Zoe McKenzie
Flinders · Liberal Party · Australia
“Wet lettuce. That is the official verdict on this government's attempt to prevent harm to Australian kids via social media regulation. 'Wet lettuce' were the exact words the eSafety Commissioner used to describe the reforms a month ago in an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald.”
“Schedule 1 contains a large number of technical amendments across Commonwealth legislation, while schedule 2 repeals more than 100 obsolete amending acts that no longer have any operative effect.”
“They include amendments affecting the Criminal Code, veterans legislation, radio communications, the Midwife Professional Indemnity Scheme, marine safety legislation, family law, freedom of information and electoral legislation.”
“Too often we have seen legislation introduced in haste, legislation requiring significant correction after introduction or legislation producing unintended consequences because proper scrutiny was lacking. Australians expect better.”
“I rise to speak on the Statute Update Bill 2026. The coalition recognises the important role that the statute update legislation plays in maintaining the quality and integrity of the Commonwealth Statute Book. These bills have long been a feature of good legislative practice.”
“It strengthens parliamentary scrutiny, it improves transparency and it provides confidence that the legislation described as technical does not, inadvertently or otherwise, produce substantive legal change. Good lawmaking is not just about good drafting; it is about careful scrutiny.”
The complete record
Every one of 413 lines we hold for Zoe McKenzie, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“In May of last year, I hosted a seniors expo in my electorate, and one of the store holders was our community bank in Mount Martha, operated by Bendigo Bank. It is a much loved institution up and down the Mornington Peninsula and one which prides itself on face-to-face customer service for our community, especially in relation to scam recovery services. At the seniors expo, Bendigo Bank brought down its top brass in scamming class, and it shared three steps to mitigate the risk of scamming: stop—don't give money or personal information to anyone if you're in any way unsure; think—ask yourself, 'Could this message or call be a fake?'; and protect—act quickly if something feels wrong. The last step, act quickly, is vital.”
“There would be thousands more near misses like my mum with no financial loss but which come with a vast loss of confidence and capability in a rapidly digitising economy. This is a really important issue for my community of Flinders. A year or so ago, I spoke to a Probus group at Main Ridge, and, while the topic of my conversation was meant to be about parenting and social media, it quickly became a conversation and a realisation for me that we really have failed to equip our senior citizens with the skills they need to do things digitally and the know-how for what they can trust online. While regulatory frameworks, like those contained in this bill, are important, human frameworks—customer-centric design thinking about the age and vulnerability of the customer demography—are just as important.”
“Even though Mum lost nothing in that scam, what endured for her was a morbid fear of technology—her questioning of herself every single time she was online. She lost all dexterity in internet banking. All trust in emails was gone. At the start, lest some form of spyware had been left on the devices, I banned all internet banking, and we would go into the branches together to manage her affairs. Thank God she still had branches to go into. My mum's story is one of hundreds I could give you from my electorate. We are an older electorate—the fifth oldest in the country—which makes us prime targets for scammers impersonating trusted brands in particular: Telstra, Qantas, Woolworths, Medicare, Origin Energy and the ATO. In 2024, nearly 60,000 over-65s were scammed out of a total of $100 million, according to Scamwatch.”
“When I expressed my dismay to a digitally clever friend about the timing—Mum had just come out of hospital—I was told, 'That's intentional.' The scammers take a read of which devices are drawing down overnight from the tower above the hospital so they know who's staying there for treatment rather than being there as a doctor or nurse. And then, when that device—that IP address—leaves the remit of the hospital tower, they get in contact with the number. There's nothing like new drugs, poor sleep and perhaps pain management to make you vulnerable to a scammer. I rang the hospital and suggested they advise their patients or their families to be particularly wary of scams when they leave the hospital's care.”
“The scammers got nothing, but it was a horrendous shock for her, and I had to sit up through many, many nights of that week—from the other side of the planet—talking her through the safety I had put in place around her and what to look out for in coming days in case there was something we had missed. I had friends confiscate and clean all her devices. I had to get her a backup phone. I put holds on all of her bank accounts and had friends walk around to her house with brown paper bags of cash while I digitally reimbursed them from the other side of the planet. At exactly the time she wanted to follow all my travels online, I left Mum in the digital dark. It was both cruel and heartbreaking.”
