Zaneta Mascarenhas
Swan · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“The additional thing that I think is useful for us to think about—and I'll put my engineering hat on—is that in the mining industry one of the things that we do intentionally is something called preventive maintenance.”
“For my cousin, who had emergency heart surgery—basically, when they got to the moment of, 'You have a leaky heart valve; we need to perform emergency surgery on you'—the question was: 'How much will this cost? And can you afford it?' So I'm incredibly grateful for the Australian Medicare system.”
“The committee concluded its examination of all legislative instruments within the disallowance timeframe. While the committee observed an improvement of the timeliness of ministerial responses to requests for information, the fast paced parliamentary legislative program prevented the committee from providing timely scrutiny on some occasi…”
“This bill sets out clear guidelines to maintain the quality of these programs, and it makes sure they are run properly, with the same safeguards that protect other dollars spent across Medicare.”
“I remember another one of my friends, who was a lawyer from Melbourne travelling in the US, and he talked about going out hiking. He basically got this massive, deep wound in his leg and he's like, 'I'm not going to see a doctor because it's going to cost me a lot,' so he continued to make sure that he kept it sterile.”
“That looks like more people seeing a doctor instead of putting it off. The lingering cough that you keep meaning to get checked out, the blemish on your arm that doesn't look quite right or the stubbed toe that turns out to be properly broken—that is what these incentive programs are really for.”
The complete record
Every one of 435 lines we hold for Zaneta Mascarenhas, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 8 of 9.
“I move: That this House: (1) commends the Government for its $500 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative that will give Australian businesses access to capital grants and production incentives through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA); (2) recognises: (a) that this latest piece of the Future Made in Australia represents a commitment to the growth of our national battery manufacturing industry which is essential to our future energy independence, affordability and our sovereign capabilities; (b) that batteries are essential to all aspects of modem life both in Australia and abroad, and that securing jobs in this growing sector is a race with global competition; and (c) the urgent need to progress Australian industry up the manufacturing value chain to lock in our place in the global energy economy and make the most of our comparative advantages in resources and renewables; (3) further commends: (a) the Government for its commitment to consultation in designing this scheme alongside ARENA, with stakeholders in industry for maximum impact; and (b) Australian industry and researchers for driving the move towards a clean energy future even before they had a partner in Canberra; and (4) calls on the Opposition to: (a) support the Government's commitment to local manufacturing and securing the Australian jobs of the future; and (b) cease its attempts to distract from and derail the global push to reduce emissions as it is out of step with the national interest and decreases certainty for businesses.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. How is the Albanese Labor government helping households reduce their energy costs permanently. What policy proposals would distract from this progress?”
“We have Vietnamese bakeries in Bentley; Indian, Turkish, Lebanese and Somali businesses in Cannington; and Italian, Japanese, Bhutanese, Malaysian, Chinese and Nepalese restaurants in Victoria Park. We are the self-proclaimed restaurant capital of Western Australia. We have Christian, Catholic and Islamic colleges achieving excellence alongside each other. I have said many times that ecosystems are stronger—it's proven scientifically—when they have more diversity. And guess what? So is Australia. Our diversity is our greatest strength. Australia is one of the most egalitarian nations in the world, and you know what? It's because our equality is united by our citizenship bond. That is the real Australia that voted, at the last federal election, for the most multicultural parliament ever. (Time expired)”
“I was born and bred in the Goldfields, and people may be surprised to find out how multicultural Kambalda was. We attracted skills not just from across Australia but from across the globe, and the truth is that, out there, people didn't care about the colour of your skin. What they wanted to know was whether you were good at your job and whether you'd stick by your mates out in the mines. My parents loved their new community, and they paid it forward by welcoming every single new person. People would come over for dinner and would also get a piece of furniture because my parents were hoarders. This multiculturalism is something that I see in Swan.”
“The Prime Minister then said: Well look, that is a valid point and I've acknowledged that. I'm not saying that there aren't problems for people buying for the first time, but you have to look at it in terms of both existing homeowners and future homeowners and what we have to try and do, and you quite rightly identify in relation to your grandchildren, is to find ways of mitigating the cost of getting into your first home. Well, former prime minister John Howard, we are onto it. This new scheme is a way of getting new first home buyers into their home sooner, faster, better.”
