Rowan Holzberger
Forde · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“… … … "Right at the beginning, it was thought that there was an intrusion in the relationship between the doctor and their patient," AMA president Tony Bartone said. … … … At the time Medicare was introduced in 1984, the AMA was heavily influenced by developments in the United Kingdom, particularly the National Health Service.”
“During my preparation for my contribution tonight I came across an article written in 2019, at the death of Bob Hawke, by ABC journalist Norman Hermant, and I'd like to read out a bit from it. The article was titled, 'Before Bob Hawke's Medicare, a visit to hospital forced many Australians into bankruptcy'.”
“My dad met my mum in Mount Isa, and I was born in Brisbane and grew up in Broken Hill, so I'm not sure where that quite places me. I've always actually believed regional Australia should have its own state. The cities could have one state, and regional Australia could have another state—anyway.”
“Mrs Buckingham's quote on thinking twice about going to see the doctor is something that all of us in our electorates have faced and heard about from people who told us that they would choose to put food on the table and feed their kids rather than see the doctor.”
“I think that will go some way to addressing some of those shortages; 17,000 doctors is a shot in the arm to the health system. Finally, the member for Riverina talked about the NDIS, kicking the proverbial out of us.”
“Even though they gave up, I think some time after the 1993 election, realising that they couldn't do what John Howard said and stab it in the stomach, they went around and tried to stab it in the back.”
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“I rise on the 50th anniversary of the Racial Discrimination Act and think that it's a reflection really on how far we've come as a country that it's been 50 years since it was put in place. I know from growing up with a name like Holzberger that, even though I might like look like a lot of the kids that I grew up with, just having a name can invite ridicule, teasing and bullying. And while I guess I took it, in most cases, with the sort of humour with which it was intended, it didn't feel great and it did make me feel excluded. I can just begin to imagine what it must feel like for people in the community who might have a different accent or different skin colour. The brutality of that reality for people means that there is a role for government when it comes to passing laws on that.”
“The moustache will be coming off on 1 December, but the work will continue, led by the Special Envoy for Men's Health, who we're lucky to have today—led by a position the first time that it exists in the Commonwealth. (Time expired)”
“Because of the work that they've done, they've managed to bring suicide rates down to about the community average amongst male construction workers and, the way that they're going, it's going to be less than the national average. So something is going on. They are doing something right. So often it is just one conversation that makes all the difference. It is just a few sessions with a trained professional that makes all the difference. Without having that one conversation, without putting somebody in the right direction, not having that conversation can have catastrophic consequences for the individual and catastrophic consequences for the family. There's so much more to do.”
“Now we are completely chopped up into little tiny slices in our bedrooms, separated from family, separated from community, all getting some sort of message through social media. The stress that this puts on young people—and older people as well—has got to be one of the reasons that mental health is so bad, is such an epidemic in our community. But I think that, despite the problems that exist and the problems that in many ways are getting worse, there are real solutions out there. I think the best example of that would be MATES in Construction. Some know, I'm sure, but it started somewhere around 2007 when suicide rates amongst male construction workers were way above the community average.”
“One of the things that I for some reason had a look at was past royal commissions. There was a royal commission into television back in the 1950s that was looking at whether there would be multiple stations, whether there would be one government owned station, whether television would run 24 hours a day, whether people would pay for licences et cetera. One of the submissions that went into that royal commission was that television would destroy communities, and in many ways they did. Television took people away from those community experiences and stuck us in lounge rooms, gathered around the box. But social media has done that on steroids. Look back at television now. At least there was some shared experience.”
“I think Australia was a much more egalitarian country when I was growing up in the '80s. We were more equal. There was this commitment to mateship that you don't hear a lot of these days. And I think that through the '80s—through economic rationalism, through privatisation, through chasing the dollar rather than community—we moved away from that spirit of doing things for the sake of other people, and we've been left poorer as a society for that approach to economics. When I'm talking to young people today, one of the reasons that they cite for their mental health—I mean, look at the state of housing. It's bad enough when we see it, but imagine trying to grow up in a world where this is the world you're going to come into after high school. So it's tough on kids and it's tough for other reasons too.”
