Colin Boyce
Flynn · Liberal National Party · Australia
“We all know the recent budget was a disaster. However, there's an initiative that I do welcome, and that is the $10.7 billion fuel security package, comprising $7.5 billion to establish a fuel and fertiliser security facility, $3.2 billion for a government owned Australian fuel security reserve and $10 million for a feasibility study into…”
“We will restore common sense to housing and immigration by ensuring Australia only brings in as many people as it can house. Under the coalition's policy pledge, net overseas immigration will be capped each year at the number of new homes completed in Australia.”
“After four years of higher taxes, more debt, fewer homes, weaker borders and falling living standards under Labor, the coalition is putting forward seven policies to restore Australia's standard of living and protect our way of life. Under Labor, inflation has pushed up prices, wages and tax bills.”
“We'll deliver more fuel, more storage and more security for Australia and reduce pressure on families and small businesses by scrapping Labor's safeguard mechanism, a carbon tax on business that will cost refineries, for example, around $165 million by 2029-30.”
“It is a clear opportunity to build on that strength and secure Gladstone's future as a powerhouse of industry and energy. With the right backing, this project can drive economic growth, support local businesses and provide greater certainty for families across Central Queensland.”
“By increasing defence spending to three per cent of GDP, the coalition will provide increases to defence spending so that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force have the proper platforms, equipment and protection to fight for us.”
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“We also saw the rolling failure to take decisive action here at home. Antisemitic displays were not prosecuted. Antisemitic protests were not stopped and so antisemitic sentiment was allowed to fester. There are existing criminal laws, like division 80 of the Criminal Code, that are meant to deal with things like urging of violence against groups defined by race or religion. These laws were not used. Protests in our streets in which antisemitic displays abounded were permitted to drag on for months and months. Universities were permitted to be used as encampments that served as a hot-bed for antisemitic action. Our human rights institutions were not given focus or direction, nor called to account when they abandoned the Jewish community. The Prime Minister's response was drowsy and disinterested.”
“The Prime Minister could only talk about antisemitism and Islamophobia together, almost as if acknowledging antisemitism here at home would somehow diminish the experience of Australian Muslims. Acknowledging Jewish Australians experiences of antisemitism does not diminish the experiences of Muslims here in Australia. Neither antisemitism nor Islamophobia has a place in our country and both should be condemned. At the same time we are responding to an unprecedented wave of antisemitism in our country. However, when we are seeing armed guards outside Jewish schools, it is appropriate to focus on antisemitism. The Prime Minister did not do that, and his failure to do so was an indication that he did not take the threat of antisemitism seriously. It was a green light for those in Australia who wanted to take things further.”
“He could and should have used our laws and our police forces to clamp down on those who sought to weaponise the Hamas attacks for their own hateful purposes here in Australia. Instead of decisive action, we saw a false equivalence from the Prime Minister and from the Australian Labor Party. For months we had Labor ministers who couldn't acknowledge domestic antisemitism without mentioning Islamophobia, as if one would offset the other. This was at a time when we had a nationally unprecedented rise in antisemitism. We had angry mobs standing outside the Opera House chanting, 'Death to the Jews.' We saw Jewish shops being vandalised, Jewish students being harassed and gangs roaming in places like Caulfield, hunting for Jews.”
“Often they are hiding behind weak academic pretence that somehow what they were doing was anti-Israel, not antisemitic. Preventing this should have been the government's focus, and this is where they have failed. Now let's look at the difference in leadership between the Prime Minister, Mr Albanese, and the leader of the coalition, Peter Dutton, on antisemitism and terrorism. Australians look at the Prime Minister to set the tone of national response to a crisis, and he could have and should have made clear through his actions from the very beginning that those who sought to spread antisemitic attacks would feel the full force of the law. He could have and should have been clear right from the very beginning about the scale of the horror inflicted by Hamas and that Australia stands with its long-term friend and ally, Israel.”
