Nicolette Boele
Bradfield · Independent · Australia
“For the last 25 years, even though we've had national laws to protect the places we love, our environment has continued to deteriorate. Experts say that's because our key environmental law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, is all about following processes and not about achieving outcomes.”
“They're full of vague, non-binding language and they're all about process. To be clear, there are some good things in the draft standards, such as requirements to have community engagement plans and strengthened water protections.”
“Thorough consultation can help mitigate problems such as these so they do not arise, and the changes proposed by my amendment would ensure that reforms are considered systematically and holistically and that they are informed by lived experience.”
“The Ku-ring-gai arts community has received some devastating news in the last few weeks. First, we learnt that the Marian Street Theatre redevelopment in Killara had been terminated by council. After nearly 100 years, it was shut down in 2013 due to age and safety issues.”
“Shortly thereafter we heard the equally devastating news that the property holding the much beloved independent Roseville Cinema, a community icon since the 1930s, is going to be sold. A judge has ordered that the building be sold to pay off the debts incurred by the owners.”
“As responsibilities across the disability ecosystem shift across jurisdictions, it is more important than ever that thorough, meaningful consultation is undertaken to understand and to avoid unintended consequences.”
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“Another concern is the level of transparency around the reforms. For such significant changes to a scheme of this scale, there has to be adequate engagement with the disability community and sufficient detail provided to stakeholders. Disability representative organisations have reported difficulty securing briefings, and there are reports of confusion and strain within the department itself. At the same time, the pace of change is ambitious. Reforming a system as complex as the NDIS is not simply a matter of legislation. It requires careful design, coordination across jurisdictions and substantial administrative capacity. The government is attempting to do this, but it must not go too fast and risk sacrificing on these important considerations.”
“There has been an announcement of joint funding from state and federal governments to help rebuild this capacity, but there's still very little detail about how it will operate, whether it's sufficient or how responsibilities will be formally shared. We cannot simply handball people from one system to another and hope for the best. These are not administrative units. These are Australians with complex needs deserving dignity and with lives which will be directly affected by the decisions that we make in this place. The government needs to ensure that the foundational supports and the services outside of the NDIS are fully designed, fully funded and operational before people are transitioned out of the scheme. In other words, it must ensure that no-one falls through the cracks.”
“We're told that about 160,000 people may be removed from the scheme, but those individuals don't simply disappear because of changes to NDIS eligibility rules. They still require support. Now, it may well be appropriate for some people to receive that support through other less costly and more efficient systems. But these systems, these foundational supports, must actually exist, and there are real doubts about whether that is currently the case. Over the past decade, many state based disability services were scaled back or dismantled after being replaced by the NDIS. Now we are asking those same systems to absorb thousands of people once again. Stakeholders including peak body People with Disability Australia have raised serious concerns that states and territories are not equipped to do this.”
“Along with my colleagues on the crossbench, I share significant concerns about some of the specific reforms proposed in the bill. We're proposing a number of amendments to this bill, derived through consultation with NDIS participants, experts and disability organisations. The member for Kooyong, Dr Monique Ryan, has demonstrated particular leadership on this issue, and I commend her for her work. I urge the government to work constructively to implement these changes. One of the central concerns with this bill is that it risks shifting costs rather than addressing them. Reducing the number of people on the NDIS does not reduce the level of disability in Australia. It does not remove people's needs. It simply transfers those needs elsewhere—onto families, onto the health system and onto the state and territory governments.”
“Over time, it has expanded beyond that remit. If we do nothing, we do risk undermining the financial sustainability and the social licence of the scheme, and that would be a bad outcome for current participants and for future generations who will depend on it. So the government is right to act to place the NDIS on a more sustainable footing and to refocus it on those with the greatest and most enduring needs. But acknowledging the need for reform does not mean we accept every aspect of how these reforms are being designed or implemented. It does not mean the government should sacrifice what makes the NDIS so valuable in the first place in the name of the cost savings. The question for this parliament is how to reform the NDIS fairly, transparently and without causing harm.”