“This is not uncommon in working-class communities, and it's not uncommon amongst men. In many ways, the only thing worse than talking about suicide is not talking about suicide. The reason why it's so important to look at the impact that it has on men is that something like 75 per cent of suicides are men. As much as it is a men's issue, the people who bring it up with us when we're going around in our communities are generally the mums, the wives and the daughters, who are concerned about their man's mental health. Men are usually the ones least likely to bring it up themselves. It is so important for us as a parliament to do what we can as leaders in our community, but also collectively to shine a light on the scourge that is male mental illness. There are a lot of reasons for why it might happen.”
“The last thing Benny was interested in was what was going on with student-teacher ratios. Benny wanted a day off! Benny was just this tough kid with this natural gravitas that attracted people to him. And it was because of Benny getting behind me, and pushing me, that he and I marched up to the principal and announced that we were going to have the school strike. Well, for me, it was a school strike; for Benny, it was a day off. Benny was an amazing character. Jezza was from the same group—we were all sort of southies in Broken Hill. Jezza was a different kind of guy. If you didn't know him very well, he was a quiet, gentle bloke. But jeez, he loved to laugh, and he was the sort of mate you would go into the trenches with. Despite how good they were, Benny and Jezza took their own lives.”
“When I think about growing up in Broken Hill, I think of two guys who would be my age today if they were still around, but they're not still around. It's been a long time since I've been back to talk to their families, so I won't use their last names, but I'll use their first names. Anybody who knows who I'm talking about will know them—Benny and Jezza. Benny was this magnetic kid with this cheeky smile. When I became interested in politics as a young person, the New South Wales government had come to power and was cutting education. This was back in 1988. All of us who were aware of what was going in politics were getting really outraged, and somehow we managed to foment a school strike. I remember that Benny was one of the people really encouraging me to lead the strike. Benny couldn't have cared less about politics.”
“I have the great privilege of representing the electorate of Forde now in Logan, in the northern suburbs of the Gold Coast, but I'm a Broken Hill boy at heart, a country boy. Broken Hill is a mining town like Gladstone. It's a mining city, actually, and it is working class to its bootstraps. The men and women out there are tough, hard-working and salt of the earth—everything that you would expect about Australians when you think about Australians. The men are tough working-class men. Even though it's 1,400 kilometres or so away from where I live now—even though the geography is different—the demography is the same. People in Forde are tough working-class people, men and women, trying to do their best, trying to get ahead and putting themselves last so often.”
“I spoke on this yesterday in the Federation Chamber, but I think a longer speech gives me the opportunity to go into this in a little bit more detail. On a light note, the moustache which I'm. now proudly displaying is 26 days old, I think. It's actually thanks to my friend next to me, the member for Hunter, who encouraged me to raise awareness and funds for men's health but particularly for men's mental health. If the camera were able to look around this chamber, there are three of us sporting moustaches. It's important that guys who don't normally like to talk about their health or situation feel encouraged to do so. I guess my own experience with mental health is informed by where I grew up.”
“The home town I came from, Broken Hill, when I went back there in the nineties, had an unemployment rate of over 20 per cent—Depression-level unemployment. Today, it's different. We've got work. We've got employers screaming out for workers. But, again, a failed system of training has meant that Labor is now playing catch up. That's why things like free TAFE are helping both people get the skills that they need to have a good life and employers employ the workers that they have. There's a lot to do. I'm listening to workers and fighting for workers and people in our community, and this government is delivering. (Time expired)”
“Member for Hume, I'm shaking my head at the policy that you took to the last election—a policy to bring taxes up on Australian people. When that happened, member for Hume, that's when I thought I had a chance of winning Forde, by the way. That was the very day I thought, 'Hang on, they can't seriously be going to repeal the tax cuts?' When you did, that's when I thought, 'I've got a chance here.' It's not just tax cuts; it's energy rebates and it's cutting down HECS by 20 per cent. When we cut, we're about cutting the cost of living for people. It's things like the real wages growth. I think we've had eight consecutive quarters of real wages growth. That replaced your five consecutive quarters of cutting real wages. Ultimately, the world that I grew up in, in the nineties, was a much different world to the one we have today.”
