I would like to acknowledge a truly remarkable man, George Bartolo OAM, who passed away peacefully at home surrounded by his loving family on 11 March 2025. He is survived by daughters Janet and Karen and is now reunited with his late wife, Lourdes (Doris) Bartolo. George had many passions, and the ones that stand out the most are his love for family, community, dogs, soccer, dancing and the Labor Party. George was always first to hit the dance floor, lighting up every event with his infectious energy, and was always the life of the party. As a life member of the Labor Party, George advocated for social justice and a better future for all in all that he did.”
“Helping businesses and households decarbonise has been a key focus, and I'm proud to have helped secure over $50 million for the development of a green hydrogen industry at Hysata at Port Kembla and $5 million for the Electrify 2515 pilot in Thirroul.”
“We are investing in new research and teaching facilities, with a $2.5 million renewable energy training centre at the Wollongong TAFE and the $10 million Energy Futures Skills Centre at the University of Wollongong. This will help to train and upskill our industrial workforce, providing them with the skills and knowledge necessary to thrive. The Illawarra is known for its deep industrial roots, and we know how important it is to retain our sovereign steel-making capabilities. That's why we supported BlueScope with the reline and upgrade of its No. 6 blast furnace at the Port Kembla Steelworks with $136.8 million through the Powering the Regions Fund.”
“We understand the importance of a strong health and aged-care system, just like we know the importance of a good education. We are committed to ensuring that every Australian has access to the best possible opportunities. Our university has received an additional 1,361 Commonwealth supported places to train students in areas of need, like teaching, nursing and engineering. This represents a $42.5 million investment to bridge the skills gap. To continue the phenomenal research that they are renowned for, the university has been awarded more than $74 million in Australian Research Council funding in the last five years, with $20 million in 2023 alone. For vocational education, fee-free TAFE began in January 2023, and we have seen over 5,000 Illawarra students enrol. Unlike the Liberals, we want to make this permanent.”
“We have cut the cost of medicines, we have lowered the safety net threshold and we've introduced 60-day prescriptions, saving Cunningham residents over $8 million of their hard-earned cash. After being left with an aged-care-bed crisis in the Illawarra, stemming from a decade of neglect by those opposite, I have helped secure $16.5 million through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program for IRT to open over 40 additional beds in Unanderra. We've funded the local Acute to Residential Care Transition Service and supported an eight-place Specialist Dementia Care Program unit at HammondCare in Horsley, in the member for Whitlam's electorate. And we're working with the New South Wales government, jointly funding 35 new transition care places to assist older people out of hospital and into residential aged-care homes.”
“These are just a few major investments previous Labor governments delivered in the Illawarra, and we are continuing that investment. We are building a stronger economy, addressing cost-of-living pressures and ensuring that every Australian has access to quality education, health care and secure jobs. Under this Labor government, we have seen historic investments to strengthen Medicare. We are opening 87 Medicare urgent care clinics, with two already open in the Illawarra, in Corrimal and in Dapto, offering bulk-billed urgent care seven days a week. We have tripled the bulk-billing incentive, which saw a 4.5 per cent increase to the bulk-billing rates locally, which meant there were an additional 63,356 free visits to GPs from November 2023 to December 2024.”
“Under previous state and federal Labor governments, we've seen some pretty big investments, like the $140 million BlueScope steel adjustment package, $45 million in upgrades to Mount Ousley Road, $4.67 million in improvements to Picton Road, $49 million to construct the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge, $12.1 million in funding to establish the Illawarra Cancer Care Centre—with the help and the fierce advocacy of Professor Phil Clingan—and the Illawarra's first MRI Medicare licence. We've also invested in our academic institutions to set the region up for success, with the University of Wollongong receiving $35 million for the SMART Infrastructure Facility, $31 million for the Early Start facility, $25.1 million for the Sustainable Buildings Research Centre and $43.8 million for the Australian Institute for Innovative Materials.”
“Tomorrow marks a thousand days since the election of an Albanese Labor government. I am so proud of everything that we have achieved, but there is still so much more to do. Under the Albanese Labor government, we are seeing real life-changing investment in our people, our businesses and our communities all across Australia. Labor has a strong history of delivering for Australians when in government, especially in Cunningham and the Illawarra. When Labor is in government, investing in the Illawarra is a priority—a priority that I am proudly continuing, along with the member for Whitlam, who is sitting here today.”
“For disadvantaged children, access to early learning is even more critical, helping to close developmental gaps before they widen. The Albanese Labor government is determined to give every child the best start in life. We will continue working with early childhood educators, parents and teachers, and industry leaders to strengthen and expand early learning opportunities. This bill is a step towards a stronger and fairer system—one that works for families, supports businesses and sets our children up for success.”
