Carol Berry
Whitlam · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“I am proud of the steps that Labor has taken to try and make universities and further study more accessible and affordable for students from all walks of life. We've taken a range of measures which have been outlined in the accord. For example, Labor has cut 20 per cent of HECS debts.”
“Previously, this was only available for Indigenous students living in regional and remote Australia. The Department of Education estimates that over the next decade, this initiative could double the number of Indigenous students at university.”
“The new system will address existing issues in the higher education funding system and will better align Commonwealth funding with enrolments. Importantly, higher education providers will be supported to transition to the new funding system.”
“My father, aunty, sister and husband are all public school teachers, and I'm proud to have been educated in public schools. I'm very passionate about public education because, without it, I wouldn't be where I am today. My mother was raised in housing commission in Dundas Valley near Parramatta in Sydney's western suburbs.”
“It also recommended increasing the number of higher education students from underrepresented backgrounds, matched by a focus on success for these students. The universities accord found that 69 per cent of young Australians from wealthy families had a university degree, compared with only 19 per cent from less wealthy families.”
“I spoke about this person in the Federation Chamber earlier this week: Dr Jodi Edwards, a Yuin Dharawal woman who has dedicated her life to community, culture and language across New South Wales, including in the southern Illawarra region of my electorate of Whitlam.”
The complete record
Every one of 368 lines we hold for Carol Berry, in date order, each linked to its source. Free to read, in full, without an account. Page 7 of 8.
“In the first year alone, first home buyers using the scheme are expected to avoid around $1.5 billion in potential mortgage insurance costs. As I mentioned, an important change to the scheme is that all first home buyers will have access to it. There will no longer be any income limits. Currently, the caps that apply to the first home buyers under this scheme are $125,000 for individuals or a combined $200,000 for joint applicants. Removing these caps will open up the opportunity for homeownership for many more Australians. Furthermore, the property price caps under the scheme will be increased in line with average house prices, therefore providing first home buyers with access to a greater variety of homes.”
“The fact that these first home buyers will not have to pay lenders mortgage insurance should not be underestimated. Lenders mortgage insurance is insurance that a lender takes out to insure itself against the risk of not recovering the outstanding loan balance if a borrower is unable to meet their loan payments and the property is sold for less than the outstanding loan balance. Lenders mortgage insurance is usually required if a borrower does not have a 20 per cent deposit, which is the case for a substantial number of first home buyers. Lenders mortgage insurance protects the lender but the costs are passed on to the borrower and this is usually added on to the loan. For the average first home buyer, the Albanese Labor government's expanded Home Guarantee Scheme will save tens of thousands of dollars in lenders mortgage insurance.”
“Homeownership has become increasingly more difficult to achieve over the past 50 years, particularly in recent decades; however, it remains a major goal for many Australians. The Albanese Labor government is helping more Australians realise this dream of homeownership by launching five per cent deposits for all first home buyers early, on 1 October 2025 instead of next year. Under these changes, all first home buyers will have access, with no caps on places and no income limits. We are doing this by expanding the Home Guarantee Scheme. The Home Guarantee Scheme involves the Albanese government guaranteeing a portion of a first home buyer's home loan so they can purchase with a lower deposit and not pay lenders mortgage insurance.”
“The great Australian dream of owning your own home crystallised in the decades after World War II. There was a construction boom following the end of the war, with new suburbs and towns created to cater for returning servicemen and the growing number of migrants—and there was also a baby boom. My grandfather fought in Borneo in the Second World War, and my family were the beneficiaries of this construction boom for returning servicemen, moving into their Housing Commission home in Dundas Valley in the New South Wales western suburbs, where my mother was raised. At this time there were plenty of jobs, and homeownership was not just a dream for many; it was a tangible reality. By 1966, homeownership in Australia hit its peak of 73 per cent.”
“Importantly, all medicines that pharmacies can discount today can continue to be discounted once the co-payment is cut to $25. The legislation includes specific provisions to protect the availability of discounting. Cheaper medicines are good for the hip pocket of Australians and good for their health. Through this bill, the Albanese government is delivering cheaper medicines and a stronger Medicare, and I commend this bill to the House.”
