Ash Ambihaipahar
Barton · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“They enable earlier, more effective information-sharing to support continuity of care, proactive outreach and smoother transition arrangements, including the earlier transfer of relevant information from Defence to DVA so that claims are processed faster, compensation reaches people sooner and individuals identified as being at increased…”
“Care is not yielding; care is valued work, and we are building a system that treats it that way. He speaks of the social conditions for hope. For too many Australians, homeownership has become a source of despair, rather than aspiration. First home buyers can access a five per cent deposit.”
“It is part of the Albanese Labor government's ongoing, deliberate work to implement the findings of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide—a royal commission this government called for while it was in opposition, because we understood that the scale of veteran suicide in this country demanded more than sympathy.”
“When Pope Leo warns against systems that reduce the person to an algorithm, this Labor government answers, 'Not here—not on our watch.' This letter speaks of the value of work not merely as economic activity but as an expression of human dignity. Catholic social teaching has always held that a fair day's work demands a fair day's pay.”
“Pope Leo also wrote that technology must serve human people, not shape them. Labor's reform, Australia's social media ban for under-16-year-olds, says the same thing in the language of legislation—that no algorithm should be permitted to interrupt a child's becoming.”
“But I want to highlight to this House that progress is not the same as completion, and the work does not end with the passage of this legislation. The health and wellbeing of our defence personnel, our veterans and their families must remain a standing priority of this parliament, not fleeting.”
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“Just outside the border but beloved by Barton locals is the local brewery the Social Brewers, a great brewery tucked in the member for Banks's electorate. Thousands of Barton residents work in hospitality as bar staff, cooks, cleaners, security officers, musicians, waitstaff, bottle shop attendants, managers and apprentices. When we keep these venues strong, we keep the community strong, we keep young people employed, we keep families connected and we keep traditions alive. I want to share why this is important to me. Before entering parliament, I worked supporting the hospitality sector. This included working with the Australian Hotels Association. I stood shoulder to shoulder with venue operators, from suburban pubs to regional institutions, and saw their strong commitment to creating safe and welcoming spaces.”
“They are where we gather to watch the footy, celebrate a birthday, share a meal, attend a fundraiser or simply sit among neighbours and feel part of something bigger than ourselves. In Barton we see this every day. We see this at Beverly Hills Hotel, where local families gather after weekend sport. We see it at the Rocksia and at Earlwood-Bardwell Park RSL, where locals build friendships over generations. We see this at the Ritz in Hurstville, buzzing with life, especially on trivia nights; at the Forest Inn in Bexley, with its proud community ties and killer pizzas; and in clubs like St George Leagues Club, Arncliffe Scots Club and Club Central Hurstville, which support sport and charity.”
“This pause means that, when a family in Barton heads out for a Friday night meal, when a group of mates meets after work in Banksia or Beverly Hills to watch the UFC or when seniors meet for raffles in Hurstville or Earlwood, the cost of connection doesn't climb. This is a cost-of-living measure that also strengthens small-business resilience, regional tourism, jobs and apprenticeships, local manufacturing and community connection. It is cost-of-living relief, economic support and community support rolled into one smart, responsible policy. In Australia, pubs and licensed venues are not just businesses; they are community institutions. In many places they are the heart of the suburb or the heart of the town.”
“This policy will be supporting approximately 160,000 workers in hospitality and brewing. Further, this will support thousands more in supply chains, like farmers, those in logistics, tradies, cleaners, entertainers and local suppliers. These are the venues that sponsor the local footy club, host family dinners, employ young people, train chefs, host charity events and offer a safe and social space for neighbours to connect. For two years, this means the tax on a pint stays steady, family-run pubs get certainty, small brewers have breathing room, young workers keep their shifts and venues avoid passing cost increases on to locals.”
“This measure does one simple, clear thing. It pauses automatic inflation-linked increases to draught beer excise for two years. It applies specifically to containers of eight to 48 litres designed for gas or pump systems—our standard kegs in pubs and clubs—and containers over 48 litres, used by larger hospitality venues. This pause does not apply to bottled beer, canned beer, spirits or retail alcohol. This is targeted, disciplined policy designed to support hospitality venues and the sector, not supermarkets, not bottling multinationals, not liquor companies but the pubs, clubs and taverns and small brewers who serve our communities directly from a tap. ( Quoru m formed ) This policy supports 10,000 hospitality venues across Australia, and about 75 per cent of them are small, family-run businesses.”