“Phyllis then called in, showing her sense of intergenerational fairness, and she said: …We're on a pension and we would like to sell our homes, go into a unit or a townhouse or something. But we can't do that because if we do, we're going to spend the whole amount just on a townhouse or a unit and we'll have nothing left over if we need to do anything to it. So we're stuck. The Prime Minister said: Look Phyllis, what I said was that not everybody was sitting on a nest egg. I said people had not complained about the value of their house going up. … … … Well you're not … you're not actually complaining. What you're really saying is the value of a house hasn't gone up enough. Phyllis said: No, no, no. I disagree. I think that it is ridiculous that the inflation of the housing prices … what about our grandchildren?”
“It's the same thing as before, and it's clear today. It made for a great question time moment where there was an exchange between John Howard, the radio presenter and a caller named Phyllis. The presenter said: You've said no-one's complained to you about the rising increase in the value of their home, let me be the first to complain—people like myself are actually being forced to face the possibility that we may be renting for the rest of our lives because getting into … The Prime Minister said: Do you own a home? The presenter then said: No, I rent. The Prime Minister then said: No, well I'm sorry, I was talking about people who owned a home. I did, to be fair Steve, I did make that point. I said I haven't found anybody who owns a home complaining to me that the value of it has gone up.”
“The coalition delayed the Help to Buy scheme, accusing us of wanting to own other people's homes—never mind the real people living in their own homes right now liking it. They committed to cutting the $2 billion Social Housing Accelerator, which saw us coordinating the injection funds straight to the states. The Liberal government wasted a decade with no planning and regulation reform, and that's quite sad. Out of our summit that we held the week before parliament, we had agreement across sectors and committed actions on starting real planning reforms, building environmental regulations that are fit-for-purpose and freezing the building code. This is something that we're doing because we know that it is really important that we get as many homes built as quickly as possible. The Liberal contempt for housing is as old as the Howard years.”
“It's interesting, because the coalition in their time neglected social and affordable housing because they did not value it. They did not value people having a roof over their head. They built fewer than 400 homes while in government, and they promised to cut our investments if elected. They attacked the Housing Australia Future Fund, forming a 'no-alition' with the Greens which would have meant a $10 billion fund locking in social housing for the long term could not be implemented. Then, after delaying it for months, and with their latest talking points saying that it wasn't moving fast enough, they attacked the National Housing Accord—a milestone for federal leadership and a collaboration with the states. This is what Labor governments do. We work with others, and the productivity roundtable showed that as well.”
“There was a wasted decade of potential federal action on housing. It's kind of funny because there was also a period of time where there was no housing minister, which I think is quite extraordinary. I'm surprised that Scott Morrison didn't declare himself the secret minister for housing as well. This is probably our No. 1 issue. It would actually have been useful, but he didn't clock that. So we inherited a mess. The thing that I'd say is that we're working systematically on this. Some of these policies will take time to implement, and there will be a time lag because it takes time to build houses. But we're even working on how quickly we can build houses, from fast-tracking trade skills that we need to making fee-free TAFE legislated for ever. We are doing everything that we can.”
“We were studying community development, and she was living in social housing and was working hard to provide for her family, her daughter. The sense of having a secure roof over her head was important. She graduated from university, got an excellent job with her new masters degree and was so excited to have the opportunity to have housing—a permanent roof over her family's heads—for the rest of their lives. This is what Labor governments do, right? But let's think about it. If we think about the opposition's time in power, we know there was a total neglect of social and affordable housing. There was no national coordination or leadership. There was a wasted decade of reform on planning and regulation. There was contempt of renters and a failure to act in the middle of a rental crisis.”
“Over 180,000 first home buyers have already benefited from our five per cent deposit scheme. One million households received a nearly 50 per cent increase in rent assistance. Five hundred thousand homes have been built since we came into office, and 28,000 social and affordable homes are in planning or construction. This new rule basically means that you don't have to save up a 20 per cent deposit, which can take such a long time. We uncapped the scheme so that this can be something that's available for all first home buyers. For single parents, we are continuing the Family Home Guarantee, which will help them buy a home with as little as two per cent. It reminds me of my dear friend whom I studied with at Murdoch University.”
