Monique Ryan
Kooyong · Independent · Australia
“I second this motion and commend the member for Curtin's motion to refer the Interactive Gambling Amendment (Gambling Reform) Bill 2026 to the House Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs. This should not be a controversial request.”
“What about the clinicians, the researchers, the public health experts and the community organisations who have spent years documenting the devastating impact of gambling addiction? Some of them have been given days to review this complex legislation and provide feedback on it to a very limited extent.”
“After this sort of delay, the government has no excuses for not getting this legislation right. But it's rushing to introduce legislation that has been denied input from the public.”
“They're special relationships, the glue that holds us together. For Emily, Matt and Lucy, Noah and Maia, Millie and Rory—I know you share those special relationships and I know that they'll continue. I know that Rich knew that too. Parkrun is something we all do together. It's really symbolic of Rich.”
“We were fortunate to have people in our lives who gave us a sense of what was possible—doctors, engineers, teachers and scientists. We learnt the importance and the wonder of learning and science. There was always plenty of sport. We participated in everything, but particularly footy.”
“The government has not responded to that recommendation appropriately. Its proposals fall well short of that. There are ongoing and serious questions about the extent to which this legislation will provide any support or any protections for children and for vulnerable Australians.”
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“It's great that the government is extending that support now to students of nursing and midwifery, teaching and social work, but it's not extending that support to other students in the care sector. We have medical students sleeping in their cars when they are undertaking prac placements. The system of prac placement is particularly difficult for women, because they often have care responsibilities. It means that people from Indigenous backgrounds and from rural and regional communities are less likely to complete their studies on time. They're having to defer or go part time to meet the extreme cost of prac placements, which doesn't just include travel and accommodation but includes professional registration, uniforms and insurance.”
“We know that many graduates now have $150,000 in debt when they graduate, and the PBO has told us that some people will struggle to pay off their HECS debt in their working lifetime. One of the implications of the bill that the government has in front of the House is that many students will go onto a debt treadmill when in fact we're going to see that the increase in the repayment threshold, which appears on the surface of things to be a positive move, will mean that many people pay off less than the cost of indexation each year, such that their debt actually increases rather than decreases. The Prime Minister spoke quite movingly about the impact of students in the care sector having to pay for prac placements.”
“I rise to thank the minister for education for moving this bill, the Universities Accord (Cutting Student Debt by 20 Per Cent) Bill 2025, with a degree of urgency. We know that HECS debt is an incredible burden for so many Australians, current students but also graduates. We know that young Australians are deferring starting their studies because of the fear of the extreme debt that they can accrue as a result of the massive increase in the cost of HECS that we've seen in recent years. We've seen the impact of the job-ready graduates scheme, which the government, when in opposition, described as pernicious and punitive. It has doubled the cost of degrees in arts, business and law overnight. As a result, arts degrees are now $50,000; combined degrees are $85,000.”
“The government is investing billions to expand bulk-billing incentives, but we need it to also address GP remuneration and training numbers, practice sustainability, hospital capacity and workforce retention. We need real reform of our healthcare system. We have to invest in digital health, in integrated care and in preventive services. We need to simplify Medicare. We need to introduce item numbers that reflect the realities of modern medicine. We need to pay doctors who are providing the very best practice care, not just seeing patients quickly. Investment in health care is the very best investment that we can make as a country. I urge the government to stay the course and to make that investment wisely.”
“The government's new urgent care clinics aim to provide free walk-in care for non-life-threatening conditions. Theoretically, that should ease pressure on emergency departments—and that is a worthy aim. Already, over 1.2 million Australians have accessed urgent care clinics. But there are legitimate concerns about them. They strain the already limited GP workforce, they divert funding from existing practices and they potentially, consistently, plausibly undermine continuity of care. The Albanese government has already spent $1.3 billion on urgent care clinics without any significant evaluation of their outcomes or their cost effectiveness.”
“Medicare is just one piece of our healthcare puzzle. We have a situation where we have fragmented and disconnected services and a lack of coordination between primary care, hospitals and allied health care. Our public hospitals are overfull. Their infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth and with ageing demographics. They're facing a dual crisis of increasing demand and decreasing productivity. Hundreds of thousands of Australians are currently waiting for planned surgeries. More than one-third of people wait longer than recommended times for essential procedures like heart valve replacements. We have a situation where ambulance-ramping remains a critical issue. Lives are being lost in ambulances because we can't get people through the doors of our hospitals.”
