Sam Rae
Hawke · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I thank the member for the question. Firstly, can I extend my condolences to Mr Austin's family. As I said earlier this week, it stands to any reasonable person's judgement that there's not a single person in this place who wants an older Australian to die while waiting for care.”
“We are overhauling the aged-care system—whether it's in-home care or residential aged care—from the ground up. The way that we drive down the numbers, which we've successfully done, is to reduce the wait times for older people to receive the care that they need. The latest data shows that we are well on our way to doing that.”
“This morning I announced that the government will itself, through legislation, establish a new legislated escalation option so outcomes of the aged-care Integrated Assessment Tool can be changed in extenuating circumstances.”
“Let me be clear. Assessments are always conducted by qualified human assessors, with clinical input documented from start to finish. This is about delivering a system that is efficient, accurate and fair so that, no matter where in Australia someone lives or who does their assessment, they are treated equitably.”
“The commissioner will advise on how government should move to improve and expand access to care, and support genuine co-design of policies and programs for First Nations people. They'll promote cultural capability across the sector, so that the people delivering care understand the people receiving it.”
“That placement is deliberate, and it is a strength. It connects an independent First Nations voice directly to the levers that regulate aged care, and builds capability across the sector. It means their advocacy doesn't stop at advice; it will have teeth.”
The complete record
Every one of 203 lines we hold for Sam Rae, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 1 of 5.
“This morning I announced that the government will itself, through legislation, establish a new legislated escalation option so outcomes of the aged-care Integrated Assessment Tool can be changed in extenuating circumstances. This means that, in the small number of cases where a person's complex circumstances are not fully captured by the tool, under this new pathway their assessment can be escalated to the secretary of the department and adjusted if necessary so they get appropriate care. We'll take the parliamentary break to consider what specific form this pathway might take. We'll consult with older people and the sector, and we will, if people are willing, work across the parliament to get the best outcomes for older people. (Time expired)”
“Let me be clear. Assessments are always conducted by qualified human assessors, with clinical input documented from start to finish. This is about delivering a system that is efficient, accurate and fair so that, no matter where in Australia someone lives or who does their assessment, they are treated equitably. Being a responsible steward of this system upon which so many older people rely means approaching changes in a careful and considered way. The government have been clear we share the intent of the private senator's bill, but we're concerned that in practice it would lead to inconsistent and subjective decisions and increased wait times for older people.”
“We are overhauling the aged-care system—whether it's in-home care or residential aged care—from the ground up. The way that we drive down the numbers, which we've successfully done, is to reduce the wait times for older people to receive the care that they need. The latest data shows that we are well on our way to doing that. Standard-priority cases are waiting on average three months less, medium-priority cases are waiting two months less, and high-priority wait times are now just one to two months. Those assessed as 'urgent priority', as always, will receive their full funding within a single month. Assessment wait times have been reduced from the worst point, where people were waiting up to 10 months, and the median wait time for comprehensive assessments is now well under a single month.”
“I thank the member for the question. Firstly, can I extend my condolences to Mr Austin's family. As I said earlier this week, it stands to any reasonable person's judgement that there's not a single person in this place who wants an older Australian to die while waiting for care. It's why our generational reforms of Australia's aged-care system have been, and continue to be, so important. The royal commission looked into older people dying while waiting for care, and, as I said earlier, at the peak of the aged-care crisis, in 2018, more than 16,000 older Australians were dying every year while waiting for care. And that aged-care royal commission released a report that was mononymously titled N eglect . We, since being elected in 2022, have made the most significant investments in Australia's aged-care system ever.”
“Examples include a small but important change to ensure individuals have flexibility to choose how they pay for residential aged care while they await the outcome of the means testing. These are sensible improvements. They keep faith with the reforms this parliament has already passed, and they keep the system working for the people that it serves. But at the heart of this bill is a simple idea. Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people deserve a louder voice in their own care, and now they'll have one. I commend the bill to the House. Debate adjourned.”
“It makes permanent a set of measures, enacted through rules, that have kept the new Aged Care Act running smoothly since it commenced on 1 November 2025, giving older people and providers the continuity and certainty that they have needed through this transition. It strengthens protections for older people—making clear the obligation on providers to refund contributions and fees that have been overcharged or overpaid. It makes a practical fix so elected local councillors are no longer captured as responsible persons under the act. This brings local government in line with state and territory governments, and it keeps councils delivering aged care in the communities that depend upon them. And it makes a range of further technical amendments to keep the act operating as intended as the sector continues its transition.”