“We even have a crisis and transitional accommodation fund, which is $100 million for women and children experiencing family and domestic violence and also older women at risk of homelessness, which is one of the fastest-growing groups that we have within our communities that are experiencing homelessness. I also have to commend the Minister for Housing, because we are a government that not only makes commitments and sets out timeframes; we also sometimes overdeliver. And so, rather than this scheme of a five per cent deposit starting on 1 January, we have brought it forward to 1 October. We are doing that because we want to get people into their own home sooner. This is what we do when we have a keen and active cabinet that is working on the problems of everyday Australians.”
“This includes the Housing Australia Future Fund, $10 billion to ensure that we have a steady stream of social and affordable housing. We will not waste a decade like the coalition did. We also have the National Housing Accord. This is a plan for bringing all state and territory governments together to make sure that we have a vision for the housing supply that we need. That will be 1.2 million homes by 2030, but, as a part of that, we also committed $350 billion to build 10,000 homes. We also have the Help to Buy scheme, worth $6.3 billion. We're backing home buyers with shared equity. We have the Social Housing Accelerator, with another $2 billion to help refurbish homes and provide new homes to the states and territories.”
“Talking about madness from the member for Riverina! We are working on the cost of living, and one of the things that we can do to help households is help with their wages. The coalition's policy in the last government was to keep wages deliberately low. That's unacceptable and that's not what Australians want. They want to earn more and keep more of what they earn so they can get into the housing market. Labor has been putting on the table everything that it can to make sure that we are making differences to the lives of everyday Australians, and it is clear that that was shown at the ballot box on election day earlier this year. I'm thrilled to have the opportunity to speak on this motion and welcome our policy of a five per cent deposit for all first home buyers. It adds to a list of proud achievements that Labor has been working on.”
“Not only do we make promises; we deliver them, and sometimes we deliver them ahead of schedule. That's what we did this week by announcing that we would be uncapping the five per cent deposit scheme for recipients of the first home buyers grant. I remember speaking to one of my friends who was a single mum, had a twinkle in her eye and was living in social housing, who said, 'The government is creating a scheme which means that I can afford a home for myself and my daughter.' That's what Labor governments do.”
“I am proud to be a part of the Albanese Labor government, which is backing households and backing homes. We are doing that because we believe in a better future for all Australians. We are doing that by having tangible policies that people care about. And, yes, we do have a vision for building 1.2 million homes by 2030. We also have a housing minister, as we have had through both terms, as opposed to the coalition, who did not think that housing was important and did not have a housing minister for half of their nine years in government. We are also fast-tracking skills, and, yes, we do need skilled migrants as well as skilled Australians to build these homes. We are also doing that through fee-free TAFE. These are policies that will make tangible differences.”
“We had some amazing women that were also on the phones, such as Anne and Felicity, the oldest team member in my office who is 73 years old. You all worked so hard and listened so graciously to the amazing people of Swan, and I think politics is about connecting with people. Also there was my EO team: Melissa, Kailee, Sam, Leandro, Catherine, Abia and Zoe. There was also the campaign director, Darcy Gunning, and the Secretary of the AMWU. There were so many yard signs, including signs from Simon and Roni Forrest, who are amazing First Nation elders. There was also Wendy Fatin, who was Western Australia's first woman elected to the federal parliament House of Representatives. To booth captains, including Andy Skinner and Bec, who won the prettiest booth: it was an amazing effort.”
“That was done with a team of amazing volunteers, and these people include Anne Sippe, Rupali, Chris Miller, Warwick, Stanly, Abdi, Artan, Foysal Al Mahmoud, Sabir Hussein, Maisara, Claudia, Sophie, Jayden, Sania, Adrian, Craig, Rahel, Henry, Lisa Ma, Mathew, Lachlan, Charita, Robert, Leif, Dylan, Chee, Carolyn, Linda, George, Victor, Alen, Peter, Sabir, Bapi, Kamal Hussein, Heba, Tommaso and Janet. It was a phenomenal effort, and there were more people that doorknocked on top of those people listed. Also there was my amazing field A-team, or the Z-team as we like to call it, which was led by Avery and Dan Roden, as well as Zen Kassim, Jay Williams, Maddy Too-lay-lie, Liam Hurley, Ruckshan, Simon Stokes and Adam Gilbride.”
