Jamie Chaffey
Parkes · National Party · Australia
“If these services go, people in communities like White Cliffs, Condobolin, Peak Hill, Bogan Gate and Eumungerie will be forced to drive for 60 minutes— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 10:17 to 10:31 People will be forced to drive 60 minutes, 80 minutes, two hours or up to six hours to…”
“These days we can let someone on the other side of the world know what we're thinking almost before we've thought it. But, sadly, it has become harder and harder to send a simple letter. Many people in my electorate prefer to do their banking, post parcels and letters to their loved ones, and pay bills face to face rather than online.”
“It is part of our role as decent human beings to shed light on human rights where they are being violated, even if that's not in our own nation. Today, I voiced my concerns about the case of barrister Syed Sayedul Haque Suman, who is being held in custody in Bangladesh.”
“They have listened to life stories, have helped elderly people with their complicated paperwork, have been the only break in the day for busy farmers, have signed important papers as justices of the peace, and have assisted people to pay their bills. As one licensee said: 'This is not just a commercial concern.”
“There are also concerns about the treatment of Barrister Suman and other political figures facing charges while they're in custody. There are reports of people dying in custody following allegations of torture, extreme malnutrition and denial of adequate medical care.”
“The leaked business case, Post Office Network & Licensed Post Office Reimagined, dated June this year, envisages widespread changes to regional and rural post offices that could see them become nothing more than a parcel locker. I know that's the same for my colleagues in the room the member for Dawson and the member for Cowper.”
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“David and Nancy Thwaites own and operate Walgett Hunt Camp Fish, a small business in Walgett, and have shared that their business has been at a virtual standstill, with a huge fall in revenue since the changes were made. They said: One of the biggest grain growing regions in Australia faces huge crop losses and massive cost increases in utilising professional pest eradicators instead of free recreational hunters. In Dubbo, Marty and Nicky Bourke, owners and operators of GunPro, their family business that's been trading for more than 16 years, have shared the devastating news that earlier this year they cancelled orders for $2 million worth of goods because of these rushed, misguided gun laws. About 40 per cent of their stock can no longer be sold, and firearm sales are down 90 per cent.”
“The federal government's and the New South Wales government's new laws will diminish farmers' ability to keep the number of guns that they have for specific purposes. Sporting shooters have voiced their serious concerns about the impact on their sport and the lack of consultation. Just a few weeks ago, at Broken Hill, I met with law-abiding gun owners at the Broken Hill sporting complex and heard firsthand the frustrations these people are facing with the new laws. I've also spoken to a number of small businesses throughout the Parkes electorate who specialise in supplying firearms, ammunition and accessories. They repeated to me one simple message—that these reforms could mean the end of their business.”
“With phone call after phone call, letter after letter and email after email, I'm getting angry residents throughout the Parkes electorate telling me that people do not want this gun law reform. They have pointed out that our country already has some of the toughest regulations in the world. They have argued that the problem was not farmers controlling feral animals. It was not sporting shooters developing their skills. It was not those who use firearms as part of their job. This terrible act of terrorism happened in one of our largest cities at our best known beach at the hands of Islamic extremist terrorists. My electorate, the seat of Parkes, is a regional electorate. There are vast tracts of land managed by very few people. Pest animals flourish if the land is not managed. They can destroy land, livelihoods, ecosystems and species.”
“Earlier this year, in this place, we witnessed an act of parliament that showed how far we have strayed from the democratic process. The terrorist attack at Bondi Beach by Islamic extremists was turned into a circus targeting the one million Australians who lawfully own and use firearms. With no time to consider the revised gun bill, it was brought before the parliament by the Albanese Labor government, with the support of the Greens in the Senate. It was an echo of what occurred on Christmas Eve at the hands of the New South Wales Labor government, who pushed through gun law reform that is already, hugely, having a detrimental effect on regional Australia.”
