Matt Smith
Leichhardt · Australian Labor Party · Australia
“But what did those opposite do during this time? They talked it down, called for rationing and scared people. There was a marked decrease in tourism leading into Easter because words matter. But so do actions, and, on this side of the House, we do actions. Today is a great day for actions. Paid parental leave—26 weeks.”
“The world changed. Things that we didn't think could happen happened. A war on the other side of the planet impacted supply lines. Facebook changed the way we gathered information, changed the way we got our fuel, changed the way we got our fertiliser.”
“The minimum wage is increasing by 4.75 per cent. That is a noticeable difference. People will feel that that in their hip pockets, and that money will flow on. People will have the confidence to go take the kids to a movie and make sure that the birthday party goes the way that it should. It is a fantastic thing.”
“It was, as Senator Bragg said, a vacated space for 20 years. If you go back three years before the space was vacated, you get $25 scripts, something that we have proudly bought back in so people once again are not making a decision between health and food.”
“That is a holiday in beautiful Far North Queensland with a trip to the reef and out to the Daintree and to the crocodile farm! That is what we're delivering: cost-of-living relief and great holidays in the Far North! I'm proud of what we've done here in our 12 months.”
“I rise to support the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026. We'll do the legislative stuff first. This bill modernises the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 to ensure it remains fit for purpose.”
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“That is a holiday in beautiful Far North Queensland with a trip to the reef and out to the Daintree and to the crocodile farm! That is what we're delivering: cost-of-living relief and great holidays in the Far North! I'm proud of what we've done here in our 12 months. I'm proud of what was done by this government before we got here, and I'm looking forward to how great this nation is going to be because we're going to put more first home owners into their own homes. They will own a piece of Australia. They will know that the country is theirs, and we will move on together.”
“It was, as Senator Bragg said, a vacated space for 20 years. If you go back three years before the space was vacated, you get $25 scripts, something that we have proudly bought back in so people once again are not making a decision between health and food. Sometimes, particularly if you're on mental health pills, you cannot miss those scripts. They're very, very important. The surety to know how much they're going to cost and that they're not to be an impost, particularly now with 60-day scripts as well, makes life a bit easier. It makes that budgeting a little bit easier and makes keeping on keeping on that little bit easier. We're bringing in tax cuts for every single working Australian. The average worker will be up to $2,800 a year better off. That's a holiday.”
“The minimum wage is increasing by 4.75 per cent. That is a noticeable difference. People will feel that that in their hip pockets, and that money will flow on. People will have the confidence to go take the kids to a movie and make sure that the birthday party goes the way that it should. It is a fantastic thing. We will always back workers because the best form of cost-of-living relief is a job. That is why we can celebrate having the lowest unemployment rate in 50 years. For my intern Claudia, 50 years is before I was born! I am not 50. I am 47. We're putting downward pressure on electricity prices. The home battery system is working. It is removing demand from the system and increasing supply. For too long, nothing was done about power supply in this country. It was completely ignored.”
“But what did those opposite do during this time? They talked it down, called for rationing and scared people. There was a marked decrease in tourism leading into Easter because words matter. But so do actions, and, on this side of the House, we do actions. Today is a great day for actions. Paid parental leave—26 weeks. I spent a year with my little ones. There was no paid parental leave for me back then. That is the hardest work I've ever done in my life. A two-year-old and a newborn do not care for your wellbeing or your mental health, but I valued that time with them. I really did. I got to teach them to eat and watch their first steps. It was a time that I cherished so much, and we're giving that to families. They don't have to make that choice: work or family. You should have both. You deserve both. Australians deserve both.”
“The world changed. Things that we didn't think could happen happened. A war on the other side of the planet impacted supply lines. Facebook changed the way we gathered information, changed the way we got our fuel, changed the way we got our fertiliser. This was potentially a crisis—a crisis that changed the way we had to approach business, a crisis that changed the way we approached the nation. So our government stepped in and did what it needed to do. It made sure the fuel arrived, made sure our truckies trucked, made sure our aeroplanes flew, made sure our valuable farmers got the crops into the ground to provide the food that we need to improve our exports and to keep Australia moving. Tourism continued. People came and enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef, which now, with its additional environmental protections, will stay great.”