“I rise today in support of the Excise Tariff Amendment (Draught Beer) Bill 2025, which goes right to the centre of communities, jobs, small businesses and Australian social life. This bill reinforces the Albanese Labor government's decision to pause indexation on draught beer excise and excise equivalent customs duties for two years, beginning 1 August 2025. It is a policy underpinned by fairness, community values and economic responsibility. It is a policy that recognises and supports Australian pubs, clubs, brewers, hospitality workers and the millions of Australians who rely on these venues for work, connection and community life. It is a policy that speaks directly to the people and businesses in my electorate of Barton, from Hurstville to Wolli Creek, Beverly Hills to Clemton Park and Rockdale to Earlwood.”
“Shopfront and Bus Stop Films are shaping the next generation of Australian storytellers. They prove that when we invest in local creativity we do not only produce content; we produce confidence, belonging, pride and opportunity. This bill supports them, it supports the broader industry and it supports every Australian, who deserve to see themselves reflected on screen. I commend the screen sector and Screen Producers Australia for their continued advocacy, and I commend the many Australian creators whose talent, passion and perseverance has kept Australian storytelling alive even during the most challenging years. This bill is for them. This bill is for our future children. I proudly support this bill and encourage all members of the House to do the same.”
“As the federal member for Barton, one of the most culturally diverse electorates in the country, I know how important it is for people to see their heritage, languages and experiences represented truthfully. From the children in our multicultural schools to the families I meet at community festivals, people want to see themselves reflected on screen like they want to see themselves reflected in this Parliament House. They want to see Australian stories that acknowledge their contributions and their place in our national story. This bill makes it possible. I commend the Minister for the Arts and the Prime Minister for their leadership. I'm incredibly proud to represent a community that is home to creative organisations with such heart, purpose and talent.”
“While this bill strengthens Australian content obligations, it also sends a message to the world. It says that Australia values its creative industries, that we trust our artists and storytellers, that we believe in our capacity to create world-class content that can reach global audiences while staying proudly Australian. I am proud to be part of a government that is investing in culture, creativity and the stories that hold us together. This bill supports jobs, the economy and our national identity. It supports the idea that Australia should not simply consume stories from abroad but also contribute stories that enrich the global conversation.”
“In the electorate of Barton we have families who watch Bluey together on weekends, seniors who love watching local documentaries, young people who binge Australian dramas and new migrants who learn about Australia through the stories we tell. Representations matters, fair access matters and cultural visibility matters. We should not underestimate how important it is for Australians to see themselves on screen, whether this is through shows like The Newsreader , which explores the media landscape of the 1980s, or Heartbreak High , which reconnects young audiences with stories of contemporary Aussie high-school life. These shows reflect our humour, diversity, challenges and triumphs. They show Australia in all of its complexity and beauty. This bill ensures that these kinds of stories will continue to be made.”
“People have gone on to succeed on the world stage. I'm thinking of Nicole Kidman, Chris Hemsworth, Deborra-Lee Furness and so many others. Their journeys began because Australian content was funded, supported and valued. This bill ensures the next generation will have the same opportunity. Without this reform, Australian stories are at risk of being left behind. Other countries already have strong local content rules for streaming platforms. Canada has required investment in Canadian content. Europe has mandated quotas for European works. Australia cannot afford to fall behind, especially when we have one of the most talented and innovative screen industries in the world. Our actors, screenwriters and production crews deserve certainty, our local production companies deserve stability and our audiences deserve authenticity.”
“This legislation is not only about economics, although the economic benefits will be quite substantial. It is about the value of culture. It is about identity. It is about ensuring that future generations grow up with shows that reflect their lives and their communities. It is about making sure that young people in suburbs like Hurstville, Carlton, Clemton Park and across the electorate of Barton can see themselves on the screen. When a child sees themselves represented, it expands their sense of possibility. It shows them that they belong. When a community sees its story told with accuracy and respect, it strengthens social cohesion, it creates pride and it makes Australia a richer and more inclusive society. For decades Australian television has nurtured the carers of our actors, writers, producers, directors and crew.”
