Cameron Caldwell
Fadden · Liberal National Party · Australia
“I rise today with a heavy heart, because the scourge of domestic and family violence is no longer just a headline in the media for our local community. This week it has been happening in our own backyard. In Biggera Waters, 23-year-old Mallorie Jane Roberts, a young mum with a little son, was allegedly shot and killed in her own home.”
“I also want to acknowledge the courage of neighbour Sharon Burgess, who did what every decent Australian hopes they would. She called triple zero and desperately tried to save Mallorie's life until paramedics arrived. Sadly, Mallory could not be saved. Then, in Hope Island just a couple of nights ago, another horror unfolded.”
“To all of us in this place: we must be clear; domestic and family violence must be called out wherever it occurs. Backed by our brave police, frontline services, neighbours, families and a community that refuses to look away, we must work together to end domestic and family violence.”
“My question is to the Minister for Aged Care and Seniors. In February 2026, a constituent of mine, Mr Austin, aged 98, had his aged-care application reviewed by Labor's AI tool. Despite his age and having suffered a life-threatening fall, his application was assessed as 'low priority'.”
“I second the amendment. I support the Manager of Opposition Business. This is a worthwhile amendment to the motion and one that respects the longstanding traditions held in relation to the conduct of this committee.”
“The housing minister has talked about a 10 to 20 per cent 'correction', and that should concern every Australian with a mortgage. That's not a housing plan; that's an admission that this government has lost control. Sadly, the great Australian dream has turned into a nightmare under this Labor government.”
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“There were repeated and self-indulgent comparisons to Labor of yesteryear, but the Treasurer and the Prime Minister are not a patch on the Labor greats that they seek to emulate. The true historical comparison of this Labor budget is that it cements this Labor government's place as the highest-taxing government Australia has ever had. The big play in this budget was housing. Labor's budget papers confirm exactly what the coalition have been saying—that higher taxes will mean fewer homes. Page 158 of the budget papers reveals that Labor's new housing taxes will lead to 35,000 fewer homes. Labor promised more homes; instead, all we got was more taxes. The objective of all of this is to add 75,000 additional first home buyers. It's an admirable goal, although none of us can trust the forecasts that this government puts forward.”
“The problem is this: before the last election, this Labor government ruled out changing capital gains tax and negative gearing, and we're supposed to believe that, in some fanciful way, things have changed so substantially in less than 12 months that they have now decided to break that promise. The Treasurer was on morning television again this morning, this time ruling out taxing the family home and ruling out inheritance taxes. Seriously, who would trust him now! This budget has crystallised Labor lies, higher taxes, lower living standards and fewer homes. There was a level of delusion in that speech last night that knew no bounds. You see, the Treasurer thinks he is Paul Keating.”
“At this time last night, the Treasurer delivered one of the most uninspiring speeches I have heard in this place. I wondered why. I think maybe it was because the realisation was that he was delivering the crystallisation of a broken promise. Of course, the Prime Minister was sitting there smiling happily, and he would, because he was seeing his successor fail on the national stage. The person most satisfied with last night's speech, of course, was the Minister for Health and Ageing, who's now been outed as the Prime Minister's hand-picked successor.”
“Brett wasn't the only one who thought this was a good idea. The coalition brought this to the table, and the Prime Minister has copied our homework. Australians are rightfully sitting around their kitchen tables right now, saying, 'Why is this prime minister always the last one to arrive at the crisis?' Australians deserve better leadership than what they are seeing under this Labor government. Mortgages are up, the cost of living is up, and petrol is now through the roof, with diesel more than $3.20 a litre. Something more must be done, and leadership needs to be shown.”
“Across Australia, we have seen the living standards of all Australians decline. I received an email from one of my locals, Brett, who's a mortgage broker, and he summed it up this way: In my profession, I see the raw reality of the cost-of-living crisis every day. Many of my clients are now at breaking point, with some already skipping meals just to make ends meet. This was all before the current fuel crisis that is emerging in our country. Last week the coalition decided that we should be proactive in doing something to help Australians get through this crisis. Brett went on in his email to say: I am calling for a reduction or tax concession on diesel for primary producers and food chain suppliers. Such a measure would provide a necessary buffer against escalating costs … And do you know what?”
