Simon Kennedy
Cook · Liberal Party · Australia
“Can you guess how long it took Cory to have his injuries accepted? Eight years—eight years of forms, reports, appointments, assessments, delays and uncertainty. Cory, as I mentioned, is president of the Cronulla RSL Sub-Branch.”
“This Albanese government must accept its obligation in return, must explain why veterans are being pushed through repeated reassessments, must explain why veterans are paying out-of-pocket costs for 400 days while waiting for approval and must explain why doctors are being driven away from DVA work.”
“This has to change. I don't want to continue with political point scoring. I want this to flip. If the members across here today and the members watching in their offices right now can take this back to their party room: we want to stop. Let's make this right.”
“A veteran should not be forced through repeated assessments just to keep receiving care. A veteran should not be paying out of pocket while waiting for a government approval.”
“We've announced it and passed it in a budget, and now we're doing the consultation. How backwards is that? We're raising revenue and giving billions of dollars to hydrogen and billions of dollars to billionaires. We're giving $15 billion to the NRF.”
“Luckily, he had a home which he could borrow against, but for those 17 months he had to borrow against his home and he was under constant psychiatric treatment, with no promise that it would ever be reimbursed. This isn't how a grateful country should treat a veteran.”
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“Most of us watching at home will never live through what these men and women suffer. Just the uncertainty right now of passing a $5,000 cap in consulting afterwards is creating anxiety. We heard about up to 3,000 suicides in this population. Why are we doing this? Let's fix it. Let's act now. Let's say 'we got it wrong', fix it and make it right. Veterans need the peace of knowing that, when they reach out for treatment, the first response from their country will not be to ask whether they've crossed a spending threshold. It's time to make this right for veterans all around Australia, and I stand with you.”
“This has to change. I don't want to continue with political point scoring. I want this to flip. If the members across here today and the members watching in their offices right now can take this back to their party room: we want to stop. Let's make this right. If this was overlooked or administrative, great; I will personally shut up about it. But let's fix this for the veterans. They deserve it. This is not how a grateful country should treat those who've served it. For a veteran with a physical injury, delay can mean more than pain; it means less mobility, less work, less independence, and sometimes I hear them say to me it makes them feel less human. For a veteran with PTSD, delay can mean sleepless nights, anger, isolation, shame. It can fracture their relationships, fracture their sense of self. We don't live through that.”
“This Albanese government must accept its obligation in return, must explain why veterans are being pushed through repeated reassessments, must explain why veterans are paying out-of-pocket costs for 400 days while waiting for approval and must explain why doctors are being driven away from DVA work. For me, this is the most egregious one: Labor must explain why it is creating $5,000 cap on what these men and women deserve. Now, I don't want to keep political point scoring on this issue. I want the government to backflip. They've just done it on parts of their tax and budget reform. It's not too late to make this right. But if they don't make this right, I will keep on this issue for the next two years until we get change. Whether that's getting this government to backflip or whether it's throwing them out, it's not something I will drop.”
“A veteran should not be forced through repeated assessments just to keep receiving care. A veteran should not be paying out of pocket while waiting for a government approval. This $5,000 cap is not just an administrative threshold; it becomes a symbol of a system that places budgets before dignity, that places process before people and suspicion before respect. This isn't charity. It's not special treatment; it's a debt of honour that we owe these veterans. When Australians sign up to serve, they accept obligations most of us will never have to face and will never have to think about. They accept hardship, risk and sacrifice and they accept doing things we would not even dream about. They accept a chance they might not come home, they might not see their kids, their sons and daughters, their wives and husbands or their parents.”