“It provides a three-year carryover period for program expenditure to give companies flexibility in meeting their obligations, and it requires a statutory review to take place four years after the scheme begins. This ensures transparency, accountability and the ability to adapt as new technologies and audience behaviours evolve. Importantly, this bill applies only to major streaming services. It does not apply to platforms with user-generated content, to services that rely solely on advertising revenue, or to niche services with limited public appeal. It does not apply to services that rely solely on one-off transactions or that operate for short-term special events. The bill is carefully targeted to the services with significant reach and financial capacity.”
“These formats include drama, children's programs, documentaries, arts programs and educational programs. These are the kinds of programs that shape culture, influence imagination and spark creativity. This policy is fair, balanced and future focused. It recognises the scale of the major streaming platforms and the significant influence they have over what Australians watch. It ensures that investment is linked directly to their presence in the Australian market. It recognises that consumers deserve continued access to local stories across all screens, not just traditional television. The bill uses the same definition of Australian content that already applies to free-to-air broadcasters.”
“The Albanese Labor government promised that our national cultural policy, Revive, would restore, rebuild and restrengthen our creative sector. At the heart of Revive is a simple truth: Australian stories are our greatest cultural asset. This bill delivers on that truth. It delivers on the commitment made by the Prime Minister and the Minister for the Arts during the election campaign. It delivers on a promise to protect and promote Australian content for generations to come. This bill introduces an Australian content obligation on major streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers. These services will be required to invest at least 10 per cent of their total program expenditure in Australia on Australian commissions or first release acquisitions and key formats.”
“It ensures that organisations like Shopfront Arts and Bus Stop Films will have a stronger future because the broader industry will be healthier, better funded and more committed to telling stories from every corner of Australia. These stories matter. They help us understand each other. They reflect our culture back to us. They build pride, they challenge us and they connect us. Yet the reality is that more and more Australians are watching content on streaming platforms. But those platforms are not currently required to invest in Australian stories in the same way that free-to-air broadcasters have been required to do for decades, and that has created a growing imbalance. It means that, unless action is taken, Australian storytelling is at risk of being overshadowed or underfunded in the new streaming era.”
“Shopfront Arts and Bus Stop Films are the incubators for the next generation of creators, producers, actors, editors and cinematographers. They demonstrate what is possible when local stories are invested in and when diversity is embraced. This bill ensures that the platforms with the greatest power in the screen landscape also carry their share of responsibility to support content and production like this. The bill requires major streaming services with more than one million Australian subscribers to invest at least 10 per cent of their total program expenditure on new Australian commissions or first release acquisitions. For those who choose the alternative, it will be 7.5 per cent of their gross Australian revenue. This is fair, balanced and essential to ensure that creativity does not become centralised in overseas content pipelines.”
“Bus Stop Films is another organisation that makes our community proud. They have become a global leader in inclusive filmmaking, working with people with disability to deliver world-class film production, training and storytelling. Their films have travelled internationally and have won awards. But, more importantly, they have changed the landscape of representation. They have given people with disability the opportunity to be in front of the camera, behind the camera and part of the creative process at every single level. Bus Stop Films shows us what modern Australian storytelling should look like: inclusive, diverse, meaningful and empowering. These organisations prove that Australian content does not start with big studios. It starts with local talent, community support and opportunities to be seen and heard.”
“My electorate of Barton is home to two extraordinary organisations that embody the spirit of Australian storytelling: Shopfront Arts Co-op and Bus Stop Films. Shopfront Arts has been a local establishment for youth arts development for decades. It is a place where young people come to tell their own stories and to learn the craft of performance, filmmaking, writing and collaboration. It is a place that celebrate difference and creativity. When you walk into Shopfront in Carlton, you feel the energy of young people who are being empowered to speak in their own voices. They create short films, theatre works, digital media and documentaries that reflect the world as they see it. These are not just creative projects; they are the early seeds of Australian content, nurtured locally and driven by authenticity.”