“I rise to speak on this bill to reform the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The NDIS is not just another government program. It is critical social infrastructure. It keeps vulnerable Australians safe, enables community participation and strengthens our social fabric. It is also one of the issues that I hear most about from my constituents—families, carers and participants in my electorate rely on the NDIS every single day. Unfortunately, many of them are struggling to navigate it. Yet, despite these challenges, Australians overwhelmingly value the NDIS. It reflects something fundamental, I think, about who we are—that Australia does not leave people behind. Some reform is absolutely justified. The scheme is not operating as it was originally intended. It's designed to support people with significant and permanent disabilities.”
“My question is for the Attorney-General. The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion released its interim report last month. The government accepted all 14 of the report's recommendations. Five of these recommendations are classified. Given that there is no way for us to know the nature and the content of these five classified recommendations, how can we—this parliament and its people—hold the government to account in implementing them?”
“I thank the member for Bonner for her motion raising the awareness of this issue, and I echo her call to promote zero tolerance for violence in this country, and I commend this motion to the Chamber.”
“The National Plan to End Violence against Women and Children focuses on four main areas: prevention, early intervention, response, and recovery and healing, and organisations like Taldy are essential to our ability to make progress towards two of these four areas—responding to support victims-survivors and helping people heal. We will not be able to meet the national plan's goals of ending violence against women and children in one generation without ensuring that frontline organisations are sufficiently resourced. As the government develops its second action plan towards ending violence against women and children, I urge it to provide greater support to community organisations like Taldy. They do the hardest work of all, and they should be supported to do so.”
“When children have nowhere to go, it's organisations like Taldy that step in to help them We need more Taldies. As is always the case, Taldy is at full stretch. Their housing service is at capacity 24/7, and Taldy was forced to turn away over 400 young people last year. It just shouldn't be this way. Organisations doing such important work should not be so underresourced. They should be given everything that they need to continue their important work. But they're facing challenges because of siloed funding—the siloed funding approach that doesn't clearly account for the overlap between domestic violence and youth homelessness.”
“They help young people who are in police custody or who are out on bail to navigate the justice system and meet their bail conditions by arranging transport and legal support. They operate a youth hub where people can get informal and formal support in a comfortable and non-threatening environment, and they run group education programs, preparing young people for work and helping them learn practical skills to navigate their lives. The young people and their families who turn to Taldy for help are in crisis for many reasons, but many of them are there because of family violence. One-third of Taldy's clients were victims of violence perpetrated by either a parent or a guardian. We know that family violence is a significant cause of children and young people's mental distress and is a major reason why children end up homeless.”
“Protecting the most vulnerable in our community must be a priority, yet for too long leaders have failed to treat this crisis with the urgency and the seriousness that it deserves. But where leadership has fallen short community organisations are filling the gap. Bradfield is home to a number of services supporting people experiencing domestic and intimate partner violence, and they do incredible work. One of those is in St Leonards. It's called Taldumande—or, as we like to call it, Taldy. Taldy has been supporting young people for decades. This year marks 50 years of operations. Children and young people can go to Taldy for help while facing some of the most difficult challenges any person can face. They support young people at risk of homelessness with crisis accommodation and finding a long-term home.”
“I rise to speak on this important motion in support of victims-survivors of domestic violence. It's heartbreaking and it's unacceptable that Australians—men, women and children—continue to suffer from domestic and sexual violence. It's unacceptable that when women—it's happening predominantly to women and children—try to leave an abusive household, they struggle to find anywhere safe to go. It's unacceptable that people should feel like one of my constituents did. She wrote to me recently and explained how the financial stress and the housing insecurity that she faced after leaving a violent household made her feel like she should never have left in the first place. The persistence of these problems burns through our communities and is a blight on our nation.”
“Earlier this month, I launched a campaign that called for a clear national definition for 'affordable housing' so funding, planning and construction are all working towards the same goal. With your support, we can push the government to set a consistent definition so we can hold them accountable for the funds that they commit in order to deliver the homes that people can actually afford.”
