Andrew Wallace
Fisher · Liberal National Party · Australia
“Based on that meeting, I worked pretty closely with the former shadow minister for communications David Coleman, and I was the chair of the Social Policy and Legal Affairs Committee when, with the member for Newcastle, we held an inquiry into protecting the age of innocence.”
“On 3 January 2018, Dolly Everett passed away at the age of 14. She was a young woman, a young lady, who had been bullied mercilessly. Sadly, she took her own life as a result of the bullying she encountered on social media. That happened not long into my parliamentary term in this place.”
“Later, in June 2024, the then opposition leader Peter Dutton pledged that a coalition government would implement a ban on social media for under-16s within 100 days of taking office. The Labor government did not introduce a bill to protect under-16s from social media until 12 months after we introduced our private member's bill.”
“It was the coalition that consistently led the charge on the protection of children. We actually set up the eSafety Commissioner—and what we now know, from the eSafety Commissioner herself, is that 70 per cent of children are still on social media as a result of this government's flawed legislation.”
“The continuity, the trust and the prevention that a good family GP, like my doctor in Maroochydore, provides cannot be replicated by a clipboard and a six-minute timer. That is where the human cost begins to accumulate. Bulk-billing has collapsed under this government, no matter what those opposite say or how they try and spin it.”
“For decades, Commonwealth governments, including coalition governments, have used health incentive payments to support quality care, to encourage digital health adoption, to sustain general practice in aged-care settings and to keep doctors working in rural and remote communities, where the economics of medicine are hard and the distances…”
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“He has a family and, until his diagnosis, was living a happy and productive life in sunny Caloundra. Now living with a progressive, life-limiting condition that steadily erodes function and independence, Andrew was recently reassessed as having higher support needs. His package was increased from $50,000 over three years to $144,000 over two years. On paper, this should have been a life-changing support. But, under these new NDIS rules, that funding is meaningless if his therapist cannot survive financially. He now faces the heartbreaking reality of dipping into his own savings and using his credit card to pay for critical therapy sessions—the very therapy sessions that the NDIS is meant to provide. Andrew told me: My disability is lifelong.”
“Over the past few weeks I've been inundated with messages from NDIS participants and allied health professionals across my electorate, all sharing the same story: the Albanese government's sudden changes to the NDIS pricing arrangements are unworkable and unfair, and they are causing pain. I've already met with allied health professionals, many of them small community based providers. They tell me that the reduction in professional fees and travel allowances will make it almost impossible to keep their doors open. I've also spoken to countless participants who rely on these services every single week. For them, these changes are not just numbers on a page; they are a direct threat to their independence, their mobility and their quality of life. One local participant—I'll call him Andrew S—lives with Parkinson's disease. Andrew is 57.”
“We've got to get kids off devices, where kids are constantly bombarded with images of the 'perfect body', which is almost entirely unattainable. The social media platforms are constantly pumping images of sixpacks to young boys and the so-called 'perfect body' to young women. It is incredibly sad that the age of people who are suffering from eating disorders gets younger and younger. What most people don't realise is that more Australians die of eating disorders in this country than are killed on our roads. We have to do better in relation to the care of people with mental health problems right across the board and in particular in relation to eating disorders.”
“They've moved on from Wandi Nerida and the Butterfly Foundation and have now created their own purpose-built step-up, step-down facility, which I was at on Friday. Mark and Gayle Forbes are amazing Australians who have given so much to our local community. They've won all sorts of citizenship prizes, but no prize can really reflect the amount of time, blood, sweat, tears and money that Mark and Gayle Forbes have put into caring for Australians with eating disorders. Eating disorders are an insidious disease that impacts not exclusively but particularly young Australians—and particularly young women. The advent of social media has seen an explosion of eating disorders in our community. The member for Flinders and I have worked together very hard on social media issues. She's done a terrific job.”
“It was based on the building of Australia's first residential eating disorder facility that Greg Hunt and I worked together to secure. We secured around $70 million to roll out one of those eating disorder facilities in every state in this country. Through the Butterfly Foundation, we provided $1.4 million to run a pilot project on the Sunshine Coast. The national pilot supported over 240 patients, trialling new ways to support people with eating disorders, which will ultimately inform future support for patients around Australia. I want to send a shout-out to Mark and Gayle Forbes from endED, who are the masterminds of the building of Australia's first residential eating disorder facility.”
