Alison Penfold
Lyne · National Party · Australia
“I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. I acknowledge the member for Moore and his time he spent in the wonderful community of Dungog. It is a terrific place and I know that the teachers and educators in that town do a wonderful job. Well done.”
“They can often live with their families while they study. For a young person growing up in Dungog, Taree, Wingham, Gloucester, Harrington, Tea Gardens, Bulahdelah, Forster, Tuncurry or the Manning Valley or the many other small towns and hamlets in my electorate—”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Isn't it true that the Albanese Labor government's 70c-a-day tax cut has already been eaten up by inflation, unlike the coalition's tax-back guarantee, which is protected from inflation and would provide a typical Australian worker a far bigger, $400 tax cut this year?”
“My question is to the Treasurer. Yesterday the Treasurer was asked about his plan to force thousands of widows and divorcees to pay more tax by removing their access to grandfathering for capital gains tax and negative gearing.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules.”
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“They can often live with their families while they study. For a young person growing up in Dungog, Taree, Wingham, Gloucester, Harrington, Tea Gardens, Bulahdelah, Forster, Tuncurry or the Manning Valley or the many other small towns and hamlets in my electorate—”
“I rise to speak on the Universities Accord (Opening the Doors of Opportunity) Bill 2026. I acknowledge the member for Moore and his time he spent in the wonderful community of Dungog. It is a terrific place and I know that the teachers and educators in that town do a wonderful job. Well done. As the member for Lyne, I approach this debate from the perspective of regional Australia and, in particular, the Mid North Coast and Hunter region of New South Wales. For many Australians living in our major cities, attending university is often a matter of choice, but for many Australians living in regional communities, attending university is often a matter of opportunity, and that difference is important. In Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne, students can choose between multiple universities within commuting distance of home.”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Isn't it true that the Albanese Labor government's 70c-a-day tax cut has already been eaten up by inflation, unlike the coalition's tax-back guarantee, which is protected from inflation and would provide a typical Australian worker a far bigger, $400 tax cut this year?”
“My question is to the Treasurer. Yesterday the Treasurer was asked about his plan to force thousands of widows and divorcees to pay more tax by removing their access to grandfathering for capital gains tax and negative gearing. He said: … the arrangements as you describe them are consistent with the way that the acquisition rules apply in the current CGT arrangements. This morning, the Prime Minister had to step in again and dump the Treasurer's plan. How many more humiliating backdowns will it take for the Treasurer to admit his budget is a failure?”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules. Given the Prime Minister's investment success, can he explain why it's fair for him to make $200,000 and then pull up this ladder of opportunity for millions of aspirational Australians?”
“My question is to the Prime Minister. A new report shows the Prime Minister saved around $200,000 on the sale of three investment properties under existing capital gains tax rules. In last month's budget, the Prime Minister broke his promise and changed those rules. Given the Prime Minister's investment success, can he explain why it's fair for him to personally pocket $200,000 and then pull up this ladder of opportunity for millions of aspirational Australians?”
“Around 60 services have reportedly been removed from LPOs this financial year alone, while corporate leadership pursues a parcel focused model that undervalues counter services and the trust that locals have in them. LPOs are blue-chip small businesses and Australia's best last-mile service providers. I'm calling for an immediate moratorium on LPO buybacks, conversions to parcel-agent models and fixed-term contracts until an independent review is conducted into the future of Australia's service led, licensed post office network. Hollow out head office, not our local licensed post offices.”
“I urge every Australian to contact the Premier of New South Wales and demand an immediate end to this cruelty. If populations need to be managed, then the government must find another way to do it. I recently visited the Tuncurry Post Office and met with licensees, the Thompson brothers. After sharing the visit on Facebook, I was struck by the response. I've rarely seen such glowing comments about a local business. These guys are loved because they provide something that Australia Post corporate seems to have forgotten: service. Licensed post offices are not just parcel collection points; they are trusted community institutions, providing banking identity checks, government services and face-to-face support. Yet the Australia Post head office is systemically hollowing out the LPO network.”