“MASCARENHAS () (): To the member for Indi: thank you so much for your comments today, and, from the people of Swan, our hearts and thoughts are with you. It highlights to me how important this place is and how important our words are and that we need to continue to protect Australian civil society, so thank you. My first constituency statement is about democracy, and it is about the last federal election. I think it's only right to talk about the important work that was done in Swan, which is now held on a 14 per cent margin. We had a 16.6 per cent swing over two terms. The way I think of all the people that contributed to the campaign is about how we contributed to democracy and how we continued to say that we love Australia. During the campaign, we knocked on 31,000 doors, and that cannot be done alone.”
“The committee welcomes the additional information provided in the statement of compatibility accompanying this bill but also notes that it retains underlying human rights concerns with the bills. I look forward to working as chair with all the members of this committee and the hardworking and talented secretariat and Professor Mowbray. With these comments, I commend the committee's scrutiny report 4 of 2025 to the House.”
“To the extent that the measures can apply to children and people with disability, the rights of these groups would also be engaged and limited. The committee is seeking further information from the Minister for Health and Ageing to assess the compatibility of these measures with human rights. In this report, the committee also considers the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. The committee commented on this bill in previous parliaments in relation to the right to privacy and recommended that the statement of compatibility be updated to include a more fulsome assessment of this right. Statements of compatibility serve as an important starting point for the committee's assessment of the human rights compatibility of legislation.”
“The instrument sets requirements for individuals entering Australia who have been in yellow fever risk regions and for individuals who may be, or may have been, infected with a listed human disease. To the extent the measures assist in preventing the spread of human disease in Australian territory, the committee considers this will promote the right to health. However, the committee notes that, by requiring individuals to provide personal information to officials to be screened by equipment, these measures may engage and limit the right to privacy. The committee also notes that the measures may engage and limit other human rights to the extent that they trigger powers relating to human biosecurity controls under the Biosecurity Act.”
“These bills seek to extend and make permanent the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation's compulsory questioning powers framework and expand the matters that are considered to be 'adult questioning matters'. The committee has previously raised human rights concerns in relation to the compulsory questioning powers framework, noting that it engages and limits multiple human rights, including rights of privacy, liberty, freedom of movement, fair trial and freedom of expression as well as rights of persons with disability and children's rights. As such, the committee is seeking further information from the Minister for Home Affairs about the compatibility of these measures with multiple human rights. Additionally, the committee is seeking further information in relation to the Biosecurity (Entry Requirements) Determination 2025.”
“Where legislation raises a human rights concern that is not adequately explained in accompanying statements of compatibility, the committee may seek further information from the minister, including on whether a proposed limitation on a human right is justifiable. The dialogue model is evidenced in the committee's fourth scrutiny report. In this report the committee has considered 64 bills, some of which have been reintroduced or restored to the Notice Paper , and 469 legislative instruments. Of these, the committee is seeking further information in relation to seven bills and one instrument. In this report, the committee is seeking further information in relation to the two ASIO bills.”
“It has a unique statutory mandate to examine all bills and legislative instruments that come before either house of the parliament for compatibility with Australia's core international human rights obligations and inquire into any human rights matters referred to it by the Attorney-General. Additionally, in 2023 the committee was given the statutory function to review compulsory income management for its compatibility with human rights. The committee's legislative scrutiny function is to inform both houses of parliament as to the compatibility of proposed and existing Australian legislation with international human rights laws. The committee does not consider the broad policy merits of legislation when performing its scrutiny function. The committee generally pursues its scrutiny function through dialogue with the executive.”
“On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights, I present the committee's report entitled Human rights scrutiny report: report 4 of 2025 . Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). by leave—I am pleased to table the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights' fourth scrutiny report of 2025 and the first of the new 48th Parliament. Before speaking to the substance of this report, I'd like to highlight the important role of this committee and welcome new and continuing committee members, including the deputy chair, the member for McPherson. The committee has been operating for 13 years and it is one of three scrutiny committees that exist in the federal parliament.”