“We provided further funding for the Nurture Festival, which is on again this weekend. The Nurture Festival connects young people and their families with local mental health support services. This was in addition to the $53 million out of the Liberal-National government's record $1.45 billion of funding for community mental health services in our then last budget, with $53 million allocated to the Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network. I am also a co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Eating Disorders, again an issue of huge and growing importance in our society. As co-chair, I can say we have quite a lot planned for this year. I'm especially proud of the coalition government's decision to provide $3.2 million for an Australian-first pilot to improve the treatment and care of people with eating disorders in Fisher.”
“The then coalition federal government funded more than $30 million worth of cutting-edge mental health projects on the Sunshine Coast, including $8.3 million for a national PTSD centre managed by the UniSC Thompson Institute, $11.8 million for research and treatment programs into dementia, youth mental health and suicide at the Sunshine Coast Mind and Neuroscience at the UniSC Thompson Institute, $7.3 million for the construction and continued operation of Australia's first residential eating disorder facility in my home town of Mooloolah Valley. We put $3.2 million towards an Australian-first eating disorder treatment trial, delivered through the Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network. We funded a brand-new headspace in Caloundra to tackle youth mental health.”
“Since my election in 2016, with the support of the then coalition federal government—I want to send a shout-out to the best health minister this country has ever seen, and that was Greg Hunt, the member for Flinders—the Sunshine Coast has become a true leader in mental health research and treatment.”
“Suicide Prevention Australia CEO, Nieves Murray, said at the time that the decision was very concerning when distress within the community was high. She said: The decision to remove extra mental health supports at a time when interest rates are rising, housing pressure is growing and distress is high is baffling and very concerning. The decision had an immediate impact when, during the continuing cost-of-living crisis, many Australians were forced to compromise their mental health care and even postpone critical mental health care. From opposition, we've been leading the way on mental health, and I'm proud of what we have achieved, especially in my own seat of Fisher. Many of the things that I'm about to talk about were things and programs that we were able to achieve whilst we were in government.”
“Nearly half of all Australians will experience mental illness in their lifetime, and at least one in five Australians experience some form of mental illness in any given year. Just think about those figures. Nearly half of all Australians will experience mental illness in their lifetime. We should never forget that the first thing the current government did when it came to power was to cut the number of Medicare subsidised psychologist visits from 20 to 10 over the period of a year. The increase to 20 visits was introduced by the coalition during the COVID-19 era, and the decision by this government to remove these visits was an indication that it simply does not understand the huge impact of mental health on everyday Australians.”
“At every opportunity in the last nine years, I've come to this place, whether in the chamber or at public-speaking events, and I have taken the opportunity to speak about the prevalence of mental health and how we can care for those people and their families. This is not going to be a beat up of the government, because this has been a very long journey that I have walked for many, many years. But federal and state governments of all persuasions just do not do enough. Having said that, I've said before that this government does not get mental health, and I mean it. They don't understand the pressure faced by millions of Australians, their families and their loved ones. I believe that this government doesn't get the impact of mental health on Australia as a whole—on our economy, our productivity and all aspects of our lives.”
“Mental health is an issue that has been one of the four pillars that I have staked my parliamentary career on. It's very, very important to me, because I know it's important to the people of Fisher. I know it's important to almost every Australian. Around eight Australians take their own lives each and every single day. For every person that takes their own life, 30 people attempt it. Those statistics are chilling, and they impact on so many people. When one person decides to take their own life, or to try, the knock-on effect for friends, family and co-workers is unbelievably devastating. Putting aside friends, family and co-workers, it directly impacts 240 people every day, and that's just those who are seeking to take their own lives. I'm proud to say that I am the co-chair of the Parliamentary Friends of Mental Health.”
“This government is frightened. It's frightened by democracy, frightened by parliament and frightened by the very transparency that it repeatedly promised. In opposition, Labor promised to shine a light on politics and bring back accountability. I want to play a little pop quiz now as to who said this: 'My government is unashamedly an open government.' Who said that? The Prime Minister. 'I'm not frightened of scrutiny and transparency.' Who said that? The Prime Minister. 'We're shining sunlight on a shadow government that preferred to operate in darkness, a government that operated in a cult of secrecy and a culture of cover-up and which arrogantly dismissed scrutiny from the parliament and the public as a mere inconvenience.' Who said that?”