“We think of Bluey , which has become a world success because it speaks to families everywhere while staying very much true to Australians. We think of The Secret Life of U s and its portrayal of friendships and young adulthood in St Kilda. We think of documentaries like Fire Front , which helped the nation understand the summer bushfires through the voices of those who lived them. Australian storytelling is not just produced by large studios or major broadcasters; it is nurtured in our communities, in our suburbs and in grassroots creative organisations that provide pathways for people who would otherwise never get the opportunity to see themselves on screen or contribute to the creative process.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025. This bill is a significant step forward for our cultural influence, for our local screen sector and for every Australian who deserves to see their own stories reflected in shows they watch, no matter what screen they view them on. When Australians think about stories that have shaped us, connected us and helped to define who we are, they are not thinking about content created overseas; they are thinking of shows, characters and worlds that feel distinctly Australian. We think of classics like Kath & Kim , which captured the humour and charm of Aussie suburban life.”
“It reminds me that TAFE campuses, like the St George TAFE in Kogarah and many more, are important assets in all of our communities. It ensures our students, our providers and our economy have stability and certainty. This bill may be technical in nature, like I said earlier, but it has a purpose, a very clear purpose, and it is quite principled. It gives certainty and legal clarity to students, providers and governments to safeguard personal information and strengthen privacy, to modernise the VET loan system and to uphold integrity in education, which is one of the great enablers of Australia's prosperity and aspiration. To every student in Barton and across this nation: we are building an education system worthy of your dreams. We will always defend your right to learn, to grow and to build a future with dignity and purpose.”
“I must also highlight that I had the privilege of having the Treasurer and member for Rankin, Jim Chalmers, and the Minister for Skills and Training and member for Scullin, Andrew Giles, visiting the St George Kogarah TAFE campus, which has specialised facilities, such as simulated hospital settings. We had the opportunity to meet a number of students and teaching staff and learn more about their collaboration with local public hospitals, like the St George Hospital, to ensure we have the best-trained students to participate in our health sector. Since July 2023, this government has invested $42.2 million to modernise the VET student loan system. This bill ensures that those investments land on a strong legislative foundation.”
“We face skills shortages in nursing, aged care and disability support; shortages in construction, electrical trades, cybersecurity and tech; new industries emerging in advanced manufacturing, renewables and clean energy; and the growing need for retaining and upskilling as careers change. VET is the bridge between economic need and opportunity. VET student loans are a lifeline for thousands of Australians chasing skills and a better future. In my electorate, the St George Kogarah TAFE campus and the administrative and teaching staff have been doing amazing work to upskill the next generation across various occupations.”
“The bill applies to current and former VET student loans providers, their staff—who handled tax file numbers in good faith—the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations, the Commissioner of Taxation, and relevant Commonwealth officers involved in administration. This does not give blanket immunity for wrongdoing. It validates legitimate administrative actions taken in good faith to support students. Strong privacy protections, security obligations, oversight mechanisms and criminal penalties for unauthorised disclosure remain in place. VET is an economic imperative for our nation. Our workforce is rapidly evolving.”
“When taxpayers help fund a student's education, they deserve confidence that the system is fair, that repayments are handled accurately, that data is protected and that regulation keeps up with technology. This bill ensures that. It authorises, retrospectively and transparently, past handling of tax file numbers by approved providers, including TAFE and reputable registered training organisations. It also ensures that, from October this year, automated secure systems—not training providers—will handle tax file number transfers. This strikes the right balance, protecting students, maintaining loan integrity, supporting providers, complying with privacy rules and ensuring seamless loan administration. This is government doing its job, safeguarding integrity and modernising public systems responsibly.”
“In turn, providers enrolled students into large loans for courses that were unnecessary for employment, had low completion rates or were of questionable relevance to the labour market. Not only did this create a huge liability for the Commonwealth but it damaged the reputation of the VET sector more broadly. And no wonder—it was dodgy, bad policy that hurt the most vulnerable in our community. Labor came in and cleaned it up through the VET Student Loans program. We are now continuing that work to make sure that the VET system remains trusted and strong. This bill reflects our approach: steady, responsible, student focused and forward looking. For a loans system to function, trust matters.”