“This disadvantages those GPs who are undertaking important chronic disease management and those people who specialise in women's health or in mental health. In rural areas, practices face a number of additional challenges, which include workforce shortages, geographic isolation and fewer resources. At the same time, we're facing a growing shortage of GPs, especially in rural and outer suburban areas. Young doctors are choosing other specialties because general practice is undervalued and undersupported. If we don't make general practice a viable, respected career path for young doctors, no amount of funding is going to ensure access to bulk-billing. We have to give GP trainees the same pay and conditions as young doctors who are training in hospitals, and we have to create more GP training positions.”
“A metropolitan GP who bulk-bills every patient earns about $50,000 a year less than someone who undertakes mixed billing. That's a big gap, especially if you factor in rising overheads, staff wages and the complexity of care. The government's new Bulk Billing Practice Incentive Program offers a 12.5 per cent quarterly bonus for practices that bulk-bill all their patients. But more than 90 per cent of GPs are telling us that, even with this incentive, exclusive bulk-billing may not cover their rising operational costs. The fact is that both the current and the proposed bulk-billing models incentivise shorter appointments. Essentially, they promote six-minute medicine. The longer the consult, the worse the remuneration under Medicare.”
“I thank the member for Lalor for the opportunity to speak on this very important issue. As a former doctor and a medical researcher, health is very close to my heart. It is one of the most important issues in the electorate of Kooyong. At the last federal election, both the major parties offered an extra $7.9 billion in funding to Medicare to boost bulk-billing rates. Now, $7.9 billion is a lot of money. I wholeheartedly support the concept of universal health care, I support Medicare and I support bulk-billing. But throwing more money at the system without addressing its structural issues simply is not going to ensure that all Australians can see a GP without paying out-of-pocket. Last financial year, 77 per cent of GP services in this country were bulk-billed.”
“My question is to the Minister for Education. Minister, the legislation we are set to pass this week will cut HECS debts for 2.9 million Australians, which is fantastic. However, the legislation does not help current students undertaking law and arts degrees, whose fees were massively inflated by Scott Morrison's job-ready graduates scheme. I've put forward an amendment to this bill which would scrap Job-Ready Graduates. Will the government accept my amendment so we can get rid of the scheme tomorrow?”
“In 2025, they are seeing that our only hope for effective action on the environment and on climate is through a parliament in which the major parties have to answer to communities like ours on the issues which matter to us.”
“She has been sidelined by a prime minister hell-bent on shoring up his electoral chances in a marginal electorate—a prime minister who has already shelved the EPA and EPBC overhauls to placate the resources sector and the Labor state government in WA. The Labor government has been backed up on this shameful legislation by an opposition which has indicated that it will utterly dismantle environmental protections if it's elected. There's something terribly wrong with our major parties and their increasing blatancy in demonstrating that any lip-service that they pay to environmental protections or climate action is based only on their political calculations. In 2022, the people of Kooyong voted for climate and for the environment.”
“On multiple occasions, including one this year, overstocking or bacterial infections in salmon farms in the Macquarie Harbour have caused the deaths of millions of fish. Tasmanians haven't been able to swim at local beaches without bumping into stinking, rotten fish carcasses and blobs of fish oil. It's disgusting. No salmon company meets RSPCA standards. Tasmanian waters are home to several critically endangered species including the maugean skate, which has only one home in the wild. That ancient species has outlasted the dinosaurs, but it's not going to outlast Anthony Albanese. Three foreign owned businesses control the Tasmanian salmon industry. The entire industry makes up less than one per cent of Tasmanian jobs; seven in 10 Tasmanians want it gone. The minister for the environment promised zero extinctions under this government.”
“I rise to amplify the concerns of Kooyong constituents about the government's failure to protect our marine environment and endangered species. Yesterday, in the most cynical of ploys, the government slammed through an outrageously bad piece of legislation to protect the Tasmanian salmon farming industry. The industry is an animal welfare nightmare, but it has been given a personal carve-out by the Prime Minister. The only transparency here is the PM's transparent attempt to save Labor seats in Tasmania. We've known for years about the environmental damage and the animal welfare breaches of the Tasmanian salmon industry. Salmon farms cause harmful algal blooms, which suffocate fish. Antibiotics and other chemicals leach into the surrounding waters and harm other aquatic species.”
“My question is to the Minister for Small Business. Minister, the instant asset write-off is before the House at the moment. If it's not passed this week, the small businesses of Kooyong won't get that tax write-off. Do you commit that you will put it through the House today so that it can go to the Senate and so that the small businesses of Kooyong can benefit from this measure in this financial year?”