“But we are delivering, and I am delivering in Forde, some very practical policies—policies like the five per cent deposit; policies like the Housing Australia Future Fund, which has already built almost as many houses in Forde in one year as the coalition built in 10 years; policies like they Help to Buy scheme; policies like getting behind the building 100,000 houses just for first home buyers; policies like getting behind National Cabinet's objective of 1.2 million homes to take that pressure off. They are the sorts of policies that this government is delivering in communities like mine. Cost of living is, without doubt, something that housing is a part of and that health care is a part of—not just housing and health care. Cost of living—I can see the member for Hume shaking his head at me and my speech tonight.”
“A complete lack of federal government investment in public housing like we used to has created the problem that we have today. Our post-war economic miracle was very much based on cheap public housing and cheap public energy, and, over the last 40 years, the federal government really has left the field and left people to struggle with what we have now.”
“I think that we are really beginning to deliver. With Medicare, I've never seen, in all of the time that I've been a participant or an observer of politics, one single policy have such a massive impact as that policy to provide incentives to everybody for a GP to bulk-bill. That has meant that, in the electorate of Forde, we went, overnight, from nine bulk-billing clinics to 20—more than doubling the number of clinics. That number has gone up to 21, and that number is only going to continue to rise. I've never seen a policy so successful. I believe that housing is my No. 1 priority in Forde. That is where people are really doing it the toughest, and this has been a failure of policies, as our housing minister says, over 40 years in the making.”
“My first adjournment speech in my first last sitting week of the year is giving me a chance to reflect on what I've learnt over the last six months. I have tried to employ a very simple philosophy in the electorate that I am privileged to represent, and that is to listen, to fight for what I hear and to deliver for our community. To that end, we've been doorknocking most weekends of the year. Our team have been out there, knocking on doors. I've been organising house visits. We've been holding community barbecues. The sorts of issues I'm hearing are that people are still doing it really tough. It's been a crisis, in many ways, as our housing minister says, 40 years in the making—not just in housing, but in energy, training and so many areas. I think that this government is beginning to turn it around.”
“I think the Albanese Labor government's investment in mental health care, particularly in the Medicare mental health clinics, is really going to hold us in good stead.”
“I think it's because 75 per cent of suicide victims are men. If we can improve the opportunities for people to access mental health care for men, we will improve those opportunities for everybody. In fact, maybe it's typical of blokes that the people who most often bring mental health support for men up with me are women—the mums, the sisters, the daughters and the wives. In the last 20 seconds that I have, I will say that there are lots of positive things we can do. Look at MATES in Construction. In 2007 or so, when they started, the suicide rate of men in construction was way over the national average. Today it's at about the average, and it's going down. So there are things that can be done. There are some timely interventions that can be made.”
“There are two friends that I remember very much growing up with, and I'll use their first names, because I haven't talked to their families for a while. Jezza and Benny were the rough, tough kids. Benny was probably one of the people that really sparked my interest in politics in many ways. When we had a school strike, Benny was the one who was up there encouraging me—not that he cared about the politics behind it all. He just wanted to have a day off! But he had that real, natural leadership, that natural gravitas, that carried people with him. Jezza was slightly different. He was really quiet and just a lovely bloke. And neither of them are here anymore—my age. People say we shouldn't talk about suicide, but I think the only thing worse than talking about suicide is not talking about it. And why the focus on men?”
“I'd like to start with a light hearted observation about what I've got between my nose and my lips at the moment. I think we're about 24 days into Movember now, and this is what I've got! But, on a serious note, it is there to bring attention to men's health and, especially, men's mental health. My experiences are very much informed by where I grew up—Broken Hill, in outback New South Wales. It's a mining town—mining city, really—of about 25,000 people. It's a working-class environment to its bootstraps. It's tough, and it's really there that my early experiences of mental health were born. Even though Broken Hill is 1,400 kilometres away, according to demographics it's not much different to the area that I represent now—tough, working-class people and tough, working-class men.”