“This is nothing more than a press release that is out there to try and create some sort of idea that there is a solution ahead; there is not. This government have done nothing to change what delivers housing, so, as a result, they are falling further and further behind their 1.2 million homes target. What does that mean? It's created false hope for young Australians. There are fewer tradies in the system. Overall, the government are falling about 80,000 homes short of this target already. They have broken the system and have no solutions to fix it.”
“We must restore Australia to a country where life is affordable, where our kids can buy a home, where you can raise a family and where there's a fair go once again. We must again become a country of strength and unity. All Australians—especially young Australians out there, who I know are feeling pretty depressed in these current times and under this Labor government about their prospects of owning a piece of Australia—deserve the stability that's been afforded to generations of Australians, the stability and the security that comes from homeownership. We know that only the coalition will re-establish homeownership as the centrepiece of the Australian dream. One wonders why this government have set a headline target of 1.2 million homes over five years when they know full well that they cannot deliver on that promise.”
“The recent speaker, the member for Adelaide—again, maybe reading off my talking points—said that the dream of homeownership is slipping away. I couldn't agree more. The real solution that the Australian people have at hand is the election of a coalition government. I want to outline why, fundamentally, that is where the starting point for a solution needs to be. We must unapologetically defend Australian values. One of those values is the ability to have your own self-determination of where you live, and that can only be delivered through homeownership. We want our country to once again be one of opportunity, aspiration, freedom and safety. All of those things are delivered through having a home of your own.”
“I say that this is turning into a nightmare for Australians because this is a crisis that touches every single demographic impacted by housing. We know that everyone needs a roof over their head. What I see in this crisis is that it doesn't matter which end of the spectrum you're at; you are impacted. If you're a person who is fortunate enough to own a home with a mortgage, you are now paying $27,000 a year more in interest than you were in May 2022, when this government came into office. If you're a renter, your rent is up by 22 per cent. Homelessness is on the rise. Seniors and our most vulnerable are feeling insecure about their futures in housing. For this government to come in here today and suggest that all is tickety-boo and on the right track is quite deceptive in my suggestion.”
“It's interesting that we stand up, at the start of another parliamentary week, and Australia is still gripped by a fuel crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and, importantly for today's motion, a housing crisis. The member who moved this motion today, I would expect, should have been reading off the talking points given to her by her own minister, but, instead, I heard some terms that were very familiar to me. It's a message that I have said over and over in this place, and that is that the great Australian dream is turning into a nightmare under this Labor government. Full credit to the member for Maribyrnong, because she actually recognised that today. This government are painting themselves to be the great defender of housing, but, in actual fact, they are the vandals. They are the vandals of the great Australian dream.”
“There are no politics in this. This is about the people of Australia. The minister at the table scoffs in a disgraceful fashion, showing an absolute complete disregard for the pain that people are feeling right across Australia. So I'm proud to have stood here today as a member of the coalition to get this done.”
“It's what the truckies use in their trucks. It's what industry uses to manufacture. This is not a choice. The majority of fuel used in Australia is diesel. So if my local community are paying $3.15, and they have the benefit of being able to get some of it, imagine how the farmers are feeling in western Queensland, where they can't even get it, let alone pay a higher price for it. This is the tragedy of what is unfolding. We had a media announcement 15 days ago, and that legislation only just turned up this week. It was the coalition who decided to be the adults in the room and say, 'Let's get this done today.' Because when I go home tonight, I really want to be able to say to my community, 'We did something in Canberra this week. We actually tried to help.' There have been some mentions of politicking on the other side.”
“They are dealing with this in a haphazard and panicked fashion, and it's the people of Australia who are paying the price now. Every Australian is feeling this. I walked into my office this morning, pretty early, and on the front page of The Australian it said, 'Epidemic of empty'. Now, I just don't know at what point the penny is going to drop to this Labor government that Australians are expecting and they deserve real action to be taken. I started getting text messages this morning from people in my electorate heading down Bayview Street who have said, 'Holy smokes, diesel $3.15—an urban area, $3.15!' Everyone wants you to believe that diesel is just some sort of choice for a SUV that you drive around the city. It's not. You see, diesel is what puts the food on the table. It's what the farmers use in their equipment.”