“Men and women trying to find purpose again, to piece together what's left of their lives when the uniform comes off. They've told me about veterans living out in the bush, isolated from support, veterans sleeping rough, veterans who served this country who have now been abandoned by it and abandoned by the Labor Albanese government. It's shameful. How can the Albanese government look these men and women in the face and say this system is working? How can a government ask Australians to serve and then leave them short, capping what they'll reimburse them for at 5,000 bucks a year? It's pathetic. Cory's story should shame this government. A veteran should not have to wait eight years for 12 injuries to be accepted. A veteran should not have to wait more than 400 days for a claim to be processed.”
“We have 20 times more people killing themselves than died in combat, and now we're capping their claims at 5,000 bucks. It's disgusting. The report went on to say: We believe the actual number of preventable deaths by suicide to be higher than 3,000. That would be more than 40 times those killed in combat. Look what we're spending in our defence department for those in combat now: $50 billion— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 11:08 to 11:22 The Cronulla RSL sub-branch has told me about the war widows left to figure out life after service, grieve, and then deal with this bureaucracy all at once. They've told me about servicemen carrying mental scars as they try to rebuild their identity.”
“Luckily, he had a home which he could borrow against, but for those 17 months he had to borrow against his home and he was under constant psychiatric treatment, with no promise that it would ever be reimbursed. This isn't how a grateful country should treat a veteran. It's not support; it's a system that forces hurt and broken people to break before it finally believes them. Cory, Greg and Paul also spoke about the human cost. They've told me about family breakdowns caused by the stress and claims process and about relationships buckling under years of uncertainty, financial pressure and untreated trauma. The royal commission itself stated: Between 1997 and 2021, there were 1,677 confirmed suicides by serving and ex-serving members. That's 20 times more than the number of people that were killed in combat.”
“He approached the Vietnam Veterans Association for help, and an application was made for a gold card. He was sent to a DVA doctor—mlcoa in Sydney—but, after 12 months of delays, his claim was rejected. The rejection triggered another breakdown. Paul was left in such distress he threatened to take his own life, and only then did the DVA arrange for a psychologist to call him every two days. His case went to the Veterans' Review Board, where he had to fight for the recognition against military and civilian lawyers, a process that caused him enormous distress. Eventually, DVA accepted all of his conditions. In September 2017, he became TPI and received a gold card with 17 months of back pay. For those 17 months, he had no income.”
“We've announced it and passed it in a budget, and now we're doing the consultation. How backwards is that? We're raising revenue and giving billions of dollars to hydrogen and billions of dollars to billionaires. We're giving $15 billion to the NRF. We're paying $20 million to tell people to pump up their tyres and use less fuel, yet we can't find the $750 million to cover these veterans' health bills. What kind of message are we sending those who want to sign up to protect this country? We're already struggling with recruitment to our armed services. This is a slap in the face to all those who have served, do serve or are thinking about serving. I also want to share Paul's story with the House. In May 2016, after suffering a serious mental breakdown, he was forced to retire from work and sell his business.”
“The government and the Australian people have a moral obligation to stand beside every veteran for the rest of their life, just as they stood ready to stand for us. No veteran should ever have to fight for the support they were promised after already fighting for their country. If we are willing to ask men and women to risk everything for Australia, then we must be willing to give them everything they need when they return. Anything less is a failure to honour the sacrifice they made on our behalf. I'd ask this government to listen to Cory's words and, more than listening to his words, to think about the millions of veterans out there and the precarious situations some of them find themselves in. They're broken and bruised, and we're talking about a $5,000 cap?”
“Cory wrote: Every veteran signs a contract knowing that one day they may be asked to make the ultimate sacrifice. They willingly place themselves in harm's way, prepared to give their life in service to their country and in defence of others. They do so without hesitation, trusting that their nation will stand by them in return. That trust must never be broken. When a veteran comes home carrying the physical and psychological scars of service, our responsibility does not end. In many ways, it is only beginning. We owe them more than words of gratitude and ceremonial tributes. We owe them a lifetime commitment—a commitment to provide the care, support and dignity they have earned through their sacrifice.”