“I want you to know that the coalition—and this is a bipartisan perspective shared by both the coalition and, I think, most people in this chamber—absolutely support and applaud you and the people of Ukraine for standing up against aggression. We face a lot of challenges in this world right now, in so many respects. We have conflict in the Middle East, conflict in the subcontinent, conflict in Europe and threatened conflict in Asia. The world is so unstable right now, but this is where countries like Australia must stand resolutely with our friends and allies—in the Pacific and in Europe. Thank you, Vasyl, for the work you have done in representing your people. There is much work to be done in securing this country ' the perils that lie ahead, but we must work together to do it.”
“But Vasyl, as Ukrainian ambassador, has been a model diplomat for Australia and our foreign dealings with Ukraine. Vasyl, I know you'll be reading this, or you may even be watching it, now. I am, personally, incredibly proud of the way that you have represented your country. I think you said the other night, at your celebration, that you've been back to Ukraine eight or nine times. No country could expect more ' their diplomatic corps than the way you have so incredibly, proudly represented your people and your country here in Australia—or anywhere else in the world, for that matter. Hats off to you, Vasyl.”
“His response was, 'I don't want a lift; what I need is ammunition.' That one line garnered the support of the Ukrainian people, who saw their president stand up against the totalitarian oppression of President Putin, who is trying to take part, if not all, of Ukraine by force. That one sentence has galvanised the Ukrainian people to now, three and a half years later, still maintain control over most of Ukraine. It's an absolute travesty—a tragedy, a human tragedy—to see the number of lives that are being lost in Ukraine during this fight. I also want to send a shout-out to the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko. When I was Speaker of the House of Representatives, I was fortunate enough to secure an address ' President Zelenskyy, and Vasyl was instrumental in facilitating that address.”
“I want to thank the member for Adelaide for bringing on this important motion because it is critical, in times like this, that Australia stands with like-minded countries like Ukraine. Like-minded democracies must stand together against oppression and military attacks such as we've seen in Ukraine since Russia's illegal and immoral invasion 3½ years ago. The efforts of President Zelenskyy must be highlighted. When Ukraine was first invaded, in February 2022, the story has it that President Zelenskyy was encouraged to flee ' Ukraine to save himself and his family because Russia was expected to take Kyiv in a matter of days. And you know what his response was?”
“2) 2025 seeks to make the compulsory questioning framework a permanent part of ASIO's intelligence-gathering powers and other, more comprehensive reforms. The PJCIS has already adopted an inquiry in relation to bill No. 2. The extension of sunsetting proposed in bill No. 1 would allow the committee to complete an in-depth review of ASIO's compulsory questioning powers that it commenced in the previous parliament, drawing on evidence to that review and inviting new evidence to the bill No. 2 inquiry. The committee looks forward to completing a full inquiry into the existing powers and proposed amendments in bill No. 2 and reporting to parliament in due course. Bill No. 1 has already passed the House with bipartisan support and is now before the Senate. The committee recommends that the bill be passed. I commend the report to the House.”
“On behalf of the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, I present the committee's advisory report on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025. Report made a parliamentary paper in accordance with standing order 39(e). by leave—I present the committee's advisory report on the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Amendment Bill (No. 1) 2025. ASIO Amendment Bill (No. 1) proposes a single change to the ASIO Act: extend the operation of the ASIO compulsory questioning warrant framework for a further 18 months, from September 2025 to March 2027. While bill No. 1 proposes only a time extension, the concurrently introduced ASIO Amendment Bill (No.”
“Daniel's legacy lives on in practical measures that help protect children. The member for Caloundra from 2004 to 2020, Mark McArdle, recently passed away. Mark was a true public servant and a passionate advocate for his electorate and his constituents. Mark was also an effective minister. He was not a politician; he was a parliamentarian. Mark was devoted to his electorate, to his family and to the people of Queensland. Mark had time for people. He saw his role as an MP not as a job but as a calling. Vale, Mark McArdle.”