“'Mum, it wasn't Telstra. I need you to ring the banks right now. You need to ask them to stop all transactions on all accounts, and you need to block your credit cards right now.' Within minutes of hanging up on Mum, the scammers had set up a Gmail account which mirrored her longstanding Bigpond account so they could intercept all of her emails and fraudulently represent that they were her. Friends who ran to her side that day at dawn could see an overnight web history of people trying to break into bank accounts, iTunes accounts and online retail shopping platforms. By gift of my mother's age, she had never cached a password.”
“A year ago, I flew overseas to South America for a short break, and when I landed I rang Mum to check in. I asked how she slept. 'Not well,' came the answer, 'because I got to bed so late after talking to Telstra.' 'Talking to Telstra?' I said. 'Yes. Apparently the Russians were trying to hack my devices, but it's okay because Telstra rang, and they talked me through the steps I needed to do to protect the system. It did take forever, though, and I only got to bed after 9 o'clock.' 'What time did they ring you, Mum?' 'About 7 pm.' 'Mum, Telstra doesn't ring after five. Did they put anything on your computer?' 'Yes, yes, they put all the things I need to be safe on it and on the iPad and the phone too, and I'm sure it was Telstra because it was an Australian voice'—Mum's from a different generation—'but it's all safe now.' Silence.”
“Their customer service is second to none, highly tailored to reassure and guide the elderly or the infirm in particular through a labyrinth of digital manipulation. Their interlocutors on the phone and their systems are much easier to navigate than the ones that the banks or the telco companies or the TV channels or the news websites give us. I know because this happened to my poor old mum 12 months ago. Poor old Mum is getting a bit of a shout-out this week; it's just as well she can't reprimand me for that anymore. She serves as a useful yardstick here because my mum was no dummy. She was a Fulbright scholar; the recipient of endless medical scholarships and fellowships; a trained cardiothoracic surgeon; and a lawyer, barrister and tribunal member—a genius.”
“In 2023, the last available figures, almost $3 billion of Australian savings were lost as a result of over 600,000 scams made that year, which was an almost 20 per cent increase on the previous year's figures. That is an astonishing figure, and I can't help but wonder whether, if $3 billion worth of assets had been stolen from people's homes through breaking and entering, we would have doubled the police force. But, because so much of this scamming occurs in the digisphere, and in particular via unregulated internet platforms owned and based offshore, Australia has been slow to react. For those who have been scammed, let me be clear that it is not your fault. The skills of scammers, their extraordinary customer service, leave our government institutions, our banks and our airlines in the dust.”
“This bill, at least, would institute a scams prevention framework, which would require regulated entities to take certain actions in relation to scams, including taking responsible steps to prevent, detect, report, disrupt and respond to scams relating to services which that entity provides. Almost weekly, I hear from constituents in my electorate who have been scammed or near scammed. It's agony when they raise this issue with me. They tend to come feeling quite embarrassed—ashamed in some instances—and frustrated that there is no emergency button to press when it happens and that no-one seems to be accountable, least of all the scammers themselves, for this fraud and the crime affecting so many in our community.”
“I rise to speak on the Scams Prevention Framework Bill 2024. This is an imperfect bill and purports to fulfil a Labor election promise that is now three years old on the shelf. It seems quite odd that we should be considering this bill on the eve of the 2025 election and that, yet again, this parliament should be subjected to legislation with which no-one is particularly happy, with so many stakeholder groups expressing concern about the framework contained in the bill. But, as we have heard from so many contributors in this debate before me, Australia is known as a scammers' honey pot, easy for the taking and light on regulation at a time when, as we have vastly digitised our economy through the COVID period, digitally enabled scams have been exploding both in number and impact.”
“This week we have spent some time in contemplation of the antisemitic blight brought upon this beautiful country. Maybe now action will follow. Sitting suspended from 12:57 to 1 5:5 9”
“Universities have set up antisemitic camps. While this bill will mitigate some of the government's failures, we can only hope the provisions will be used. Existing provisions of the Criminal Code have not been used—like division 80, which makes it an offence to urge violence against individuals or groups on the basis of race, religion and the like. The coalition has been calling for action for months. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has been calling for action for months. The Australia Israel and Jewish Affairs Council has been calling for action for months. Jewish places of worship and scholarship, Jewish businesses and Jewish schools have been calling for action for months. Jewish families, their friends and my friend have been calling for action for months.”