“How can the Albanese government look at the findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and allow a policy that caps services at 5,000 bucks and restricts care needed by these veterans? Psychologists, psychiatrists, counsellors and mental health professionals aren't optional extras. Sometimes these are the difference between someone living or taking their own life. We go to morning teas and breakfasts and hear about all the funding for headspace. Yet, at the very moment the country should be removing barriers to mental health support, we're taking that support away from veterans. This is the opposite of what the royal commission should have taught this government. I'd like to read a letter and some words that Cory Rinaldi, president of Cronulla RSL sub-branch, wrote.”
“It's many veterans wondering how they're going to get on with their life, wondering how they're going to pick up the pieces and even wondering whether they can get on with their life. Unfortunately, we do have veteran suicides in this country. When we're giving people 400 days of uncertainty before they find out what's happening, when we're giving them a $5,000 cap, how petty can we be? A government that's raising almost $80 billion in extra revenue is taking away from people who've survived, often by the skin of their teeth, and who are now lame, injured and broken in our society. We're capping what we're giving them. It makes me sick. It lacks dignity, it lacks compassion and it lacks human decency.”
“They also spoke about what happens when the uniform comes off, you come out of battle and you enter the bureaucracy. Cory told me that veterans are now waiting more than 400 days for their claims to be processed. That's more than 400 days that a veteran is out there with uncertainty, wondering, 'Am I going to get covered?' These are men and women often living with fragile mental conditions. No-one should be waiting 400 days. It's just not good enough. Now there's a $5,000 treatment cap. How heartless is this? For the Albanese government this is just another budget line—a simple hit and run, an easy target. For a veteran it's an endless stream of GP reports. It's reassessments, delays, out-of-pocket bills and another battle for care. It's uncertainty.”
“Can you guess how long it took Cory to have his injuries accepted? Eight years—eight years of forms, reports, appointments, assessments, delays and uncertainty. Cory, as I mentioned, is president of the Cronulla RSL Sub-Branch. I recently heard from him, along with fellow board members Greg Crumblin and Paul Zaat, about the serious concerns they hold for veterans in my local community and right across the country. Collectively, these three men have dedicated more than 70 years of voluntary service to supporting veterans. These three men have fought across Vietnam, Iraq and East Timor, each of them returning with injuries—Agent Orange and cancer; PTSD and physical impairments. These are the consequences of serving and giving your mind and body for your country. They still speak about the pride they have and the pride those who served have.”
“This government is failing veterans. This budget lacks empathy, human decency and emotion for what veterans have put their bodies, their minds and their families through. It lacks any respect for the fact that these men and women have risked their lives for our country. It's punishing them. It's punishing people who've laid down everything for things we wake up and take for granted every day. I'd like to tell a few stories about veterans from my subbranches in my electorate. Cook is right near the Holsworthy army base. We have a number of veterans who have served and those who continue to serve living in my electorate. I'd like to tell a few stories about some folks at the Cronulla RSL Sub-Branch. Cory, an Iraq and East Timor veteran, served this country and had 12 service related injuries.”
“Prime Minister, this is a nurse and a teacher—people you pretend to care about. Do you know how much CGT a nurse and a teacher pay in New Zealand? Zero per cent. Do you know what the nurses and teachers in Singapore pay, Treasurer? Zero per cent. Do you know what a nurse and a teacher in communist China pay?”
“The Prime Minister reckons he wants to hear from young people on housing, but does he really? Andrew in my electorate wrote: Life has been hard for someone in his late 20s—my wife's a Nurse and I'm a teacher, we should be able to have a roof over our head and not worry about money...my wife and I have been saving, investing and working hard to try and build a home. …The Labor government without asking it citizens has decided to change the Capital Gains Tax discount…the investments we've worked so hard to build (for a deposit) and risked so much money on will now only give us half the profit we would have. Simon, please please please help with rectifying this and (make them take to an election) as to whether the capital gains discount should be changed, because it's not fair on hard working people trying to get ahead.”