“My question is to the Minister for Education. What is the Albanese Labor government doing to build a better and fairer education system, including helping Australians with student debt? What other approaches have been put forward?”
“While Peter Dutton was voted the worst health minister in history, perhaps those people voted too early, because there's one health minister that has the dubious record of having never approved an increase, and that's the Leader of the Opposition. (Time expired)”
“In terms of responding to what the member for Cook had to say, unfortunately there wasn't anything I could find that merited responding to. I'd underline the fact that this is a problem 10 years in the making, and it's turning around. I visited the Holmview clinic and the Bannockburn clinic, and there are a list of other clinics that want to get me out there, as the local member, because we have, in the words of one clinic, saved bulk-billing. One clinic had bulk-billed for 10 years, and it was going to stop bulk-billing, and, had these new incentive payments not come in, it wouldn't have been able to continue bulk-billing. Only Labor has Medicare at its heart. Only Labor protects Medicare.”
“The member for Casey made the misleading claim that Albo heartlessly cut, from 20 to 10, the number of mental health appointments for which you could access assistance, but I think the point needs to be made that the 20 visits was a temporary measure due to COVID, just like the bulk-billing rate was artificially high due to COVID, as people got their vaccinations. That underlines the point that the collapse was even greater, because that number was kept artificially high as people sought vaccinations. The real problem was masked by that fact. We're talking about mental health, and, in Forde, we've not only invested in the Medicare mental health clinic in Logan but also upgraded it since the last election, and we'll be opening up a new one on the northern Gold Coast.”
“When I was campaigning in 2021 for the seat of Forde—unsuccessfully, mind you—and in 2022 we all noticed that bulk-billing was beginning to ebb. You could see that one clinic had decided to stop bulk-billing, and then another clinic. You got the sense that this was the beginning of a landslide, which did happen. Unfortunately, as we came to government that landslide came crashing down, and while it came crashing down as a result of the policies of the former government, thanks to the practical incentives for kids and pensioners, we have now begun to turn things around. In Queensland, for instance, as a result of those incentives, we have gone from a bulk-billing rate of 73.6 to 77 per cent. After 3½ years we are taking responsibility and we are turning it around.”
“That's more than double, and that number has only gone up. That was overnight, between Friday night and Saturday morning. Now we have gone up to at least 21, and that number is going to continue to rise. So I would suggest the member for Bowman direct more people to Logan because that's where they are going to find it. He won't need to, because that's not the only place this constituent of his is going to be able to find a bulk-billing doctor; that number is going to continue to rise in his electorate as well. The opposition whip mentioned that we have been in power for 3½ years and it's time that we took responsibility. We are taking responsibility for the solution—if they won't take responsibility for the problem.”
“I rise to speak against the motion this morning. My neighbour the member for Bowman is actually the mover of this motion, and it just proves the old adage that you can choose your friends but you can't choose your neighbours, because I feel as if I would like to offer a little bit of political advice. Maybe they're better off not talking about this issue. Maybe there needs to be a little bit of self-reflection here, because when it comes to the reason people are finding it difficult to access health care today, it is because of the policies that they presided over for more than nine years. The member for Bowman mentioned a woman who has to come deep into Logan to access a bulk-billing doctor. Perhaps that's because in Logan, on the northern Gold Coast, we managed to increase the number of bulk-billing clinics overnight from nine to 20.”
“That was an increase from about 19 per cent to 43 per cent overnight in the clinics that now bulk-bill. That's more than doubling the number of clinics that bulk-bill in Forde. I'd like to say thank you to Dr Danish and Dr Murtaza at the Holmview Doctors and Skin Cancer Clinic, who showed me around and told me that they were just waiting for something like this to come in to be able to fully bulk-bill. They know that, in our community, people need full bulk-billing. They know that, in our community, working families won't go and see the doctor if it means that they have to pay for it, because it's either that or feed your kids. This is a measure that not only relieves the cost-of-living pressures but improves the health of our community.”