“I rise to support the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026. We'll do the legislative stuff first. This bill modernises the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 to ensure it remains fit for purpose. It introduces a flexible, rule based framework to support future events, reduces the need for repeated legislative amendments and supports Australia's commitments to major international sporting events. It enables protections for the Rugby Union World Cup in 2027 and the Brisbane 2032 Olympic Games; protects sponsors and commercial partners from ambush marketing; and maintains appropriate safeguards, including clear statutory criteria for ministerial declarations, parliamentary oversight and exemptions for legitimate use. It's protecting IP.”
“I am so proud to have been able to read his words today, I'm so proud of what his family has brought to this country and I thank him for being here.”
“Those lessons have stayed with me throughout my life and have led me to where I am today. I now live in Cairns and work with Thrive and Connect, supporting young people who are often misunderstood, overlooked, or struggling to find their place in the world. Through that work, I have the privilege of helping young people find their voice, discover their purpose, and realise their potential. In many ways, I see parts of my younger self in them, and I hope to give them the same support, guidance and sense of belonging that was given to me. Today, I simply want to say thank you. Thank you to Australia, and thank you to the communities that welcomed my family and gave us the opportunity to build a better future. Australia is better because Ngong is here. He works hard in Cairns. He's a role model to young people. He worked hard in my office.”
“What if we had never boarded that plane? When we arrived in Australia, I couldn't speak English. I remember hearing it for the first time and not understanding a single word. Everything was new and unfamiliar. But what I quickly came to understand was kindness. My family settled in Box Hill, Melbourne, where we were welcomed by a community that cared. Neighbours looked after one another, schools supported families, and people made us feel like we belonged. They didn't see us as strangers; they saw us as part of the community. Growing up, I was protected by my family and guided by the values they taught me. Like many young people, I made mistakes along the way, but those experiences taught me the importance of responsibility, gratitude and making the right choices.”
“A few months ago I was holding a community event on stuff for youth to do on the northern beaches of Cairns. A young man who was working with Thrive and Connect had come along. He had a lot to say. He was an interesting young fellow. I asked him to intern with me, and he came in for a week. As I do with all my interns and work experience people, I got him to write me a speech. These the words of Ngong Arou, a Sudanese refugee based in Box Hill but up in Cairns playing footy: A letter to the government . One of my earliest memories is sitting in an airport in Egypt with my brothers, watching planes through the window while my parents were being questioned before travelling back to Australia. We were too young to understand what was happening, but looking back, I often think about that moment. What if my parents had been told no?”
“With the ones that I have recently reported, I one day soon hope to be able to buy flowers or some other legal thing from there as well. These are important steps. This is about keeping our children safe. This is about making sure that profits don't go into the wrong hands. This is about protecting small business. Illegal tobacco has no place in our community. I am pleased to commend the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026 to the House.”
“These are vapes and cigarettes that didn't get into the hands of our children. These are vapes and cigarettes that didn't put profits back into the pockets of criminals. I'm pleased with the work the Queensland LNP state government has put in to support these laws. We have seen that when there is a proper crackdown 100 per cent of illegal tobacco disappears. This requires all governments of all persuasions at all levels to respond. The coordination that I have seen firsthand in Cairns with the Cairns Regional Council, the Queensland LNP state government and this ALP Labor federal government has delivered results for my community. When they pop up, they get shut down. The one across the road from me, in a florist, was shut down.”
“I know that they are taking out vapes and e-cigarettes when they're coming in. An additional $21.3 million was allocated in the 2025-26 budget to help coordinate these efforts. By disrupting the flow of illegal cigarettes and e-cigarettes before they get into the country, we make it harder for them to be sold on the streets. We have enhanced detection and better disruption, and we will destroy that which we find. We have better connectivity between state, federal and local governments to make sure that we can identify and punish these people who break the law. I have reported several illegal tobacconists in my area in the last couple of weeks, and the work is having results. Since January 2020, more than 14 million vaping products and accessories and over one billion illegal cigarettes have been seized and destroyed by Border Force.”