“Patrol Person of the Year went to Khristina Verstraete, and the Patrol of the Year went to Patrol 7. The Rookie Lifesaver of the Year was Finlay Tanger. The Most Outstanding IRB Member was Amelia Kirby. The Most Improved IRB Member was Neill Hunt. The Most Outstanding U15 Club Person went to Eva Dorling, the Most Outstanding U17 Club Person was Declan Noonan, and the Most Outstanding U19 Club Person was Kaitlyn Burns. The President's Trophy for the Most Outstanding Club Person went to Patrick Hughes. The Belinda Emmerson Franke Encouragement Award went to Bob Lees and Brett Martin. And the Ted Brooker Memorial Trophy for Outstanding Contribution in club competition and service went to Caitlin Smith. Congratulations to everyone involved. Here's to another great year for Elouera.”
“The Tim Nesbitt Rookie of the Year was Sienna Smith. The Most Outstanding Trainer was Justin Cooper, and the most improved was Khristina Verstraete. The David Chandler Award for Junior Patrol Person of the Year went to Ruby Kelly. The Daile Banning Award for the Under 17's Athlete of the Year went to Zane Panckhurst. The Terry Trevillian Award for the Under 19's Athlete of the Year went to Bailey Duncan. The Rick Pallister Award went to the open men's boat crew Elouera Wilko. The Robert Chapman Award for the Water Man of the Year went to Nathan Neale. The Sharon Muddle Award for Water Woman of the Year went to under-23 women's boat crew Fancy Pants. The Gilchrist family awards for the most outstanding male and female beach athletes went to Peter Thoroughgood and Natalie Hay.”
“I'd like to congratulate all the award winners from Elouera Surf Life Saving Club on another fantastic year of achievement. Specifically, I'd like to celebrate the under-14 male beach relay champions: Joshua Malouf, Pryce Adams, Tyler Parnell and Oliver Robertson—as well as the open male short-course surfboat 2025 winners: Grant Wilkinson, David Frew, Matt Norton, Matt Guy and Dan Ellice-Flint. The most outstanding masters competitor award went to the 180s men's boat crew Greatmen. The Most Outstanding Boat Competitor went to Matt Norton, and the Most Outstanding Boat Crew went to the open men's Elouera Wilko: Matt Norton, Matt Guy, Dave Frew, Dan Ellice-Flint and Grant Wilkinson. The Most Improved Boat Crew went to the under-23 women's crew Fancy Pants: Tahlia Ingram, Casey Mood, Sienna Smith, Caitlin Smith and Grant Wilkinson.”
“This is beltway-bandit politics in Canberra to trick the Australian small businesses that they are hoping are not watching. Well, we are going to hold them to account for this. The government believes it's justified—well, make the case openly. Let's pull this legislation apart and have a debate. The coalition won't oppose practical reform. We will say yes to good legislation and we will say yes to half of this. What we are saying is don't bundle good reform with cynical reform that's going to hurt small businesses, that's going to hurt the tradies in my electorate, that's going to hurt the small businesses in my electorate and that's going to hurt the taxpayers in my electorate, who are going to have to pay more for your preferred cynical industrial arrangements.”
“To all the businesses out there—all the tradies in Cook who are listening to this—even if you don't have the contract with the Commonwealth, if your head contractor or the contractor above your contractor does, you may get caught up in this and be excluded from providing work underneath Commonwealth funded projects. This is how a policy that looks technical in Canberra can land directly on a small business in Taren Point, Kirrawee, Como or Oyster Bay. If this government believes it's justified, it should make this case openly and have the debate about this bill. Don't cynically tie it to what is actually a good piece of legislation about the Fair Work Commission. Let's get that bill passed and let's have an honest and open debate. This is trickery.”