“Down, down, everything's going down because—I'm going to say it—everyone is down with the Labor government. We are working hard to make a positive difference for the lives of people in Australia, whether they're young people wanting to buy their first house or they're uni students. That's because we care, and that was shown at the federal election. (Time expired)”
“I am proud to be part of a government that is building, not blocking. We are backing renters; we're not flipping or flopping. We believe that renters shouldn't have to rent forever. That's why we're bringing housing deposits down to five per cent for the first time for first home buyers. Because I am into maths, as some of you may know—and, yes, my gender is female!—the median house price is $844,000. Five per cent of that is $42,000. The last time that you could buy a house with a $42,000 deposit was 2002. I believe that's when the member for Perth and I were at Curtin University. That goes back a very long time! If you were born in 2002, you could be at uni right now. Not only are we doing that; we are also taking your HECS debt down.”
“What I would say is that things like fee-free TAFE and the Battery Breakthrough Initiative that we announced recently will diversify Australia's economy, making sure that we can endure the boom-bust cycles of global prices. This is what can happen when we have a government that not just backs our workers but also backs industry, because we want a future made in Australia.”
“This does not mean picking winners or the state doing everything, but it does mean setting a goal and mobilising policy. The point is that the government should be taking steps that are in the national interest and in the best interests of working people. We should value contributions on what's happening currently but also what can happen in the future. There are so many stories where we can do this. I remember one of my girlfriends who I studied chemistry and chemical engineering with went through her third redundancy during the downturn. She got really exhausted from being made redundant during the boom-bust cycles, so she decided that she'd go work in aged care. We have this challenge where we're not just trying to diversify our economy; we're also trying to diversify the workforce.”
“We can do that by investing in manufacturing because this will help stabilise the regional boom-and-bust cycles, help local economies, create steady employment and foster linkages with other sectors—or, as my old man would say, 'Don't put all your eggs in one basket.' The golden goose may stop laying golden eggs one day or, as a mate would say, 'We need to diversify, baby!' To diversify, what we need is skilled labour and strong governance. The need for skilled labour is obvious, and I'm proud to be part of an Albanese Labor government that backs fee-free TAFE, which we have put in legislation. We have also taken 20 per cent off people's HECS debts. The need for strong governance is another way of saying 'strong leadership'.”
“When the highs are high, it's great, but, when the lows are lows, it's very challenging. For many of our skilled workers—tradies, electricians, engineers and geologists—Australia's economic cycles and whether global demand is up or down have been a fact of life. Hometowns like Kambalda struggle when global shocks rattle, like the nickel price did. You fly in one day and fly out the next. You drive in one day and drive out the next. That's FIFO and DIDO work. But guess what? Pre-COVID thinking is not coming back. Do you know what the pandemic did? It forced us to imagine, 'If we can't make it here, there might be times when we don't actually get to have it here.' It's for these reasons that I'm backing a future made in Australia, because we need to diversify Australia's economy.”
“That's because sometimes words are cheap and sometimes there are some people that are people of very few words but of tremendous substance. So, rather than speak about what's important, these people show you what's important. Often one of the things that's most important in regional Australia is having access to a secure and stable job. When I tell people that I was born in Kalgoorlie and grew up in a nickel mining town called Kambalda, it opens doors that you can't imagine. I think it's because people are surprised that I grew up in a town where you don't just get red dirt under your fingernails; you get it all throughout your car, under the car body and on your mud flaps. Western Australia is a resource-rich state, but mining looms large and the boom-and-bust cycles can be bad.”
“MASCARENHAS () (): I think that it's useful to highlight that the Albanese Labor government has been doing a phenomenal job when it comes to the budget. I might remind the member for Lindsay that we have delivered two budget surpluses and we've been doing some really responsible work when it comes to looking at the way that we rein in spending. We have delivered quite a lot of dividends looking at where we can cut waste. I don't think that that happened in some of the last few budgets that the coalition delivered. But that is not the reason why I'm standing here today. I'm here to talk about what it's like to grow up in the goldfields and that sometimes out in the goldfields people don't talk about the things that are most important to them.”
“I'm honoured to have the support of my community. I look forward to telling this place more about the people of Swan, amplifying their voices and telling their stories. We'll work hard to deliver real change in the areas that matter to them—health, education, infrastructure and protecting their rights to work, including their penalty rates—as we continue to build a better future together.”