“Let me tell you about Tim, a Binnaway farmer, who has been told by his supplier that there is no fuel for him to mix feed for his livestock during the drought, and farmers like Kathryn from Coolah, who told me that they should now be planting—in her case, canola. They should be harvesting, transporting and feeding stock to put food on the table for all Australians. No diesel equals no food. When that supply starts to run out, watch those prices rise. The Albanese Labor government has watched the cost of living skyrocket. But when they allow fuel supplies to dwindle, the whole machinery of government— (Time expired)”
“It seems that Australian fuel supply is so fragile that regional independent wholesalers and our farmers are being told they can't have any. It's all been saved for the cities. Let me tell you about Sam Clifton from Transwest Fuels, an independent wholesale fuel supplier for regional New South Wales. Sam has been turned away from his normal bulk fuel suppliers in both New South Wales and Queensland. How will he provide fuel for his more than 2,000 customers? Let me tell you about Inland Petroleum, who have told their customers that they know their prices are terrible, but they've also had to cut their margins to keep them down. 'We are doing everything we can to keep fuel moving to farmers, to transport operators and regional communities,' they say, but they also need to look after their 280 employees.”
“My question is to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Transwest Fuels is an independent wholesale supplier in Gunnedah and Mungindi in my electorate. Normally it services more than 2,000 agricultural customers. They have now been turned away by their usual bulk fuel supplier in both New South Wales and Queensland and have no certainty that they can secure enough fuel for businesses or the farms that they support. What action is the minister taking to fix Australia's fuel supply storage?”
“This caring, determined woman has asked for the federal government to establish Harley's law, to legislate mandatory deadlines for essential equipment and urgent funding; clinical oversight and mandatory human review for all decisions affecting terminal, degenerative or high-complexity disabilities; a ban on automated tools reducing supports without human sign-off; transparency for all automated tools used in disability assessments; enforceable rights for people and families to choose home, community or residential care; and the creation of an independent dignity in care commission. I support Katherine, Harley and this petition, and I will fight for a better system for Australians either living with a disability or caring for somebody with a disability. Only humans are capable of offering quality care, not computers.”
“These lives are not a game and they are not a problem to be solved by AI. Katherine registered a petition—Harley's Law: National Safeguards for Terminal, Degenerative and High-Complexity Disabilities—to fight this ridiculous automated approach to human lives. As Katherine's petition notes: There are no enforceable timelines, no protections against unsafe automation and no independent body to intervene when delays or errors put lives at risk.”
“Whilst I 'll acknowledge there are cases where the system is being abused by criminals, Labor must be labour focused to identify those abusing the system without placing barriers in front of Australians who desperately need quality care, like Katherine and her family. One of those changes to the NDIS to be rolled out this year that keeps this dedicated mother awake at night is the introduction of the automated tool to make life-changing decisions. It has been widely reported that the internal briefing to the National Disability Insurance Agency last year stated funding and support plans would be generated by automation. This means a computer will be making critical decisions about very vulnerable people's lives, and staff will not have the discretion to make changes.”
“A parent with a child born with a degenerative neurological condition faces a future with challenges. My constituent Katherine McDowell of Dubbo has been fighting for her son, Harley, since he was diagnosed with incurable juvenile Huntington's disease at age 11. That was 15 years ago. As her son's condition has deteriorated, Katherine and her family's lives have been further impacted by the stress of trying to navigate Australia's even more complicated disability schemes and systems. This dedicated mother has run into difficulty after difficulty, facing long delays, inconsistent decisions and limited clinical oversight as her family tries their best to find solutions for Harley. Now, they are faced with the fallout of the Albanese government's National Disability Insurance Scheme amendment bill that was introduced last year.”
“Rather than confronting waste, rather than prioritising programs and rather than restoring fiscal principles, Labor has chosen to hunt for new pools of capital to tax. Trust is fundamental in tax reform. Australians accept reform when it is principled, predictable and based on broad consultation. What they do not accept is the retrospective tinkering and ad hoc changes to ideological experiments dressed up as modest adjustments. This proposal reinforces a broader pattern: higher spending first, then new taxes to pay for it later. That is not reform; that is fiscal mismanagement.”
“That reason should not and cannot be that the federal government is looking for other sources of money to shore up the country's debt or to pay for ill advised promises. If, even in this out-of-control economy, farmers and small-business owners have managed to show restraint, dedication and fiscal wisdom, they need to know that the government can do the same. Labor has a spending problem, not a revenue problem. The problem confronting our country is structural spending growth that is outpacing sustainable economic growth. When government spend beyond their means, they inevitably reach for new taxes to fill the gap and to fill the hole. That is precisely what we are witnessing here.”