“Under these changes, four out of five PBS medicines will become cheaper because of our government's $689 million investment. To recap, this bill builds on action we've already taken to deliver cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines, including more free and cheaper medicines sooner, with a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS safety net kicks in; the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a general script falling to $30 from $42.50; 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with an ongoing health condition; and freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments for all Australians not rising with inflation for the first time in 25 years.”
“That benefits all Australians. Making medicines cheaper is a tangible way we are helping with the cost of living. In my work with community organisations and in my electorate, I see the impact that health expenses can have on individuals and families. When I was the CEO of the Illawarra Women's Health Centre, in particular, I met many women, particularly older women, who were struggling with the cost of medicines. When speaking with people within my electorate of Whitlam, I know how much of a difference reducing the costs of medicines can make. Australians are understandably proud of the PBS, and we're prepared to defend it. It is a very practical way that Labor is delivering on reducing the cost of living, particularly for those who need it the most.”
“We're backing men's health, including investing $20.7 million for grassroots initiatives in community settings and taking pressure off hospitals with the launch of 1800MEDICARE, a free nationwide 24/7 health service line that provides after-hours advice and an after-hours GP telehealth service. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme is a key component of the Commonwealth's investment in Australia's health system. The Albanese Labor government has shown its commitment to this system by investing $23.5 billion to strengthen Medicare since its 2022-23 budget. The National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill delivers on a commitment we made prior to the 2025 election. It builds on our earlier actions to deliver cheaper medicines and help ease cost-of-living challenges, and it contributes to further strengthening Medicare.”
“We're growing the health workforce to deliver more doctors and nurses than ever before, with the largest GP training program in Australia's history and hundreds of scholarships for nurses and midwives to extend their skills and qualifications. We're investing more than $790 million in women's health, including making contraceptives cheaper and funding more treatments for menopause. We're opening an additional 11 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics, bringing the total to 33, and extending their focus to also provide specialist support for menopause and perimenopause. We're investing in free mental health support for Australian parents through another eight perinatal mental health centres around the country.”
“Following these achievements in health during its first term, the re-elected Albanese government has committed to further benefitting the health of Australians by delivering an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits every year so that Australians can see a bulk-billing GP. This is the single largest investment in Medicare's history. We're opening 50 more Medicare urgent care clinics—including a clinic in Shellharbour, in my electorate of Whitlam—in addition to the 87 opened in our first term, meaning that four out of five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive from a Medicare urgent care clinic.”
“The achievements of the Albanese government's first term include tripling the bulk-billing incentive so that people who need to see their GP most often can—pensioners, concession card holders and families with children; restoring bulk-billing for 11 million Australians, creating an additional six million bulk-billed GP visits; opening 87 bulk-billed Medicare urgent care clinics, making it easier for Australians to get the urgent treatment they need free of charge while taking pressure off our hospitals; establishing a network of 61 free Medicare mental health centres; establishing 22 endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics to help Australian women with endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome get the care they need; and boosting hospital funding by $1.7 billion, delivering more money for public hospitals in every state and territory.”
“It included a patient contribution, or co-payment, of five shillings, or 50c in today's decimal language. I believe that John Curtin, the original proponent of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, would be proud of the Albanese Labor government's achievements in ensuring Australians have equitable access to medicines. And this is only one element of this government's focus on the health of all Australians, particularly through strengthening Medicare.”
“The doctors challenged this in the High Court, and they were successful once again. The British Medical Association estimated that, in 1949, five years after the Curtin government's first attempt to introduce a pharmaceutical benefits scheme, only 157 out of 7,000 practising Australian doctors ever cooperated with it. Australian doctors, unfortunately, had successfully torpedoed Labor's efforts to introduce a PBS. Labor lost the 1949 election, and the new Menzies government settled for a reduced, safety-net PBS, which recognised a limited number of life-saving and disease-preventing drugs. However, the development of an increasing number of new drugs introduced in the 1950s meant that this was clearly inadequate. In 1960, 16 years after Curtin introduced the concept, the PBS finally became a comprehensive scheme.”