“The laws being amended include the Customs Act 1901, the Excise Act 1901, the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Taxation Administration Act 1953 and the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979. By updating all of these laws, we can make this fight more effective. This is an important step to make sure that illicit tobacco has no place in this country and that legal shop owners can continue to peddle their wares. Since 2023-24, the Albanese Labor government has provided $346 million in funding to Australian Border Force to crack down on illicit tobacco and vaping products. I spent a bit of time with Border Force. They are very active in my part of the world. They're some of the finest men and women in the country, working hard to protect our borders. I know that they put this funding to good use.”
“The calculation for criminal actors is: what is this going to cost me if I get caught, and is it worth more than what it will cost me if I keep going? This is going to raise offence penalties to rebalance that to match the harm and the severity that these criminal organisations are inflicting upon our small-business owners and our communities. The other is making proceeds of crimes more difficult to get hold of, because, let's face it, this is generated by their need for profit. Take the profits away and you take away the incentive. As such, this bill amends a list of other legislation to help expand law enforcement powers, investigate illegal tobacco related offending, raise the penalties and make sure that we can stamp this out.”
“Illicit tobacco is no longer just a health issue. It is an organised crime issue, and, when we meet the dark tentacles of organised crime, we have to meet it. That is what this bill is all about. This is about helping the legal tobacconist. I've met with many of them, and they are furious, as they should be. They are honest people doing the right thing. People doing the right thing should not be worse off. People doing the wrong thing should be absolutely stopped. You would be angry too if your business was tracking along and another business doing exactly the same thing illegally opened up next to you. These changes that we're making are to make it easier for the federal government to respond and take it all away. We need to look at the two key objectives. The first is, of course, risk versus reward.”
“It is believed that the illicit tobacco and e-cigarette market is valued between $4.1 billion and $6.9 billion. That's why they've arrived. That's what they think they can get a part of, and we're here to stop them. Organised crime groups are putting around $4 to $7 billion in profits, and they don't use that money to put into their pockets; they use that money to fund other criminal activities for whatever that might be.”
“This bill expands the law enforcement powers to investigate tobacco related offending and increases the consequences for criminal actors involved in the tobacco market. We have to reset the risk and reward. At the moment, it's been tilted the other way. This bill goes a long way to rectifying that. If criminals are looking at an enterprise, or racket, they need to understand that, if you mess up and we catch you, you are done. We will take it. We will take those opportunities from you, and you will serve time. This is a crucial step because it's not a revenue problem, it's an organised crime problem. It is bringing people who don't belong here, doing terrible things to our communities and terrible things to our small businesses—the people who've been working hard their entire lives—racketeering.”
“Local councils have a part to play; state governments have a part to play. In my own region, Leichhardt, right across the road from my house, an illegal tobacconist sprung up. The Cairns Regional Council acted and shut them down. They tried again and were shut down again. That shop is now a florist. I look forward to it opening; I look forward to buying flowers. It was a legal response to an illegal problem. That is what happens when all three levels of government take responsibility to deal with what this is—a criminal organisation, a response that is not appropriate in our cities and our towns, peddling wares that we know to be dangerous to our children. I am pleased to be able to commend this bill to the House. It is another example of what we're doing to stop crime in our community.”
“I rise to speak on the Combatting Illicit Tobacco Bill 2026. I've met with members of the community—genuine, legal tobacconists. My friend Tim is a good guy, and his wife ran the coffee shop next to my office in my previous life, where I would go in the morning and chat. We'd chat a bit about basketball, a bit about life. He kept bringing the same thing up: 'These illegal shops, Matty. They're doing us in.' These laws have to be stronger. This is a man who'd built his life legally, who had multiple tobacconists, who sold his wares and did his work. Criminals came in to snatch his livelihood. We would all like to see smoking rates reduced. This is a big part of the process, but it is not at the expense of honest, hardworking Australians who are selling legal wares. This is not just a federal government thing.”