“It's extremely concerning that locals and experts have disclosed that population figures have been exaggerated to justify the Minns government's actions. While wild horses typically reproduce at a modest rate of seven-to-15 per cent, the government's figures have them increasing at over 315 per cent. Despite numerous public inquiries into brumby management in Australia, much of the expert advice has been ignored. Non-lethal control measures like immune contraceptives haven't been given a chance in Australia, despite evidence from elsewhere in the world indicating effectiveness. These horses are part of our nation's story. They are a cultural icon and a beautiful creature that feels fear and pain. Yet the fate thrown at them is one of violence and suffering.”
“As someone who's seen the best and worst of animal slaughter practices, as a former CEO of the live export industry, I'm absolutely appalled by the New South Wales Minns government's cruelty towards our brumbies. Australians accept that some animals need to be managed. What Australians cannot accept is the use of cruel and brutal methods such as aerial shooting to manage animals. Shooting horses from the moving platform of a helicopter is difficult and inaccurate. Horses have been discovered hours and days later, still alive, dying slowly from multiple gunshot wounds w, while helpless foals face a slow and lonely death of starvation after their mothers are killed. It's unthinkable that, in an era when we pride ourselves on progress and compassion, we resort to such tactics to manage these horses.”
“Many are worried and frustrated and many feel they are losing the country they grew up in. As the member for Lyne and as a proud member of the Nationals, I'm listening and I'll continue fighting to ensure they get their country back—a country where hard work is rewarded, aspiration is encouraged and, most importantly, governments keep their promises.”
“The people I represent are not asking for special treatment; they are asking for common sense. They are asking for honesty. They are asking for governments that understand the pressures they face every day. They are asking for governments that plan for the future. They are asking for governments that reward aspiration. And they are asking for governments that remember regional Australia matters. This bill provides some temporary relief, and the coalition supports that, but Australians deserve more. They deserve lower inflation. They deserve stronger fuel security. They deserve affordable energy. They deserve a stronger economy. And they deserve governments willing to make the long-term decisions necessary to secure Australia's future. The people I represent have not given up on Australia.”
“We are grounded in the values of the communities we represent: responsibility; self-reliance; family; community; reward for effort; respect for those who build, produce, create and contribute; and the belief that, if you work hard, take risks and play by the rules, you should be able to build a better future for yourself and your family. Political movements built around anger can be effective at identifying problems. They can even win seats. But anger is a poor foundation for governing. Good government requires patience, long-term thinking, practical problem solving and a willingness to make decisions that strengthen the nation over decades, not just days. That is what regional Australians expect and that is what the Nationals continue to stand for.”
“It should be encouraging investment and it should be driving productivity. And it should be preparing Australia for the challenges of the next 20 years. Instead, it is governing from one opinion poll to the next. That is not leadership; that is just political management, and Australians are paying the price. This is where the Nationals bring a different perspective to this parliament. We remain the only political party whose sole purpose is to represent regional, rural and remote Australians. That has always been our mission and it remains our mission today. The Nationals are not grounded in anger.”
“Any serious government would recognise that manufacturers, farmers and regional communities cannot run on ideology. Yet Labor continues to pursue policies that are driving costs higher across the economy. Labor's problem is not that it lacks ambition. Its problem is that it lacks realism. It has become so committed to its ideological agenda that it increasingly ignores evidence that contradicts it. The result is that Australia is becoming less competitive, less productive, less affordable and less resilient. At a time when the world is becoming more dangerous and more uncertain, Australia should be strengthening its economic foundations. Instead, this government is weakening them. Instead, this government is weakening them. It should be building fuel security and it should be strengthening energy security.”