“So we came in here and said, 'Let's bring this forward.' Now, it's a fair question: why would you bring it forward at this point in time? I'll tell you why. Because the Treasurer and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy actually announced this initiative back on 11 March. Today is 26 March, so, for 15 days, the fuel crisis has raged in suburbs, country towns and farms all over this country, and we didn't even have legislation until yesterday. The Australian people deserve better than that from their government. I'm very, very disappointed for the Australian people that this Labor government seems to have lost control of this crisis. There's no comprehensive plan. There are no ideas that are coming in a package.”
“I rise today, on Thursday, being the last sitting day of this parliamentary week, knowing that when I head home tonight to the Gold Coast, the expectation of my community is that we've done something constructive while we've been down here in Canberra. They don't like the talkfests. They don't like the attacking of each other. They just want the problems that they're facing in their day-to-day lives solved. So this morning the coalition came in to this place and offered to bring forward this ACCC legislation in order for this week to not be lost entirely in what it could achieve. Outside of this legislation this week, what is it that the Albanese Labor government can say they've done, hand on heart, to try and fix this fuel crisis? Not much.”
“This family's ordeal has now stretched to over six years, beginning back in 2018. They have faced assessment delays, administrative errors, funding delays and, after funding was finally released, separate equipment application processes. Unfortunately, these are not the hallmarks of a successful aged-care system, and I would call on the minister to review where this is all going so wrong.”
“The official data shows that, as at 31 October 2025, estimated wait times for medium-priority approvals were nine to 12 months for level 2 and level 3 packages and six to nine months for level 4, with 107,281 people still waiting at their approved level. In the same week, I met with Lorraine from Biggera Waters. Lorraine wants to stay in her own home. That is not an unreasonable ask. That's exactly what this aged-care system should do. But, because of the changes that have been made, she cannot access the funds she needs to modify the steps in her home in order to stay there safely. That makes no sense at all. The home modifications should be able to help older Australians stay safe and independent at home. I was also contacted by Wendy of Steiglitz on behalf of her mother, Merle.”
“He said he spends a fair bit of his time in people's homes, advocating for them and calling My Aged Care to seek reassessment for a Support at Home package, but the process is long and painful. David raised the case of one woman he met in July 2025 who was approved for a level 4 care package, the highest level of care. Yet, by January 2026, she still had not received the funding and, sadly, is now on end-of-life care. That is not a system that's working as it should. That is a system that's failing vulnerable Australians at the moment they need it the most. He also told me the system is taking nine to 12 months to process applicants, with no guarantee that funding will actually be there at the end.”
“I rise today on behalf of the seniors on the northern Gold Coast who have done the right thing all their lives but now cannot get the aged-care support that they've been assessed as needing. Labor talks a big game about dignity for older Australians, but, when it comes to delivery, too many seniors are left waiting, left confused and left without help. Just last week I met with David, a community liaison manager for an aged-care provider based at the northern end of the Gold Coast. David told me that My Aged Care is still giving out codes to people needing help but that there is nobody available to deliver those services. In his words, people get the codes and feel happy that help is on its way, but that hope is short lived because they are then left without real support.”
“If it's not a fuel crisis when there's lack of supply and there are extremely high prices, then I don't know what is going to get this minister excited about doing his job on a full-time basis. I think it's time he retired from COP and actually took on his ministerial role on a full-time basis, because that's what the Australian people deserve.”
“The minister has been wandering into question time every day this week being completely evasive, not being upfront with the Australian people, selectively choosing what numbers he gives of where petrol or diesel is on any given day in any given state or territory. He should have that data on hand. He should be able to contact those fuel companies and direct them to where they need to go to get that petrol and diesel every single day. But we have had to drag him kicking and screaming to provide some level of transparency and accountability to the Australian people, who are out there wondering when those hundreds and hundreds of bowsers in New South Wales are going to once again have petrol and diesel available to them.”