“By guaranteeing a minimum level of subsidised early education, we are not only giving our kids the best possible chance in the future; we are also supporting families and our teachers. This reform will also help to strengthen our economy. A more accessible and affordable early childhood education system means that more parents can return to work, boosting productivity and easing workforce shortages across our key industries. The benefits of early learning are clear. Studies show that children who participate in quality early education are more likely to succeed in school, develop strong social skills and achieve better long-term outcomes. That's certainly what we've heard in the comments from our local experts in the Illawarra.”
“I also think this will help primary school teachers, children who we can flag as needing more support before they go to school will give teachers a better opportunity at managing behaviours and not being thrown in the deep end from day 1. She also says: If we have more days with them to build skills, or support families to seek developmental support, they're already heading down the right track. These comments highlight the critical importance of this bill, from the experts, which will ensure that every child has access to quality early education. Ensuring that every child has access to early learning isn't just about fairness. It's about investing in our future. We are giving every child, no matter what their background, the opportunity to learn, to grow and to thrive from the earliest years of their life.”
“Families in regional areas and First Nations families have been particularly hard hit, and we can see this in the Illawarra and surrounding areas. Cassie, who is a very dedicated and passionate early education educator working in my electorate, said: I think it's super beneficial for children and for families. Children being in care isn't just about playing with play dough, it's about supporting them to learn the key skills they will use for the rest of their lives. She says: Children who don't access care before kindy are more likely to struggle to develop their find motor skills, social skills, emotional regulation and independence.”
“She also says, In Australia, we keep talking about "having a fair go" and the Three Day Guarantee policy epitomises that, giving every child, no matter where they live, or who their parents are, an opportunity to access early childhood education. Kim Bertino is the CEO of Big Fat Smile, who have 34 centres around New South Wales, with the majority being in the Illawarra region. Kim is another passionate advocate, who said: At Big Fat Smile, we are excited about the news that legislation to enact the Guarantee will be introduced into Parliament and we urge all parties to work together to get the law passed by Parliament as soon as possible. She says: The Three Day Guarantee will remove a significant barrier which has stopped many children experiencing disadvantage accessing early learning and created unnecessary red tape for families.”
“Anita Kumar is the CEO of ECTARC Early Childhood Services and Training, who have 11 early education and childcare centres in the Illawarra and the Shoalhaven. Anita is a passionate advocate for the early childhood education and care industry, recognising the vital role that the sector plays in supporting families, fostering child development and strengthening the workforce. She said: The Albanese Government's 3-Day Guarantee, which replaces the Activity Test and ensures children can access early childhood education and care, is widely welcomed by the sector. This initiative supports the development and wellbeing of all children while supporting the workforce issues across industries. She says: Every child has a right to Education no matters what their parent's circumstances.”
“The bill guarantees that all families will receive 72 hours or three days of childcare subsidy each fortnight. Additionally, families caring for First Nations children will be guaranteed 100 hours of subsidised child care per fortnight. Those opposite introduced the activity test in July 2018. It promised to enable and encourage greater workforce participation and simplify childcare payments. This, however, was not the case. Instead of making child care more accessible, like they promised, it created new barriers to workforce participation, added complexity to the childcare system and made it harder for families to access early childhood education and care. I reached out to the early childhood education and care centres in Cunningham to understand just how this would impact them and the families that they serve.”
“We are working with the sector to develop an early education service delivery price to better understand the cost of delivering services around the country and to also shape future reform. The Albanese Labor government believes that every child has the right to early education, to help make sure that they don't start school behind. The three-day guarantee ensures that all children, regardless of their parents' work or study status, have access to that quality early learning. Through this bill we are replacing the Liberals' activity test and introducing this three-day guarantee in early education from 5 January next year. The three-day guarantee will increase entitlements for over 100,000 families, with 66,700 families expected to be better off in the first full financial year of implementation—and no families will be worse off.”
“Businesses also feel the strain, as they struggle to retain skilled workers who are unable to return or are having to leave their job due to caregiving responsibilities. Addressing these challenges isn't just about supporting families and children. It's also about strengthening our workforce and our economy as a whole. Our government has already started taking steps to build a universal early education and care system that provides quality education. We have delivered cheaper child care, which cut the cost of care for more than one million families. We passed legislation that will see our early childhood education and care workers get a 15 per cent pay rise. We are investing over $1 billion in a Building Early Education Fund to build and expand early education and care centres in areas of need.”
“All of us in this building have a responsibility to ensure that all children, regardless of their background, have access to high-quality education, and this bill, the Early Childhood Education and Care (Three Day Guarantee) Bill 2025, will make that a reality for thousands of families across the country, including in the Illawarra. Currently in the Illawarra, many parents are struggling to find available early childhood education places due to long waiting lists. This is putting pressure on families, as one parent, often mothers, are having to delay their return to the workforce because they can't find affordable and available childcare places. This reduces household incomes and limits career progression for the parent who has elected to stay home to care for their child.”