“That's why housing affordability continues to deteriorate. That is why Australia's fuel security remains vulnerable, and that is why Australians are increasingly losing confidence in Labor's ability to manage the economy. The clearest example is energy. This government has become ideologically committed to a renewables dominated energy system, while dismissing the important role that coal, gas and nuclear can play in delivering affordable and reliable power. Australia is blessed with some of the world's largest reserves of coal, gas and uranium. We should have some of the cheapest and most reliable energy in the developed world. Instead, households and businesses are paying more, while reliability concerns continue to grow. Any serious government would pursue an energy mix focused on affordability, reliability and security.”
“The cost-of-living crisis did not begin in the Middle East. The housing crisis did not begin in the Middle East. The energy crisis did not begin in the Middle East. Australia's fuel security vulnerabilities did not begin in the Middle East. These problems were foreseeable. They were identifiable, and they required leadership. Instead, Australians have received a government obsessed with managing politics rather than managing the country, a government that governs according to focus groups, a government that follows opinion polls instead of leading public opinion and a government more interested in announcements than outcomes. Again and again, this government has demonstrated that its priority is the next news cycle rather than the next generation. That is why inflation became embedded in the economy.”
“We need stronger sovereign capability, and we need more resilient supply chains. We need governments willing to think beyond the next headline and beyond the next election cycle. What Australians want is not another temporary fix. They want a government that understands what is happening to their country, and, increasingly, Australians are concluding that this government does not, because, after four years of the Albanese Labor government, Australians are paying more for almost everything and getting less in return. There are higher power bills, higher grocery bills, higher fuel bills, higher insurance costs, higher housing costs and higher taxes. This government likes to blame global events for Australia's problems. It blames wars. It blames supply chains. It blames international markets. But Australians know better.”
“Fuel security is economic security and fuel security is national security. Recent events have exposed how vulnerable Australia remains. We are one of the world's great energy producing nations, yet we remain heavily dependent on imported liquid fuels. We've allowed refining capacity to decline, and we've failed to build sufficient storage capacity. We continue to rely on international supply chains for a resource that underpins almost every aspect of modern life. No fuel means no freight and no food, and no food means empty shelves. Regional Australia sits at the front line of that vulnerability. The lesson from this crisis is clear. Australia needs more than temporary tax relief. Australia needs a long-term fuel security strategy. We need stronger fuel reserves. We need greater storage capacity.”
“I've spoken about the resilience of Australia's fuel supply chain because fuel security is not simply about what motorists pay at the bowser. Fuel security is about whether food reaches supermarket shelves. Fuel security is about whether freight continues to move. Fuel security is about whether farmers can harvest crops. Fuel security is about whether emergency services can respond during natural disasters.”
“The coalition repeatedly argued that any cost-of-living relief should be accompanied by spending restraint elsewhere, because relief that is borrowed today becomes inflationary pressure tomorrow. A government credit card is not an economic strategy. Borrowing more money to treat the symptoms while ignoring the causes is not economic management; it is political management. The same lack of long-term thinking that has contributed to inflation has also left Australia vulnerable on fuel security. Over recent months I have repeatedly raised concerns in this parliament about Australia's fuel vulnerability. I've spoken about diesel fuel disruptions. I've spoken about pressure on regional fuel distributors. I've spoken about my concerns that the ACCC does not appear to have a grip on the fuel supply chain at all.”
“Australians will experience it as a price increase. A family filling a 65 litre tank received around $21 in fuel relief during June. From 1 July that relief falls to around $11. That is, effectively, a $10 increase every time they fill up their car from the first day of the new financial year. For transport operators and trucking businesses, the impact is even greater. That is why Australians are entitled to ask a simple question: if inflation is supposedly under control, why are they still paying more? If the economy is supposedly improving, why do they still feel poorer? The answer is that the underlying problems remain. The original fuel excise reduction cost approximately $2.9 billion. This extension costs another $400 million, yet the government has refused to identify genuine inflationary offsets.”