“On the Today show last week the Treasurer said: What it shows is that the fears that a lot of Australians in the Jewish community have are not always unfounded. Not always unfounded! I know he apologised afterwards—and what a relief that he did—but it hints to you the mistrust this government has towards Australia's Jewish community and the belittling of its well-founded fear of violence. This bill is unfortunately necessary because of the mixed messages from this government, which has allowed hate free rein. But it's not just the provisions of the bill which matter; it's the use of them, as my friend so rightly pointed out. Antisemitic displays must be prosecuted and antisemitic protests must be stopped. Existing laws have not been used. Protests in our street in which antisemitic displays have been paraded have dragged on for months.”
“After the attacks in Kingsford last weekend I checked in with her again, and she replied: My family member goes to school there and is already terrified. Last night another family member called in a panic to check we were ok, as she saw a whole lot of police and ambulances heading in the direction of Dover Heights. At other times she has told me of sleepless nights punctured by the sounds of helicopters overhead. This is Australia. This night terror has no place here. The Prime Minister has chopped and changed his language about the stark antisemitism we have been seeing over the last 15 months, and last week we had an astonishing statement by the Treasurer in response to the discovery of a caravan laden with explosives alongside a list of addresses of Jewish organisations, businesses and homes.”
“If you need reminding, on 17 January emergency services were called to Dover Heights when four cars were damaged and one was graffitied with the words 'F*** Israel', and another vehicle with 'F*** Jews', which was also set alight. At the time, out of concern for my friend, I suggested she come and stay with me for a few days, maybe with some sun on the Mornington Peninsula, to get away from it all. Her response was ferocious: Thanks Z. But what I really need is some law enforcement to create a deterrent. The fact that this happened the day after a ceasefire agreement was announced shows this has little to do with the Middle East and is anti-semitism pure and simple. I am not hiding. I am angry.”
“In November 2024 swastikas were spray-painted across the main road of the Flinders township and upon the I A m sculpture which sits beautifully in the centre of town. At various points, swastikas have been painted on the roads or on our 'welcome to township' signs. I was even told recently on a visit to the Rosebud Country Club that someone had carved swastikas into the sand bunkers. It's bizarre and it's sick. But beyond the evidence of the electorate is the evidence of my friends. A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 12:33 to 12:53 Beyond the evidence of antisemitism in my electorate is the evidence of my friends. One of my dearest friends lives in Dover Heights, down the road from the attack on the former home of Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin.”
“It's endless, harrowing and compulsory reading. And while I'm grateful for organisations like the Executive Council of Australian Jewry and the Australia/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, who have worked for decades to build awareness of Israel in this place and on collaboration and affection between our two countries, I do not necessarily need these reports to know something terrible is happening in this country. In my own electorate of Flinders on 12 November 2023—the day after Remembrance Day—a statue of a World War I soldier which had been carved into a tree stump was vandalised with a swastika. The RSL cleaned it up, cut it down and put the statue behind the walls of the RSL garden where it would be safe.”
“I thank the Executive Council for Australian Jewry for their work tracking and reporting anti-Jewish incidents in Australia in 2024. Their report—theECAJ Report on Anti-Jewish Incidents in Australia 2024—makes for harrowing reading. Reading it, you will see the incidents I listed above; they don't even scratch the surface of what has been happening in our country. The language used in some of the other incidents described in this report is deeply distressing, like a graffito of supposed 'Zionists': a caricature of a man with big ears, a big nose, horns and long, witch-like fingers. There have been physical assaults on Jewish Australians walking in a public park and going to a 7-Eleven, and there have been rocks thrown, spitting and Red Bull cans thrown out of cars at gatherers around a synagogue.”
“But their grace has failed to stem the tide of antisemitic acts which have blighted our beautiful country over the last 15 months: the member for Macnamara's office was graffitied and burned in June 2024, putting at risk the lives and wellbeing of his staff and other residents of that building; the Adass Israel Synagogue was burned to the ground in December 2024; a car in Woollahra was set alight and anti-Israel graffiti littered the suburb in November 2024; the same again happened in Woollahra a month later; in January of this year, two more synagogues were vandalised with swastikas; a childcare centre was set alight, topped off with more graffiti; the former home of the co-chief executive officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry was vandalised with red paint; more cars and more graffiti; a school was vandalised with antisemitic graffiti; a caravan with explosives was discovered alongside an antisemitic note; earlier this week, eggs were thrown at women in Bondi in Sydney, with the Strike Force Pearl's commander treating the matter as an antisemitic attack owing to the women's clothes potentially identifying them as targets of that nature; and, in recent nights, a home in Middle Park in Melbourne has been defaced with antisemitic graffiti.”