“This High Court decision prompted a referendum in 1946 to amend the Constitution to allow for Commonwealth provision of pharmaceutical benefits, among other things. The referendum was passed, making it one of only eight successful referendums of the 45 that have been put to Australians since Federation. John Curtin died at the Lodge while in office in July 1945, and Ben Chifley led Labor to re-election in 1946. So it was Chifley's government that, following the 1946 referendum, introduced an amended Pharmaceutical Benefits Act in 1947. But the British Medical Association continued its campaign against it. They did offer to allow a limited range of drugs to be prescribed under the PBS, but the government rejected that offer. Furthermore, the government decided to impose fines on doctors who didn't use official prescription forms.”
“The doctors feared the legislation was part of a broader government agenda to interfere with their work and curb their pricing power. Interestingly, the organisation that represented Australian doctors at the time was called the British Medical Association. The body did not become the Australian Medical Association until 1962. The Pharmaceutical Benefits Act 1944 was passed by parliament, and the list of approved medications was printed. But, in 1945, the Victorian branch of the British Medical Association challenged the legislation in the High Court of Australia. The doctors argued that the Commonwealth did not have the power to spend money on the provision of medicines, and the High Court agreed.”
“Eighty-one years ago, towards the end of World War II, John Curtin's government introduced legislation for a pharmaceutical benefits scheme. The main driver was for all Australians—not just the few who could afford them—to have access to the growing number of wonderful antibiotic drugs. The proposed legislation provided that any Australian resident would be entitled to be given medicine at no charge if they presented to a pharmacist a prescription written by a registered medical practitioner on an official government form. The pharmacist would be reimbursed by the government. An expert committee would determine a list of approved medications to ensure quality and effectiveness. It sounds like an excellent idea, right? However, doctors strongly opposed the scheme, and so did Labor's conservative political opponents.”
“It is important to point out that pensioners and concession card holders will continue to benefit from the freeze to the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at the current level of $7.7 until 2030. Also, all medicines that pharmacies are able to discount today can continue to be discounted even when the co-payment is cut to $25. Like the battle to establish Medicare, which was introduced as Medibank by the Whitlam government in 1975 and was eroded and then dissolved entirely by the 1981 Fraser government before being reinstated as the Medicare we know today by the Hawke government in 1984, the history of the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme involves Labor governments fighting for equitable access for ordinary Australians.”
“This includes the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost of a general script falling from $42.50 to $30, a change that has already saved patients over $770 million; a 25 per cent reduction in the scripts a concessional patient must fill before the PBS safety net kicks in, delivering 73 million additional free scripts and saving pensioners over half a billion dollars; 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians with ongoing health conditions; and freezing the cost of PBS medicines, with co-payments, for the first time in 25 years, not rising with inflation. Overall, since winning government in 2022, Labor's cheaper medicines initiatives have saved people in Whitlam a substantial $12.6 million.”
“Remarkably, it was also the year my colleague in the upper house, Senator Charlotte Walker, was born. Surely that can't be true, and it makes us all feel very old! By making cheaper medicines even cheaper, Labor is further easing the cost-of-living challenges facing so many Australians. This cut of more than 20 per cent to the maximum cost of PBS medicines will save Australians over $200 million each year. Importantly, it builds on other action we have taken over the past three years to deliver cost-of-living relief through cheaper medicines.”
“Specifically, this bill reduces the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme general patient co-payment from $31.60 to $25 from 1 January next year. The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was more than two decades ago, in 2004, and a lot has happened in those 21 years. It's sobering to realise that 2004 was the year that a young Harvard university student Mark Zuckerberg first launched an idea he called 'the Facebook' from his dormitory. The launch of the iPhone was still three years away. 2004 was the year that the Australia-United States Free Trade Agreement was signed, Jetstar took its first flight, Ian Thorpe led Australia's record gold medal tally at the Athens Olympics and Tasmania's Mary Donaldson married Frederik, Crown Prince of Denmark.”