“This bill sits within a broader, principled Labor approach to vocational training that is grounded in restoring integrity to a system that was badly damaged by the previous coalition government. It was the former coalition government that oversaw the explosion of crooked private operators, the exploitation of vulnerable students, billions of dollars wasted and dodgy schemes targeting people hoping to build a better life. Students who were just looking to learn and prepare themselves for their careers were taken for an absolute ride. According to the Senate standing committee's report on VET student loans, a number of registered training organisations and their agents aggressively marketed courses to vulnerable people using high-pressure tactics including free laptops, claims of free training and guaranteed jobs.”
“One, it retrospectively authorises the handling of tax file numbers by VET student loan providers from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025. That gives providers and government offices legal certainty that their actions were valid and lawful. Two, it ensures that, from 1 October 2025, VET providers will no longer need to handle tax file numbers, because the government has now modernised the system, investing in secure digital automation to protect personal information. Three, it strengthens alignment between IT systems and legislation to safeguard privacy, improve modernisation and enhance trust in the VET student loans program. This is responsible, transparent and very considered policy-making. It fixes a gap, protects students, respects providers and strengthens public confidence.”
“Now, I want to be absolutely clear—for the public, for students, for parents and for institutions—this was not misused. This was not misconduct. There were no student complaints, no privacy breaches and no adverse impacts on students or repayments. Providers acted in good faith, in line with practice and administrative expectations. The handling of tax file numbers was necessary to verify students and ensure loans and repayments could occur through the tax system. However, the legislative authorisation for that handling was not explicit. Our government believes in doing things properly. We do not sweep things—particularly administrative gaps—under the rug; we work towards fixing them. This bill does three simple but very important things.”
“When we invest in VET, we invest in our future workforce, in economic growth and in giving Australians—particularly young Australians, career changers and parents re-entering the workforce—a genuine pathway to skills and dignity through secure work. That is exactly what this Albanese Labor government is doing. But with investment comes responsibility to ensure our VET system is fair, transparent, modern and worthy of public trust. That's why this bill matters. Let me be very clear about what this legislation does and why it's absolutely necessary. During a review of the administration of VET student loans, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified that VET student loan providers had historically handled students' tax file numbers, even though that authority was not clearly set out in the VET Student Loans Act 2016.”
“I rise today to speak in strong support of the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025. That might sound technical in nature, but it is in fact deeply grounded in fairness, integrity and opportunity. This bill goes to the heart of something deeply important to the people of Barton and to communities right across our wonderful country: ensuring that vocational education remains accessible, accountable and very much trusted. In my electorate, families know the value of vocational education and training. Our nurses, aged-care workers, tradespeople, early-childhood educators, hospitality staff and emerging innovators are the backbone of our local economy and the backbone of our nation.”
“They recognise when systems strain, and they adjust to modern realities with integrity and purpose. This bill is not about closing doors. It's about keeping them open and functional for generations to come. This Labor Albanese government and the FOI reforms are focused on delivering for the Australian people. I commend the bill to the House.”
“And, yes, they ensure public money and public time is used responsibly, not drained by a handful of abusive or extreme demands while journalists, community members and advocates wait months or sometimes years to get an answer. Our commitment to transparency is not negotiable. Our commitment to accountable government is not negotiable. These reforms do not walk away from those commitments. They absolutely strengthen them. They ensure FOI remains a tool for democracy, not a weapon against it. They ensure the system supports fairness, not frustration, and they honour the foundational principle that government information belongs to the people, it belongs to the public, it belongs to us as Australians, and access to that information must be real and reliable. The strongest democracies are those that evolve.”
“The FOI Act was created to shine a light on government, not to bury it under paper, not to threaten its workers and not to compromise its ability to deliver services. This bill brings clarity where there has been a bit of confusion. It brings structure where there has been strain. And, critically, it brings a balance that recognises both the rights of citizens and the responsibilities of government. We must never discourage scrutiny, and we must never shy away from transparency. But we must also ensure that FOI remains a system for accountability, not attrition. I know members opposite may raise concerns about restricting access or imposing barriers. I say this very clearly: a broken system serves nobody. These reforms give FOI longevity, they ensure public access remains quite meaningful and they ensure genuine requests are prioritised.”