“That garners respect in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Minister Hill has earned that respect through his deeds, his actions and his time on the ground. He is welcome anytime in that part of the world. I will travel back to check on Operation Broadstaff in the next few months and hear from the locals about how it's going, but the consultation continues. The interaction between Border Force and the community has been second to none, and it is something I know this government is very, very proud of.”
“Parts of it are four kilometres away from Papua New Guinea. There are treaty villages where the border between our two nations is more of a philosophical impediment than anything else. Families travel across for trade, ceremonies and culture. Getting that balance right to keep illegal fishermen, who should not be in the area, away but still allow for that tradition and culture which has been around forever is so important, and it cannot be achieved without that local knowledge, which can only be provided by sitting with the elders and by taking the time on the islands to understand. In our travels, Minister Hill has seen places of this country that no-one else gets to go to. You need permission to land on these places. We've been to Boigu, Dauan and Saibai. He has spent time, he has listened and he has acted.”
“We told these fishermen, 'If you come here we will take your catch, we will lock you up and we will burn your boat.' We have delivered on every single one of those promises. The fishermen are coming less and less now. But that was just a bandaid response. It was a quick response and a hard response to stem the bleeding. The ultimate response is the cooperation between the wonderful officers in Border Force—and they are fantastic. We spent a fair bit of time with them and with the community itself. We are co-designing a response led by Torres Strait Islanders to protect Torres Strait Islander waters. This is the demand of the community. This is the response of our government to make sure that they feel that their government, their country, is listening to them. The Torres Strait is a long, long way away from Canberra.”
“The northern summer did northern summer stuff, and the weather pushed more Indonesian fishermen into the Torres Strait. We travelled back up there to discuss with the elders what the solution could be. What were we going to do? One week after my meeting with Minister Burke and Minister Hill, Operation Broadstaff was launched, which is an operation specifically designed to protect the traditional fishing waters of the Torres Strait—their livelihoods, their way of life—by keeping control of our biosecurity, but, most importantly, by allowing the culture to live and breathe. People of the Torres Strait were fearful. They did not want to have people they didn't know in their waters. The response was quick, swift and effective.”
“But, more than that, this is Fabian getting in touch with who he is—as well as with his family, his culture and his birthright—as a Torres Strait Islander and fishing those waters, as his forefathers have done for tens of thousands of years. In October last year, Minister Hill and I travelled up to the Torres Strait. We knew that there was probably trouble afoot. Operation Lunar had done a really great job of pushing illegal fishermen out of the waters of the Northern Territory and the Kimberley, and they had eyes on the Torres Strait. We met with the elders, with council and with the PBC to discuss what needed to happen. We provided an uplift almost immediately, with manpower and winged aerial vision on the waters. A few other things went wrong.”
“On Friday I was in the Cairns Airport, which is basically the hub for all of the far north, and I ran into my friend and former teammate Deba George. I hadn't seen Deba for a very long time. He hails from Erub, which is also known as Darnley Island, in the Torres Strait. As old friends do, and as men of a certain age do, the conversation turned to our children. His eldest child, Fabian, who has just turned 21, is down in Brisbane, and Deba said: 'Listen, it's time to go home. It's time for you to get back in touch with culture. It's time for you to go fishing with your uncle.' So, in a couple of months time, Fabian is going to do just that. He'll work the finfish, catch the crays and provide some of the best fish in Australia.”
“It impacts our neighbours in the South Pacific, in the Torres Strait and the people on the cape. It impacts our tourism industry. It's something that has to be taken seriously. It's something that needs an all-of-government, all-of-nation approach and response. Fighting over it is useless. This is people's lives and this is people's livelihoods. I commend the bill to the House.”