“There is so much more work for government to do to make Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander aged care as culturally safe in practice, in every instance, as it is intended in the Aged Care Act. That work has commenced—with the enshrining of those rights, with the exemption of redress payments, with the work of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flexible Aged Care Program. But we will continue that work until every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in Australia knows that aged care is a system they can trust and rely on—and the commissioner will play a central role in support of our work to achieve that end. This bill does more than establish the commissioner. It features technical, but important, components to strengthen the system that older Australians rely on every day.”
“She held 135 forums and met with more than 1,000 older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their families, communities, and providers. She heard what was working, what wasn't, and what people wanted this role to be. As I have visited Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and services around the country, I have heard of the power of that commissioner role—to bring a First Nations voice to where change can be made. We'll run a robust, competitive process to make sure that the very best commissioner is appointed—someone who has a track record as a respected and trusted leader from the community. But we know that appointing a commissioner doesn't get us all the way.”
“That placement is deliberate, and it is a strength. It connects an independent First Nations voice directly to the levers that regulate aged care, and builds capability across the sector. It means their advocacy doesn't stop at advice; it will have teeth. This includes powers to collect information and report publicly on what they hear from the community. It reaches into how providers are registered, how quality is measured and held accountable, and, importantly, how care is delivered on the ground—an independent voice, with a direct line to the parts of the system that can act on what it says, including the minister of the day and the system governor. This role has been shaped by the people it's for. The outgoing Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner, Ms Andrea Kelly, travelled the country and listened deeply.”
“The commissioner will advise on how government should move to improve and expand access to care, and support genuine co-design of policies and programs for First Nations people. They'll promote cultural capability across the sector, so that the people delivering care understand the people receiving it. They'll help more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations become registered providers—because care delivered by community, in community, is often the care that works best. And they'll help us lift the number of First Nations people working in aged care, so older people can see themselves in the people who look after them. The commissioner will sit within the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission, with an independent statutory role. This is a similar model to how the Aged Care Complaints Commissioner has been established.”
“And too often people miss out on the dignity that they deserve in that care. While there's much work to do to build back the trust of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians that care institutions have eroded over decades and centuries, this commissioner is a profound step forward. This is about building the structures that give every older Australian the same opportunities and the same access to dignified, joyful later years. The commissioner will be a strong and independent advocate. They'll work to make sure that, in every corner of our nation—in the cities, in the bush and on the islands—aged care is culturally safe, is sensitive to trauma, and is responsive to the people that it serves.”
“Older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to need aged care, and more likely to need it earlier in life. Yet they use it at lower rates than other Australians. We can't continue to shy away from why that is. For so many older First Nations people, aged care has felt like a system built by others, for others, a system that asked them to leave their country or island home, to move far from family, to explain themselves in a language that wasn't their first. For some, reaching out for care means trusting institutions that have given their families little reason to. That history shapes the choices that people make today. When a care system doesn't understand a person, they don't work around the system—they simply disengage from it. They wait longer. They get sicker.”
“I move: That this bill be now read a second time. Every older Australian deserves care that sees them, knows them, and treats them with respect. That looks different for everyone. For older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, that means care that understands their culture, their history, and—in many cases—the adversity they have faced. This bill delivers something that will give older First Nations Australians a clear voice to government: Australia's first permanent, independent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner. It was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety, and today this Labor government delivers it. The case for this role is clear.”
“It's the reason that the mountain we have to climb to deliver better outcomes for older people is so very steep. I note that the member for Gippsland was a minister in that government—”
“We agreed it could never be allowed to happen again. But, if those opposite want to talk about failing older Australians, let's talk about what that same royal commission found on their record. There were three volumes in its interim report. The commissioners needed only one word for the cover: Neglect . It was a system that, in their words, diminished Australia as a nation. Older Australians were left in pain, left alone and left waiting for care that never came. Commissioner Lynelle Briggs put the cause of it beyond doubt. She said that the coalition government's main consideration was 'the minimum commitment it could get away with, rather than what should be done to sustain the aged-care system'. The minimum they could get away with—that's an independent royal commission's verdict on those opposite being in office for a decade.”
“Listening to the member for Gippsland, it strikes me just how far this parliament has drifted from where it used to be. There was a time, and it wasn't so long ago, when aged care and looking after seniors across our community wasn't a contest in this chamber. We were working on this together. The royal commission into aged care was established by a coalition government. It was backed right across this parliament, by both sides of this House, and, as it reported its findings, nobody in this place stood up to defend the system as it was. The new Aged Care Act was passed with bipartisan support. It was a commitment that we would work together, knowing the urgency and the importance of this task—to deliver better outcomes for the people who have built our communities. We agreed, all of us collectively, that we had let older Australians down.”