“He put up a good front the next day. He did a fair swathe of media, and he was clear and compelling in his description of what we were seeing in Israel: 200,000 people displaced from their homes and the stories of 1,200 people slaughtered over that weekend of 7 and 8 October. As I have said elsewhere, I commend the member for Macnamara's moral clarity and his constant voice for Jewish Australians. Together with the efforts of the member for Berowra, they have made this place and this country a better place, reminding us of our better selves, living in not just a tolerant but a safe and welcoming country for people of all faiths and backgrounds.”
“It was that week while I was in Israel that we saw the Albanese government sending horrendous mixed messages regarding Israel's right to defend herself. While we were there, the Albanese government joined others at the UN General Assembly calling for a ceasefire, along with—almost as an afterthought—the immediate release of hostages. I was with the member for Macnamara on the bus late at night, travelling from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, I think. We had just missed rocket alerts and shelter commands in Jerusalem. Josh was on the bus; he took a call, and his face went grey. May I say it takes a lot to turn the member for Macnamara's face grey; he is one of the most jovial and optimistic blokes in this place—full of grace and often full of giggle. He doesn't do grey well. 'Are you okay, buddy?' I asked him. 'Hmm,' came the stony response.”
“We listened to soldiers, parliamentarians, local MPs, people who run civil services for residents, families of hostages and locals grieving their lost ones. We also met with the Palestinian Authority. I have never encountered so many shades of grief as I saw in that week. There was an overarching desire for peace on all sides but a recognition that that cannot happen without the disablement of Hamas, a terrorist organisation that is roughly 70 kilometres from the towns of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It's extremely close; you can get there in less than a couple of hours. It's extremely present. It's a terrorist organisation, which, short and simple, will accept nothing less than the eradication of Israel and her people.”
“He has been vastly outshone by the New South Wales Premier, whose forcefulness of word and belief demonstrates what could and should be done with a moral compass. Shortly after the October 7 attacks, I travelled to Israel on what I think remains the only bipartisan trip to Israel since the atrocities of that day. The members for Macnamara and Higgins attended, along with the member for Fisher and Senators Birmingham and Fawcett. We went to Tel Aviv in Jerusalem as well as Sderot on the Gaza border, a town that, at the time, had a population of 3,000 down from 37,000 before the attacks. We visited the kibbutz Kfar Aza to see where the terror of October 7 and the days that followed had begun.”
“That protest was advertised by the Palestine Action Group on that day, while the murder of Jewish people along the Gaza Strip was still ongoing and as the 251 hostages of Hamas began what has become for so many more than a year in captivity. A day later, Sheikh Ibrahim Daoud addressed a large protest in Lakemba in Western Sydney, and he cried to the crowd: I'm elated. It's a day of courage, it's a day of resistance, it's a day of pride, it's a day of victory. That was the beginning. Since then there has been a more than 700 per cent increase in antisemitic attacks and antisemitic behaviour in this country. As we in the coalition have raised elsewhere, time and time again, the Prime Minister stands condemned for failing to address these matters as and when they occur.”
“Two days later we saw the first instance of what, at least to me, seemed to be a fundamental breach of the Australian ethos of equality, acceptance and tolerance; our celebration of our diversity and our heritage; and our proud boast of being one of the best multicultural countries in the world. The Sydney Opera House sails were lit up with blue and white in recognition of the atrocities Israel had just suffered. Yet there was a protest beneath those sails, and antisemitic chants were heard. There is debate about what occurred that night, but the images speak for themselves. Watching them, you see an anti-Israel mob setting off flares and chanting death wishes to Jewish Australians.”
“When this bill was introduced in September last year, the coalition offered to pass the bill with haste, but the government refused. Perhaps if it hadn't we would not have seen the horror we have seen over summer. I am nevertheless relieved it is happening in this sitting fortnight, which is most likely the last sitting fortnight of the 47th Parliament. This is a serious piece of legislation which responds to abhorrent behaviours by evil actors—behaviours which we have seen growing in incidents in Australia since the atrocities of October 7. On that October 7, Hamas, a recognised terrorist organisation, attacked Israel.”