“It drives entire regions. It drives entire cities. It is really important that we make sure that we're pulling our weight and that the resilience exists to keep our natural wonders, which people travel across the world to see. The reef is in great shape because of the actions of this government, because of the work on the riparian corridors, because of the work to shore up the run-off into the reef and because of the work that we're achieving in making sure— A division having been called in the House of Representatives— Sitting suspended from 16:17 to 16:29 Strap in for the best 43 seconds of the day! This matters. As I outlined previously, it makes a real difference to the people and the places that I represent. Some things are bigger than us, and climate change is one of them.”
“There are 77,000 jobs under threat because the Queensland government wants to approve more coalmines and more coal fired power plants, which will put the World Heritage listing at risk. The World Heritage listing, which drives tourism to the area, which drives small business and which makes sure the people in the Far North have jobs, things to eat and places to go, provides all of our economic benefit, as does the reef and the Daintree. Cape York is a truly spectacular area, almost as special as the Daintree and the reef. The sawfish is endangered. It's a truly unique species that people have never heard of and that some people will travel their entire lives to look at. That's money. That's tourism. That's economic development. While you want to turn climate change into an ideological battlefield, it's not. It's an economic outcome.”
“It's not about anything other than giving people the chance to live their lives on the country that they grew up in and to make sure that the species of fish that they catch is still there. There is a duck that heralds the change of seasons on the Torres Strait. The duck has not been seen for 20 years. It is a victim of climate change. As part of my electorate, I have custody of some of the great natural wonders of the world: the Daintree Rainforest, overrun by pigs, and the Great Barrier Reef, under threat to the crown-of-thorns starfish, the drupella snail and climate change. We invest in local business and the tourism industry to get on top of these threats. We make sure that the future and the jobs that are connected to the reef exist.”
“Minister Wilson stood on the shores of Saibai and looked out over Papua New Guinea, maybe three or four kays away. His feet got wet by the inundating tide. The bodies of the children and the elders of Masig wash out to sea as the tides inundate the cemetery. This government invests in seawalls. It invests in resilience. It takes the time to go to the places where climate change is at its worst, where it is most critical, and that is the Far North. This is not limited to the Torres Strait. We had two cyclones cross the coast this year within two weeks of each other. We were lucky. For reasons that remain clear only to nature, Cyclone Narelle missed the community of Coen. Being a category 4, it would have caused death. This is what we're fighting against.”
“I'm very proud to speak on this bill. Climate change, energy, the environment and water matter where I'm from, and there are lots of numbers here. Numbers are great. Minister Bowen will update you on the numbers daily—on how many solar batteries are being installed and what that means for the environment and what that means for bringing down power bills. I don't want to argue the science, although some of those opposite will still have that argument. Arguing the science right now is a bit like arguing the existence of cats. It exists. Deal with it. Move on. The member from Wannon kept asking: What is the true cost? What is the true cost? What is the true cost? The cost is Saibai. The cost is the cape. The cost is the turtles. The cost is the reef. It's disgraceful. Climate change is an existential risk to my communities.”
“When I was 21, I was playing in South Carolina. I went baseline on a guy, took off and went to dunk on him. He grabbed my shoulder and tore it right through, shredded my labrum and took out a couple of tendons. I was out of the game for nine months. I needed a full reconstruction. I went to sleep thinking I was getting a scope, and I woke up—”
“If you stand against young people trying to get in their first homes, after every community office you've done, every phone bank you've done and every meeting you've had where someone has sat down and said, 'The answer is housing,' it means you've failed. I will not leave here having failed. I will leave here knowing that my children have an opportunity to own their own home—that my grandchildren will create memories in a place that is theirs and that they will not be moved around from place to place. I lived in five different homes in two years because I was renting. That was hard for my girls. It was hard for us to create memories. I don't want that for them. I don't want that for anybody. I want everyone to be secure and safe in their own home. That is what this budget has always been about: delivering the great Australian dream.”