“This is not pro worker, it's not pro small business, and, I'll tell you what, it's definitely not pro taxpayer. It is particularly concerning because, once these procurement settings are created, they flow down supply chains. Let me explain what I mean. A Commonwealth contract may be awarded to a head contractor—maybe the M6 that the state Labor government's awarded, which is now closed because they can't complete the project—but the conditions they sign with that head contractor affect the subcontractors and the subbies to the subbies. It flows all the way down the chain. So, while a local business may not be contracting directly with the Commonwealth, if they're out there subcontracted to someone who does have that head contract with the Commonwealth, they can still be caught by the practical consequences of these rules.”
“We need to make it easier for capable businesses to participate in government work, not harder. We must open the doors for local firms, not create another barrier that favours those with big resources and big industrial arrangements that are preferred by this government. The construction sector is a clear example. Across the Sutherland Shire, people understand the importance of tradies and contractors. These are the people who are building our homes. These are the people who maintain our schools, improve our roads and fix things. Many of them are small businesses; many of them are family businesses. Many of them started with one ute, one apprentice and years of hard work. These businesses should not be told that Commonwealth work is effectively out of reach for them unless they adopt this government's preferred industrial models.”
“In Cook, we see roads under pressure; we see local facilities stretched; we see a lack of sporting fields; we see overdevelopment with no new schools; we see no new roads, no new metros and no new light rail; we see projects delayed and made more expensive; and we see housing supply not being addressed. We want the roads, schools and services to keep up. Cook was one of the few local councils in Sydney that exceeded its housing targets last term, but we had no new infrastructure to show for it—lots of new houses, no new schools, no new roads, no new metros and no new light rails, but we exceeded our housing targets. How is that fair? There is also much more broad concern about competition in the Australian economy. We need more competition, not less. We need procurements that encourage more people to compete, not fewer.”
“When the costs rise on the Commonwealth funded projects, taxpayers pay, businesses pay and employees pay in higher tax take, and that is what we are living right now. We are in this cost-of-living crisis, Australians are paying more for everyday goods to other firms—groceries, energy, insurance, rent and mortgages—but you're also paying more to your government. Australians are paying more than they have ever. Income tax has never been taxed higher as a percentage of GDP than now. Company and business income tax has never been taxed higher as a percentage of GDP than now, and it's forecast to go higher as soon as they ram through the Labor-Greens deal to tax Australians more. In Cook, these people know what happens when government gets infrastructure wrong.”
“Many don't have the enterprise agreement because it's not necessary or practical for them and often not in the employee's best interest. This doesn't make them bad employees; it doesn't make them bad employers. It doesn't mean they're less capable, and it doesn't mean they should be excluded from government work. A procurement system that says, 'You may be lawful, you may be capable, you may be the best person for the job, and you may be the best person for the Australian people,' and then says to them, 'You don't have the preferred employer agreement, and, therefore, we're not going to give you that job,' is not fair. Not only is it not fair, it doesn't make economic sense, and it's narrowing competition, increases costs and means this government will tax hardworking Australians more.”
“What we should be doing is reducing government spending, and one of the ways to do that is to have a procurement process that focuses on outcomes, cost and quality, not a preferred industrial relations instrument. The businesses of Australia should understand this. What we are doing here today is going to add cost to the Australian budget, which means this government will tax the businesses out there watching this more. You will be paying more to find their preferred suppliers who use their preferred union mates and supplying those industrial instruments. That is what this legislation will do. There are over 23,000 businesses in Cook. Most of them are small and medium sized. Many operate under awards; many pay above award rates. Many have flexible arrangements for their staff and their businesses because it suits their staff better.”
“Our productivity is dropping through the floor. It's been hit and has a crater in it. We need to be procuring from the best and brightest. Commonwealth procurements should be based on value for money, capability, compliance with the law, safety, quality and integrity. Taxpayers need to get the best outcomes for their dollars, and they're not. That's one of the reasons this side of politics is having to increase taxes so strongly. It's why we have the highest taxing budget of all time. Income has never been taxed more strongly than it is right now under this government. And the only time it's going to be taxed more than it is right now is next year, and the only time after next year is the year after and all the way to 2030. Thanks to their bracket creep tax, it's going to get worse.”