“That is why governments cannot continue treating cost-of-living pressures as though they are merely temporary inconveniences. I said, previously in this House, that we stand in here expecting Australians to flex with the crisis, but so many do not have that flexibility. Every ask we make of them is heard as another sacrifice they have to make—another bill, another cost, another burden, another promise that somehow never quite gets delivered. And, after years of inflation and rising costs, many Australians have reached the limit of what they can absorb. The bill before us extends temporary fuel excise relief from 1 July until early August, and Australians will welcome that relief. The coalition supports that relief, but relief should not be confused with a solution. The government calls this a taper.”
“These are real Australians trying to run businesses, support families and contribute to their communities—certainly, a community that's the oldest in the country. It's not only households carrying these pressures. Small businesses are carrying them as well—the local cafe, the local workshop, the trucking operator, the family owned business, the farmer employing local people. The consequences are increasingly visible. ASIC reports that 14,722 Australian companies entered external administration during the last financial year. That is an increase of more than 33 per cent on the previous year. Behind every one of those insolvencies is somebody's life's work, somebody's savings, somebody's employees, somebody's family. That is why inflation matters and that is why fuel prices matter.”
“For many Australians, that sort of increase is not an inconvenience—it is the difference between making ends meet and falling behind. Bill from Tallwoods Village told me he felt nobody was listening when concerns were raised about rapidly escalating fuel prices. Whether people agree with every concern or not, the message is consistent: Australians feel powerless as costs rise around them. But this goes beyond motorists. I've heard from timber operators, transport operators and farmers across my electorate facing soaring diesel costs. I've heard concerns from community transport providers questioning whether they can continue operating if costs continue to rise. These are not theoretical concerns.”
“The impact flows through every corner of the economy. Nowhere is that more obvious than in regional Australia. Over recent months, I've heard directly from constituents who've been living with this reality. Gregory from Foster asked me, 'How does the government allow fuel companies to gouge the price of fuel so quickly?' He was not asking as an economist; he was asking as somebody watching costs rise faster than he could understand or explain. Veronica from Mitchells Island, questioned why families already struggling with the cost of living were expected to absorb even higher fuel costs. Mark from Foster raised concerns about fuel prices rising before higher-cost fuel had even entered the supply chain. Karen from Taree South told me she watched fuel prices rise from 165.9 cents per litre to 219.9 cents per litre in a matter of days.”
“Families are paying more for groceries, more for electricity, more for insurance, more for rent, more for mortgages, more for housing and more for almost every essential part of daily life. Now, they're paying more for fuel. The conflict in the Middle East did not create Australia's cost-of-living crisis; it exposed it. Australians were already struggling before oil prices moved. Mortgage holders had already endured years of elevated interest rates. Businesses were already battling rising costs. Households were already making sacrifices. Fuel has simply become the latest pressure point in an economy already under strain. Fuel is not just another expense. Fuel is the cost of everything. When fuel prices rise, freight costs rise. When freight costs rise, food prices rise. When food prices rise, household budgets come under further pressure.”
“Why do so many Australians feel that, despite working harder than ever, they are somehow falling behind? Across Lyne, I hear the same message repeatedly. People are hurting and they are hurting badly. I've never seen Australians under this level of sustained economic pressure. The Australian Bureau of Statistics tells us headline inflation remains at 4.2 per cent. Underlying inflation remains at 3.4 per cent, still above the Reserve Bank's target range. Housing costs have risen by 6.3 per cent, transport costs have risen by 6.6 per cent and electricity prices have risen by more than 22 per cent. These are not just statistics; they are the reality facing Australian households every day.”
“I support the Treasury Laws Amendment (Fuel Excise Relief No. 2) Bill 2026 and will not stand in the way of Australians receiving relief at the bowser. Families, farmers, truck drivers, tradies, commuters and small businesses across Australia need the assistance. But support for this bill should not be mistaken for support for the circumstances that made it necessary, because the question before us today is not simply on why fuel prices have risen. The real question is about why Australians are finding it so difficult to absorb yet another increase in the cost of living. Why are families living week to week? Why are small businesses struggling to stay afloat? Why are farmers, transport operators, businesses and community organisations being forced to make increasingly difficult decisions?”