“We are supposed to be a country where you can get ahead, where you can work hard and be rewarded for that hard work. Instead, we are all paying the consequences of this Treasurer's inability to rein in his spending habits. That trillion dollars worth of debt is costing every single Australian every single day. There are businesses out there that I know are contemplating right now whether to lay off staff. I know that they're contemplating whether they need to put levies on, and that's if they have the ability to even vary the terms of contracts or the dealings that they have with other businesses. If they can't, then their petrol bills and their diesel bills have basically doubled overnight, and that is potentially an irrecoverable cost for those businesses.”
“No average Australian should be paying $3 a litre for diesel right now. How on earth is a family going to fill their car, run the kids to school and to sport, and get to work, let alone the tradies who are driving from job to job and the transport companies that are driving goods from point A to point B? How are all of these businesses, these households—think of the students at university. Think of the seniors who are on a pension. They cannot afford this Labor government, because everything is getting too expensive too quickly, and it's playing out every single day. Now we're going to the fuel pumps and paying three bucks a litre for diesel. You go to the supermarkets, and you're paying more for your food. You get your power bill in the mail, and it's up by hundreds and hundreds of dollars. This is not the Australian way of life.”
“But, instead, Australians are facing record government spending and record government debt. To put that in context for Australians out there that are tuning in, we are going to tip over $1 trillion in national debt. What does that mean? It's a big number, but what it means is this: interest payments of $72 million every single day—just paying the interest on a trillion dollars worth of debt. Imagine what we as a nation could do with that money if it wasn't servicing the spending habits of this Treasurer. Having been in office for four years, the Treasurer has absolutely squandered the opportunity to get the finances of our country back in order. Instead, inflation is raging out of control and interest rates are going up. And now what have we got? We've got, on the Gold Coast right now, diesel fuel at $3 a litre.”
“But we are shockingly exposed under this Treasurer to the global events that are unfolding far, far away. We're exposed because inflation was already raging out of control. The Reserve Bank governor made it crystal clear in her remarks that this inflation and this necessary rise in interest rates had nothing to do with what's going on in the Middle East this week. Everything in their data pre Christmas already had interest rates needing to go up to deal with the inflationary pressure that was building in the economy. The Treasurer is probably thinking at this point in time: 'Jeez, I really could have done something sooner. I really should have done something sooner.' I'm absolutely certain that's what the Prime Minister's now thinking about the Treasurer and his job.”
“This is a measure of the performance of this Albanese Labor government and of this Treasurer. It is a shameful indictment on their management of the economy that, having been in office for four years, having come in post COVID, they did not do enough to lower inflation in order to give the Reserve Bank the ability to keep interest rates lower for longer. Instead, Australians are paying, on average, about $27,000 a year more now in interest on their mortgage than they were when the coalition was in office. All of this is important because it sets the scene for global uncertainty and how well prepared we as a nation are to maintain the lifestyle that we love dearly here in Australia and to maintain the standard of living that we have here in Australia.”
“On 18 March, the reserve bank of Canada kept their rates on hold at 2.5 per cent. Inflation in Canada is 1.8 per cent. On 18 March, the United States Federal Reserve kept their interest rates on hold. On 19 March, the European Central Bank decided to keep their rates on hold at two per cent. On 19 March, the United Kingdom's Bank of England decided to keep their interest rates on hold. On 19 March, the Bank of Japan decided to keep their interest rates on hold. You'll see the trend here is that, in other comparable advanced economies, the reserve banks of those countries were able to make a decision to leave rates on hold. What's happened in Australia is that on 17 March, with inflation absolutely raging out of control, having tipped to 3.8 per cent and rising, the Reserve Bank had no choice but to raise interest rates to 4.1 per cent.”
“It is indeed aptly titled that we rise today on grievance in this place. I do so with a significant level of concern for the direction that our country is being taken under this Albanese Labor government. As we know, there's something going on in the Middle East which is causing some disruption to international trading routes. That is clearly having some impacts here in Australia. But I just want to set the scene as to why, as we enter this period of time of uncertainty and instability, Australia under this government and under this Treasurer is not as well prepared as it should be. A very good comparison of where we could be at is with some other comparable economies. Each nation has its own Reserve Bank-style body, and I just want to run through where they're all at in a few alternative economies similar to ours.”