“Superannuation tax 2.0 also carries concerns. If a farmer is to retire to town and sell the family farm for more than $3 million, the earnings would be taxed at 30 per cent on the portion above $3 million. That's double the current tax. If it were to sell for more than $10 million, that farmer would pay 40 per cent on the tax of the portion above 10 million. How fair is that? This property might have been in the family for generations. Now Scott will lose a significant portion of the sale price to Labor's new superannuation tax 2.0 and his retirement nest egg. This is an enormous increase on taxation for people who are banking on that money for their retirement. Australians are struggling right now, and they need to know that they are saving for a reason.”
“Of major concern is the additional taxation rate on earnings on superannuation balances above $3 million that will start in the next taxation year. This will be taxed at an extra rate of 15 per cent. That's a total of 30 per cent taxation, or double the current taxation rate. Earnings on the portion of superannuation above $10 million will attract a whopping 40 per cent. I'd like to give a real-life example of someone from my electorate, from Parkes—Scott, from a property near Forbes. He called with concerns when super tax 1.0 was on the horizon. Scott owns a farm through his self-managed superannuation fund that is now worth more than $3 million. Anyone who owns a farm knows that $3 million doesn't amount to much these days when it comes to farmland. Superannuation tax 1.0 would have meant big changes for Scott in a big hurry.”
“They have lost trust over promises about inflation, about high interest rates, about the cost of living. The Labor government is pointing at increases in the low income super tax offset as great news. I welcome the support that helps people who are on low incomes to build their retirement savings. But this does nothing for Australians who are on a tight budget today. It doesn't put money back in their pockets for the escalating food costs, energy costs or mortgage repayments. A future offset does not help them now. They are also concerned about the removal of the death tax exemption. This will hit families when they're at their most vulnerable. When your loved one passes away, the last thing you need to be worried about is the complexities of a superannuation system.”
“They've worked hard, they've saved their pennies and they've made a plan for their own future and for the future of other generations. They have done this while being taxed every step of the way. They've done this while they've faced uncertain seasons, droughts, floods, pandemic, the rise and fall of commodity prices, inflation—it just keeps on going. Australians deserve to know what this latest tax grab to fuel the Labor government's spending spree really means. Spend now, tax later: Labor is looking for more ways to pay the bill, and, as so often happens, the buck stops in regional Australia. Is it fair? Show us how. Is it better? Show us how. Will it mean certainty for Australia's future? Well, then show us how. Labor has lost Australians' trust.”
“It was a very quiet admission that they had got it completely wrong and been completely unfair in attempting to go forward with those superannuation changes. Now we are, as I said, looking at super tax 2.0. This one diverts attention from the crippling guidelines of super tax 1.0, but it does so with a stunning lack of detail. What is this new improved super tax all about? How about a bit of transparency for those it is going to impact, who are still reeling from the threat of being taxed on money that they had not even earnt? How will super tax 2.0 work? Who will it impact, and how much will it impact them? Show us the detail. Show Australians how you really feel about their finances. Show us you have listened and learned from the super tax 1.0 debacle. Unlike this Albanese Labor government, regional Australians have gone without.”
“We're told over and over again how important it is to save for our own futures and to avoid placing the burden on future generations, yet people who have been saving all their lives to do so were looking down the barrel of a tax that would have forced them to sell portions of their property and raided their nest eggs. Again, it would have targeted those who are just trying to do the right thing. It was only after a sustained campaign from the Liberals and Nationals, when we highlighted over and over again just how significantly this would impact farmers and small-business owners, that the Labor government finally backed down. And now we have this, the new version, super tax 2.0. The coalition and the community forced Labor to abandon the indexation freeze and the taxation of unrealised gains.”
“These are their family homes and their livelihoods. It is essential that farmers get a fair go so that they can continue to grow the food and the fibre for this nation but also for other nations through our exports. Superannuation tax 1.0 was not a fair go. These days, $3 million is not a lot of money—nowhere near as much as it used to be. As I just stated, Australia is looking at a trillion-dollar debt. More often than not, the family home is up around a million dollars. For most places, that's just the starting point. Superannuation tax 1.0 was a plan to punish farmers and small-business owners by attacking their unrealised gains in superannuation. It was a move that was shockingly ignorant to the way that self-managed superannuation funds work.”