“We have made significant progress, but, for all of those people and the older people to come, we'll continue that work to deliver on the promise of the royal commission and provide the safe, dignified care that every older Australian deserves.”
“Our investment of $47 billion in the aged-care system next year, including an extra 32,000 new Support at Home places on top of the 83,000 that we finished delivering today will continue our work to drive these wait times down. There's much more work to do to ensure that the system moves faster and is more responsive to older people's needs. Our job is to get those wait times down further and get care to people faster, no matter where they live. The number is the same as it has been for some time. It has been reported publicly, and I have given it in this House. It is distressing that, last financial year, 4,812 Australians were on that list.”
“This parliament acted on those recommendations together on a bipartisan basis through the new Aged Care Act and the Support at Home program that began on 1 November. That number today is still too high, but the number of people dying while waiting for care has significantly reduced, and the way we're bringing those tragic deaths down further is by investing to cut wait times for Support at Home services. The latest data shows that standard-priority cases are now waiting, on average, three months less. Medium-priority cases are waiting around two months less. High-priority wait times are now just one to two months, and, as always, those assessed as urgent priority are always allocated their full funding within a month.”
“I thank the member for his question. It stands to reason—certainly any reasonable person's judgement—that no-one in this place wants any older Australian to pass away waiting for the care that they deserve. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety examined exactly this. At the peak of the aged-care crisis, which was around 2018, more than 16,000 older Australians were dying on the waiting list each year, approved for what was then a home-care package but passing away before they ever received it. It's why the commission recommended that the aged-care system should be better at supporting Australians to age in place and to receive those services quickly to keep them healthier at home for longer.”
“If there's one thing that we learned from the Liberals' time in office, it's you can't have a strong aged-care system without a strong and supported aged-care workforce. Our aged-care system is better when workers are properly supported at work and at home. To every single aged-care worker across Australia, thank you for the work that you do. Thank you for the dignity and the compassion that you bring. Thank you for working around the clock. You're the best of us and you deserve every dollar that these wage increases deliver.”
“It's tens of thousands more than what workers were receiving in the nine miserable years under those opposite. After just four years, our work to boost wages for those in aged care is helping us keep the dedicated people who do the work in this sector, in the sector for even longer. All of this comes on top of our focus on delivering real change for every working Australian. Five tax cuts, cheaper health care, more homes and more home owners—we're delivering more cost-of-living help and building a more productive economy, a better tax system, a fairer housing market and a stronger and more sustainable budget. Today isn't the last of our work delivering better wages for workers in the sector, with another increase for nurses to be delivered in just a month on 1 August.”
“This morning I had the pleasure of joining the Treasurer, the Minister for Social Services and the member for Bean to celebrate yet another wage rise for workers around the country, including our aged-care workers. Tomorrow's increase means an extra $85 per week in the pocket of a registered nurse on the award, $67 per week for enrolled nurses and $59 per week for personal-care workers. That's around $3,000 to $4,000 a year, depending on your role. That's food on the table; it's rent or the mortgage paid; it's a family holiday with the kids. It comes on top of our previous increase to aged-care wages, which already have the average registered nurse in aged care more than $28,000 a year better off under this Albanese Labor government.”
“Thank you to the member for Werriwa. I know many colleagues on this side of the chamber share my great admiration for her and the fearless way that she fights for the people of South Western Sydney. When we came to government we found an aged-care sector on its knees after a decade of neglect—a workforce stretched beyond its capacity to deliver care to our loved ones and wages that didn't reflect the value of the skilled and challenging work that they do. On this side of the House we know that better care for workers means better care for older Australians. We came to government with a commitment to rebuild aged care. Keeping skilled workers in the sector has been central to this promise, and it's why we've invested almost $18 billion to increase aged-care worker wages.”
“That gap between what we assume and what the data tells us is exactly what advocates like Melissa are working so hard to close. What strikes me most about Melissa's story is her insistence on being heard, on trusting what her body was telling her even when others didn't, and that's a lesson we should take notes from. Young people shouldn't just accept that they're too young to have bowel cancer as an explanation for their symptoms. If something feels wrong, advocate for yourself. Speak until you're taken seriously. Keep knocking on doors until you get the tests, the explanations and the treatments you need. Melissa, your strength is extraordinary. The relentlessly practical way that you just get on with everything and the courage with which you use your experience to spread awareness for others says everything about who you are.”