“I remember some advice that Peter Duncan, the former member for Makin, gave me ages ago: with politics, you come into it and you think you're going to change the world, but it's actually really about the changes you make for individuals at a constituent level. But every now and then a policy comes along and it's such a great honour to be a part of it that actually really does change the world—that's the incentives that the government has introduced for bulk-billing. I have never in my time in politics as an observer or as a participant witnessed a policy have such an immediate and positive impact as this one. I had the great pleasure of being able to ring around the clinics in Forde the other day. Out of 45 clinics, we started off with nine bulk-billing on Friday, but on Saturday that number had gone to 20.”
“I'm sure they'll do a more accurate and thorough job than we have, but taking that spirit of entrepreneurialism—which you did lead, Deputy Speaker—is something that I think is an example of the future of Australia. It is the future of work as we become less dependent on the old ways and less dependent on the recipes that we got from our grandparents, as successful and timely as they were. It is a recognition that people are now going to have the opportunity to create their own future, and the less regulation that gets in the way, the better. This is only the start, so to anybody who thinks of opposing this bill: don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. This is about continuous process. This is the first in a series of regulatory reform bills that will improve productivity across government and the economy.”
“Deputy Speaker Chesters, your advice the other day about ringing up Medicare clinics in our area was something that I took very much took to heart. It was about not waiting for the bureaucracy to tell us when the local GP clinics had taken up the government's bulk-billing incentive. It was about getting out there and doing it yourself. It was about getting out there and using your own skills to create something of real value. I now have a list of GPs in our area which have taken up the incentive. The number of GP practices in our area that are bulk-billing has in fact doubled, by the way, and we now have that list and are able to give it to people in our community. It is something that has created value for them. It is something that we have done outside of the bureaucracy. The bureaucracy will get there in the end.”
“So today is not just another day of legislation. Today is a step forward in how our government serves the people and the small businesses of this nation. especially those in the outer suburban communities, like Logan on the northern Gold Coast. This bill is about making government work for Australians rather than Australians working for government. When we talk about regulation we really need to ask: Is this fit for purpose? Is this fit for the modern time? Why do these rules exist? What should they achieve? Yet we know that, if a law or rule exists for its own sake or because it has always existed, it loses its meaning, like cutting off the end of a leg of lamb. Entrepreneurialism is the way of the future.”
“It amends 28 acts and repeals two, and it affects 13 agencies. Government is a complicated machine. You can't oil just one cog and expect the engine to purr. This is orchestration, not patchwork. By coordinating reforms across departments, this bill ensures consistency, efficiency and coherence. It's a recognition that change works only when the system changes together, like a well rehearsed band. Everyone needs to play in tune. This bill boosts productivity. Less regulatory friction means businesses can invest and operate efficiently and families can spend more time doing what matters. For Logan, for the northern Gold Coast and for outer suburban and regional areas, small and medium businesses drive local employment. This bill will help them grow without losing the protections that keep employees and consumers safe.”
“On fuel and energy security, companies can respond more flexibly to disruptions. These aren't abstract numbers; they're real and tangible improvements in people's lives. This bill reduces unnecessary burdens across government. For example, marriage celebrants can now use secure digital documents instead of chasing paper. It means fewer trips to offices, less stress and, frankly, fewer opportunities to lose your sanity. Agencies can share information more effectively in projects like offshore gas development, which streamlines processes and reduces costs. So, for families and businesses in outer suburbs, this is a real win—less paperwork and more time for work and family or, if you're lucky, a chance to just have a cup of coffee without feeling guilty. This takes a whole-of-government approach. It isn't piecemeal tinkering.”
“She can complete that imaging without unnecessary repetition, allowing her to focus on her recovery rather than on paperwork. For people in outer suburbs, where GP visits can take quite some time, this is not a small improvement; it is a transformative improvement. One of the most important reforms is the 'tell us once' system. Currently you have to tell multiple government agencies the same information. It's like being stuck in a loop with your own life story, over and over again. There are real examples of benefits available through this bill, such as healthcare identifiers. Digital sharing improves care and outcomes. For seniors, cards can be reissued automatically after overseas travel. Regarding childcare subsidies, simplified language encourages vulnerable families to apply.”