“As a staunch and well-known supporter of child safety, I speak to welcome the introduction of Daniel's law into the Queensland parliament yesterday. Children's safety must always be at the forefront of our decisions. This reform is an important breakthrough, especially after the recent raising of the most appalling allegations of child sexual abuse in childcare centres. Daniel's law puts the rights of children, victims and parents ahead of dangerous predators through a clear and effective system. I congratulate Premier David Crisafulli, Police Minister Dan Purdie and the LNP state government for bringing this law forward. I also acknowledge Bruce and Denise Morcombe, whose strength and persistence over more than two decades have driven change across our state and nation.”
“It concerns me greatly when members opposite try to dampen down the debate by saying that we are seeking to weaponise this. I am absolutely saying that this government continues, in a surreptitious way, to promote antisemitism by its silence. It is absolutely true. This government continues to fail to call out what we have seen at universities. It has failed in every respect to call out antisemitism. It's one thing to make mealy mouthed expressions and comments. We had a group of Jewish Australian students in this building this week, and the reality is that they have faced the most appalling antisemitism over the last two years by academics, students and visitors alike. Despite repeated requests, this government has failed to institute a royal commission into the actions of those on university campuses.”
“I was at the LNP conference on the weekend. I was minding my own business. I was actually in the foyer, and a staff member of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre approached me and proceeded to berate me for what he perceived to be the offences of the IDF. This was a staff member of the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. I was initially stunned; I was quite taken aback. The staff member walked off, and I thought to myself: 'Expletive this! I'm not going to put up with this rubbish.' So I took off after him. I said, 'Mate, that conduct is absolutely not on,' or words to that effect. One of his supervisors came up to me because he could see that I was somewhat animated. Antisemitism in this country flourishes when good people do nothing.”
“As has been remarked in this place on innumerable occasions, a government's first responsibility is to protect and defend its people. In the comments of my good friend the member for Bruce, he talked about not wanting to weaponise this issue, but that is this government's go-to whenever something is raised that the government do not want to talk about. It is absolutely clear, as clear as the nose on the member for Bruce's face, that this government has been asleep at the wheel on the issue of antisemitism. It has walked a very dangerous fine line since 7 October 2023. With your indulgence, Madam Deputy Speaker Claydon, I want to tell the chamber about a very unfortunate circumstance that happened to me. I proudly wear the Australian and Israeli flags on my lapel. I'm not Jewish, but I am the chair of the Australia-Israel Allies Caucus.”
“Every country in NATO, with the exception of one, has agreed to lift their expenditure to five per cent, and yet here we are, still around two per cent—I think 2.02 per cent is the latest figure. The Prime Minister said, 'We'll decide,' but look at who is saying we need to increase our expenditure—the likes of Angus Houston, a former CDF. He, the author of the Defence strategic review , is saying, 'We need to increase our defence expenditure.' Greg Sheridan is saying the same. Peter Jennings is saying the same. Every expert on defence is telling your government, 'You must increase defence expenditure,' and yet this government, led by your prime minister, is saying: 'We'll decide how much we spend on defence. No-one will tell us what to do.' It is an absolute debacle. Get real.”
“They are now investing 3½ per cent in defence expenditure and another 1½ per cent on defence infrastructure. For NATO countries, five per cent of their respective GDPs is now being spent on defence, and yet our prime minister says, 'We'll decide how much money we spend on defence.' Our most important defence ally, the United States, is saying, 'Prime Minister, please lift Australia's defence expenditure.' We went to the last election with a commitment of lifting it to a minimum of three per cent. This government has got to increase its GDP expenditure on defence. It is not business as usual. In the times we're in, you cannot, on the one hand, say, 'We live in the most geostrategically challenging times since 1945,' and still spend two per cent of GDP on defence. I would have thought that was not rocket science.”
“As has been said previously, AUKUS provides Australia with a technology that very few countries in this world have, with the exception of the United States and the United Kingdom. This technology represents the crown jewels of defence equipment. Yet this government still has defence spending at around two per cent, a tick over two per cent, of GDP. What this government has done is pull funding from the Army and the Air Force and stick it into the submarine program. It's okay to be putting money into the submarine program. We need these submarines, but not at the expense of the Army and the Air Force. The United States has recently come out and said that it wants its allies to be shouldering more of the burden of the defence of the Western world. No longer are NATO countries investing two per cent or thereabouts of their respective GDPs.”