“You are taxed on your earnings, you're taxed on your savings, you're taxed on your superannuation. The latest and greatest idea was to tax people on money that they had not even earnt yet. There is only so much that Australians can take, and this was a tax that went too far. That was super tax 1.0. As complicated as tax and superannuation can be, blind Freddy could see that this was not fair, and our hardworking, innovative farmers and small-business owners in the electorate of Parkes are a long way from being blind Freddy. Due to inflation, land values have gone up everywhere, and the family farm may now be worth significantly more than it was back when the grandparents first bought the block. That does not mean that farmers who live there have more money. It does not mean bigger income.”
“I rise to speak against the Treasury Laws Amendment (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Bill 2026 and the Superannuation (Building a Stronger and Fairer Super System) Imposition Bill 2026. We know the government's finances are in a mess. We will soon hit $1 trillion in debt, with an interest bill of $50,000 a minute. It's hard for most Australians to even think in terms of a trillion dollars. Not so long ago, a billion dollars seemed to be an enormous amount of money. Since the Albanese government came to office four years ago, $100 billion in debt has been added, so this government is obviously scrambling to find a way to keep the boat afloat. Their initial super plan was to tax unrealised capital gains. We can all see why this is wrong.”
“I quote from one of these family business owners: None of these changes stop or will ever stop what happened, but the government will never admit its own faults. It will only ever pass them on to people like me. We know the loss of any small business in a regional community can have serious impacts. The potential loss of these businesses has huge consequences not only to the suppliers but also to their consumers—another blow for regional Australia. Spending is needed—spending is needed in all of the areas that I've outlined—but this appropriation bill is a clear indication of poor planning, of spiralling spending in all the wrong places and of an out-of-control budget that continues to fuel the rocket of inflation. Debate adjourned. Federation Chamber adjourned 19:24”
“Instead, we got a panicked reaction that kicked out at Australia's legitimate gun owners. Labor estimated $1 billion for a gun buyback program would be enough. However, experts in this field say this cost could be more like $5 billion to $10 billion. This decision has been pushed through by the Albanese government with the support of the Greens without consideration of the massive cost to all Australians. I couldn't see that funding for the gun buyback program in the plea for more money within this bill. Not only is there a staggering upfront financial cost to this rushed decision-making; I'm hearing of the devastating impacts on small businesses in my electorate. These reforms could mean the ends of their small businesses. I've heard from struggling gun owners in Walgett, in Dubbo, in Moree and in Broken Hill.”
“Of the total subsidy paid, $1.2 billion was given to solar and wind projects that were foreign owned. These billions of dollars are going straight out of our country. The rationale seems to be that, if we sink enough funding into alternate energy, eventually something's going to go right. With all of that spending, you'd think we would be looking at cheaper power bills, but no—more spending, higher bills, spiralling costs and no energy certainty. I've said it before and I'll say it again: there is a cheaper way, there is a better way and there is a fairer way. Let's take a look at the events that followed in this place after that horrific Bondi terrorist attack. This was a heartbreaking day in our history and one that requires a response from cool heads.”
“This cheaper at-home battery program was not in Labor's energy policy they took to the last election. There's no mandate for this program, yet $7.2 billion of taxpayer dollars will be spent over a four-year period. How many billions have already been ploughed into renewable energy? The Climate Energy Finance think tank says the Albanese Labor government and the Minns state government have committed about $76 billion of taxpayer money to climate and green energy spending over the past three years. That includes $19 billion on Rewiring the Nation, $7 billion on critical minerals production tax credits and $6.7 billion on hydrogen production tax credits. The Institute of Public Affairs has reported that, in 2024, out of Australia's 50 largest solar farms, only 28 per cent were entirely owned by Australians.”
“It said that Central Darling Shire had low availability of cash and was highly dependent on government grants that aren't there under Labor, Cobar Shire had insufficient revenue and was highly dependent on government grants that again are not there under Labor, and Walgett Shire had insufficient revenue and was highly dependent on government grants. They're still waiting. Local government in regional areas right across Australia are struggling due to our smaller populations, escalating costs and more and more demands on them to do the job previously done by other tiers of government. I don't see them here with their hand out for $12.7 billion. Some of that $12.7 billion, more than $2.9 billion, is for the cheaper home battery project. That adds up to about $7.2 billion in total over a four-year period.”