“We must restore Australia to being a country where life is affordable, where our kids can buy a home, where you can raise a family and where there is a fair go once again—a country of strength and unity. Only the coalition will restore Australians' standard of living.”
“Today I rise to tell this House of the importance of where our economy is at. Our economy is weak, fuel supplies aren't guaranteed, and Australians are hurting. A story that, regrettably, illustrates this is from a friend of ours who is the manager of a local Woolworths. She's told me that in the last two weeks she has had to fire three staff members because of theft from that store—not theft of things that are nice-to-haves in life but toothpaste and food like pasta and pasta sauce. Why? Why are these staff, working in a retail environment, having to steal food and the basics? Because under this Labor government their standard of living has slipped enormously.”
“Prices will continue to rise, inflation is already raging out of control and the Reserve Bank has just had to act by putting interest rates up to 4.1 per cent. Australians out there are hurting. Everything is getting more expensive under the Albanese Labor government, and they don't seem to have a plan or a willingness to fix it. So what's left for the Australian people to do? The only thing they can do—that is, bring back a coalition government on that side of this House who will restore Australian standards of living.”
“The legacy that's being left by this Labor government is that the economy is weak, fuel supplies aren't guaranteed and Australians out there are hurting. The cost of living at the moment is getting hard to ignore. Day-to-day life just feels more expensive across the board. Groceries, fuel, insurance, housing—everything keeps creeping up, and it's not occasional any more; it's constant. It feels like you're always adjusting to just stay in the same place. Those are not my words; they're the words of Madeleine, from Oxenford in my electorate. She's feeling the pain every single day, and the reason she's feeling the pain is, right now, if you go to the fuel pumps you'll pay nearly $3 a litre for diesel. There are local businesses that I know are contemplating putting a levy on their transport.”
“We must restore homeownership as the centrepiece of the Australian dream, and it's only the coalition who will protect Australians' way of life and restore their standard of living.”
“The Property Council are not new to analysing this issue, and in September 2017, when Labor was in opposition, they said this: We have also consistently put the view that the Opposition's plan to cut the discount from 50 per cent to 25 per cent would damage the industry, the economy and the security of the livelihoods of many in the industry who rely on construction. There is a big difference between a tap the brakes approach to CGT and slamming on the handbrake. That is the key point: if you tax housing and investment more, you won't get more housing. Higher taxes will lead to fewer houses. The government's dream of 1.2 million homes is so far from reality. It is absolutely unachievable; they are not getting there.”
“It doesn't matter what the question is, but the answer is never higher taxes. But, of course, in true Labor fashion, when they run out of actual ideas, they reach for the taxation drawer. Labor now wants to fiddle with capital gains tax and negative gearing, changes that are dressed up as fairness, but they won't lead to more homes being built. The Property Council said last month that there is a long-held misunderstanding that changing the capital gains tax discount would help housing affordability, 'even though it will not boost supply'.”
“In the year 2022-23, they forecast 235,000, and what did we get? We got 538,000. In 2023-24, 235,000 was the forecast, while the actual was 429,000. What's interesting about these numbers is that the current minister for housing was the Minister for Home Affairs at the time. The irony that she is now the minister whose job it is to fix the housing crisis is not lost on anyone. We remember that she was hopeless in Home Affairs, and now we've seen she's hopeless with homes. The minister talks about there being a crisis that's been building for 40 years, but the reality is that it's only been the last four under this Labor government. In short, immigration has been way too high, and it's been putting unsustainable pressure on the housing sector. There must be an alignment of immigration and housing, or this crisis will only deepen.”