“To begin with, I do need to address some of the comments made by the member for Macpherson. I challenge the idea that consistent performance on the part of the coalition has been there in relation to the defence of the PBS and the defence of public health. Only the Labor Party has consistently defended public health and consistently defended the PBS. In fact, we introduced the PBS. I think it's important that we recognise that the Australian public likewise understands and believes in the Australian Labor Party's commitment to public health. That's why we were backed in at the last election. I support the National Health Amendment (Cheaper Medicines) Bill 2025 because it reinforces the Albanese government's record of making cheaper medicines even cheaper. It delivers on a commitment we made before the 2025 election.”
“HARS' aviation museum has won a number of international awards, and its global reputation was epitomised when John Travolta, a pilot and aviation buff since he was a boy, donated his vintage Boeing 707 painted in Qantas livery to the museum. Remarkably, the museum is open every day of the year except Christmas Day, and I once again say this is done entirely by volunteers. I congratulate and applaud the hundreds of volunteer engineers, pilots and aviation enthusiasts at HARS' aviation museum, who conduct their work with great professionalism and pride. They do this not just to pursue their passion but to preserve and celebrate Australia's extraordinary aviation history for both current and future generations.”
“I rise today to recognise the outstanding work carried out in my electorate by volunteers at the Historical Aircraft Restoration Society, which is known by the acronym HARS. HARS is a not-for-profit organisation that operates an aviation museum as well as the Australian Aviation Hall of Fame at Shellharbour Airport. The society was established in 1979, and its mission is to recover and, where possible, restore to flying condition aircraft or types of aircraft that have played a significant part in Australian aviation history, in both civil and military arenas. I visited the museum in May and found it enthralling. I discovered that over 50 aircraft are currently on display, with about 20 of them still airworthy.”
“After extensive consultation and listening to those affected by the changes, the Albanese Labor government is pursuing these reforms to make a real difference for all students pursuing higher education. We must act now in the interest of the safety of our students. Students and staff are supportive of these changes alongside other associated stakeholders. In the spirit of Labor values, safety, equality and fairness, I urge this House to support the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025. Let us ensure our universities become places where students and staff thrive always, free from fear, fully supported and pursuing their futures in a safe environment.”
“Further, it ensures increased data transparency and scrutiny which allow for adjustments and responses where necessary. This is not about red tape; it's about leadership. Universities already commit to excellence and will now also ensure the same commitment to safety. A whole-of-organisation approach will embed prevention at every level. True change requires accountability, and this legislation's civil penalties and enforceable undertakings ensure that we move from symbolic gestures to actual transformation. To the supporters who fought for these changes to be implemented for so long: I thank you. I commend you for your time, your passion and your energy. I'm proud to be part of a government that listened and committed to delivering actual change for students.”
“This legislation also aligns with our national plans and international commitments, including the National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children 2022-2032. A new, specialist, gender based violence unit will be established within the Department of Education to monitor and enforce the new national code. This will collectively reduce systemic issues and proactively create safer environments within affected institutions. This issue demands our continuing focus, and that is why the national code will require higher education institutions to provide annual data on gender based violence so that this parliament and future parliaments, along with the public, can remain informed on trends and performance. This ensures our continued attention to this matter.”
“It ensures victims-survivors receive timely and expert responses from their institutions. This legislation will provide a pathway to justice for survivors while pursuing the end of gender based violence. Institutional leaders will be expected to actively lead change. Vice-Chancellors and CEOs will be expected to confront these issues head on. This bill ensures that addressing the crisis of gender based violence in higher institutions becomes a priority for governing bodies. Importantly, this bill is built upon consultations with students, victim-survivor advocates, gender based violence experts, the higher education sector, student accommodation providers and a range of other government agencies.”
“The new national code is at the heart of this legislation. With the goal to ensure study, work, social and living environments are safe, respectable and inclusive for staff and students, it will draw a line in the sand against university mismanagement and failures to respond. Every student and staff member deserves to learn and work without fear. Educational institutions must be sanctuaries for the development of knowledge. There must be proper complaint systems in place that provide safety and security for affected students. In their most vulnerable moments, these students must feel there are measures in place that will respond to their needs and deliver the response they rightly deserve. Survivors must be heard, supported and empowered. This bill ensures survivors will not be left to drift in processes that do not deliver outcomes.”