“Justice delayed is justice denied, and this principle applies to both sides—both employees and employers. So we will support where this bill helps the Fair Work Commission deal with these matters more quickly. But the government has chosen to attach something else. These procurement bargaining powers provisions aren't administrative. These go to the heart of how the Commonwealth government may operate. Again, we've got a government choosing their preferred industrial relations instrument over the substance of what the procurement is trying to do. Should we be building the data centres of tomorrow, the AI of tomorrow, Australia's competitive advantage, just because they've dealt with the right unions, or do we want the best technology for Australian businesses to use AI to harness that productivity?”
“Those questions can still be dealt with later, if they need to be, but they should not automatically stop the commission from trying to help the parties resolve the dispute. For the small and medium businesses in Cook and the more than 70 per cent of hardworking employees of those small and medium enterprises, these changes matter. A local cafe in Oyster Bay, a builder in Caringbah, a mechanic in Kurnell or a medical practice in Miranda can't afford to have a workplace dispute drag on unnecessarily. Equally, a worker who believes they've been unfairly treated shouldn't have to wait months and months for the system to move. These people might be struggling to make rent—the increased cost of rent that's gone up since these new budgetary changes.”
“For many people, the early dispute resolution stage is the best chance of resolving a matter quickly, and that's in the best interests of both the business and the worker. We're on the side of helping both the businesses and the workers. It's meant to be practical, it's meant to be quick and it's meant to avoid drawn-out, costly delays and often litigation. If these parties can sit down early, understand each other's position and reach a fair settlement, that's the best outcome for the business, the best outcome for the worker and the best outcome for society. This bill would allow the commission to get on with that early dispute resolution process without first having to resolve every threshold argument.”
“AWS may have the best prices and the absolute best technology to be building the best data centres of tomorrow, but, because they don't have this government's preferred collective bargaining agreement, we're going to give it to somebody else. This is absolutely ludicrous, and it needs proper debate. To tie this to the Fair Work Commission, which is absolutely denying justice to people by delaying their cases, is cynical. We should fix it and split apart this bill. The Fair Work Commission amendments in the bill are largely practical. The commission has been under serious workload pressure. Applications have surged, cases are taking longer, and the system's being placed under strain. We can't ignore this, and a workplace tribunal that cannot deal with matters efficiently does not serve workers, employers or the broader economy.”
“They want to compete on the quality of their work, their reliability, their price and their ability to deliver. Instead, we've got a government that's turned procurement into a system where they can rig procurements if you have the right industrial instrument. It's not just punishing small businesses; there are businesses like Amazon Australia—I was just speaking to them in my office earlier today—and AWS building the data centres of tomorrow. Right now they choose not to use collective bargaining industrial instruments because they want to bring in the best and brightest. They want to be able to move them around the world. We're saying we're not going to preference Amazon in government procurements. We'll go and find some of the Labor Party's mates who've got the right industrial instrument and get them to build a data centre.”
“We've got builders, electricians, plumbers, civil contractors, family retailers, professional service firms, transport operators, suppliers and subcontractors. Small and medium enterprises employee 70 per cent of Australia, and in Cook it's even higher than that. I've got businesses like Shire Pool Care, Little's cafe, Loftus Pies and AP Performers. These businesses don't have large legal departments. They don't have endless time to navigate industrial complexity. They're already dealing with higher power prices, higher insurance, higher rents, higher material costs and higher inflation under this government. All they want is for rules to be fair, clear and workable so they can go about their business, serving their community and doing it in a professional way.”