“It is both desperately sad and utterly predictable that, on learning of these horrific attacks on Jewish people in their own homeland, malicious actors here in Australia would draw inspiration from this. These bad actors here in Australia rejoiced in a day that was marked by the murder, torture, sexual assault and kidnapping of innocent people in Israel. And this is not exaggerated. In the words of one hate preacher, 7 October was 'a day of courage, a day of pride' and 'a day of victory'. And this is shameful. It was obvious that they would see those attacks as giving license to spread the same vile antisemitic hate here, targeting Jewish Australians and seeking to spread fear. They have used our streets and our university campuses to call for the destruction of the Jewish state and spread old antisemitic tropes.”
“As many would be aware, the initial spark of the antisemitic attacks we are now seeing across the country came with the 7 October terrorist attacks on Israel by the terrorist group Hamas. There can be no equivocation or denial of this. The 7 October attacks saw the single greatest loss of Jewish lives on any day since the Holocaust in the Second World War; 7 October was a day of murder, torture, kidnapping and brutal sexual violence perpetrated by Hamas against Jews in Israel. The attack was deliberately cruel and barbaric. We don't need to repeat these heinous acts in this chamber, but there is no doubt they were designed for the purpose of maximising pain and sorrow amongst Jewish people.”
“One message of vandalism said, 'Blood on your hands, Anthony, Peter, Penny.' The Returned Services League of Australia, the RSL, condemned the vandalism, with national president Greg Melick describing the damage as 'deplorable'. Those war memorials honour those who have sacrificed to protect and preserve all the freedoms that all Australians enjoy. The dabbing of protest slogans is 'nothing short of despicable', he said. It is dishonourable in the extreme to use war memorials as a platform for a protest. I completely agree with Greg, and I believe that hate speech laws should include the vandalism of war memorials. I believe that, for men and women who have sacrificed their lives in the defence of freedom for this nation, the least we can do is honour their legacy and the contribution to this nation they all made.”
“It is a core national value, and antisemitism is a direct rejection of that value. Jewish businesses, homes, cars and synagogues have all been targeted in attempts to spread antisemitism in Australia since the 7 October attacks in Israel. These are not the only places that have been targeted. Pro-Palestinian slogans and vandalism have covered war memorials all over the country, including Anzac Parade, just down the road from Parliament House here in Canberra. The Australian National Korean War Memorial, the Australian Vietnam Forces National Memorial and the Australian Army National Memorial were graffitied with pro-Palestine messages in June last year.”
“I rise to speak on the Criminal Code Amendment (Hate Crimes) Bill 2024. It is beyond disappointing that the rise of antisemitism in this country has gotten to a point where we have to introduce legislation to counter it. This is a bill that is, sadly, necessary because of the repeated failures of the Albanese Labor government to prevent this sadly predictable spread of antisemitism. This all stems from weak leadership from the Prime Minister and by the Labor government in general. Attacks on Jewish Australians are attacks on every Australian. Today, it's the Jews, but who's next? Will it be the Hindus, or the Christians, or the Muslims, or the atheists? Attacking people because of their Jewish faith and ancestry is un-Australian. We are a country that prides itself on treating people equally, whatever their faith or their background is.”
“That's something I will be fighting for as the member for Flynn. One of the issues they brought up with me is that Women's Sheds can apply for general community funding grants but have no funding programs specifically for them such as Men's Sheds. The Minister for Women, Ms Gallagher, has been silent on this issue. Women's Sheds matter, and that is why I'm calling on the Labor government to support Women's Sheds in the same way that Men's Sheds are supported. Women's Sheds matter.”
“You've probably heard of a Men's Shed, but have you heard of a Women's Shed or a 'she shed'? I recently had the opportunity to catch up with some of the ladies from the Biggenden Women's Shed. This terrific group connect, create and thrive, creating a connected community and a welcoming space where local women can pursue a variety of recreational and personal development activities. It's a safe place for women to focus on their needs and build supportive friendships with women of all life stages and backgrounds. This shed is the first of its kind in the region, with members coming from a variety of communities. It was lovely to catch up with these fantastic ladies and hear about their exciting plans to develop a space of their own for local women to utilise and their need for fencing and gates to surround their shed.”