“The Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024 amends the Criminal Code Act 1995 to strengthen existing offences for urging force or violence and the display of hate symbols and to introduce new offences for threatening force or violence against targeted groups and their members. The fault aspect for the existing offences of urging force or violence is also to be reduced from 'intent' to 'recklessness'. The bill also proposes to remove an existing good faith defence for offences of urging force or violence and for the proposed offences of threatening force or violence. The groups against whom it would be an offence to threaten force or violence would be distinguished by race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status, disability, nationality, national or ethnic origin, or political opinion.”
“At the end, he said: We must do more to encourage them— young people— to entrench that culture, and to bring on more— apprentices— That's why I'm especially pleased to announce a series of measures at furthering entrenching the enterprise culture within this country. The Prime Minister went on. I know these measures like the back of my hand because I'm the bunny who wrote that policy for the 2004 election. It was the election when you'd see John Howard walking around, quite often with a hammer in his hand, just to constantly reinforce the message: 'We appreciate your choice of an Australian trade qualification. We need you to choose more, and we need to back you in.' That's what a Peter Dutton government will do if given the chance—back in the trades and get us back on track.”
“He talked about where they would be located, from Darwin to Northern Tasmania, Adelaide, Perth and here in Queensland. May I say, two of those survived their de-creation, or their abolition—should I call it that?—by the Rudd government, and they're both in Adelaide. They're run by the Catholic Education Office, and they're great. He announced the introduction of Commonwealth scholarships for new apprentices in priority trades after their first and second year of apprenticeship. He announced an intention to extend youth allowance to apprentices, putting them on the same footing as university students. He also announced $100 million to build an Australian network of industry careers advisers to make sure that, when students went to advisers to ask what they might do in the future, trades were kept front and centre.”
“He reflected: Australia is facing a national skills shortage in traditional trades such as carpenters, welders, auto-electricians, motor mechanics, brick layers, chefs and hairdressers. This is in part a product of our great economic success. It's also the legacy of some bad decisions we made a generation or more ago. This country made a big mistake 30 or 40 years ago when it turned its back on the old system of having technical skills. He went on to talk about the importance of those technical skills and then to announce a raft of policies to address the skills deficit we were facing. He talked about our drive to tackle skills shortages and to revolutionise vocational education and training. He announced the 24 Australian technical colleges that we would establish to accelerate national skills development in traditional trades.”
“In his speech to formally launch the Liberal Party's campaign in September 2004, John Howard said: There's a golden thread that runs through so many Coalition policies and that is that great principle of choice. Greater choice for families to choose how they will balance their work and their family responsibilities. Greater choice for entrepreneurial Australians to start and expand their small business. Greater choice and opportunity for young Australians to develop their talents to the full. And importantly, greater choice for Australian parents to decide how and where their children will be educated. Does that sound familiar? It should. Further in that speech, John Howard went on to describe what the coalition's policy on vocational education was going to be.”
“This chamber may need some reminding about the coalition's commitment to vocational education. I had the honour of working with Brendan Nelson when he was education minister in 2004, which some of you with long memories will know was the year of the 'trades election'. I had been Nelson's vocational education adviser since the year prior, and I was laser focused on how to increase uptake in trade training and how to make apprentices and trainees feel appreciated by the Australian population, valued, recognised and respected for their choice. Our commitments to vocational education at the 2004 election were based in the heart of liberal values.”
“There's no point to a TAFE down the road in the industrial estate in Rosebud if no-one can get there. They also raised concerns about attitudes to trades and trades training even though Flinders is a trading hotspot. We have the second highest number of trade professions of any electorate in the country. You can't blame tradies for wanting to be on the Mornington Peninsula. It's paradise. A vibrant, skills based tertiary system is what will sustain Australia's economy in the 21st century. There is enormous demand for skills in construction, the care economy and agriculture. We need to train as many people as possible and provide the best public policy settings to ensure that most people can get the education to meet the country's needs. But the answer is not one-size-fits-all TAFE; it's in choice and flexibility.”