“Today, every form she fills out is a chance for delay or an error—a potential stressor, when she should be focused on safety and rebuilding her life. This bill allows for her details to be updated once and shared securely across relevant government programs. In practical terms, it means that she spends less time repeating herself and more time supporting her child. Take the healthcare provisions in this bill. The time frame for accessing multiple diagnostic imaging services has doubled, from seven to 14 days. Think about Simone, another young woman living on the northern Gold Coast, referred by her GP for both an X-ray and a CT scan. Under the old system, if she missed one appointment she had to go back for another referral. That wasted time, travel and stress is now gone, with this bill's changes.”
“The problem is simple: his Centrelink bank details are up to date, but Medicare doesn't have the same information. Today, under the current system, he could wait weeks, even months, to get these funds—if he knew he was owed anything at all. With the changes in this bill, the so-called 'tell us once' approach will allow information shared with one agency to be available to others, meaning that he can get the money he's owed without repeated phone calls, multiple forms or frustration. But, of course, he is not alone. Linda, a resident at the northern end of the Gold Coast, fled domestic violence. She has had to update her details with multiple government agencies: her new address, her child's name and her bank account.”
“Now, thanks to these reforms, Australians can solve that puzzle and keep both feet on the ground. Of course, it's not just businesses that are going to be advantaged by this bill but people too. We all have frustration dealing with government departments or, indeed, with private bureaucracies; everyone these days seems to want us to get onto a web portal and do their paperwork for them. This bill does deal with some of the personal problems, the individual problems, that people face when dealing with a government department. Think about somebody called Robert living in Logan. He relies on Medicare and Centrelink to manage his family's health and financial needs, and for months he has been owed Medicare benefits. In fact, something like $270 million in total is owed to nearly a million Australians who are in his situation.”
“It is something which held them back in their businesses, held them back from employing people and held them back from providing a service to their customers. We were able to take some of those local examples and feed them into the national economic roundtable. Let's just step back and reflect for a moment. Paul Keating often spoke about the moral purpose of economic reform. He argued that policy is not just about efficiency but about fairness, dignity and opportunity. This bill carries that same vision. It recognises that government is a servant and not a master; regulations are tools and not obstacles; and the goal is a system that protects, empowers and enables. Paul Keating might have also said that trying to navigate government services is like trying to do a crossword puzzle with half the clues missing while riding a roller-coaster.”
“As we go into the future, I think it is something that becomes more important to look at—that the regulations that are in place actually have some purpose and that they are about helping businesses and individuals rather than constraining them. Particularly as our economies move into the future, there is a need for us to move quickly as individuals, as businesses and as a country. That's why I commend this government for the work that it has done over the years but, more particularly, for the work that it did around the economic roundtable. We were lucky enough in Forde to host our own economic roundtable, thanks to Anne Nalder from the Small Business Association, and I heard time and again that people were frustrated by government regulation.”
“I used to run a small contract-mustering business in western New South Wales, where I learned that idea about personal responsibility and creating something out of nothing. Entrepreneurialism really is that—it's about taking what you have and forging ahead to create value for yourself and for the people in your life. I then took the lessons that I learned there, when we moved down to the coast, and I ran a construction company in Beenleigh. The same spirit of entrepreneurialism and creation is something which almost all entrepreneurs are seized by, but the most frustrating thing is dealing with unnecessary government regulation.”
“She observed him cutting off the end of the leg of lamb, sticking it in the saucepan and then cooking it. She said, 'Why did you bother cutting off the end of the leg of lamb?' The grandson said, 'Well, that's what you used to do.' She said: 'Yes, but the only reason I used to do it was so that it would fit in the pan. You've got a bigger pan. You don't need to cut it off.' So often, regulation is just like that. It is about doing something which, at some time in the past, made sense but doesn't make sense anymore. And it is about looking at things which have become almost tradition but, really, when taking a second look, have become entirely superfluous. It is something that I came across when I was in small business for myself.”