“The Albanese Labor government believes that every child has the right to access early education, and the member for Lalor, who was just in here, was speaking about how quite often the only place that some children feel safe is at school or in early education. She was spot on about that. We are committed to ensuring that all Australians have access to quality education, from early childhood education and care all the way through to university. We know that early childhood education is crucial to helping children develop the skills that they need to succeed in school and in life.”
“Corrimal Fire Station's deputy captain, Graham Yates, has spent the past two years documenting the history of Corrimal Fire Brigade. The book, Corrimal Fire Brigade100 Years 1925 to 2025 , is an incredible tribute to the past 100 years at this station. Congratulations and thank you to Paul, Graham and the rest of the team and their families at Corrimal Fire Station for the incredible work you do in our community. You keep us safe, not only attending to the hundreds of callouts that you respond to each year but also through initiatives like the free fire home safety visits. Thank you again.”
“Corrimal Fire Station has just celebrated an incredible milestone—100 years of service. This is an incredible achievement and it is due to the amazing firefighters both past and present. Under the leadership of Captain Paul Dorin, its eighth captain, Corrimal Fire Station has continued to excel in serving our community with impeccable dedication and resilience. I met Paul almost two years ago when he and his team were talking about a small project they were working on—Smoke Alarm Action Day. I was so thrilled to see it come to life on 1 June last year. Since then I have taken every opportunity to promote smoke alarm safety, including on my Christmas card, informing all my constituents about this amazing initiative, where they can get free smoke alarms and some advice from our fire team.”
“This is massive—raising the repayment threshold from $54,000 up to $67,000, and lowering repayment rates. We've introduced a Commonwealth Prac Payment to support students undertaking mandatory prac placements in essential fields, such as teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work, because we know that students have been doing it tough for too long. We've also committed to making fee-free TAFE permanent, creating 100,000 fee-free TAFE places every year if re-elected. In Cunningham alone, we have seen over 5,000 Illawarra students enrolling in fee-free TAFE courses.”
“History shows that when Labor is in government, we invest in people and we build for the future. We have built things like the NDIS, the NBN, superannuation, paid parental leave, Medicare and the list goes on. Under Prime Minister Albanese, we are continuing this tradition of investing in the future for all Australians. From 1 July 2024, every Australian received a tax cut to put more money back in their pockets, and for the third year in a row, wages are rising, with over 2.6 million Australians receiving a pay increase. We are providing $300 in energy bill relief for every household and $325 for eligible small businesses. To support students and our future workforce, we have made significant reforms to the HECS system and, if re-elected, we will include a 20 per cent reduction in student debt.”
“We're also funding and opening 87 Medicare urgent care clinics, including in Corrimal and Dapto in the Illawarra, so Australians can walk in and get urgent, bulk-billed care seven days a week without their credit card. This is in stark contrast to the opposition leader, who cut more than $50 billion from public hospitals. That's not all. He's already slated massive cuts to our Public Service and institutions, people that are there to help the public get the services that they need. But he will not tell us exactly where he's going to cut those jobs until after the election. If he were a hairdresser, he'd work at Just Cuts. On this side of the House, we are focused on helping Australians with the cost of living, providing much-needed relief, and there is a lot more to do.”
“On Sunday, the Minister for Health and Aged Care announced that we are investing a further $573.3 million to deliver more choice, lower costs and better health care for women. This includes things like better access to long-term contraceptives, larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing for IUDs and birth control implants, saving around 300,000 women a year up to $400 in out-of-pocket costs. The good news in health just keeps on coming. Last week, the Prime Minister and health minister announced an additional $1.7 billion to fund public hospitals and health services next year. This is an extra $407 million for New South Wales to help cut waiting lists, reducing wait times in emergency rooms and managing ramping.”
“Under the Leader of the Opposition—who, don't forget, holds the title of the worst health minister in 40 years as voted by Australian doctors—we saw bulk-billing rates absolutely plummet. With our government's record investments into Medicare, we have seen an additional six million bulk-billed visits between November 2023 and December 2024. In Cunningham, we have seen a 4.5 per cent increase to the bulk billing rate for the same period, equating to 63,356 bulk-billed appointments. The Albanese Labor government has also made medicines cheaper, saving Cunningham residents over $8 million by cutting the cost of medicines, lowering the safety net threshold and legislating 60-day prescriptions.”
“Here we go again—another MPI and another lie by those opposite. Whilst concern about cost-of-living relief has underpinned every step our government has taken, the 'no-alition' has run in the opposite direction at a rate of knots. They have opposed every single cost-of-living measure on this floor, and that's an absolute shame for the Australian people. When we came into government, we saw portfolio after portfolio decimated under a decade of neglect by those opposite. It was an absolute bin fire. But we rolled up our sleeves and we started cleaning up their mess. Australian families were faced with the rising cost of living, stagnant wages and increasing prices for essentials like housing, child care and energy, and they weren't doing anything to address it for 10 long years.”
“My question is to the Minister for Housing. How is the Albanese Labor government helping people dealing with housing stress, what have been the challenges in delivering that help and are there any other approaches that would leave people worse off?”