“Now some of the areas of the Parkes electorate are heading into drought, and some of them are actually flooding as well at the moment. What assistance can our primary producers expect from the Labor government? Where is the support for our food and fibre producers who feed our country and many other nations through our exports, and where is the support for our struggling councils? The latest local government audit by the Audit Office of New South Wales reported problems with financial sustainability in a number of councils in my electorate.”
“There are problems with the urgent care clinic model. The model is making it tough for existing clinics. But in my electorate we have neither urgent care clinics nor any assistance for healthcare providers trying to find professionals to work in our remote areas. What about the much hype around fee-free TAFE? It fails to take into account the people in my electorate and regional Australia that may be required to travel up to four hours or even more to get to a TAFE building where there's a qualified teacher. Let's sum it up. Inflation is up. Interest rates are up. Big projects are at a standstill. We have problems with health care, child care, aged care, education, road funding, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, telecommunications and so much more.”
“Where is our health care, where is our child care, and where is our aged care? In amongst all this spending, a person suffering a suspected heart attack in Broken Hill might not be able to get their local emergency department. I know this because I've heard from them. Red tape and lack of assistance for councils might be preventing someone in urgent need in Cobar from accessing aged care. I know this because I've heard from them. I've heard from the community, such as Coonamble, Narrabri, Bourke, Nyngan and Broken Hill, that regional Australia has a childcare desert. This is not rhetoric; it is the lived experience of many people in the Parkes electorate. Where are our urgent care clinics in the Parkes electorate, which covers more than half of New South Wales? There are none, zero, not one.”
“The simple ability to get hold of someone during a time of emergency or for business purposes or simply to have a chat with one of your neighbours, for some of those who were fortunate to have it, now no longer exists. There are many more who are still waiting for certainty that their triple zero calls will be heard. I've heard from farmers, from travellers, from businesspeople and from parents of students that their telecommunications is not only substandard but non-existent. Once upon a time, you could stand out in a paddock and ring triple zero in an emergency. Now we have business owners in regional towns that need to walk out into their street just to access internet banking. What's happened to the Mobile Black Spot Program? It stalled under the Albanese Labor government.”
“Where is the promise of caring for Australians, the promise for making things cheaper and—as promised at the last two elections—the promise to leave no Australians behind? My office has dealt consistently with troubled carers, parents and people with disabilities who no longer can receive that at-home visit that's needed from carers because this government has cut funding for travel for our most vulnerable people. Communications in the bush have gone backwards. We have heard over and over again of the increased problems with the coverage since the 3G network was shut down in October 2024 under Labor's watch. Many of those across the vast tracts of land in my own electorate of Parkes who have been lucky enough to get a bar or two of coverage have now lost it.”
“What could $12.7 billion do in communities still waiting for progress on the Inland Rail? What could $12.7 billion do for Narrabri, which lost $7.5 million when the inland port was shelved as soon as those on that side of the House formed government? What could it do in Dubbo, which has had $20.6 million to fix damaged roads knocked back? The Lachlan Shire Council was denied $29 million for its roads, the Narrabri Shire Council was denied $21.5 million, and the Burke Shire Council was denied $14.9 million to maintain its road network. The hits just keep on coming for the electorate of Parkes and for regional Australia—and here we are again with the Labor government holding out their hands for more of your money.”
“We are already looking at the highest-spending government in 40 years outside of the pandemic. Thanks to the Albanese Labor government, Australia will soon hit $1 trillion in debt, with $100 billion added since they came to government. We are looking at an interest amount on that debt of $50,000 a minute. That's the equivalent of a possible house deposit in regional Australia going up in smoke every single minute. This is spending at a level most Australians simply can't comprehend. What could this $12.7 billion do in regional Australia? It could change lives in the electorate of Parkes, where parents remain on the waiting list for child care. Older Australians can't access aged care, and our underresourced police stations are struggling to deal with the rise of crime.”