“We need to have a concerted effort to ensure that all disadvantaged families can access the services and support that they need and deserve. It's a lofty goal, but it's worth pursuing. Universal early childhood education has the potential to be a game-changer for Australian children and families, and for our economy now and into the future. Universal early childhood education has the potential to benefit children through quality learning environments, to reduce financial pressure on parents, to reduce gender inequity and to enhance economic outcomes for Australia. For that reason, I commend this bill to the House.”
“The commission could analyse data on early childhood development, providing valuable insights to inform policy decisions and improve practices. This evidence-based approach would help identify gaps and areas for improvement. The commission could offer resources and support to families, helping them navigate the ECEC system and access the services they need. This would include providing information on available programs and subsidies. With a focus on long-term planning, the commission could develop strategies to address future challenges and opportunities in early childhood education, ensuring sustainable and ongoing improvement. The quality of our early childhood education has to be high. Workforce issues and barriers to access must be addressed; the sector must be valued.”
“Such a commission, which was recommended by the Productivity Commission, could play a crucial role in enhancing the quality, accessibility and equity of early childhood education and care across this country. It could offer many benefits. Firstly, a dedicated commission would provide centralised oversight and coordination of early childhood education and care, policies and programs. It would ensure consistency and quality across the country. It could address disparities in access to and quality of care, particularly for disadvantaged and vulnerable children. It could set and enforce high standards for early childhood education, developing and implementing best practices and professional development for educators, leading to improved outcomes for our children.”
“Despite that, since 2018 the number of family day care and in-home services has declined in this country; 116 family day care services and 19 in-home care services have closed. This decline in family care services has disproportionately affected culturally and linguistically diverse households, low-income households, those living in very remote areas and carers working non-standard hours. Offering universal childhood education and child care is not as simple as merely making existing centres free or nearly free. We have to have an overarching vision for best practice child care. My colleague the member for Goldstein, in her amendment today, which I supported, called for the establishment of an early childhood development commission.”
“The burden of the administrative process can discourage carers from using formal childcare services, but also many families are hesitant to provide the information required because of their previous negative experiences in dealing with government departments. In addition, the childcare subsidy system doesn't always recognise First Nations kinship care relationships in a timely way, and that can deter families and carers from seeking to access the subsidy. The subsidy also has limited influence on reducing childcare fees or prices for family day care, outside-school-hours care and in-home care. Family day care is an important alternative childcare choice for many families as it may offer more flexible hours of care and adjustable session lengths, and sometimes it better caters to cultural and linguistic needs.”
“As Gina Cass-Gottlieb, the chair of the ACCC, has said: Market stewardship roles can be effective in care-based economies where competition-driven market dynamics do not always achieve the desired outcomes, The ACCC recommended that: … the Government consider providing funding or grants directly to providers to assist with the costs of supplying services in areas that are considered unprofitable, or supplying services to groups within the community where costs of providing care are higher … We know that First Nations children are less likely to be enrolled in child care. There are a number of reasons for that.”
“The ACCC has found that the current one-size-fits-all policy approach cannot meet all needs across the childcare centre. They said: … the highly localised nature of childcare markets; the way parents select services based on availability and informal assessment of quality; and providers' supply decisions mean … that market forces alone are not meeting the needs of all children and households. We need a mix of different regulatory measures to improve outcomes for households in diverse circumstances and in locations across the country.”
“We could also streamline the subsidy calculation process by using a flat rate or a simplified sliding scale based on income alone without considering activity levels. It would make it easier for all Australian families to understand their entitlements. There is, of course, a cost to all such measures. Abolition of the activity test and provision of universal access to subsidised childcare would carry a significant cost. The childcare sector is chronically short of staff. Increasing demand will only exacerbate that issue. We'll also need to increase the number of childcare places to meet the increased demand generated by these changes. But, if something matters to a country, it finds the money for it. This is such an important issue for our economy, for Australian parents and for Australian children.”
“The Centre for Policy Development went a bit further and suggested we create a single legislated national entitlement for all children which includes both childcare and preschool. The legislation before the House will improve affordability of childcare for a small proportion of families, but its settings for subsidised care remain complex and will still act as a barrier for many Australian families. We should work to the abolition of the activity test. A universal access model in which every child is entitled to a minimum number of subsidised hours per week, regardless of their parent's activities or income, would reduce administrative burden, and it would make the system easier to understand.”