“The second proposition is very, very different. It's going to create a framework that will allow the Commonwealth, the federal government, to preference businesses in procurement because of some random industrial instrument they have. This is a major change and deserves a lot of scrutiny. It shouldn't be bundled together with this Fair Work Commission reform. This is why the position should be very straightforward. Let's help the Fair Work Commission and, having done that, let's have a real, honest debate about what we should do about this second element of the bill. In my electorate of Cook, this isn't an abstract debate. We have thousands of small and medium businesses across San Souci, Gymea, Jannali, Caringbah, Miranda, Sutherland, Kirrawee, Taren Point and the surrounding suburbs.”
“This bill, the Workplace Relations Legislation Amendment (Building Cooperative Workplaces No. 1) Bill 2026, asks parliament to consider two very different propositions cynically tied together. The first is sensible. It deals with the workload facing the Fair Work Commission. They are under water and we need to help them. We fully support the government in this aim. This seeks to make the system faster, more practical and less bogged down in process. Justice delayed is justice not done. Sadly, right now, people are not getting their cases heard before the Fair Work Commission, and we need to rectify this. When a worker or an employer is caught in a workplace dispute, delay isn't an administrative inconvenience; it's stressful, costly and deeply personal and it can often lead to unjust outcomes.”
“It's $80 billion of theft—theft from Australians, theft from Australian businesses—and Australians will be poorer for it—so much poorer. I'd ask the Labor government to join us in what we need to do. Actually, let's really cut taxes. If you really care about it, join us and index tax brackets. Let's give more workers more of what they deserve.”
“Out of all the parliaments we've had in 200 years of this country, we're going to have this government drag us into the highest tax on income. That's what workers earn—income. If we really care about workers, if we genuinely cared about workers, you would join the coalition in indexing the tax brackets, ending bracket creep and giving more money back into workers' pockets. Right now, we're all getting stories. Every member in this parliament is getting stories from people who can't afford things. I recently had to send a constituent to Wesley Mission to pay their electricity bill—a pensioner who risked having their electricity cut off. But instead we're gaslit and told it's a tax cut. Well, it's not a tax cut.”
“On how bracket creep is working, just to give a couple more figures, today income tax is about 12 per cent of GDP, of everything the economy produces. Through Labor's sneaky bracket creep tax, over the next decade it'll climb from 12 per cent to 15 per cent. We're going to take a greater share of income tax than has ever been taken in the history of this country. Australians are on track to pay more in income tax than they ever have before in the entire history of the country. So how can members say out of one side of their mouth that they want to protect workers and they want to give them more money when we're going to have income tax higher than it ever has been in the history of the entire country?”
“They're telling me about people sharing housing and about kids sleeping on floors with no mattress and them giving them blankets. I've spoken about a single mother who I've met who's lost her house and her housing deposit, in absolute tears, because they don't have enough money to actually service their mortgage, let alone pay for school fees or buy food. These are real people I am meeting every day in my electorate. These are the people we want to give a tax cut to every year for the rest of their lives. They say they're reducing taxes, but what's happening in this actual budget? Taxes are increasing by $80 billion. This is the highest-taxing budget ever in the history of the country. We are taking more money from hardworking Australians and hardworking businesses than we have ever done in the history of this country.”
“This is what the coalition has said that we will do about it: we will give every Australian worker a tax decrease every year for the rest of their lives. They come in here and say, 'We love workers.' Well, why are we increasing their taxes every single year with a sneaky bracket creep tax? Why can't we be honest about that? Even this one-off tax cut will be eaten up in just six months of Labor's sneaky bracket creep tax. This is what this government is doing. They're giving you a little with one hand but taking far more with the other. Members have heard me talk about the real struggles going on in the seat of Cook. If they're happening in the seat of Cook, they're happening right over the rest of Australia. I've met with the St Vincent de Paul team.”