“And yet, in this budget, we see it at 0.49 per cent. Now, I don't want to play politics. We all need to do better at ensuring that our local governments have financial sustainability. We can't call them a tier of government and not give them the financial autonomy that they need to deliver the services for their communities. I commend this motion.”
“They can build the bridge back at the same height to a better engineering standard, but that still puts it in frame for a one-in-100-year flood, which means that Wingham and communities such as Tinonee and surrounding areas are disconnected from schools, GPs, pharmacies and their workplaces. This is why betterment funding matters. In terms of the Lyne electorate, the Prime Minister came and said the May flood was due to climate change. Well, if that's the case, that's a stronger argument for betterment funding. Yet what do we see? No funding for betterment. The other issue that's been raised, of course, is the issue of financial assistance grants. The fact of the matter is that there was a promise to move towards one per cent. That was a promise that the minister for local government made.”
“Concerns include cost shifting, where more federal and state responsibilities like aged care, GP care and child care are being pushed onto local government without the funding required to deliver them. They're also raising concerns about aging infrastructure and workforce shortages. And they're raising concerns about a disaster funding system that too often rebuilds assets to yesterday's standards. We've had many councils appear and talk about the challenges they have in securing betterment funding. Indeed, in my own electorate, where the bike bridge has been completely washed out as a result of the May floods, the council there cannot get betterment funding to raise the height of the bridge.”
“When we're dealing with something of this order, what we need is less of the politics, more of the active listening and more of the consideration of how we support our local communities—how I, and how we all get together and support communities. I have five local councils across the Lyne electorate: Port Macquarie-Hastings Council, Mid-Coast Council, Dungog Shire Council, Maitland City Council and Port Stephens Council. They are all trying their hardest to make sure that the citizens, the ratepayers in their communities, have the support, have the facilities and have the roads that they deserve and they expect. They play such an important role as the tier of government closest to the people. Councils are raising a number of issues in the context of the inquiry.”
“As someone who represents a regional community, one that was smashed by a disaster just over 12 months ago, I think the days of trying to score political points around who's funding our local government more over the years—frankly, right now, what we're hearing from local governments is they just don't have enough funding. It's no use standing here and saying, 'We're delivering more than the coalition.' If you listen to what local governments are saying, they're genuinely wanting to deliver real upgrades in community infrastructure: roads, bridges, community facilities and sporting facilities. They just want government to stop. They want parliament to listen to their needs. They're here in their droves over the course of this week, debating these issues. This is a serious problem. This is a crisis of federation.”
“I'm incredibly disappointed at the last speaker's attempt to try and justify this government's support of councils. As the Deputy Chair of the Regional Development, Infrastructure and Transport Committee, who's participating in an inquiry on the financial sustainability of local government, let me say that local governments are, frankly, sick and tired of the political arguments. They are responsible for a third of this nation's public infrastructure. They're responsible for delivering and supporting liveable communities.”
“It is a partial, belated and wholly inadequate response to a crisis that has exploded on Labor's watch. Australians expect governments to keep communities safe, they expect organised crime to be confronted, not tolerated, and they expect criminal syndicates not to build billion-dollar black markets while taxpayers lose billions in revenue. The Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026 sends an important message, but it must deliver more than rhetoric. The Australian government cannot allow organised crime to profit on illicit tobacco unchecked. This parliament must stand firmly with law enforcement, with legitimate businesses and with communities affected by organised criminal activity. We must ensure Australia remains a country where the rule of law prevails over criminal enterprise. I commend the bill to the House.”
“The intention behind those taxes was to reduce smoking rates, and, of course, reducing smoking is an important public health objective, but governments also have a responsibility to confront unintended consequences. When the legal price of tobacco becomes extraordinarily high, organised crime sees opportunity. That is exactly what has happened. Illegal products are now being sold for a fraction of the legal retail price, and criminal syndicates have stepped in to exploit that gap. Under Labor, illicit tobacco has proliferated across Australia. Criminal gangs and syndicates have been empowered, and communities are at risk. Now, after years of causing that mess, it is scrambling to look like it is doing something. We're being asked to get behind an inadequate bill and pretend that this will fix it.”