“They have all called for the removal of the activity test. They found those families which need more childcare than they are currently able to access with the existing activity test, particularly the lower income families, are being disadvantaged and actively stopped from accessing the best-practice childcare. The test has significant administrative complexity for little benefit. It makes it harder for parents to access the support that they need when they're actively looking for a job or when they're struggling with variable shifts, and irregular and unpredictable working hours. Both the ACCC and Early Childhood Australia have also recommended a minimum entitlement to three days of quality ECEC for all Australian children.”
“These changes are a definite improvement on the existing arrangements such as they are, but they still fail to accord with the advice of the experts, which was to abolish the activity test altogether. The activity test is inconsistent with international best practice, which is for the universal provision of early childhood education for all preschool aged children. The contemporary labour force requires flexibility, and the activity test is a poor fit for its needs. Impact Economics and Policy has reported that at least 126,000 Australian children from the poorest households are currently missing out on childcare because of the activity test. Reviews by the Productivity Commission, the ACCC, the Interim Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee, the Australian Childcare Alliance and the Women's Economic Equality Taskforce are unified.”
“Families with fewer than eight hours of such activities per fortnight currently can't access subsidised care unless their income is below $83,000. Those with an income over that income threshold currently receive no subsidised care. It's good, therefore, to note that the bill now before this House modifies the childcare subsidy activity test so that now all Australian families can access at least 36 hours of subsidised care every week, regardless of the time spent in recognised activities. The bill also guarantees 50 hours of subsidised care a week for those with more than 24 hours of recognised activities per week, as well as families caring for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.”
“Children develop better when they're stimulated. Quality early childhood centres don't just babysit children; they educate them. They help them gain early numeracy, literacy, problem-solving and social skills. It's really important to note that the disadvantaged children who might not be benefiting from a rich learning environment at home are those who benefit even more from quality early childhood education. The current activity test determines the number of subsidised childcare hours that Australian families can receive based on their engagement with recognised activities like work or study. It effectively limits many Australian families access to ECEC, particularly those with lower incomes and those with irregular work patterns.”
“Others have to choose to work fewer hours. That costs them doubly. Mothers who are out of the workforce or underemployed while raising young children have slower career progression and lower salaries even after they return to the workforce. This impacts their financial security and their accumulation of superannuation. It exacerbates financial stress on families. It decreases national productivity and it perpetuates gender inequality and the gender pay gap. There is ample evidence of not only the substantial economic benefits of investment in early education but also the benefits for children. As the only paediatric neurologist ever to occupy a seat in this parliament, I can tell you that children's brains develop more rapidly in the first five years than they do at any other stage in their life.”
“In a time of stagnant productivity, access to child care remains the most significant barrier to workforce participation in Australia. Child care is unaffordable for as many as 40 per cent of Australian families. The average family with two children in early learning spends 16 per cent of its income on childcare fees. Twenty-four per cent of Australia is considered a childcare desert, in which there are at least three children fighting for every available spot. Only eight per cent of the country currently has enough access to centre based day care to provide at least three days of care for all children aged zero to five. This is the result of decades of policy failure by successive Australian governments. As a result, for many parents, usually the mothers, it's just financially not worth it to go back to work.”
“Providers' profit margins are higher in the major cities and in more advantaged areas. There are more services in those areas, where demand is generally higher and households generally have a greater ability and willingness to pay for them. The availability and quality of educators and staff have a significant impact on the quality, reputation and profitability of childcare services. Stable staff tenure and community also contribute to the viability of those childcare centres. We know that labour shortages are affecting childcare services across Australia but particularly for those in rural and regional settings, for First Nations communities and for children with a disability who have complex needs or those experiencing disadvantage, as well as children aged under two.”
“We all recognise the importance of quality education, but that of early childhood education has historically been undervalued. As businesswoman and now governor-general Sam Mostyn said last year, 'Early education and child care are as important to Australia's economic future as the introduction of public schooling and of Medicare.' In this parliament the cheaper-childcare reforms of July 2023 improved childcare affordability for all types of care and for households across the income spectrum. That reduction was proportionally largest for the lowest income families, but they do still continue to spend the largest proportion of their disposable income on child care. I note that the affordability benefits from those changes to the childcare subsidy were unfortunately quickly eroded by price hikes in childcare centres.”