“That was a really quick history lesson from the member for Solomon, but I thank him nonetheless! I've heard Labor member after Labor member say they're cutting income taxes, and I don't know whether it's that they're deliberately misleading or they just don't understand how their sneaky bracket creep tax works. Every single year, as inflation goes up, the people watching this at home will pay more and more in income tax because the tax brackets aren't inflated by what that inflation goes up by. Thirty years ago, the top marginal tax rate was $180,000. Had we inflated that tax rate up till today with inflation every day, the top tax rate would be $257,000. Instead, it's down at $190,000. So those opposite are doing a tax increase on every Australian worker every single year. They're increasing your taxes.”
“This group of women meet at sunrise for swims at Oak Park rock pool, showing the best of our local way of life: friendship, resilience, good humour and community spirit. Their story recently reached a much wider audience through social media, after Mia Ross began sharing videos of the group's winter swimming adventures with her grandmother Robyn Winton. What started as a local ritual has become something that many people are connected with. It's a reminder that community is often built by simple, joyful moments. Congratulations to these women.”
“I'd also like to recognise an outstanding member of the Cook community, Vishnesh Naikar, from the Woolworths Caringbah Customer Fulfilment Centre. Vish recently received the Woolworths Customer Fulfilment Centre Site Leader of the Year 2025 award. That was across all of New South Wales. It's a significant achievement that recognises the exceptional leadership of Vish and also how well the Caringbah Woolworths has done. Congratulations, Caringbah Woolworths. To Vish and the entire team at Caringbah: your work matters, your leadership matters and your contribution to our community matters. Finally, I want to acknowledge a wonderful group from Cronulla, the Oak Park Jellybeans.”
“Manic had returned to Australia after serving in Afghanistan with a commando and had been discharged. The commando was looking after this animal, and it was more than an animal to him. It was a partner. It had been in Afghanistan saving people's lives. I was very disappointed to learn that Manic's veterinary bills are not covered, nor are those of any service animal that is discharged. Yes, we look after the veterans, but we do not look after their animals. There are only a few animals that are discharged, and the cost is left to our veterans to keep them serviced and in good health. I'll be writing to the Minister for Veterans' Affairs to fix this injustice, not only for the animals but for the commandos who served alongside them.”
“I'd like to acknowledge the Cronulla RSL club and the Cronulla RSL sub-branch for organising War Animal Day. It's a commemorative service that honours the animals that have served alongside Australians in conflicts. I want to particularly thank Bradley Bishop, the acting CEO of Cronulla RSL; John Brown, the president of Cronulla RSL; and Cory Rinaldi, the president of Cronulla RSL sub-branch for their commitment to ensuring this important act of remembrance continues. The story of service is not only a human one. Throughout history, animals have supported our defence forces in very extraordinary ways. They also provide companionship and comfort to some of the most difficult conditions imaginable, and after the fact. Recently I met with Manic, a Belgian Malinois who served in the commando regiment in the Special Operations Command.”
“For many of them, their business isn't a job; it's a retirement plan and their family legacy—the result of years of risk, stress and sacrifice. Now these small-business owners are facing taxes of up to 47 per cent. Labor says: 'Don't worry. Don't stress. You don't understand it. Trust our modelling. Ninety per cent of you will be better off.' Well, where have we heard that before? I remember Chris Bowen and Prime Minister Albanese holding up the RepuTex modelling as the most comprehensive modelling of all time.”
“This bill is being sold as fairness, but it's about betrayal. Before a young Australian buys their first home, they usually rent. If rents rise, it becomes harder to save. If their savings and investments are taxed harder—with, in some cases, CGT doubling—it becomes harder again to get that deposit. Labor's kneecapping younger Australians twice—once as renters and then as they save for their deposit. And then Labor has the audacity to tell this country and these young people it's about intergenerational fairness. It's not intergenerational fairness; it's intergenerational fraud. This doesn't help young people. Income tax is higher for them than it ever was for me, thanks to Labor's sneaky bracket creep. CGT is up, housing taxes are up and car taxes are up. Small-business owners know this better than anyone.”