“Bradfield has a huge unmet need for genuinely affordable housing. Data is patchy, but recent estimates put it at around 3,500 dwellings. That's five times more than the current social and affordable housing stock in the area. To get there, we need to build more homes, and Bradfield's making some progress in that direction, but new supply isn't enough on its own. Governments have to ensure that it's accessible for the people who need it most. Without clear and meaningful standards around affordability, we won't have homes built that are genuinely affordable. We'll just continue to see more and more young families priced out of the places that they grew up in, and we'll see more essential workers forced to move away and commute longer distances to the schools, hospitals and aged-care facilities that they keep operational.”
“But the truth is, for a majority of young people starting their careers in nursing, teaching or in retail on the North Shore, there isn't anything to rent for that amount. I recently spoke with a registered nurse who's just a few years out of university, and she managed to find a share house in Artarmon for just on 50 per cent of her income. That's not sustainable for anyone. Others have affordability defined as a 20 per cent discount on the market rent. But, if market rent is exceptionally high as it is across my area and Bradfield, that 20 per cent reduction isn't going to help much. The result is that most of the time affordable doesn't mean affordable at all, and it inevitably forces people to move away from their families, from their workplaces and from their support networks.”
“Wherever you look in my community of Bradfield, across the Ku-ring-gai and Willoughby local government areas, there are new apartments and other homes being built. At the same time, when I speak to people, they raise the same concern. They're struggling to afford to live in Bradfield, or, if they can afford it, it's their children or their grandchildren who can't. How can this be true when so many new housing developments claim to be offering affordable housing? Part of the problem is that there is no consistent definition of the 'affordable' part of affordable housing. It's defined differently by almost everyone and even in ways that undermine the ordinary meaning of affordable. Some have affordability as 30 per cent of a household's gross income, and anything higher is considered as housing stress.”
“My question is to the Treasurer. The budget confirms retrospective changes to the capital gains tax for international investors in clean energy. This may give rise to sovereign risk, given three-quarters of all clean energy investment is international. Offering a discount on sales in the next four years will cause a fire sale of renewable assets and then a chilling of investment after 2030. Why is the government rushing to increase taxes on renewables instead of gas on exports, and what modelling has Treasury done on expected impacts to clean energy investment?”
“We all have a responsibility to ensure that veterans who are already out of active service, given meaningful work inside the defence and veterans community or leaving the service altogether are not forgotten and can, instead, live with dignity and fairness. This bill is a welcome step forward. I support it, and I urge the government to continue its important work in this area with dedication and focus. But the work will continue until the full intent of the royal commission is realised, trust is rebuilt and veterans and their families can be confident that our institutions serve them with the same loyalty and integrity they showed in service to Australia. If we genuinely honour our veterans, we must honour that promise.”
“That means implementing all the recommendations—not only those that are administratively convenient or legislatively straightforward but those that require deeper cultural change, genuine independence of oversight and real accountability for leadership failure. The ongoing work of the newly established Defence and Veterans' Services Commission is critical in that respect. Just last week, the acting commissioner launched its independent inquiry into the progress on implementing the royal commission's recommendations. I'm looking forward to reviewing that report in February next year, when it's delivered. This responsibility stretches beyond the commission; it stretches to all of us.”
“All these reforms matter, and, taken together, they represent a meaningful step in the right direction. But we must be honest with ourselves and with the veteran community. This bill responds to just five recommendations of the royal commission. There remain many more yet to be implemented. The royal commission was clear: suicide prevention in defence and veteran communities requires comprehensive and sustained reform. Families, including ageing parents and children who have lost a parent, physically or mentally continue to live with those consequences every day. Its recommendations were not abstract policy suggestions; they were a national undertaking, a promise that Australia would do better by those who served our nation and, in some cases, paid the ultimate price for our freedoms.”
“This is necessary reform, with the justice system identified by the royal commission as frequently compounding distress and elevating suicide risk, rather than alleviating it. Among the reforms introduced here are strengthened workplace protections during sexual misconduct investigations, amended sentencing procedures for serious violent and sexual offences and disclosures of service offences, and enhanced options to address mental health conditions within the military discipline system. The bill also streamlines tribunal procedures by requiring reasons for punishments, to strengthen sentencing transparency. Importantly, it removes outdated and stigmatised language from legislation, aligning terminology more closely with modern usage and understanding.”