“Fourthly, the bill imposes national standards across seven key domains: leadership and governance, safe environments and systems, knowledge and capability, safety and support, safe processes, data and impact, and student accommodation. Fifthly, it introduces accountability at the highest level. Vice-Chancellors and CEOs will be directly responsible for compliance and required to report every six months to their governing body. The gender based violence unit will publish annual operational and performance reports to both houses of parliament. Sixthly, it builds on existing work through the National Student Ombudsman and the broader Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education, a multi-pronged strategy agreed to by education ministers, outlining seven actions to transform sector culture.”
“Institutions must align with the national code to maintain their approved status. Additionally, providers must also develop a gender equality action plan and gender impact assessments and provide evidence based education and training on the factors that drive and contribute to gender based violence. Thirdly, it creates robust regulatory enforcement mechanisms. The secretary of the Department of Education, through a dedicated specialist gender based violence unit, will monitor compliance with powers including civil penalties, enforceable undertakings, infringement notices and injunctions. The secretary will also be able to disclose information to the public about a provider's compliance with the code.”
“Across the country, students have held vigils and rallies organised to respond to this important issue that has impacted too many young lives. Students should not be left to themselves to carry this responsibility to prompt action, and it's timely for parliament to respond. These are our students, our future educators, innovators, business owners, workers and leaders. Their education should not be derailed by harassment or violence, and their safety must be non-negotiable. What this bill does is both deliberate and decisive. Firstly, it establishes a national higher education code, which will empower the minister to set national standards and requirements for preventing and responding to gender based violence. Secondly, it makes compliance mandatory for all higher education providers registered under the Higher Education Support Act 2003.”
“Over the last several years, evidence has shown that gender based violence—specifically, sexual violence and harassment—continues to occur in higher education communities at significant rates. For too long, universities have been blind spots in our fight against gender based violence. They are places where sexual assault and harassment go underreported, where survivors feel silenced and where institutional responses are inadequate. A 2024 report from the University of Sydney revealed 231 staff and students had reported sexual misconduct in a single year, with students making up 73 per cent of reports. Yet most victims chose not to proceed with investigations, citing fears of being retraumatised and a lack of trust in existing processes. Legislative reform must accompany social reform, as we are witnessing within the community.”
“It will hold them to account for their performance in responding to these issues, including, importantly, in student accommodation. The introduction of this legislation is a key measure of the Action Plan Addressing Gender-based Violence in Higher Education agreed to by all education ministers in February last year. This government has already been responding to this plan through the establishment of the National Student Ombudsman, which commenced earlier this year. With strong powers to investigate complaints made against a university, it is a national first that will actively ensure that students' concerns are heard and acted upon. The ombudsman is just the beginning, however.”
“The onus has been placed on students time and time again to keep themselves safe. I am pleased that this bill shifts some of the accountability and responsibility to ensure safe environments onto institutions and providers of services to students. Stamping out gender based violence is everyone's business and requires a zero-tolerance approach in every context. It is in that spirit that I rise to support this bill, as it recognises the problem that we collectively face and proposes concrete action to address it. This bill is not just another piece of legislation; it is a bold step in our national journey towards ending gender based violence, especially in higher education. This bill will ensure that higher education providers prioritise safety, proactively strengthen prevention efforts and improve the response to gender based violence.”
“Unfortunately, many students and staff don't know where to seek support or make a formal complaint to their tertiary education provider, and those who do are too often dissatisfied with the process. This is all very concerning for parents and friends of students who are worried about what their loved ones may experience during their tertiary education years. This should not be the case. Students should be able to prepare eagerly for higher education and embrace everything campus life has to offer whilst knowing they are safe and supported. At the start of each semester, students are warned about drink spiking at O-week events and told how to stay safe at campus parties and what support services are available to them. They receive training from universities on consent and how to recognise dangerous situations and safely intervene.”