“For a while, the scans were clear, and Melissa began the hard work of learning to live, work and parent without a bowel. Then, 12 months later, the cancer came back. It had spread to her liver. At 35, Melissa now lives with a stage 4 diagnosis and is waiting on scan results that will shape whatever comes next for her and her family. Sadly, Melissa is not alone in this. Fifteen thousand Australians are diagnosed with bowel cancer every year. One in eight Australians diagnosed with bowel cancer are under the age of 50, and those rates are increasing on a trajectory that looks like a mountain. It's the second-leading cause of cancer death in our country and the deadliest cancer for Australians aged 25 to 54, yet awareness of that fact still lags well behind the reality.”
“In the lead-up to that diagnosis, her fatigue and anaemia were put down to women's health issues, a reflection of just how deeply the assumption runs that bowel cancer is an older person's disease and of just how hard women still have to fight to have their health taken seriously. As her condition worsened, she ended up in the resuscitation room at Sunshine Hospital, having lost a significant amount of blood. Even then, her age and lack of family history meant cancer simply wasn't on anyone's radar. She was placed on a waiting list for a colonoscopy. When the colonoscopy finally happened, Melissa woke up to four words that no 33-year-old person should have to hear: 'You have bowel cancer.' What followed was surgery to remove her entire large colon, then six months of chemotherapy at the Melton Health Hub.”
“Some meetings change the way you see the world. This week I sat down with Melissa Dunmore, from Bacchus Marsh in our community, who travelled all the way to Canberra with Bowel Cancer Australia for their Call on Canberra advocacy event. Melissa wrote to me wanting to share her story, and I'm so glad she did because it's a story we all need to hear. A week before her 33rd birthday, Melissa's life looked like that of any young mum. She was raising two children, just two and six years old, married to a local sparky and juggling work, study and family life the way so many of us do. Then everything changed. She was diagnosed with stage 3 bowel cancer.”
“I thank the member for Kooyong for her question, and I thank her for her engagements with me and my office in regard to aged-care matters. I'm very familiar with Mr Crossan's case. It is indeed a very difficult situation that he and his family face. I also acknowledge his wife, Mrs Crossan, and the care that she provides and the advocacy that she's provided on his behalf throughout this difficult period for their family. Out of respect for their privacy, I'm not going to go into the specific details of their case in the chamber, although, as his representative—”
“But we are seeing unprecedented demand for aged-care services. I've discussed that many times in this parliament. We released a report on Sunday that showed that waiting times to access home care under the Support at Home program are decreasing across the board. This is a significant step forward and cause for optimism about the way that this is heading. Again, our government is utterly committed to ensuring that every older Australian can get the high-quality, dignified aged care that they deserve. We will continue to work day in and day out to make sure that those waiting times continue to come down and that we get the care to people that they deserve.”
“I thank the member for Gippsland for his question. He engages regularly with my office in advocacy around members across his community and their access to aged care. It is always incredibly distressing for families and, of course, for the community more broadly when people pass away—or indeed die—in circumstances where they aren't provided appropriate care. The Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety examined these issues in great detail and provided recommendations that provided a pathway to the bipartisan approach that this parliament has taken to improving the way that we provide care both in a residential setting and, of course, in regards to the new Support at Home program that was passed through this parliament in the Aged Care Act and began on 1 November. There is more work to be done. There's no doubt about that.”
“Since Support at Home began on 1 November, wait times have come down across high, medium and standard priorities, and every person assessed as urgent continues to receive their funding within a month. Additionally, within the budget we outlined additional investment to ensure that the prioritisation mechanism within—”
“That's why this financial year alone we're delivering 83,000 additional in-home care places, and we're not stopping there. This budget most recently outlined our plan to deliver another 32,000 places next financial year. These extra packages will continue taking pressure off the national priority system, getting more older people the care that they need more quickly. Once we've rolled out these additional places, by the end of 2026-27, 420,000 older Australians will have access to Support at Home. That will be almost three times the number of older Australians that were receiving care as compared with the Home Care Packages Program back in 2020. Our significant investment in additional places is making a difference.”