“Fifthly, it provides agencies the ability to manage vexatious requests without removing the applicant's right to make future FOI requests. This is proportionate. This is absolutely fair. Sixthly, it clarifies legal ambiguities, especially following the full court's decision in the case of Patrick v Attorney-General, ensuring conventions around cabinet confidentiality and transitions between government are preserved. Ministerial deliberations must be protected. Cabinet confidentiality must be protected. Otherwise, collective responsibility, a core pillar of our Westminster system, will begin to collapse. These reforms do not weaken accountability. They safeguard the integrity of decision-making while guaranteeing the public's legitimate right to information.”
“The public deserve transparency from government, and government deserves transparency about who is requesting sensitive information, particularly where national security may be at risk. Thirdly, it ensures decision-makers have adequate time to handle complex requests so that responses are accurate the first time instead of rushed or flawed. Fourthly, it introduces processing caps and the ability to change modest application fees for non-personal information, with waivers for financial hardship. Almost every Australian jurisdiction currently has an initial FOI application fee. This is not about shutting the door on transparency, like we hear from those across the chamber. It is about keeping the door open for genuine users by preventing the system from being overwhelmed.”
“While government must always be accountable, no system should tolerate abuse of workers, resources or processes. We are here to ensure transparency, not enable harassment. There has to be a balance. Accountability cannot come at the expense of safety or function. The reforms before us recognise this balance. They modernise the FOI system. They make it fairer, clearer and more efficient. They restore the intention of the act to provide access to information for those genuinely seeking it. Let me outline a couple of key features. Firstly, the reform modernises how requests are made and processed. We live in a digital age; our laws must meet this reality. Secondly, it ends anonymous FOI requests. Transparency cuts both ways.”
“We know that over recent years, FOI has increasingly been used not as a tool for accountability but as a tool for harassment or disruption. Public servants who've simply turned up to do their job to serve the community have been subjected to abusive, threatening and excessive FOI requests designed not to seek truth but to intimidate or distract. Agencies have been weighed down by overly broad or malicious requests that consume enormous time and resources without delivering public value. As an employment lawyer and someone who's had the opportunity to work in operations as well—at St Vincent de Paul—I understand the balancing of WHS operational challenges and protecting workers in their duties. It is paramount that government be a role model for balancing protections for workers with accountability expectations from the community.”
“Last financial year alone, FOI processing cost government more than $86 million, a 23 per cent increase on the year before and more than double what it cost in 2010-11. That is taxpayers' money. That is Public Service time and capability. That is not sustainable without reform. If we do not modernise this system, we'll continue to choke it, we'll continue to see delays and we'll continue to see resources diverted away from public delivery and into administrative gridlock. Worst of all, genuine requests from the public, whether it be journalists, researchers, academics or community advocates, will be pushed to the back of the queue, crowded out by unreasonable or abusive demands. We must protect FOI, but in order to protect FOI we must also protect the integrity of the system that underpins it.”
“The FOI framework as it stands today is not working as intended—not for government, not for public servants and certainly not for the public. When the FOI Act came into force over 40 years ago, the Public Service did not operate in the world we live in today. There was no email inbox overflow every morning, there were no digital archives holding decades of communications, and there were no thousands of pages generated every week across government offices. Back then, the volume of public sector records and the pace at which information moves now would have been unimaginable. Today, by contrast, the government receives over 34,000 FOI requests each year, and departments and agencies spend more than one million hours processing them annually—and it comes at a cost.”
“For me, transparency is not an abstract principle. It is a lived value that all Australians expect that governments of the day will uphold. Before entering this house, I spent a decade working in employment and industrial relations law. In that role, I stood next to working people like nurses and electricians—people who relied on accurate information to stand up for their rights. I've seen firsthand that, when transparency fails, working people lose power, and, when systems become confusing, slow or difficult, it is everyday Australians who are left behind. FOI is no different. Access to government information empowers our communities. It builds trust. It gives people confidence that public institutions serve them, not themselves. Yet we must also be honest.”