“Above all, my constituents emphasise that veterans are not seeking special recognition, just dignity—just respect and fair treatment. Their key message to me was to not let the momentum of the royal commission slip away but to ensure its recommendations progress into practical, transparent and accountable implementation. The royal commission demonstrated that suicide and suicidality amongst Defence members and veterans is not a result of individual weaknesses but of systemic failure and that preventing future harm requires sustained, comprehensive reform. To guide that reform, the royal commission made 122 recommendations in its final report, of which the government has agreed to 104. This bill seeks to implement five of them, focusing primarily on the military justice system.”
“Rather than support him, his command challenged and disrespected his medical diagnosis, isolated him from his colleagues and friends and failed to assist him in finding useful employment outside active service. It's experiences such as these that have created the widespread sense of mistrust among the veteran community of the institutions that are supposed to be supporting them. My constituents explain how years of poor leadership, opaque processes and inconsistent decision-making has taken a toll on veterans and their families. These systemic issues have long-lasting effects on veterans, destabilising careers and damaging mental health well after a return to civilian life. But, too often, there is little accountability for those in positions of authority.”
“It was unprecedented in terms of scope and devastating in what it revealed about the human cost of systemic failure. It rigorously examined systemic issues in Defence, veterans services and military culture and heard evidence from thousands of serving members, veterans, families and experts. They gave testimony often at enormous personal and emotional cost, reliving trauma and loss, because they believed telling the truth would lead to lasting change. A few months ago, I met with a veteran from my community who had participated in the royal commission process. Alongside his mother, he shared his painful story with me, describing how his career spiralled after he disclosed his PTSD to his commanding officer.”
“The bill before us today reflects that failure insofar as it stems from the work of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, a commission that was initiated because of the hardship faced by veterans across the country. But, at the same time, the bill represents a step forward, however incremental, towards achieving better outcomes for those veterans. It's for this reason that I welcome and commend the Defence Force Discipline Amendment (RCDVS Implementation and Related Measures No. 1) Bill 2026. The bill makes progress by putting into legislation a number of recommendations of the royal commission. The royal commission was established in 2021 after years of advocacy by veterans and their families and delivered its final report in 2024.”
“These community events remind us that Anzac Day is not only about history; it's about the concrete service and sacrifice of people in our communities and the families who support them. When the last census was taken, in 2021, there were over 2,000 veterans in my electorate, and many of these service men and women were at these ceremonies across the North Shore last month. Anzac Day is a reminder that we have a responsibility not just to recognise our veterans at least once a year but to ensure that they are properly recognised in our laws, in our institutions and in our society, even after the last post fades. But, too often, we fail in that respect.”
“A few weeks ago, like many members of this parliament, I attended Anzac Day services across my community. I felt deeply honoured to attend these events. Each gathering was a moving tribute, from the dawn service in West Pymble to the early morning in Turramurra, both hosted by our wonderful local Scouts groups, right through to the Willoughby family and community service that was led by the Chatswood RSL and Willoughby Legion, and the Lions Club service in St Ives. These ceremonies bring together our community in shared remembrance and are an opportunity to reflect on the bravery and sacrifice of service men and women, with their stories brought vividly to life by thoughtful speakers who honoured their spirit of mateship and everyday humanism set against the profound realities of war.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. The government's east coast gas reservation is due to start next year. It will compel the three Queensland LNG exporters to reserve up to 25 per cent of our gas for domestic market. While most gas producers support the scheme, some, like Beach and Senex, have asserted that it could crush gas supplies. Minister, at the same time as you work urgently to end our reliance on costly fossil fuels, will the government stand firm on the domestic gas reservation scheme to ensure that our resources work for us and not multinational corporations?”