“I thank the member for Mayo for her question, I thank her for bringing Greg's case to the parliament, and I appreciate the engagement that her office regularly has with mine as we try to work through these issues for constituents, as I do with many members across the parliament. As the member for Mayo's question pertains to, our population is ageing very rapidly, and demand for care is growing very rapidly accordingly. In some cases, people such as Greg have gone through the assessment process and are still waiting to receive the care that they need. Our government is responding to this challenge. As of 31 March, a record 364,723 older Australians have access to an ongoing Support at Home place, while 100,191 are still waiting for their approved level.”
“They engaged schools, students and councils and spoke publicly to educate people all across our community. He also volunteers at a local aged-care home, visiting residents, delivering gifts and sharing his stories of the day. I've had the privilege of joining Harley for two runs. He's now on a mission to raise awareness and money for Dolly's Dream, a charity that provides prevention programs and response strategies to address bullying. He's an inspiring young man making a big difference in our community, and it's no surprise that Harley was named a finalist in the 7NEWS Young Achiever Awards. Harley, Hawke is very proud of you, mate. Keep it up.”
“To every veteran and service organisation across Hawke: thank you for your enormous contribution and for the incredible work that you do to make sure that we remember those that serve our nation. I give a big shout-out to Principal Andrew Harrison and the students at Pentland Primary School, who recently hosted the Speaker of the House of Representatives for a session on civics and democracy. Seeing young people asking great questions and thinking about what kind of country they want to grow up in was one of the highlights of my month. Finally, I have a big shout out to Harley Elliott from Sunbury. Harley's 10 years old. In 2025 he organised a fundraising campaign, running 30 kays in 30 days, every single day in rain, hail or shine. He raised over $8,000 for family violence awareness. He and his mum, Ash, did their own marketing.”
“Four million dollars from the federal government's Thriving Suburbs Program and $4½ million from the Victorian state government will deliver a facility that serves our whole community for years to come. Anzac Day is always one of the most important days on our community calendar, and this year was no different. I attended the Ballan RSL dawn and afternoon services, the Melton RSL service and the Melton Christian College commemorative service. Wreaths were laid on my behalf in Bulla, in Bacchus Marsh and at Sunbury RSL. I also want to acknowledge the Blackwood and Myrniong communities for their own local services. The effort that goes into every single one of these ceremonies—the early starts, the volunteer hours, the dedication to getting it right—makes a huge difference.”
“I recently had the pleasure of joining the Darley community to celebrate the upgrade of Federation Park—fantastic new facilities for local families, backed by $400,000 from the Albanese Labor government. The works have genuinely transformed the reserve. It's the kind of upgrade that makes a real difference to how families actually use and enjoy the space over the weekend. It is more accessible, safer and has nice dunnies—a much better day out overall. I was also thrilled to join the Victorian member for Eureka, Michaela Settle, at the Bacchus Marsh Racecourse and Recreation Reserve to kick off construction of the new Community and Multi-Sports Hub.”
“This is what a responsible, ambitious budget looks like. It builds on our generational reforms and record-breaking investments in aged care. It shows we've listened to older Australians, to their families, to workers and to providers. And it delivers on our promise to build a fairer and more compassionate aged-care system that every Australian can trust. It is one more step in this Labor government's careful, considered work of building an aged-care system worthy of the Australians who rely on it every single day.”
“It'll have a particular focus on ensuring those who need financial support to get into appropriate aged care are never left behind. This is a budget that lives Labor's values. First Nations elders who have received Stolen Generations redress payments will no longer have those payments counted against them in residential aged care means assessments. That's the right thing to do. This budget will continue our work to make sure that more Australians can age at home with dignity, purpose and quality care. No older Australian with a place in the Support at Home program will be out of pocket for help with showering, dressing or continence care. We'll extend care for older Australians in the final weeks of their lives, giving them continuity and certainty so they can focus on precious moments with their loved ones.”
“That's why at the centre of our aged care agenda in this budget there is a significant boost to residential aged care. Labor has already invested more than a billion dollars through the Aged Care Capital Assistance Program since 2022, and we're not stopping there. In response to the accommodation pricing review, we're building on our record investments to deliver more beds in the places that need them most, built in partnership with a sector that we're determined to keep strong and sustainable in the interests of every older Australian. These are 5,000 real beds every year for the parents and grandparents that raised each of us. It'll mean real jobs in care and in construction. It'll mean older Australians getting the care they need closer to home sooner.”