“I rise to speak in support of the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) Bill 2025 and, alongside it, the Universities Accord (National Higher Education Code to Prevent and Respond to Gender-based Violence) (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2025. We are debating legislation shaped by the stories of students and staff who have endured the unthinkable in places that should serve as safe harbours of learning and growth. Over the last several years, evidence has shown that gender based violence—specifically, sexual harassment and violence—continues to occur in higher education settings at unacceptable rates.”
“It is seeing more than 15,000 households add storage to their homes as more Australians embrace renewable energy. I am proud of the significant progress being made by Australians, including the two clean energy initiatives I've highlighted in the electorate of Whitlam. (Time expired)”
“I'm honoured to have been appointed to the Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, and I look forward to working closely with my parliamentary colleagues to continue this important work. In its first term the Albanese Labor government approved a record number of renewable energy projects—enough to power more than 10 million homes—and enshrined emissions targets in law, with a target of net zero emissions by 2050. The re-elected Albanese Labor government is committed to delivering more clean and reliable renewable energy, and getting our energy grid to 82 per cent renewables by 2030. Australia boasts the highest rate of rooftop solar in the world, and this government's $2.3 billion Cheaper Home Batteries Program will help to bring down the cost of a typical battery by about 30 per cent.”
“WinZero's virtual energy network is a community-led initiative that connects local solar energy generators with their neighbours, including small businesses, allowing the sharing of excess solar power within the community. This benefits both the solar producers, who want to sell their surplus energy at a fair price and those households and businesses that don't have solar panels but would like to purchase local clean energy. The Southern Highlands trial has been so successful that Deakin University is leading a new study to see if the scope can be widened to the entire national electricity market. I applaud all those involved in both of these initiatives to make such a valuable contribution to Australia's transition to renewable energy.”
“The Illawarra is strongly positioned to deliver the strategy because it has been designated a renewable energy zone, it has a strong industrial base with a skilled workforce, it has key infrastructure, including established rail links and a deep-water port, and there is real industry demand for renewable energy solutions. The economic opportunity that will flow from the Illawarra Clean Energy Roadmap is substantial, with the potential to generate more than 15,000 local jobs and inject more than $10 billion into the New South Wales economy. The second initiative I would like to highlight was launched last year in the Southern Highlands by WinZero, or Wingecarribee Net Zero Emissions.”
“Today I would like to highlight two outstanding clean energy initiatives in the electorate of Whitlam. The first is the recently launched Illawarra Clean Energy Roadmap, which was commissioned by Business Illawarra and delivered in partnership with the University of Wollongong's Energy Futures Network as well as a dozen other government and industry collaborators. The roadmap outlines a strategy for the Illawarra to be Australia's leading clean energy hub by 2050 through the delivery of renewable energy, green hydrogen and advanced manufacturing.”
“I'm so grateful to my family, friends and supporters and for the opportunity to represent the people of Whitlam. I'm optimistic about our future, and I'm thrilled to be in this place. I will work harder than I ever have before in my life to shape our presence and to build Australia's future for the better. Thank you.”
“I am the luckiest woman in the world to have you as my husband. Thank you to my stepdaughter, Amelie; my son, Will; and my daughter, Stella, for your patience, kindness, honesty and unflinching support. I'm so deeply proud of you all. Thank you to my parents, Geoff and Diane; my aunty Judith; and my beautiful sisters, Julie and Jane. Thank you to my wonderful extended family—the gorgeous Emma, Matt, Steve, Csaba, Blake, Barish, Fiona, Jack, Joan, Heather and Elizabeth. To my very best friend in the world for over 30 years, Jane Andrew: thank you. I can't imagine my life without you in it. To my wonderful friends Damien, Elissa, Naomi, Zadie, Feargus, Amy, Patrick, Penny, Mel, Shane, Kara, Taylor, Indie, Jane, Annie, Emma, Jemma, Mithra, Martin, Shady, Ben, Scotty, Caz and Nathan: thank you.”