“A mother with her three children who cannot wait to get 20 per cent off their HECS debt, a university lecturer whose commute will be 20 minutes shorter thanks to the new Manning Road-Leach Highway overpass, a Medicare worker who needed the flexibility of working from home because she loved her job but also loved being a mother—these are the people that my team and I met during the federal election campaign in my electorate of Swan. We met many parents, especially women who depended on the flexibility of working from home. These are families who have no time for out-of-touch politicians who just don't get it. In the 2025 election campaign, we knocked on 31,000 doors and had thousands of conversations. This was a community achievement, thanks to our amazing volunteers and my amazing team. Now Swan is held on a margin of 14 per cent.”
“Repayments will be a percentage of what is earned above this. That means that someone earning $70,000 was paying $1,750 annually, and now they will pay only $450 a year. Those on low incomes who are feeling the sting of the cost of living at the moment can earn more and keep more of what they earn. Real wages are finally moving again. This is why the coalition's kneejerk reaction was so disappointing—to deny younger generations a hand up and to portray it as a handout, framing this as undeserved and at the taxpayer's expense. It was the same meanness Australia rejected at the election. While our government was delivering tax cuts and banked surpluses, the Liberals fought culture wars. Meanwhile, we're investing in education, and we're making a positive future for all young people.”
“She has been like a sister to old folks, and a grandmother to the young. I also note Deputy Speaker Scrymgour is in the chair. It is the first time we have had a First Nations person in the chair in the House. What I think is amazing is that we have the opportunity for people to see the change they want to see. Whether that's in nursing or here on the floor of the parliament, that's very exciting. Corrosive debt is what HECS tries to avoid, with interest-free loans and income dependent repayments. But the increasing cost of degrees and the Liberals' deliberate flatlining of wages have made HECS a burden. Indexation would have added to this—until this government intervened. Now we are set to put a major dent in the cost and also make the payment system fairer. There will be a higher minimum repayment threshold of $67,000.”
“Making education that little bit more accessible makes it easier for those stars to shine bright. Sonya is another constituent of mine, a First Nations nurse with an old SFSS loan. She's an inspirational woman and has done amazing work with young people, and she is now working as a mental health nurse. She explained how long-term debt can cast a long shadow and that she hasn't seen a tax return for a long time. I'm pleased to say this policy will also apply to her, and I hope that this 20 per cent debt reduction brings a debt-free future closer for her. Sonia is an inspirational woman, and her knowledge has been powerful for those who face mental illness. I think it's wonderful that she's a role model for other First Nations people who might be interested in studying nursing.”
“Constituents of mine, like Giovanna in Wilson, have been looking forward to this change. No, Giovanna doesn't have a debt, but she has three adult children who have studied things like architecture, law and engineering. She has explained to me how, through having less debt, her adult children can set their sights on housing and owning their own homes. I think that this is very exciting, and I'm looking forward to seeing how this policy, combined with five per cent deposits, brings homeownership closer for young people like them. Giovanna embodies what's great about education. She is a teacher by trade, and she talked about her students like uncovering stars: you never know who will surprise you and shine the brightest. Sometimes it might be a student whose parents didn't go to university.”
“Thanks to the member for Chisholm, who will be seconding the motion. Both of our electorates are home to excellent universities—Monash University and Deakin University in her case, and Curtin University in mine. Curtin University is what brought me to Perth from the Goldfields. As with many first-generation Australian families, my parents did not complete high school, but they placed a very high value on education. This is such a strong belief for so many migrant families. My parents were thrilled to see my sister and me graduate from university. It is because of this value that keeping the promise to cut student debt, making higher education fairer and more accessible, is the Albanese Labor government's priority, and we are delivering—delivering debt relief to three million Australians. That's 22,000 in my electorate of Swan.”