“Renters are not escaping either, with rents up 22 per cent in the same time. These numbers underpin the reason why standards have fallen and Australians are going backwards. There are two major factors in determining whether housing in this country is successful and achievable, and that is the balance of supply and demand. At the Joint Standing Committee on Migration hearing on Friday 13 March, the Department of Home Affairs admitted it has never modelled the impact of the Albanese government's migration numbers on housing and infrastructure. Infrastructure Australia, during the same hearing, in their evidence described the recent surge as 'mega-population-growth'. Treasury has said that net overseas migration is expected to moderate to, say, 260,000 in 2025-26. But, in recent years, the forecasts have not been close to reality.”
“As we start this sitting week, Australians are suffering a fuel crisis, a cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis. The economy is weak, fuel supplies aren't guaranteed and Australians are hurting. The great Australian dream is becoming a nightmare under this Labor government. It's a nightmare for young Australians, it's a nightmare for renters, it's a nightmare for homeowners and it's a nightmare for seniors. If you've got a home, you're worried about whether you'll be able to keep it, and, if you haven't, you worry that you never will. Last week, the RBA lifted the official cash rate to 4.1 per cent, on the back of raging inflation, meaning that mortgage holders have been dealt yet another blow. The average mortgage holder is paying $27,000 a year in interest more than what it was under the coalition government.”
“I move: That this House: (1) acknowledges that the Government has made Australia's housing crisis worse than ever by: (a) expanding the 5 per cent deposit scheme from a sensible and targeted approach, to an uncapped and non-means-tested free for all which has supercharged house prices by 3.6 per cent in just one quarter, and exposed first home buyers including young Australians to larger mortgages; (b) creating the failing Housing Australia Future Fund which has $11.4 billion within it but has built only 895 houses in 2.5 years of operation; and (c) proposing to fiddle with the capital gains tax and negative gearing, which is dressed up as an equity measure but will not actually result in the construction of new dwellings; (2) notes that the Government is overseeing a historic collapse of housing construction, with dwelling completions are now running at around 170,000 each year, whereas 200,000 dwellings were completed annually under the previous Government, while the population has grown by more than 1.6 million since the Government came to power; and (3) further notes that the Government is already running more than 80,000 dwellings short of the National Housing Accord target of 1.2 million homes by mid-2029, and modelling by the National Housing Supply and Affordability Council says the Government will not reach its own target, falling more than 60,000 dwellings short.”
“Had we been in a circumstance where the Treasurer had us well-prepared for these kinds of events, where inflation was under control, where inflation had actually turned the corner and where the Reserve Bank was satisfied with where inflation was at, we might be better prepared to deal with these world shocks. But, at the moment, we are badly exposed to world events. We are adding these events on top of already high inflation data. We are shockingly exposed, and this is just one example of the mismanagement of the economy by this treasurer. Another thing that I'll point to, which many Australians don't know, is that we are about to tick over a trillion dollars of national debt, which means we are servicing interest of $72 million a day. This type of management must end.”
“We saw just in the last couple of days reports that Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser has said that he expects inflation will smash through that 4.2 per cent and could maybe stop short of 5 per cent. Those numbers are way outside the RBA's comfort zone. In those circumstances, the RBA has only got one lever that it can pull, and that's to lift interest rates. What that means is higher mortgage repayments for households. It means higher rents because the costs that houses are to hold will go up. Each and every mortgage holder who has an average mortgage in Australia is paying about $23,000 a year more now than they were when the coalition was in government. Every incremental increase to rates makes it that much harder to keep a roof over your head.”
“She welcomes enforcement action, but truthfully she says: 'That is of no help to small businesses, who have to pass on the fuel increases as a levy to their customers, whether that be business to business or consumers. I'm in the transport industry, and it's not able to be absorbed.' What this means, of course, is that the cost of everything goes up because, when fuel prices go up, the cost of transport, generators, refrigeration—all of it—goes up. We're already in difficulty with inflation. The RBA is not happy with where we're sitting. They had already forecast that inflation was probably going to get to about 4.2 per cent, but this fuel crisis is now putting even more pressure on that inflationary number.”
“What happens when the fuel supply becomes uncertain, prices go up and supply just disappears is that businesses can't plan, they can't deliver and ultimately workers lose work. This is having real consequences in our local community. Overnight, we saw diesel hit about $2.55 a litre in the local area. That's shot up from about $1.55 when I last filled up the tank before I came down to Canberra. So $1 per litre is the price spike on diesel just in the local area. This is really causing major dramas, particularly for our transport businesses. I was contacted by Danielle from the local area in response to a Facebook post I put out this morning.”