“And it's not only volunteers feeling the pressure. Suppliers are now adding fuel charges to every delivery of fresh food—that's bread, meat and vegetables—and at least one supplier is increasing costs by nearly 10 per cent. Another is adding a flat fee to every single invoice. The Village Chef is working hard to adapt to this new situation. They're looking at changes to ordering cycles, storage and supply chains, while trying not to compromise on the freshness and the quality of the meals that they provide to their clients. Hundreds of people in my electorate depend on this service. Let's not lose sight of the very real human impacts—”
“Soaring fuel costs are affecting Australians everywhere. Homes and businesses across my electorate are struggling, and some of our most valuable frontline community services are under real threat. Every week, the Village Chef in Turramurra, our local Meals on Wheels service, cooks and delivers fresh meals to around 950 clients. On top of that, 2,000 more meals go to partner services and aged-care homes weekly. This financial year alone, they've delivered nearly 90,000 meals direct to homes. This service runs on hard work and goodwill. They have 30 paid staff and 500 volunteers. The volunteers are reimbursed just $10 per meal delivery run, even when those runs are long and use up a lot of fuel. In the last two weeks, some volunteers have started cancelling shifts. We don't know why exactly, but we can make an educated guess.”
“The world is changing significantly and quickly. Australia is in an incredible position to stand up and be counted. It will require us to reorient our sense of place in the world and to exercise our sovereign bravery. We need to decouple from our colonial past and from our sense of being the underdog and realise and behave as though we have influence as a middle power. Taxing gas exports, which is nothing more than demanding what we are entitled to, should be a really easy place to start.”
“It might surprise many people here that Japan onsells vast quantities of gas that it purchases from Australia at a considerable profit. Research from the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis has shown that Japanese companies are onselling about half as much Australian gas as they import from Australia. They are onselling it to markets we operate in. They have become our competitor with our gas. This is a lucrative side hustle for Japan, and it's a ludicrous embarrassment to Australia. The government's allowing the Australian taxpayer, the owners of the gas, to be played as absolute mugs. A tax on gas exports would be a win for the Australian people. Either we raise significantly more revenue from the sale of our own resources or more gas stays onshore for sale to Australian consumers here at home, where we need it most.”
“Other major fossil-fuel-exporting countries typically share between 75 per cent and 90 per cent of fossil fuel profits. Australia shares only 27 per cent. With profit defined in cashflow terms as in Norway, Australia shares even less—just 18 per cent. The second argument that comes up to counter the suggestion that gas exporters should pay more tax is the impact it will have on our relationships with our key trading partners, the countries who buy our gas, because it might increase the prices that they are required to pay. This kind of objection you're less likely to hear the government say out loud, but it is most definitely an argument they heed. Let's have a look at what actually happens with the gas that we export, for example, to Japan.”
“The first is that the mining companies will be less likely to invest here. The Australian Energy Producers, the peak body of energy producers, said just last week: Imposing higher taxes on Australian gas producers would stop investment in new gas supply, leading to gas shortfalls, higher energy prices, and the closure of Australian industries that rely on reliable and affordable gas. I'm going to call BS on the last part of that. One clue is in the definitive and hyperbolic rhetoric that they are prepared to use, without knowing any detail at all about the design of a new tax. Look, it's true that applying more tax to gas exports may reduce the profits of gas companies, but Australian gas producers pay some of the lowest taxes on gas in the world.”
“Our leaders should rethink the rhetoric. They should start to grasp that we are a middle power with influence; that we are the 15th-largest economy in the world by GDP, just below South Korea and above Indonesia; and that we have proven ourselves, generation after generation, to be a trusted, reliable actor on the international stage. And maybe then, when it comes to taxing our resources, we might properly understand that we have commodities that the rest of the world wants and needs, and that gives us a competitive strategic advantage. Let's just break it down in the context of our ongoing failure to properly tax companies who profit from our natural resources. Two reasons are often written for why we don't and can't better tax the resources that we virtually give away.”
“I thank the member for Mackellar for raising the topic of taxing our gas exports. It is a matter of public importance and worthy of time in this place. I'm going to approach the topic from a slightly different angle to colleagues. I want to talk about it in the context of Australia's place in the geopolitical landscape that has ruptured; in the context of the new world order in which we find ourselves and how Australia should see itself, position itself in that new paradigm. In short, I want to talk about how it's time for Australia to embrace a level of sovereign bravery in relation to taxing exports but also in a much broader sense. Australia has a lot more agency and influence in the world than what many of our leaders would have us believe and what many of our leaders have convinced the populace that we have.”