“It's just that no-one has invested in it for years, so our young people tend to be drawn towards the shiny new facilities in Frankston or, worse, up the freeway in the city to take up the 'university, university, university' pressure that their peers, parents and, indeed, this government constantly puts on their shoulders. Since being elected, I have been in constant contact with our local TAFE and vocational education providers. I set up a hospitality roundtable which is now maintained and sustained by the sector itself. Chisholm TAFE, local employers, employment agencies, the private RTOs and the shire: we all get together and talk about what is needed to keep our kids learning and working on the peninsula. But it always comes back to the same issue—the lack of state government funded public transport.”
“When you look at the performance of TAFE under this government, it is a good idea to look at some facts. TAFE numbers are lower than they were under the coalition. In fact, the year the Albanese government introduced free TAFE, 2023, was also the year that saw nearly record-low enrolments—since 2020. I'm not here to condemn TAFE as an institution in any way. I love TAFE. I was once a TAFE student. I have the most extraordinary, high-potential TAFE in Rosebud, in my electorate. It's the only tertiary institution we have, even though technically we're meant to be metropolitan Melbourne.”
“Sharyn told me of people in similar positions to her who have had to do some of the hardest months of their life over the Christmas break, reconciling with the debt and the administration left to them by this overnight change from the Victorian government and the skills deficit their communities will be confronted with, all while listening to Labor cry 'fee-free TAFE', which, by the way, was never free. Just the materials at the nearby TAFE were more experience than what NIET was charging many of its students. Indeed, the students who looked to transfer to TAFE under NIET when it lost its Victorian government funding found they were all going to have to pay $460 at the fee-free TAFE, whereas at NIET, at their actual course, it was free because it had been subsidised under this Victorian government program now abolished.”
“They've also got confidence in using equipment such as lifting machines and in giving dignity to clients when providing personal care such as showering and toileting. Many students they get from other training organisations haven't used any of this equipment before, and NIET students have had to teach them on the job. There are aged-care facilities on the Mornington Peninsula which cannot operate at full capacity at the moment because they lack the qualified aged-care workers they need.”
“There is currently a waiting list of 6,000 individuals for care packages in Frankston and the Mornington Peninsula. NIET has over time been a reliable supplier of high-quality and job-ready aged-care staff to Australian Unity in Mornington and AutumnCare in Frankston and Mornington and provides ongoing training to around 250 disability support workers employed by Focus Individualised Support Services, who are based in Mornington at the Coolstores. NIET also provides ongoing medications training to PCAs in aged-care centres and to disability support workers. Sharyn's employers often comment on her students. They stand out during placement because they've been taught the soft skills of communication and to be proactive and person centred carers.”
“Sharyn and her team were desperately trying to find a way to work with their students to get them to qualify before she had to exit the NIET premises. Over Christmas, Sharyn and her colleagues developed a plan for those students. She needs to find a replacement tenant for the premises on which NIET has a five-year lease, so she's going to operate for the next six months. She'll run at a loss to do this to make sure that her students get to finish their qualification. Their only alternative was to do nothing until the end of April and then try and enrol in TAFE in its next incoming cohort, on 29 April. Six months from now, the Mornington Peninsula will have lost the potential for hundreds of graduates that would have been picked up by so many businesses in desperate need of quality staff.”
“Students accustomed to small, tailored and flexible classes at NIET were told that TAFE class sizes were capped at 17 to 20 per group, with classes held three days a week—always during business hours—with two days being taught online, even though they are local students and learning to care for disabled and elderly people, which is a hands-on, face-to-face, practical role. When I met with Sharyn in December, she was bereft. Her team were struggling to hold back tears as they spoke to me about what this might mean for their students. NIET is a family place where middle-aged women, in particular, returning to education and training after raising children or getting back on their feet after a separation have found peace, purpose and a sense of family.”
“It equally provides high-quality skilled people in hospitality and tourism—the stuff the Mornington Peninsula thrives on. But overnight the Victorian government had made this business unviable. Why? Because a broke Victorian government wanted to pass the buck to the Commonwealth, citing the illusion of free TAFE. What does this mean for the peninsula? It means the loss of hundreds of urgently needed staff. What does it mean for NIET and for local employment in Frankston? NIET has to lay off six permanent and 15 casual staff. This move, literally on the eve of Christmas last year, threw NIET's students into limbo, and two weeks notice was given. NIET tried to facilitate transition to the nearby TAFE, but it was already at capacity.”