“I'd like to thank my campaign committee, very capably led by Ailis Quinn, and the amazing Alison Mansell and equally amazing Penny Newlove, who devoted hours and hours of their lives to ensure that we retained the seat of Whitlam and that we had a Labor government re-elected. Other members of my campaign committee included Georgia Roff; Tiana Myers; the wonderful Jeremy Graham, who was so kind to me during the campaign; Simon Zulian and Dionne Garcia. It was such a pleasure to work with you all. I'd also like to thank Linda and Graham McLaughlin, whose hard work and generosity I'm so grateful for. Thank you also to the members of my staff who've joined my team since the election: Michael Sharp, Jye Langley, Josie Stuart and Jack Fernon. I honestly can't thank you all enough. I'd like to thank my beautiful husband and soulmate, Calum.”
“I'd like to thank the union movement for its invaluable support, particularly Narelle Clay, an extraordinary leader who I've admired for a very long time; Danna Nelse, Angus McFarland and the Australian Services Union; and Brooke Muscat, Mel Donnelly and the Community and Public Sector Union. Thank you all so much. I'd like to acknowledge and thank Henry Rajendra and the New South Wales Teachers Federation. Henry and his team ran a wonderful campaign during the election, and I'd like to applaud the Teachers Federation for its tireless defence and promotion of public education. I'd like to thank Arthur Rorris for his many years of service to the South Coast Labor Council and to the people of the Illawarra.”
“I'd particularly like to thank the member for Shellharbour, Anna Watson, who is in the gallery today and was such a wonderful support to me during my campaign. I'd also like to thank George Simon, the assistant secretary of the New South Wales Labor Party; Josh Lloyd; and Amy Knox for all their support and assistance. I'd like to acknowledge Chris Lacey and Kerryn Stephens for their many years of friendship, and I'd like to thank Chris for his work with the Multicultural Communities Council of Illawarra and his many years of service to the Illawarra community. I'd like to thank the ALP branches in the Whitlam electorate—the Dapto, Albion Park/Oak Flats, Shellharbour/Barrack Heights and Southern Highlands branches—whose brilliant and hardworking members helped me get elected.”
“Without you I would not have this opportunity, and I'll be forever grateful. I'd like to thank the member for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, for her many years of support and encouragement and for being an inspiration to me for over 20 years. I'd also like to thank the member for Newcastle, Sharon Claydon, for her support and for being my wonderful EMILY's List mentor. I'd like to thank Senator Jenny McAllister and Senator Tim Ayres. I'd also like to thank the member for Cunningham, Alison Byrnes, and the member for Gilmore, Fiona Phillips. I congratulate both of them on their re-election. I'd like to thank the New South Wales minister for health and member for Keira, Ryan Park; the New South Wales minister for planning and member for Wollongong, Paul Scully; and the Lord Mayor of Wollongong, Tania Brown.”
“The innovation and wealth that can be created by harnessing the power of private enterprise are extraordinary and often in the broader public interest. I am supportive of local businesses that employ local people and add so much flavour to our local economies and communities. The people of the Whitlam electorate have told me they care about ensuring there's a strong economy and local jobs both now and into the future. We care about the environment and ensuring all Australians are looked after. We care about our quality of life and that as our communities grow we ensure this growth is well managed and well planned. It is easily the greatest privilege of my life to have been elected the member for Whitlam. I would like to dedicate this victory to my family and to all my supporters, many of whom are in the gallery today.”
“To me, our nation must be grounded in three key ideas: (1) that we care about each other and our future and that we live in a nation where trust, kindness, respect and dignity matter; (2) that we value connection and will support one another to be connected at all stages of our lives, as we know this is crucial to overall wellbeing; and (3) that we'll continue to create opportunities for all Australians to achieve their potential at all stages of life. If we pursue these ideas, in my mind, our future looks bright. I am passionate about democracy and, specifically, social democracy. I will defend and uphold human rights and democratic processes and freedoms. I also believe in the power of private enterprise.”
“I do ask myself the question, 'Where will Australia be in 20 years?' We can be a mature voice for peace. We can be a thriving, open, dynamic, energised, low-carbon economy. We can be excelling in the areas of tourism, creative and digital arts and design, manufacturing, construction, food production, human services, science and technology, finance and IT, and educational and professional services.”