“Every day that the government continues to hand out these tax breaks, it's irresponsible and, quite frankly, it's disrespectful. It's disrespectful to all those Australians struggling each and every day—struggling at the checkout counter, struggling at the bowser— (Time exp ired)”
“And, to make the proposal even more palatable, companies would be allowed to keep receiving credits over the $50 million but only if they use that extra money to invest in assets and systems that deliver the shift for businesses and their supply chains to electrify and to decarbonise—things like electric trucks, electric machinery and renewable energy infrastructure. These are great ideas to futureproof their businesses in the mining sector, insulate against fuel shocks and address climate change. To be clear, no-one is worse off from this initiative. This is sensible, smart reform—smart for the budget, for reducing cost of living, for improving energy security and for cutting emissions. The fuel tax credit scheme must be reformed.”
“The options are practically endless, and, while we can't pay for them all, we could certainly afford more if we spent less on fossil fuel subsidies. How do we do it without hurting farmers and small businesses? Well, our friends at Climate Energy Finance have come up with an excellent proposal for phasing out the fuel tax credits, and that is to cap the scheme at $50 million per business. Most farmers would stay well below that cap. The only ones affected would be the small number of large mining companies currently benefiting from the scheme. These include coal companies like BHP, Glencore and Yancoal. In the 2024 financial year, BHP received over $600 million in fuel tax credits and made a profit of over $10 billion. The motion I've put forward today calls on the government to implement this simple but powerful reform.”
“Secondly, by incentivising diesel use, the scheme locks us into continued dependence on imported fuels. The more we need diesel, the more vulnerable we become to global price shocks. And the last few weeks have shown us just how painful those shocks can be. Thirdly, all that money could be spent better. Think about all the things that the government tells us are too hard to fund, too expensive and too impractical—from cheaper health care to more and better paid teachers and nurses; free university degrees; better funded public schools; more energy relief, especially for those who can't access solar, for example, in strata; and more funds for Australian creatives like musicians, actors and writers.”
“In financial year 2024 alone, it received almost $5 billion under the scheme, and the total amount received by the mining industry since the scheme began in 2007 is an almost unimaginably large $57.5 billion. Subsidising mining companies like this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense from any angle. Firstly, and most obviously, these companies are doing quite well without it. They don't need our help. They're some of the most profitable companies in the world, and it makes no sense to artificially widen their margins at the expense of other high-value public investments like health care and education. On top of the subsidies these companies receive, we don't tax them heavily, especially our gas industry. So that's a double whammy: handouts in the form of subsidies which keep them addicted to dirty fossil fuels and low tax rates charged.”
“This scheme is aimed at helping relieve the cost of businesses using petrol and diesel in certain applications in the economy—including miners, who use a lot of diesel on mine sites in machinery and to move materials between mine and port. And transport companies running heavy vehicles over 4.5 gvm are also potentially eligible for the handout. Before I go on, I want to make something very clear. I am in no means proposing that we take away that support, especially now with fuel prices skyrocketing. What I'm proposing instead—and I'll explain the details very shortly—is that we stop giving mining companies, including polluting coal and gas companies, tax breaks that do nothing to sustain their risky reliance on imported liquid fuels. The mining industry receives the lion's share of the fuel tax credits.”
“The cost of living is hurting people across my electorate and the entire country. So wouldn't many of those hardworking Australians be outraged to learn that last year, while they were struggling to get by, the government was handing out billions upon billions of dollars in fossil fuel subsidies. In the last financial year, the government dealt out almost $11 billion under the Fuel Tax Credit Scheme, which is Australia's largest fossil fuel subsidy. This outdated subsidy is predicted to get even bigger, reaching $13 billion by the end of the decade. Who's paying for these enormous tax breaks? You are; the taxpayer.”