“We couldn't really close the Federation Chamber this week without talking about the big topic of the week, and that is fuel supply and fuel prices. There is absolutely no doubt that this is hurting some sectors more than others. We know that our farmers, our fishers and our friends in the bush are really struggling, but, in my local area, it's even small businesses that are really starting to struggle. I was contacted this week by a mobile welder and fabricator who's been stood down from work. It's not because there's not enough work or not enough demand. The reason for him being stood down is the uncertainty of the diesel supply needed to run the generator that's used for the mobile fabrication work. We know that many of our tradespeople rely on diesel powered equipment to keep working each day.”
“Mark from Helensvale said, when he emailed me over the weekend: 'I just ducked out to buy some milk that four days ago was $4.50 per two litres and is now $4.70. Milk, up until approximately five months ago, was trading at $4 for the same product. I'm due to go shopping with my wife tomorrow, and I'm quite frankly scared at what it will cost.' The Treasurer had told us that we'd turned the corner on inflation, but he's been exposed for his mismanagement of the economy. Only the coalition will restore Australia's—”
“In the last couple of days we've heard a lot about the haves and the have-nots—about who has fuel and who doesn't. And it seems that our farmers, our fishers and our friends in the bush don't have fuel. But I'll tell you what we will all have shortly: higher prices. As was reported in the Australian Financial Review today, under the heading 'RBA deputy issues new inflation and rates warning', Deputy Governor Andrew Hauser said that inflation was expected to rise above the forecast 4.2 per cent but stop short of five per cent. He said: … failing to raise rates to the level they need to be and allowing inflation to get out of control is a clear problem. So not only are we seeing the cost of everything going up; we are now expecting that the result will be higher interest rates. This is a cost-of-living crisis that's already biting.”
“Kings Christian College from Pimpama visited my office as part of their recent tour to Canberra, and I was joined by a roundtable of grade 12 executive captains together with one of their deputy heads of high school, Mr Ralf de la Mare. It was great to discuss with them the importance of parliament and the leadership that they can offer.”
“All these years later it's still going strong and getting hundreds of participants each week. It's a great community event, and I'm so very proud of it. On Friday of last week I attended the Arundel State School leadership induction ceremony. I was joined by my state colleague the Hon. Sam O'Connor and by local councillor Joe Wilkinson for what was a very great event for our local students to recognise their leadership that they will offer this year. Now this doesn't happen without some serious work behind the scenes by the staff. So to Principal Landon Dare and to Deputy Principal Bridgette O'Donnell, thank you so much for getting these students ready for leadership. I was very proud to be there to hand out some badges and certificates. Last week, I had a visit to Parliament House by one of my local schools.”
“The interesting thing was the vote in relation to whether or not pineapple should be on a pizza. I would like to record for the history books that apparently the first ever dead heat was held—it was 99 votes all—and I was given the great honour by the Speaker of the casting vote. Now, do not mention this to the Premier of Queensland—just keep it between us in this room—I said that pineapple should be on pizza, and so of course that side won. But, in all seriousness, thank you to the Speaker and his team for a wonderful experience. I rise today to pay tribute to the wonderful community event that is the Paradise Point parkrun. On the weekend they marked their 500th event, and I am very proud of this one because, back when I was in the local council at the Gold Coast, we started this event on 17 October 2015.”
“Today I rise to celebrate a wonderful occasion that was held recently at Gainsborough State School where the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Hon. Milton Dick MP, visited as part of the Australian Parliament House National Flag Roadshow. I want to thank Principal Clay McCann and all of the school community for such a wonderful and warm welcome. We spoke with year 5 and 6 students about the role of parliament, the importance of democracy and why every Australian, no matter their age, should know that their voice matters. Students were very engaged, and interestingly we were able to unfurl one of the flags that sits on top of the Parliament House inside the school hall. Of course it's the same size as a double-decker bus, which was quite impressive for the students.”