“The coalition has taken the Labor government to task over this recently, with the Reserve Bank of Australia increasing interest rates to 3.85 per cent to deal with the rising tide of inflation. That rise will knock some first homeowners out of the running for their first home. It will add to the financial pressure so many Australian families are already feeling when they look at their rising power bills, their rising food bills, their water bills and all the many other expenses that are starting to pile up. What is Labor's response? 'It's not our fault.' The Reserve Bank governor begs to differ. She confirmed government spending had contributed to the latest interest rate hike—a truth that is cold comfort to a young couple in Broken Hill, Narrabri or Parkes who can no longer afford to buy their first home.”
“Today we're here in this place once again to talk about adding yet more money to a budget that is already weighing our nation down like a lead anchor. This isn't 20 bucks in a jar to put towards a bit of home maintenance; this is $12.7 billion that our nation can ill afford. This money is to fund the Albanese Labor government's last budget—a budget Australians rely on to be fiscally responsible, a budget Australians rely on to be carefully crafted to make the most of their hard-earned dollars and a budget that must take every cent into account. This is not a matter of objecting to the specific policies and programs that will be funded under this extra money; this is an objection to the carefree, last-minute, devil-may-care attitude to spending Australians' money. That is the real problem here.”
“Again, it's where we grow our food and fibre and harvest our minerals. It is what sets us apart from other countries. Yes, it presents challenges. Isn't it time we told regional Australians that we are up for the challenge and that we value everything they are to our country? Isn't it time we stopped switching off technology without knowing the full impact and before something that works is in place? Isn't it time we invested a little of our nation in connecting Australians wherever they might live? We cannot continue to focus all of the government's time and Australians' money in the cities alone. We are all Australians and we all deserve to be able to connect with our loved ones and to do business the best way that we possibly can. We all deserve to be able to reach out and find help in those times of greatest need.”
“Further along, we have a caveat that makes even more nonsense of this bill. It says: … the Bill includes a power for the Minister to determine circumstances when it would not be reasonable to make mobile coverage available … In one short document, we've gone from universal coverage to coverage if the technology is invented to coverage if the technology is invented, providing you have the right handset, to coverage if the technology is invented, you have the right handset and the minister thinks it's a good idea. Is it any wonder this Labor government has lost the trust of those in regional Australia, many of whom are trying to run a business and a family with one hand tied behind their backs and the other up in the air trying to get a signal? Regional Australia is our backbone.”
“One is that there is quite a lot of talk of direct-to-device technology here delivering over low-orbit satellite platforms. I'm reliably informed that this technology may not be readily available to fully roll out in the timeline that has been allocated. That's a pretty epic fail and a shady reminder of Labor's unachievable net zero target. I'm also concerned about one element of this technology: you still cannot call triple zero. Currently, the technology allows satellite-to-messaging capability, but you cannot message triple zero. It's another epic fail. We are legislating here ahead of this technology actually being in use or even being fully developed. I quote again: Currently SMS services are available in a number of countries on certain handsets, including in Australia, and voice services are expected to follow.”
“I know myself that on my travels around the electorate connection is sparse and often non-existent. Many people have been forced into using expensive Starlink, causing concerns of having one real supplier being available. Under the Telecommunications Legislation Amendment (Universal Outdoor Mobile Obligation) Bill 2025, there is some impressive sounding jargon. Let's take a look at it. It says: This a significant and important reform that will bring mobile services within the universal services framework. … … … The UOMO will require the national Mobile Network Operators … currently, Telstra Limited, Optus Mobile Pty Limited and TPG Telecom Limited, to deliver baseline outdoor coverage across Australia. It sounds good, but I have a number of concerns with this.”
“Regional Australians have had enough of announcements and enough of promises. They just need reliable telecommunications. It is time for moves in this direction to get real. We need practical, reliable and affordable solutions that work for all Australians. As we look at this bill, we must look at it through the lens of this government's track record and through its poor performance in making telecommunications work. Let's not forget the wonder that was the 3G shutdown. The 3G shutdown left people isolated. People were forced into updating their phones, some unnecessarily, and businesses were left without connection and without support. This was a planned event, an outcome that was chosen. It was surrounded by confusion and absolute failure. The trust of regional Australians has been lost.”