“Labor had the chance to implement far stronger action. Instead, they have run scared. So I call on the government to go further, to be tough. Incorporate real enforcement action into this legislation. Actively coordinate responses with state and territory governments to support frontline enforcement efforts. Take action to enforce store closure orders, lease terminations for illegal outlets and meaningful disruption of criminal supply chains. Actively confiscate and disrupt revenue streams. And confront the issue of the pricing signals, demand-side drivers and the problems that have flowed from their catastrophic changes to tobacco excise. Australia now has some of the highest tobacco taxes in the world.”
“The New South Wales health minister, Ryan Park, has publicly and repeatedly expressed disappointment at the federal government's failure to act. When even its own Labor colleagues are pleading for action and getting none, it is clear that the Albanese government is out of its depth. I support strong enforcement against organised crime. I support stronger penalties for criminal syndicates. I support targeting the money that fuels these operations. And I support giving law enforcement the tools they need to dismantle criminal networks, because if criminals lose the profits they lose the incentive. I will support the passage of the bill because any improvement is better than none, but it is not at all sufficient. Labor has lost control of illicit tobacco, and this bill does not provide the comprehensive solution that is now required.”
“That is billions flowing straight into the hands of organised crime cartels and syndicates, whereas it could be flowing into the Commonwealth's revenue base. You would think that this government, which has created an unprecedented budget deficit, would do everything in its power to re-appropriate these funds, but it is not. So whilst the Treasurer is going after hardworking Australians with record taxes and rebate reductions, making life increasingly difficult and unfair for them, he is also letting the criminals, the illicit tobacco underworld, get off pretty well scot-free. It is also worth noting that even the government itself, in the explanatory memorandum, concedes the financial impact of this bill is small and unquantifiable. That tells you almost everything you need to know. Even Labor state governments are exasperated.”
“I have seen plenty of people walking outside the store with a lovely white paper bag, only to open it and pull out a packet of cigarettes that are not the Australian branded ones and open it up there on the street. That is what we are seeing. On either side of that shop are legitimate businesses operating in our community, and I fear for them and I fear for their safety. The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has warned that illicit tobacco is now one of the country's fastest-growing criminal markets, and economically the cost of the illicit tobacco trade is significant. The government's own figures show that the illicit tobacco market is worth between $4.1 billion and $6.9 billion annually.”
“Real estate agents in Lyne have spoken to me about being under significant pressure because, due to the state of the local economy and the number of empty stores, they're getting frequent requests from supposed convenience stores that do not have a tobacco licence wishing to set up a shop in their premises. I have two tobacco stores in the street where my Wauchope office is. One of them is legitimate. I can say that only one is legitimate; it has been there a long time. The other one has what we see in all these shops—all the windows have got branding over them and I have no idea how they can make money from having one fridge with a few drinks, a couple of packets of chips and some chocolate bars.”
“Without stronger enforcement, better coordination and real consequences this bill will not change the overall trajectory of this national catastrophe. We will still have a situation where criminals are getting richer, violence is escalating, small legitimate retailers are suffering and excise revenue is collapsing. Without stronger action illegal tobacco will continue to fund organised crime; drive fire bombings, ram-raids and extortion; and place small businesses and communities across the country at risk. In my own electorate, there have been break-ins and arson attacks which present economic and safety issues for neighbouring small and family businesses that are legitimate.”