“The only thing that makes a difference is presenting that chance. Five per cent deposits are a huge part of that. The raft of cost-of-living measures that have been rolled out and opposed by those opposite make a difference. You chip away at the boulder to make it more liftable, to make it more achievable. This is something that I will remember being a part of. This is the day that this House and this government get a chance to let young people back into the game, give them the hope that we had and give them the opportunity that we've enjoyed to hopefully have a rabbit hutch that the rabbit cannot run away from. These make a difference. We make a difference. By opposing these measures, you oppose the tax cuts. By opposing these measures, you oppose opportunity. It means that we're not listening.”
“There is no greater purpose of a government than to create opportunity for the next generation. It is our absolute responsibility in this place to find a way to get that hope back, because hope drives aspiration, aspiration drives wealth and all of that is interconnected, intertwined. We've snatched away, over successive governments, over many decades, that spark of hope—that part that says, 'This is mine.' Ownership is important. Place is important. Sense of belonging is important. And that can occur through homeownership. People will have children. People will create memories. It is everything that the Australian dream suggests. This is not an easy change. We acknowledge that, but it had to be done. The time had expired on locking out the younger generation. Jokes about avocado and toast do not cut it.”
“That's five tax cuts that this Anthony Albanese Labor government has put in—five, not just a slightly-above-mediocre boy band from the early 2000s but a ringing endorsement of the faith we have in Australian workers that they deserve to keep more of what they earn in their pocket to be what they want to be, to spend how they want to spend. And they want to spend on housing. That is overwhelmingly what we're told, every single day, at every doorknock, at every phone bank, in every community office. And I know I'm not speaking just for myself but for right across the country: 'You've got to do something about the housing. I'm concerned about my children. I'm concerned about my grandchildren. It doesn't seem fair. How are they ever going to get their foot in the door?' We are creating those spaces. We are creating that opportunity.”
“If you start seriously saving for a deposit at 25 and nothing goes wrong, you'll be fractionally younger than I am now when you get your first home deposit. That's crazy. My parents had paid off their house by the time I was 15—it's a great house—and then they got to get on with the rest of their lives. They could salary sacrifice to ensure that their super was large enough that they could enjoy retirement. They're not going to be paying off a house until they're 65 or 70 years old. They got to live the best versions of themselves, and they got to do that because they were able to buy a house when they were young and it was affordable. This government wants that for everybody. But there's more than that. We're reducing the tax burden for more than 13 million workers.”
“We want people to invest in property, but to make that a new property, to add to the supply. You can negatively gear. You can use the same CGT. You just have to build a new home. As I said, there are about to be 13,000 of them, just south of Cairns, 5,000 reserved for first home buyers and 8.000 for investors, if you want them. This is going to mean that Australia is given back to everybody, that everyone gets that chance, everyone gets that opportunity, because it's really only opportunity that we are fighting for. What you do with that opportunity is up to you, but you need to be able to reach it, and for too long it was slipping out of grasp, further and further away. Prior to these changes, it could take up to 20 years to save for a deposit.”
“We know it to be a fact because we keep hearing about first home buyers, young people priced out of the market, giving up hope, believing that they are never, ever going to achieve the great Australian dream, that they're not going to have the Hills hoist in the backyard, that they're not going to be able to play cricket with the kids, because it's going to be somebody else's. Don't you want to give that back? Don't you want to give young Australians that opportunity? Don't you want to present them with that pride that they'll get from having their own home? It takes courage to make changes. This government is showing that courage—the courage to reach our hands out and say: 'We hear you. We understand. And the playing field will be levelled.' We want people to build homes.”
“And we're seeing that investment right now: $140 million for trunk infrastructure just south of Cairns, where 13,000 homes will one day be built, where Christmases will happen, where grandparents will meet their grandchildren for the first time. The best and the worst of life will happen there, but you'll have that sanctum, that protection, that part of Australia that makes it yours—your own home. The status quo was no longer working. That should not be a debate. That is a fact.”