“I rise in support of this matter of public importance because AUKUS is one of the most important military defence arrangements that we as a country have ever entered into. Pillar I includes $368 billion dollars worth of nuclear propelled submarines. I sit here and I listen daily to those members opposite. I heard the member for Wills, the Assistant Minister for Defence, talking about the importance of AUKUS. I heard him talking about the strategic dangers that we now face in this country, and everybody seems to be acknowledging that we are now absolutely in the most geostrategically challenging times since 1945. But I tell you what; this government continues to let AUKUS slide. When AUKUS was first announced, in September 2021, it was announced by the coalition government, and it was groundbreaking.”
“Australians are being called upon to make a decision as to whether they want to heat their homes or whether they want to eat. That is a decision that Australians should not be having to make in 2025, but they are because of this economically lazy federal Labor government.”
“At some stage the music will stop and Australians—particularly Victorians—will know that their Labor governments have driven them into the depths of despair and poverty. The Victorian state is now a basket case, just as it was when I left it back in the early 1990s after the collapse of the State Bank of Victoria in the Joan Kirner and John Cain days. What we are seeing today under this Labor government is a repeat of that. It's a repeat of what the Labor government has done in the state of Victoria over the last dozen or so years. We do not want to see that replicated across the country, but that is part of the reason why Australians' standard of living is dropping so markedly, why Australians can't afford to pay their fuel or energy bills and why they can't afford to put food on the table anymore.”
“We've gone from spending 24 per cent of GDP on government expenditure to 27 per cent in just this last term of government. This government is addicted to spending. Now it poses these questions at this roundtable about how to somehow provide a better quality of life and a better standard of living for Australians. Well, I've got a tip for them: stop spending. This government is due to hit $1 trillion of government debt by the end of this year. By the end of this term, it'll be around $1.2 trillion. That's the estimate: $1.2 trillion. And, as every Victorian would be able to point out, at some stage the music is going to stop. Governments can keep spending and spending, but at some stage it has to be paid back.”
“Three years later, we've seen energy prices go up by 30 per cent—over $1,200 a year. So instead of getting $275 off, Australians are paying more than $1,000 than they were under the coalition government. Australians just cannot fathom why this government continues down its all-renewables policy when it is impacting upon them and their businesses. So many Australian businesses—a record number of businesses—have gone broke under Labor's watch. I want to send a shout-out to the member for Fairfax. The member for Fairfax endured a three-day love-in session here last week at the roundtable. I want to give the member for Fairfax a shout-out not just for his patience but for calling out the Treasurer on the fact that this government has overseen a significant increase in government expenditure.”
“I rise to speak on this motion on the cost of living because it is of great interest to me, as it is to 27 million Australians who have never been doing it tougher than they are today. You see, when Labor were campaigning for the last election they promised Australians the world but have given them an atlas. They promised Australians that they would have a better quality of life and a better standard of living, but what they've delivered and continue to deliver is more and more and more hardship. For the bulk of Australian families, there is more month at the end of the money. They can't make ends meet anymore. And why? There are a multitude of reasons, but one of the main reasons is this government's energy policies. In the 2022 election campaign they promised that Australians would see a $275 price reduction in their energy bills.”
“I'll tell you why else: young girls, in particular, do not want to get a trade in the building industry because they see the appalling behaviour by the CFMEU on building sites every day, and they say, 'Well, why would I want to expose myself to that misogyny?' The Labor Party pride themselves on looking after women, and they— (Time expired)”
“If we don't marry the two, if we don't work with employers and ask them about the types of skills that they are needing and the shortages that they're experiencing—the member for Grey just gave a great analogy about investing in buying a bigger pump; all you're doing is pumping water out that cracked pipe. It's a very apt analogy. But the skills shortage works in conjunction with the housing crisis that's driven by this government. They talk about building 1.2 million new homes; they have not got a snowball's chance in hell of building 1.2 million homes. Everybody knows it. One of the main reasons they can't do it is the skills shortage that the building industry is experiencing.”