“I rise to speak on the Freedom of Information Amendment Bill 2025 to reform the Freedom of Information Act, which is well overdue, necessary and grounded in one simple democratic principle: the public has a right to know. Freedom of information laws sit at the heart of a functioning democracy. They create transparency, they forward accountability, and they ensure that government at every level remembers who we serve—that is, the people. I had the opportunity to hear the member for New England's speech on the amendment bill, and I want to quote something he said tonight. He said, 'When a government becomes too powerful, it covers its tracks.' Now, I'm not going to listen to advice from a member who was part of a former government that provided multiple secret ministerial portfolios to a former prime minister.”
“It is so important to highlight in my community of Kogarah Public School— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 16:34 to 16:45 That speech is a really good reflection of the kinds of students that we have in my electorate of Barton. Kogarah Public School has amazing students like the students who provided this speech. I had an opportunity to meet them. They're so passionate about these issues, particularly those around mental health and also the introduction of the social media ban that's occurring in December. Kogarah Public School might have the future MP for Barton at play there, and I'd like to thank them for their contribution.”
“The government can make a difference. First, by funding more school-based programs so every student has access to help during and after school. Second, by creating awareness campaigns that show it's okay to ask for support and that no one is alone. Third, by upskilling young Australians by integrating real strategies for resilience, online safety, and wellbeing into the school syllabus. We want to see it, and we know it will make a difference. This is about more than today, it's about tomorrow. Supporting students' mental health means shaping a future where young Australians are confident, resilient, and ready to lead. With the right support today, we can ensure tomorrow's Australia is filled with resilient, healthy, and empowered young people.”
“I rise to read one of the selected speeches I received from students in Barton through the Raise Our Voice in Parliament initiative. This one comes from Angela, Dhanvi, Swara, Jaai and Grace from Kogarah Public School. I want to thank them for their passionate and insightful submission. They say the following: As young Australians, we know how important mental health is for our future. We want to see change that ensures every student feels supported, valued, and able to thrive. Too many students face body-shaming, insecurities, and judgement every single day, often made worse by the pressures of social media. It's no surprise that 1 in 7 Australians aged 4 to 17 experience mental health challenges. These struggles affect how we learn, how we connect with others, and how we see ourselves. But we believe it doesn't have to stay this way.”
“We are lowering the bills, modernising our grid, protecting our consumers and absolutely building a better future where Australians can rely on clean affordable energy.”
“Like many other amazing organisations, like the Salvos and Mission Australia, organisations like these have been advocating to ensure people are getting the best electricity deal possible. So rather than the member for Wannon submitting motions as such, how about advocating for constituents on seeking reviews of energy plans and guiding them to get the support they need. Australians deserve a government that shows up every single day. They deserve leadership that recognises that energy is not just about power bills; it's absolutely about dignity, opportunity and security. They deserve a government that listens, works tirelessly and takes responsibility. This Labor government does exactly that.”
“We have provided three rounds of energy bill relief to homes and small businesses to take that sting out of the bills, while doing the overall reform work to bring down bills for good. We also acted to cap coal and gas prices, shielding Aussies from the worst of the global energy crisis. Recent ACCC data shows some 80 per cent of households could be paying less on a different deal. The government's energy.gov.au website and the AER's Energy Made Easy website can help bill payers find their cheapest plan. For the people that came to Vinnie's and needed assistance with their electricity bills, the main thing that the Vinnie's team members did was look at their electricity plan to see if the person was on the cheapest plan available.”
“The new rules will also prevent customers from being charged more than the standing offer price if their initial low-cost offer changes or expires. Furthermore, there will be a ban on excessive retailer charges like late payment fees for all retail contracts and will ensure all consumers will be entitled to a fee-free payment method. The new rules will ensure vulnerable Australians are receiving the best offer from their retailer, placing a stronger onus on retailers to assist hardship customers. While the Albanese Labor government has taken strong action to provide energy bill relief to Australian households and businesses, those opposite have opposed this relief at every step.”