“Should my daughters choose to have children, I want them to come home to their house, to grow up in their house, with their backyard, and that the little funerals that you have for pets as a child are able to be remembered, that all of those little things that go into the woodwork and seep into the carpet, and the smells, the sounds and the creaks all remind them every day of the life they have built in their home. That's what this is all about: levelling the playing field, giving people the opportunity to develop that life that my parents have loved and enjoyed, the one that I slightly missed out on, the one that I want my daughters to have. That's why this is so important: 75,000 houses.”
“The formative memories of my children playing monsters in the backyard—that backyard belongs to someone else. Making a fort in a living room to watch TV at night—that living room belongs to someone else. My daughters falling asleep on my lap because it's past their bedtime but I've let them watch Finding Nemo one more time—that different living room again belongs to someone else. I have those memories, but they are not refreshed every day, like my mother's memory is refreshed every day when she walks past my room and when she walks past the old toy box. That is something that I don't have, and it is something that I hope my children get to have.”
“And now, because my parents are still in their own home, more memories have been created: my daughters squealing when the timed sprinklers went on and surprised them when they were three and five years old; my nephews going there as babies—hearing that newborn baby cry in the house; Christmases, with the smell of the pine tree cut down from out the front. Those memories belong in that house and they belong to those people, because memories are more than just a single point in time. They grow and are added to, and they imbue the area in which they were made. That is not a house, to paraphrase The Ca stle ; it's a home. It's my parents' home and it's been their home for 46 years, and everything that comes with it belongs to them. I didn't have that opportunity. I rented a lot. I moved around a lot.”
“My first pet, a rabbit creatively named Rabbit, also came to that house, allegedly because my parents were too poor to afford birthday presents that year. But they built him a hutch. It wasn't very good, and Rabbit promptly ran away. Rabbit was replaced by other pets: Boy George, the border collie-Scotch collie cross; Sally, the labrador; Icky the cat; Deefa the cat; and Riva the cat. Memories were created in that house. Like I said, my sister came home there. The place where I fell through the roof and then blamed it on the cat remains unfixed. The thump of the basketballs that I used to play with as a child reverberate through that home. They are still there. My posters are still on the wall—Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Dennis Rodman. Stickers populate the door. They should probably paint that; they have not.”
“I love this country. I love what it means to be Australian. I love what it meant to me, when I was playing overseas, to hear the anthem and see the flag. I love driving up to this place in the morning, seeing Parliament House—the flag twice as large as a double-decker bus. I love coming into this place because of the opportunities that it provides and the opportunities that it affords us. In this place I sit next to a boilermaker who also happens to be a five-time Olympian. That's crazy. I see around me people from all different walks of life: social workers, sparkies, doctors, lawyers, teachers. My parents were teachers. In 1981, just before I turned two, they bought their first house—they built their first house. My sister came home to that house.”
“My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government's strategic fleet helping communities like mine access supplies during times of crisis?”
“My question is to the Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories. How is the Albanese Labor government's budget making it easier for Australians to live and thrive in the regions? How does this compare with alternative approaches?”
“Ultimately, the budgets matter, programs matter—our most important job is to look after the people that we're here to represent. I know that that's the No. 1 thought of everybody in here. I was touched and honoured that this person felt that we were the place to go, and we will do everything we can to help anyone who comes through our doors. I know everyone else will too. The budget matters, but the people matter more.”
“I was very proud to take up Minister Hill to visit that part of the world, to understand it, to see it and to be a part of the day there, part of the culture, and for the response accordingly. There are a lot of other good things. TRPI will receive $5 million, which supports our tourism industry and eradicates crown-of-thorns starfish and Drupella snails to ensure the health of our Great Barrier Reef. Great. I would like to thank Gareth at AMPTO and Mark Olsen at TTNQ for advocating for that. But all of these things matter. They matter a lot. The greatest honour in being here—and I was reminded of this today—is when we help people. I had something come across our office that was unusual and traumatically life changing for the people involved, and we've been able to wrap our arms around that person.”