“But this overnight change would in fact be devastating. Sharyn was also summarily advised that the amount of money the Victorian government offered per student would be reduced by 35 per cent. Even for students who had been enrolled in 2024, there was no grandfathering under the funding agreement which had been on foot, and they were still completing their courses in 2025. This change in funding would occur overnight. Sharyn, at the time of receiving this advice, had 180 places offered to support students in the individual support, early childhood and ageing support industries. You have to step back for a minute and think about what is actually happening here. Each year, under this program, NIET provided qualified, job-ready graduates to disability services, child care and aged-care facilities across my electorate.”
“She was distressed because of an announcement made by the Victorian government regarding changes to their Skills First funding program that changed which qualifications would be subsidised by the Victorian government to meet Victorian skill needs, the number of funded places available and the subsidy amounts to support students. Sharyn was told that, overnight, funded places for her training organisation, NIET, would go from 180 to no more than 50, even though she had in place a two-year contract with the Victorian government which had allowed her to invest in upskilling her staff and to purchase new training equipment for students' needs. For the previous decade this training organisation, NIET, had had a thousand funded places, so the drop-off from the previous year had already been financially challenging.”
“If they had, they would see the devastating effect this measure in this bill is having on choice both for employers and future employees, as well as on the quality and quantity of graduates in precisely the skill groups and trades that this country desperately needs. Let me give you a local example of the chaos this kind of measure is making in my community. Just before Christmas I went to visit Sharyn. Sharyn runs a private training organisation just over the boundary of my electorate, and I visited her RTO, Nepean Industry Edge Training, a couple of times to talk to her students and to understand what guides their career choices and their hopes for the future. But, just before Christmas, Sharyn called my office in a state of panic.”
“So, according to their own provisions, the free TAFE place may not in fact be free, or indeed, according to this provision of the bill, it may not even be at a TAFE. George Orwell would be so proud of this one. This legislation, together with the Prime Minister's recent announcements regarding apprentices, shows you just how much vocational education is an afterthought for this Albanese government. We heard it yesterday in question time—university, university, university; cuts to HECS fees for current debt-holding university students or graduates. Yes, let's make all the tradies pay to wipe 20 per cent off a first-year lawyer's HECS debt. Lovely! Almost no-one in Labor has run a business—certainly no business which requires vocational and training skills. It's obvious in all of their policy settings.”
“Last year the South Australian skills minister let the cat out of the bag, providing evidence to the South Australian parliament in late October that the dropout rate for fee-free TAFE was around 13 per cent. The detail of the bill, of course, reveals what we already know—a free TAFE place is not exactly free. A free TAFE place 'may not be free of all fees'. You'll find that in the small print—part 1, clause 5, 'Definitions', 'FT place'. This is what the bill says: FT place means a free place in a course at a TAFE institution or a course provided by another VET provider. Then there's a note in smaller print: An FT place may not be free of all fees. The fees covered will depend on the terms and conditions of the relevant FT agreement.”
“I rise to speak on the Free TAFE Bill 2024, disingenuously titled as the bill appears to be unfunded. So we can't be so sure about the free bit, and we are none the wiser in relation to the 'who will be paying for it' bit as well. I can tell you who probably will be paying in terms of worse outcomes, wasted endeavour and unmet skill needs: the Australian people. We see the risk of enormously wasted talent. Labor's own talking points on TAFE include that, of the 500,000 enrolments in so-called fee-free TAFE, only 13 per cent have so far resulted in a completed qualification, which means 87 per cent are yet to complete or have dropped out.”
“Early in the summer, mum would regale them with stories of her studies in the United States or the adventures of her spinster, teetotaller, pub-running grand-aunts in Trafalgar. Towards the end, it was just quiet and loving company, and I'm so grateful to Jules, Deb and Stephen, who held me up in those last weeks so, in turn, I could hold up mum. We would not be who we are without these people, and on behalf of mum and me, I say thank you.”
“When mum was diagnosed with kidney cancer a year ago, I set up a small WhatsApp group comprising my friends who knew mum well, my girlfriends as far back as primary school, ex-boyfriends she loved, former colleagues and friends that mum had helped confront tricky health issues themselves—the people who have become my family. They were there for me throughout this annus horribilis and were always there when I needed someone to step in for Bear. I'm so glad that, in the final days of mum's life, so many of them were able to come and spend time with her through the glorious Mornington Peninsula summer: Jackie Suchames, Marisa Lo, Christina Teague, Julia Doyle, Deb Kwasnicki, David Luff and Aldo Borgu in particular.”