“That's something that, as yet, we have not received from any of the major parties in this country. We need a vision on getting a fair return on our fossil fuel and mineral wealth, and we have to use that to make best-practice health, dental, disability and aged-care services accessible to all. We need a vision for making affordable housing a reality for all Australians. We need a vision to make things better, not worse, for the next generation. It has been my greatest privilege to be the member for Kooyong in this term, and, if re-elected, I commit to that vision.”
“In less than three months, Australia will elect its 48th parliament. These last three years have seen the worst inflation in more than three decades. Grocery prices are up 30 per cent on 2020 levels. Housing is less affordable than ever before. Rentals are in critically short supply. Two in three Australian households have had to cut back on cooling or heating their homes. One in three households have had to cut back on kids sport or on school excursions. Many are unable to insure their homes or their farms. We need all politicians in this country to listen to their communities and work together to give them confidence and hope for the future. This has to include a vision for sensitive, evidence based tax reform to address increasing intergenerational inequity.”
“I put that before the House and before the Assistant Treasurer, in terms of the fact that it's inappropriate for us to continue to give tax breaks to people who don't need them and shouldn't deserve them. We should be working as actively as we can to use taxpayers' money for good rather than giving tax breaks to people who buy enormous super utes.”
“There are only 1.94 million tradies in Australia, so it's reasonable to assume that in many instances these vehicles are not being purchased for commercial purposes but, rather, are being used by individuals for non-commercial purposes. That being the case, it's not appropriate that the luxury car tax is giving these people a tax cut. It would make sense that we change this legislation such as to exclude those luxury utility vehicles from the commercial vehicle exemption. I've written to the Treasurer about this in the past but not yet received a response. We know that tradies who are actually using their cars for work are unlikely to be adversely affected because of this, because the models of their choosing are below the luxury car tax threshold.”
“I would like to speak to a slightly different piece of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Incentives and Integrity) Bill, if I could. With respect to the instant asset write-offs, I did want to draw the chamber's attention to the fact that I think, in many cases, this bill is being misused by some consumers, particularly with respect to the write-off of the luxury car tax discounts. Essentially the issue here is the issue regarding people using this tax law to write off utility vehicles when in many instances it's reasonable to conclude that the vehicles are actually being purchased for non-commercial purposes. If we look at the cars bought in Australia in 2023, nearly a quarter of them were light utility vehicles or utes—that's 3.1 million vehicles purchased in that year.”
“My question is for the Minister for the Environment and Water. On 21 May 2022, in his victory speech, the Prime Minister said, 'Together we can end the climate wars.' Yesterday, your government moved to drop the environmental protection agency off the Senate bill. I ask you, Minister: is this how the climate wars end?”
“Last year, the federal government committed $3.2 billion to help complete the North East Link. Knowing what we know, or what we don't know, the infrastructure minister should withhold that federal funding until we get better public engagement and until we get some transparency from the Allan state government and from the building authority over its dealings with the public. We are all entitled to know where, why and how taxpayers' money is being used on state projects.”
“The Victorian government's North East Link project was supposed to cost $10 billion. It's now up to $26 billion. It's possibly the most expensive road project in the world per kilometre. It's had significant and worrying environmental impacts on tree canopy and on habitat destruction in areas like Koonung Creek. Constituents regularly contact my office about the noise, light and dust from the 24-hour drilling, demolition and roadworks. Residents tell me that project managers and the state government are slow to engage with them and are often dismissive of their concerns. The local governments are effectively sidelined. The Victorian government has signed at least 7,000 nondisclosure agreements for more than $1 billion of compensation. For what? We do not know.”
“We have to do more to understand who is committing these crimes, what motivates them and how we can cut antisemitism and other forms of racism off at the roots. Passage of these laws in the House today will not stop those forms of mindless violence. We have to do better as a nation. We have to work to find what binds us and not what divides us. We have to say publicly and repeatedly, in the face of hate speech, 'No, never again.'”
“These new Commonwealth offences have complex definitions. It will be challenging to prove them beyond a reasonable doubt. We also have a responsibility to identify and understand the drivers that are attracting people to the far right and to act in the ways we are attempting to address with the legislation currently before the House. The horrific firebombing of the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea in Melbourne was a terrorist attack. So too were the two attacks on synagogues in Sydney and the horrifying recent attack on a childcare centre in Sydney. The finding of a caravan packed with explosives shocked the whole country. Passing legislation of the sort currently before the House will not stop those sorts of activities.”