“I move: That this House: (1) commends the Government for its commitment to reduce student debt by 20 per cent by amending the law relating to: (a) apprenticeship support loans; (b) the Higher Education Loan Program; (c) student start-up loans; (d) vocational education and training student loans; and (e) the student financial supplement schemes; (2) recognises that when combined with the 2024 changes to indexation introduced by the Government, the 20 per cent reduction in student debt will cut approximately twenty billion dollars in debt for approximately three million Australians; (3) acknowledges that reducing the debt burden for Australian graduates will enable them to better use their skills and earnings to build a better future for themselves and their families; (4) further commends the Government for promoting intergenerational fairness, recognising that quality education can change lives, and noting that the rising cost of tertiary education over recent decades has coincided with increasing demands for higher qualifications; and (5) calls on the Opposition to support the Government's measure to help more Australians access quality education, increase their earning potential and keep more of what they earn.”
“Just this month, the Prime Minister was in Swan announcing $750 million to boost metal manufacturing. And this is just one example of what we've been doing.”
“We've shown up in moments of crisis and in moments of opportunity, from the Prime Minister and Senator McAllister standing with communities under threat from ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, to rebuilding global partnerships and bringing forward important legislation like this. This is work we've done. It's been full on, and I've been busy too. In Swan, we've been upgrading, investing and reviving, delivering real change after years of Liberal neglect. We are upgrading public infrastructure, Boorloo Bridge, METRONET and the McCallum Park and Queens Park open spaces. We're investing in housing—501 new homes under the Housing Australia Future Fund and 875 households supported into homes under the Home Guarantee Scheme. We're backing local manufacturing and future industries.”
“It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to speak on the Telecommunications Amendment (Enhancing Consumer Safeguards) Bill 2025 today. I note that we're almost on the eve of an election, and I think that what this bill demonstrates is that this parliament and the Australian people really have a choice between two parties—one party that recognises what real action looks like and one that looks like a party of inaction. What I will say, talking about action, is that I do want to talk about real action. Since coming to office, this government has not wasted a single day. We have not sat on our hands. We have not dodged the tough calls.”
“It's interesting because Australia has such an exciting opportunity to be a part of the clean energy revolution across the world, and that will be through renewable energy. We have an opportunity to see our electricity prices reduced, and we will do that through renewables. Nuclear power is not going to be the solution for Australia or Western Australia. We need to make sure that we invest in what's smart. We need to do things that are evidence-based. Through all of the time I have worked as an engineer in decarbonisation, this has never been an idea that the big companies have talked about, and I worked for the big ASX 200 companies on St Georges Terrace for more than a decade. I see this as the opposite of the book Smarter faster better : dumber, slower, crapper, bad idea, nuclear nightmare. Let's not vote this in.”
“The other thing that I wanted to talk about is what goods of the future looks like. What we're seeing is people looking at what is the most cost competitive form of energy for electricity grids. First is solar panels, and second is wind. It's cheap, and this is what we are seeing commercial businesses invest in. As we look at the grid changing, this idea of base load is actually, again, a fallacy. When people talk about the switching of coal-fired power stations to nuclear power stations, it's wrong. That's something that we don't need any more. It takes too long to ramp up the coal-fired power station and too long to ramp it down. The truth is that nuclear power stations do not have that ability and they are not compatible with the cheapest form of electricity which exists here in Australia.”
“This is a country town that has been a coalmining town and a coal-fired power station town. They have done an important job of providing electricity for the state. But we saw the state government announce that we would be closing down a coal-fired power station. They did that because they knew that that was the right thing to do to ensure that we reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of our grid. What that also did was provide certainty to our workers. So what the WA state government is in the process of doing is investing in amazing industries to have a look at the way that we can create a just transition for those workers. I think that that's what coal workers want. This nuclear fantasy will not deliver jobs by the time this coal-fired power station closes down. It is not practical; it's not going to deliver real solutions.”
“What I will say is that we do need to make sure that we have firming opportunities for our electricity grid as well, so gas has a role to play in the meantime. We also have batteries, and there will be solutions like pumped hydro. We have the technology. We have the know-how. We have the workforce. We don't need another distraction; what we need is action. This report makes it clear: nuclear is not the answer. Australia can't afford to waste more time or money chasing a nuclear nightmare. Let's focus on what works and what will actually deliver cleaner, cheaper energy for all Australians. I also want to thank the entire committee for all of the work that they did and the member for Hunter for his leadership as the chair on this inquiry. It was great to have the opportunity to spend time in Collie, which is in south-west WA.”