“It's a drop of 103,000. Something is not working. We talk about a skills crisis. We talk about a housing crisis. The two go hand in hand. I can tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, as a carpenter and as a licensed builder—still a licensed builder—the skills shortage in Australia is dire. Just because you offer someone a fee-free place at TAFE does not mean that they will go on and take an apprenticeship. It does not mean that the courses in many different areas that fee-free TAFE is offering are closely aligned to the skills shortage that industry needs to fill today. There are many courses that young people and old people alike can do at TAFE, but many of them are not what Australian employers are looking for.”
“Everybody should go to university.' So we saw a massive drop-off in kids doing trades, and what we're experiencing today is a knock-on effect of that philosophy—parents sitting around the kitchen table talking to their kids, asking, 'What are you thinking of doing when you leave school, dear?' 'I wouldn't mind becoming a carpenter.' 'No, you don't want to become a carpenter; you want to become a lawyer.' It's that rationale, it's that philosophy, that has seeped into this country and is causing us untold grief, because we have a massive skills shortage in this country now—absolutely massive. I would pose this question: if the government's policy on fee-free TAFE is working so well, why have apprenticeship numbers dropped by 103,000 apprentices? When we left government, there were 415,240 apprentices; there are just 311,760 today.”
“I rise to speak proudly in relation to this motion. This week is National Skills Week, but every week should be National Skills Week. Before coming to this place, I was a barrister. Before being a barrister, I was a carpenter, which meant I had to go to trade school. So I'm TAFE educated, and I am a big supporter of technical and further education. It is a vital link to our prosperity not just as a nation but as individuals—the ability to get out, learn a trade and then go anywhere in the world and be respected for it. But there are some very significant problems in this country. I want to take you on a bit of a history lesson, because this goes all the way back to the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government. There was an onset in those years of a philosophy that said, 'If you want to be someone, you need to go to university.”
“If you want to know how tough times are, come to my electorate and talk to people in the main street of Mooloolaba and see the shops that are closing down in the towns in my electorate. Why? Because small businesses are doing it incredibly tough. They're doing it incredibly tough for many reasons, but I'll just pick two for the time being. They are the cost of energy and the cost of borrowing money. I'll pick another one: the cost of energy and also—I've forgotten what I was going to say, Deputy Speaker, but I'll come back to it in a minute.”
“Like most of the members on this side of the House, we've come from small business. A government member: Like us! I'll take that interjection. Like you—for sure. Most of the people on this side of the House have come from small business: doctors, small-business people, carpenters or whatever. When I make my way around my electorate of Fisher and I talk to small businesses—because the Sunshine Coast is, according to Bernard Salt, the small-business capital of the country. In my now 33 years on the Sunshine Coast, I have never seen so many Sunshine Coast businesses under the pressure they are right now. Whilst the Labor Party comes in here cock-a-hoop and talks about how good things are, it has absolutely no understanding.”
“The report was also delivered by the likes of the member for Macquarie and the member for Macarthur. It was a bipartisan recommendation to introduce age verification for online pornography and online wagering. A child can't walk into a TAB and put a bet on the horses, and neither should they be able to do it online. This is really simple stuff. There's a lot of talk about social media. I sat on that inquiry as well. It's really important stuff, absolutely. But let's revisit this report, Protecting the edge of innocence . Our children get only one chance to be kids, and we need to provide the tools to parents to help them.”
“You can't, as a 16-year-old or 14-year-old or even an eight-year-old, walk into a newsagents and by a Penthouse or a Playboy or get access to pornography in the real world, yet you can do it online. You can go onto your computer or your iPad and just tick a box to say you are 18 years of age. The report finds that the likes of Pornhub are preying on our children—as young as eight—because they want a captive audience through their teenage years and into their adulthood. The most vile—and we're not just talking about the pornography of yesteryear of full-frontal nudity, we're talking about hardcore, violent, misogynistic pornography that is very demeaning of women. So I want to send out a challenge to this new Labor government: pick up these recommendations. The report is called Protecting the age of innocence .”
“Nine years ago I came into politics because I wanted to make a difference to my community. I felt passionately about a lot of things, and the protection of children was one of them. In 2020, when I was the chair of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I conducted an inquiry which looked into the dangers of online wagering and online pornography for children under 18 years of age. We provided a report, and this report came out in February 2020. Our government provided a response in 2021, and nothing has been done since. I know there has been a change of government, but what we are seeing—we've all heard the phrase, 'you shouldn't be able to do online what you can't do in the real world', and that is very true.”