“That decision widened the price gap between legal and illegal tobacco, drove consumers into the black market and made illegal tobacco more profitable than ever for organised crime. Does this bill attempt to change these disastrous excise settings? No, it doesn't. There is no reconsideration or reconfiguration of the very policy settings that drove consumers to the black market in the first place. There is likewise no significant new investment of any kind in the already weak border enforcement, in domestic compliance, in operations or in the active disruption of criminal supply chains. And there is no explanation about what the federal government intends to do about a host of practical on-the-ground problems. We have all seen illegal shops shut down only to reopen days later and the criminal networks operating with impunity.”
“Penalties without enforcement are useless, just as enforcement without penalties is meaningless. You cannot have one without the other and expect to make a meaningful dent in the illicit tobacco trade. Furthermore, the imposition of penalties on offenders is determined by the courts and they already do not impose the current maximum penalties. So simply increasing penalties on paper is not going to do anything when the instinct of the courts is leniency. Critically, this bill does nothing to address the core structural issues that have created the illicit tobacco trade in the first place. Instead, it has actively fuelled this crisis. Labor's 2023-24 budget imposed further increases in tobacco excise on top of already high levels.”
“It says it will substantially increase penalties across the entire supply chain—importing, manufacturing, producing, processing, buying and selling illegal tobacco. They say that the bill will strengthen proceeds-of-crime and unexplained wealth laws so law enforcement agencies can go after the profits and assets generated by illegal tobacco operations. They say it will expand law enforcement powers, including telecommunications interception powers—in plain language, wiretap powers—so agencies can better investigate criminal syndicates involved in the trade. On paper this bill certainly does sound strong, but in reality it is not. Trust Labor's rhetoric to be completely out of step with reality. The bill is heavily focused on increasing maximum penalties and not on actually improving enforcement outcomes, and there lies the problem.”
“This is organised crime operating openly in our communities. That is why a bill that confronts the issue of the illicit tobacco crisis is so important. Whilst I will be supporting this bill, I must say that it is disappointing that, given the opportunity to fix the illicit tobacco crisis I just noted—something like 80 per cent of tobacco and cigarettes being consumed in this country are illegal; that's an enormous figure—Labor, in typical form, have fallen short. The government says this bill will increase penalties, expand investigative powers and target the profits of organised crime. The government says this bill will create new criminal offences for large-scale illicit tobacco activity linked to organised crime.”
“I rise to speak on the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026. This bill matters because the illegal tobacco trade in Australia is no longer a minor black-market problem. It's become a major organised crime industry and it's funding criminal syndicates, it's fuelling violence and it's hurting legitimate small businesses. It's costing Australian taxpayers billions of dollars in lost revenue. Instead of flowing into the government's coffers, revenue generated through the illicit tobacco trade flows straight into criminal networks. That means less money for hospitals, roads, aged care, regional services and national security. Australians have seen the headlines—firebombings, extortion, violence linked to tobacconists and police raids uncovering warehouses packed with illegal cigarettes and vapes.”
“In conclusion, this bill seeks to strengthen transparency, reinforce integrity and ensure that ACCUs are awarded only where they represent genuine and additional carbon abatement. The park does not meet this threshold and the methodology must not be approved, with my bill or not. I dedicate this bill to every forestry worker and timber mill worker, every person who has lost their job and every worker still fighting to keep one. I also dedicate it to the timber mills and supporting businesses in my electorate, those in Karuah, Booral, Bulahdelah, Pampoolah, Wingham, Kendall, Herons Creek and my friends north from Gum Scrub. You have been treated appallingly by the Minns Labor government. I will always stand with you. I commend this bill to the House.”
“The 2025 CSIRO analysis found koala numbers to be significantly higher than previous estimates suggested. Further, the New South Wales government survey work found approximately 10,000 to 14,000 koalas living within state forest areas subject to timber harvesting, with populations comparable to nearby national park areas where harvesting does not occur. That finding is important. It suggests that, after decades of timber production, koalas continue to exist in substantial numbers within actively managed forests. It challenges the notion that forestry and koalas are inherently incompatible. It suggests that active forest management, biodiversity conservation and timber production can co-exist. Labor is cruelling a sustainable regional industry for political purposes. It's as simple as that.”