“Others show that, once again, regional Australians face almost insurmountable challenges just to open a business and to fulfill their dreams to serve those in their communities. As recently as last week I held a network connectivity roundtable in Walgett, where the frustrations of farmers who've struggled for years to find reliable telecommunications were abundantly clear. They have trusted in the advice they've received and purchased expensive plants, expensive handsets and expensive equipment only to find out that it's out of date, not fit for purpose or just doesn't work. We continue to hear about exciting new technology, but, time after time, it's followed by all the reasons it won't work in regional Australia or wouldn't be accessible to ordinary Australians.”
“They cannot connect to triple zero, and, if they can, the failure of technology often critically adds time to the location needed during an emergency. Sadly, this is not hypothetical; people have died. This goes beyond inconvenience. It goes to the very core of what it is to connect with others, to be part of the lives of your family and friends, to be able to run your business in a professional way and to know that you are safe in all situations. Regional Australians do not ask for something that any person in any other country does not expect. I've heard from people across the Parkes electorate about the problems the lack of reliable telecommunications are causing them every single day. Some of these stories are tragic.”
“In this lucky country, this country of opportunity and innovation, the people who produce our food and fibre and the minerals, and the people who work hard and look after the land cannot make a simple phone call. There are times when businessowners in Gilgandra must walk out into the streets to allow their customers to pay with a credit card. There are times when people running businesses from their regional home cannot log on to finalise transactions, cannot lodge their business activity statements and cannot fill in necessary employment or government forms. People cannot coordinate logistics, use modern GPS tools or check on their loved ones. When emergencies strike, regional people are often on their own.”
“Communication is one of the most fundamental building blocks of what it means to be a human. For those who live in cities, where you might have hundreds of neighbours in the same building, there are many ways and means of reaching out, for sending a message or for calling for help. But for those in the bush, for those across the huge electorate of Parkes, and for many Australians in other parts of the country that are not centred around a capital city, communication is a huge challenge. For someone who has chest pains on a property outside Wilcannia or who breaks down out the back of Bourke, there are no neighbours. Sadly, this is where telecommunications continue to let regional people down.”
“Their children have been raised within the confines of a terrorist organisation where Australia is the enemy. As a federal member of this parliament, representing a geographical area more than half of New South Wales, it is my duty to put the safety of the people of the Parkes electorate and our nation first. I cannot support actions that would welcome people who have chosen to support terrorism back into this country. It would be misguided, it would be gutless and it would be downright dangerous.”
“I rise to speak on the matter of allowing ISIS brides to return to Australia—personally, one of the most difficult issues I've had to address in this place. Australians are compassionate people. We value our families. We care for our friends and for our neighbours. We extend the hand of help to many nations. It does not come naturally to say no, but in this case we cannot ignore the fact that bringing back people who have made the choice to actively support a merciless terrorist regime is an unacceptable risk to this country. It is a proven, unacceptable risk—we're not just talking about hypotheticals here. In the case of ISIS brides, it is a clear case where logic must overrule emotion. We are talking about people here who have made the choice to take a stance against our country and against our way of life.”
“The Gunnedah Times marked its fifth birthday in November last year after it was established by the owners of the Narrabri Courier . The electorate's own Lucie Peart, who took over the historic Gilgandra Weekly and added a number of other mastheads to the stable, has been a strong advocate for community journalism. Lucie was last year awarded life membership of Country Press New South Wales after a record eight years as president. There are over 35 publications in my electorate, from the Western Herald in Bourke to the Hillston - Ivanhoe Spect ator , the Parkes Phoenix , the Champion - Post , the Duned oo District Diary and everywhere in between. Thank you for the work that you do.”
“With the huge changes in the media and communications industry over the past 20 years, it has become harder and harder for local newspapers to survive. I'm proud to say that community journalism is still alive and well in the Parkes electorate. Indeed, the Cobar Weekly is celebrating its 40th birthday. That's 40 years of celebrating and commemorating community milestones, and 40 years of advocating for the Cobar community. That is a significant achievement, and I congratulate all those who have played a role in the Cobar Weekly over the years, including the managing editor, Sharon Harland, and her team. I also congratulate the team at the Broken Hill Times , who celebrated the paper's first anniversary in October last year. The Broken Hill Times stepped in when the Barrier Truth shut after 130 years of operation.”
“We are fortunate to have such amazing achievers in the electorate of Parkes. I congratulate each and every one of them for their great contribution to their communities and our nation.”