“This latest accolade in my electorate is a good example to remind everyone that nominations for the 2025 Fisher Community Awards are closing soon, on 17 August. I'm very proud to have established the Fisher Community Awards, now in their eighth year, to recognise those thousands of people who work tirelessly in the Fisher electorate, without any expectation of recognition, to make our community the best in Australia. I continue to be amazed at the range of activities that Fisher residents are involved in and the number of individuals and families that are assisted. As everyone in this House would know, the future doesn't just happen. It's built by people—people who give back, who lead and who give to our community. It's this opportunity to recognise them, and I encourage all Fisher residents to apply.”
“WALLACE () (): I'm proud today to be able to inform the House that a major tourist development in my electorate of Fisher has been recognised as one of the best in Australia and the South Pacific. The Sunshine Coast's Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World has been voted by Tripadvisor travellers as the top attraction in Queensland and the 13th top attraction in the South Pacific, being rated alongside some of the world's most recognised attractions, including the Sydney Opera House, the Australian War Memorial and Uluru. I visited the Maleny Botanic Gardens & Bird World, and I can attest that it is a staggeringly beautiful place and a testament to years of hard work by the team. I'd like to congratulate those involved, especially the general manager, Verena Olesch.”
“That panel said, 'Keep them.' The government cut them in half, from 20 down to 10. Access to Medicare supported mental health care is now at a 10-year low. Shame on this government! Labor abolished the National Mental Health Commission, and the chair of Mental Health Australia resigned in protest after the PM repeatedly refused to meet with him. Labor's record on health care is clear: they are big on promises—they're always big on promises—they're always poor on performance. They'll promise you the world; they'll give you an atlas. The coalition will continue to fight for a healthcare system where your access to a doctor doesn't depend on your bank balance.”
“Now, how you can go from $18.6 billion to $30 billion in a little under a decade and call that a cut—well, that's the Labor Party's economic team in fine form. In our final year, 167.2 million free GP services were delivered, 61 million more than in Labor's last year in office. Mental health is something that I am very, very passionate about. I've always been very passionate about it, but this government's track record on mental health is just as grim. They cut Medicare funding for mental health sessions in half. It was one of the first things that this government did when it won in 2022. This has impacted 372,000 vulnerable Australians. They ignored the expert advice. The health minister ignored the expert advice from a panel that he engaged to look into this.”
“There are so many Australians who face the same situation; they can't get in to see their GPs, but when they do, they pay for it with their credit cards and their Medicare cards. The problem with this is that over 1½ million Australians avoided seeing their GP last year because they simply could not afford it. The RACGP, in their own survey, have demonstrated that the government's push for urgent care clinics is going to make the staffing shortages of GPs even worse. When we were in government, Medicare funding rose every single year. In 2012-13, it was $18.6 billion. In 2021-22, it was $30 billion. Yet the Labor Party, when they were in opposition, continued to talk about how we cut funding from Medicare.”
“They wanted to give this government the benefit of the doubt, but I'll tell you what: over the next three years, Australians will be getting buyer's remorse about this government because they'll realise that you need a credit card more than you need a Medicare card with this government. Let's look at the facts. Under Labor, GP bulk-billing has plummeted from 88 per cent to just 77 per cent. That is an 11-point drop. Last year alone, 40 million fewer GP visits were bulk-billed. Patients are now paying 45 per cent more out of pocket to see a doctor. That's if they can see a doctor. On the Sunshine Coast, I had to actually—hello, Dr Andrew, I saw you recently—book two weeks in advance. He's such a good doctor, my GP. He's always booked out.”
“I want to thank the member for Lalor for giving me the opportunity to stand up and talk about Labor's failings when it comes to Medicare. It's really important that we have a little bit of reality, here, versus the rhetoric. Everyone would remember that the Prime Minister, during the campaign, stood up and said: 'All you'll need is one of these. All you'll need is one of these.' What he didn't tell you is that you're also going to need one of these—your credit card. For Australians across this country who are trying to see a doctor, that is not enough. That is not enough for them. I'll come to some of the stats in a moment, but it's very, very clear that Australians have been sold a pup when it comes to Medicare.”