“I thank the member for Petrie. She's an extraordinary representative for her community and she stands up for older people every single day. Last night the Treasurer delivered a budget that is responsible, that is ambitious and that is squarely focused on building Australia's future. It's a budget that backs workers and strengthens Medicare. It builds the homes, the workforce and the skills that this country needs for the decades ahead. For older Australians in need of care, it builds more aged-care beds and improves home care so that more older Australians can access the high-quality aged care they deserve. We cannot build the Australia of tomorrow without delivering on our promise to the people who built the Australia of today.”
“I'm more than happy to continue to meet and discuss those issues in the member's local community and work to resolve those for the people that you've spoken about today.”
“That was a drop of more than 25,000 people from 30 September 2025. Older Australians deserve a system that works for them, and this government is getting on with building one. This evening's budget will be one that proves this Labor government's commitment to continuously investing to build an aged-care system that Australians can be proud of. We've already announced our commitment to remove co-contributions for personal care services, such as showering, dressing and continence care, and we've stepped out the foundations of our plan to make residential care sustainable, affordable and prepared to keep up with the demands of an ageing population. Our government is working tremendously hard and with great focus on ensuring that every Australian across our community can get the aged-care services that they require.”
“We are in the process of finalising the allocation of an additional 83,000 Support at Home places this financial year to help with wait times and to get more Australians, such as those that the member's question refers to, the care that they need. These extra allocations are taking pressure off the national priority system and making sure that more people are getting the compassionate and dignified care that they need faster. It's worth the House understanding that 99 per cent of the people more broadly that are on the national priority system are already eligible for some form of home support while they wait for their approved level package and that every single person assessed as urgent priority is allocated their full funding within a single month. On 31 December 2025, the waitlist under the Support at Home program was 94,963 people.”
“I thank the member for Indi for her question. I acknowledge that she engages very regularly and very constructively with me about ensuring that older people in her community can access the very best aged-care services, and I appreciate that engagement very much. I'm aware of the correspondence that she has provided to me and my office, some of which we have discussed. As we know, demand for aged-care services has increased extraordinarily rapidly with an ageing population. Today, we have more than 350,000 Australians receiving care under our Support at Home program. That's more than double the number of places compared to the Home Care Packages Program that it replaced just five years ago. We also have 830,000 Australians receiving care under the Commonwealth Home Support Program.”
“This is a direct result of our commitment to ensuring that growth areas get the services and infrastructure that they need and that they deserve. I'm also pleased to report that more than 80 per cent of clinics in Hawke are now bulk-billing, reflecting the real impact of the Albanese Labor government's Medicare reforms on our community. I'm pleased to do so in the presence of the Minister for Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, who's done extraordinary work across government to make this a reality for people across our community—thank you, Mark. More families in Melton, Bacchus Marsh, Diggers Rest, Sunbury and across my electorate can now see a GP without worrying about the costs. Finally, I want to give a big shout-out to Jacinta Guirguis from Bacchus Marsh, who made it to the top six on Australian Idol just this week.”
“I was delighted to visit the brand new Murrum early learning centre in Weir Views recently with the Minister for Early Childhood Education. During the election we promised to deliver a new childcare centre for the Weir Views community, and it was fantastic to see this commitment had come to life. It shows what happens when you invest in the future of young families in our growing community. I also joined the Cobblebank Community Services Hub topping-out ceremony in March, which is the result of a $15 million investment by the Albanese government through the Thriving Suburbs Program. This hub will bring essential health, disability, employment and rehabilitation services under one roof for the community of Cobblebank and surrounding areas.”
“Congratulations to the committee president, Angus McTaggart, the secretary, Kate Topp, the entire SunFest committee, and everyone who made this milestone such a success. It's been a year of fiftieths in my community. Last month, I also had the pleasure of attending the 50th Ballan Autumn Festival. I promise I'm not entirely biased, despite Ballan being my home town, but it was a wonderful celebration of everything that makes the Ballan community so special. Congratulations to the festival president, Kevin Harper, and the entire committee on this extraordinary milestone. I also want to acknowledge the 35th anniversary of the Ballan and District Chamber of Commerce, a remarkable contribution to local business and community life over more than three decades.”
“Today I want to recognise some of the beautiful things that have been happening across our communities in my electorate of Hawke in recent times. It was a privilege to join the Sunbury community for SunFest's 50th anniversary just last month. There were two outstanding days at the Village Green that drew a fantastic crowd of 20,000 people to celebrate five decades of this beloved community festival. SunFest remains one of Sunbury's greatest community achievements, and, for a town that also happens to be the birthplace of the Ashes, that's really saying something. It's been going since 1976, and it doesn't happen without an extraordinary group of volunteers who show up every single year.”