“I move: That this House: (1) notes that: (a) under the Fuel Tax Credits (FTC) scheme introduced in 2006, Australian consumers can claim a tax credit for certain fossil fuels used in machinery, and for certain heavy and off-road vehicles; (b) the FTC scheme cost the Australian taxpayer $10.8 billion in 2025-26; (c) by 2028-29, the cost of the FTC scheme is forecast to reach $13.1 billion federally, at a rate of growth higher than growth in spending on a range of social services, including disability assistance, childcare subsidies and aged care; (d) the Government has a legislated target of achieving net zero emissions by 2050; (e) the Department of the Treasury's 2025 modelling shows that current government emissions reductions policies are insufficient for achieving that target; (f) Australia's economy continues to be subject to geopolitical shocks which impact the availability and cost of fuel; and (g) the FTC scheme is one of the largest headwinds for the Australian economy to electrify, a critical aim for meeting both our net zero emissions targets and supporting Australia's energy independence and therefore national security; and (2) calls on the Government to: (a) undertake an orderly phase-out of the FTC scheme; and (b) consider, for that purpose, the introduction of a transition tax incentive with the following elements: (i) a cap of $50 million annually, per consolidated corporate entity, to the FTC scheme (so that it will not apply to small users of the FTC scheme, such as farmers and small businesses); and (ii) permit receipts by consolidated corporate entities above $50 million to be retained for capital expenditure in eligible electrification infrastructure and technology investments and to enable an orderly phase-out of fuels eligible for the FTC scheme.”
“The Zenith offers opportunities for multicultural and amateur organisations that don't have the funds or the patronage to access larger venues or to showcase to the broader community. The theatre is seeking $2.5 million to undertake a major upgrade to revitalise the venue with new facilities and enhance the audience experience, attracting varied productions and increasing visitors to Chatsworth's cultural precinct. It is an honour to have these organisations in Bradfield—to know them, to work with them and to be able to represent them in the federal budget process. I urge the government to grant these funding requests.”
“Moving from sport to social services, Transitional Community Housing is a registered charity which supports high-risk, high-need groups—women over 55, and women with dependent children, who are experiencing, or are at risk of, homelessness; exiting women's shelters or specialist homelessness services; or referred from housing services. The need is great, and the service that TCH provides is incredible. They're asking for just $500,000 over two years to support 50 women and 75 children to access affordable and secure transitional housing for up to two years. Now, to the arts—the beloved Zenith theatre plays a critical role in supporting the local community performing arts sector in Chatswood.”
“Ku-ring-gai Council, the Lindfield rugby and junior rugby clubs and Lindfield District Cricket Club have a joint proposal for upgrades to their existing clubhouse at Lindfield Soldiers Memorial Park, including the provision of changing rooms for girls and women and access for people living with disability. This is to support the rapid increase in female participation in both cricket and rugby and to provide compliant ambulant and disabled access points for the elderly and the less able-bodied members of our local community—$1.5 million from the federal budget will see this project completed. Still on sport, the Willoughby squash and racquet club needs just $250,000 to part-fund the installation and maintenance of a temporary indoor racquet-sports court while the new, purpose built centre is developed.”
“Next is the Ku-ring-gai youth development service, or KYDS—with a y—a community organisation delivering structured, evidence based interventions for young people experiencing mental illness. Seventy-five per cent of mental health difficulties emerge before the age of 25, and young people have some of the highest rates of psychological distress and suicide risk. KYDS acts as a clinical bridge, addressing gaps in access for that missing middle—those not eligible for headspace and those who are less critical than those needing acute care. KYDS needs only $500,000 per annum to deliver 2,325 sessions, benefiting over 230 young people and over 2,300 community members. Then there's the sporting community.”
“The organisation Empowering Parents in Crisis, or EPIC, is a peer led organisation that has provided over 1,700 connections with parents caring for young people aged 12 to 25 experiencing mental health issues, school disengagement and high-risk behaviours. The 2023 Senate inquiry into school refusal recognised the urgent need for a fully funded peer-parent support network, highlighting the value of lived experience in helping families navigate complex challenges. EPIC's work directly responds to this recommendation, offering scalable, community based support that strengthens families and improves outcomes for young people. EPIC is seeking $600,000 over two years to enable it to expand this vital work.”