“I rise in support of the Regulatory Reform Omnibus Bill 2025. In preparation for this, I have said that title a number of times out loud and in my head, and I stumble over the word 'regulatory'. It's difficult enough to say the word, let alone complete the task. When you're a businessperson or an individual dealing with government bureaucracy, regulation is confounding, it is constraining, it is a break on productivity, and it is very annoying, to say the least, on a personal level. I'm reminded of the story I came across years ago of the young kid watching their grandmother cook a leg of lamb in a saucepan. He observed that the grandmother would chop off the end of the leg of lamb, put it in the saucepan and then cook it. It would be, of course, delicious, as all of those meals were. Years later his grandmother came to visit his house.”
“One of the most profoundly moving experiences that I have had in politics was this week when we were ringing around the GP clinics in Forde. We have only got to about three-quarters of them so far but already we have found out that it is going from seven bulk-billing clinics to 15 overnight. I have never in all of the time that I have been either watching or participating in politics seen a single policy with such an immediate impact as this one. It saves Australians money, improves our health, helps the economy, supports families, but it costs money. Let's look at housing. There is $43 billion invested in housing.”
“Let's have a look at what is meant by a 'spending spree'. To me, a spree is something you do carelessly, throwing around money frivolously on things that don't matter. But, when the opposition say, 'Spend less,' what they really mean is, 'Invest less.' I've run a small business, and it's been an enormous privilege. You learn quickly that there are two ways to run a small business: either you invest in your plant and your people and build something sustainable, or you strip the profits out and run the business into the ground. Running a country is like running a small business: you can slash and burn, or you can build and invest in your people and your future. Let's look at what we're investing in. We are investing $8.5 million in Medicare.”
“Thank you. When I gave my first speech in the House, I said that I don't have political heroes, but I've got plenty of sporting ones. One of my greatest heroes is Dean Jones, one of the greatest batters ever to play for Australia. There were times when you were watching him, where the poor bowler was being hit all over the park. They must have been thinking, 'There is nowhere we can bowl to this person.' That's exactly what it is like watching the shadow Treasurer bowl up to the Treasurer of this country at the moment. That's exactly what it must be like when they have to come up with an MPI every time. Where can they hit the government that is so focused on the Australian people, so focused on their game, while they're divided on themselves? Where do they hit it? So today they've come up with the words 'spending spree'.”
“At the government level, we're investing something like $1.9 million to expand headspace services in Forde. We're setting up a Medicare mental health clinic in Forde. It will service the northern Gold Coast, and that's on top of the one that was set up in Logan last year. This is part of a $1.1 billion spend that the Albanese government is putting in to improve mental health services in Australia. More than that, it's not just the things we can do directly to address mental health but the things we can do to address those stresses. One of the biggest stresses has got to be the lack of housing, and that has been a complete failure over the last 30 years. That's why the Albanese government's program to build more homes, to make it easier for renters and to make it easier for people to get into a home is so important.”
“I don't want to turn this into a melancholic reflection on what is bad about mental illness and all of the problems that are out there. I want to concentrate on some of the solutions that we have at the moment. We were very lucky the other day in the electorate of Forde to receive a visit from Dan Repacholi, the Special Envoy for Men's Health. This is the first time a position like that has ever been created at a federal level. We were able to visit the Beenleigh Men's Shed, the Pimpama Men's Shed and the Park Ridge Men's Shed. We visited the Men's Table in Tudor Park, and we visited Keystone Builders, who are working with MATES in Construction to introduce their very successful programs. It was an opportunity to see what is being done both at a government level and at a community level.”
“Today is national headspace day, which gives us an opportunity to reflect on mental health in Australia. Something that I very much want to focus on during this term of government is men's mental health. Suicide in Australia is something that we don't like to talk about, but the figure is staggering. There are nine suicides a day on average. Even more staggering is that there are 145 attempts. We don't like to talk about this, perhaps because we think we might encourage it, but, really, all that does is drive it underground. So we need to shine a light on this. Of those numbers, something like 75 per cent are men. When we talk about men's mental health, we're not taking the focus away from women's health, but it is very often women in the community who raise men's mental health with me.”