“The fact that we have a hodgepodge melange of ineffective state and federal legislations around these matters is frustrating for people who are most concerned by them. The public deserves to understand and feel protected by our laws. They need to know they will be enforced; otherwise, our actions here and those of our state governments are pointless. But our responsibility to the public is also to ensure that any limitations that we put on their ability to gather peacefully, and to express their ideas and opinions, are necessary, precise, and proportionate. It's unclear to what extent this legislation currently in front of the House will be impactful. I note there have been no prosecutions or convictions in the 35 years since New South Wales criminalised vilification involving threats of physical harm or property damage.”
“While protection of freedom of expression is crucial in certain circumstances, that right has to be subject to limitation, and that includes advocacy of hatred, which constitutes incitement to discrimination. Many Kooyong constituents have described to me in recent months how they feel that the federal laws we have passed in this place are not being enforced in Melbourne and that they no longer feel safe in our city on weekends. I have responded by asking the federal and state attorneys-general to clarify their attitudes to these and to other concerns, including the ongoing protests in the city of Melbourne every weekend. It's frustrating that just this week in Victorian parliament the Liberal opposition has voted against legislation which is similar to that now before this house.”
“The bill extends protections to groups defined by race, religion, nationality, national or ethnic origin, or political opinion to add sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, intersex status—which is an outmoded terminology, and I agree with the member for Wentworth that it should be altered to 'sexual characteristics'—and disability. The bill as presented to this parliament has actually stepped back from the government's initial plan, which was to criminalise religious hate speech; instead, conduct will be criminalised only where it involves threats of force or violence. We do have to maintain a balance between the freedom of expression and protecting the Australian community from discrimination and hate. We have to have carefully framed laws which proscribe speech and inciting radicalisation and violence.”
“He has reported that Islamophobia is normalised in Australia but that it is underreported, and that violence, hatred and discrimination against Muslims are widespread daily realities in this country. So I call on my colleagues in this place to also reject that hatred and that ignorance and to express solidarity with our Muslim Australian brothers and sisters. The events of the last 16 months firstly led to the Counter-Terrorism Legislation Amendment (Prohibited Hate Symbols and Other Measures) Bill 2023, which I supported when we legislated it in 2023. The new and additional measures included in the bill now before the House are a further response to the increasing prevalence of hate speech and hateful conduct in our society.”
“Australia's Muslim community has also been affected by an increase in religious and culturally motivated hate speech. I think of the constituent who came to my office and told me that she cannot and will not speak of such things publicly because, on the only occasion that she did, she was labelled a terrorist by her friends. I think of the mum who brought her two small children to my electorate office not long after October 7. They told me that they were really worried for their cousins in Gaza. These small children were sad because they felt that this country didn't care about them or about their loss. Australia's anti-islamophobia envoy, Aftab Malik, has already reported that Islam is associated in the media and in the majority of the public mind with radicalism, extremism and terrorism.”
“Politicisation of this tragedy has made no-one safer; rather, it has exacerbated the anxiety and the fear felt by so many. I therefore supported yesterday's motion in parliament to deplore the appalling and unacceptable rise in antisemitism in Australia, including attacks on synagogues, schools, homes and childcare centres. I unequivocally condemn and reject antisemitism and racism in all of their forms, as I condemn similar hate directed to any group in our community. Jewish Australians should not, and no Australians should, have to live with discrimination and vilification based on their religion. I call on all of my colleagues in this place to support this rejection of hatred and ignorance and to express solidarity with our Jewish Australian brothers and sisters.”
“Our understanding and tolerance, our support for other families in our communities and our gratitude for the many cultures and histories which contribute to our rich social fabric seem strained and difficult. It seems that we no longer have common ground where we have had it before. Our accepting communities seemed to have hardened. They've become less generous and less inclusive. Sadly, rather than acting in a bipartisan and respectful way around these difficult times, many have chosen to politicise and weaponise the horrific events of October 7, the ongoing plight of the hostages and their families, the tragic impact of the Israeli government's response upon innocent Palestinian civilians and the ongoing grief and trauma of those who watch from afar.”
“The trauma of these last 16 months has exacerbated their received memory—the buried but ever-present intergenerational impact of the Holocaust on diasporic Jewish communities—while it has also created a new trauma in which they have seen an upending of the very reasonable assumption that the past is the past. That new knowledge, that understanding that antisemitism is a real, present, confronting and constant issue in Australia today, has traumatised the Australian Jewish community. It has shocked those of us that are not Jewish but stand with those that are and reject and abhor this most ancient of hatreds. In many respects, it feels as though our society's capacity for respectful dialogue and empathy has been lost.”