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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“It invoked ideas of the beach and fun with my friends. These days we call it disaster season, and it's putting more people and more places at more risk of these disasters coming. To be clear, this isn't a complaint. We are Queensland. We are the north. We take these sorts of things head on. We square our shoulders, and there is nothing more Far North Queensland than stocking up on beer ahead of a cyclone, battening down the hatches and sheltering, knowing that you've got your bathtub full of water and that Ergon do a great job of getting the power back on. But that's not what we should have to do. And these disasters are having an impact on the future of our regions. These disasters are expensive.”
“Sometimes they're out responding and helping others when they're losing their own homes, yet they do that for our community. These people are heroes. They're Australian heroes. I know that, in the most recent disasters in Queensland, a lot of which impacted the member for Kennedy's region, people from my electorate headed to the disasters to help. That's Australia and that's Australians. You don't have to ask for the help; it just arrives. It's who we are. We understand that, at times, this great country that we call home fights against us, but we always push back together. Disasters are nothing new for Queensland. We face nearly every kind of natural disaster imaginable. What is new is how bad these things are starting to get. We're getting more extreme weather and stronger events. When I grew up, it was called summer.”
“They've cared for them. Communities are torn apart. The ongoing impacts; the mental toll; young kids trying to go to school, trying to navigate their way through their ATAR, through year 11, through year 12, not sure what their home looks like any more, not sure where they're going to be living in the next couple of weeks; people hurt; people killed; businesses gone—we've already seen, this year, lives lost to natural disasters. When we talk about the loss and the damage, I want to make sure that on record I give my thanks to our emergency service personnel, who are on the front line. These are the people who walk towards the danger when everyone else is trying to leave. They put their lives on the line. They help people when pain and loss are at their most raw.”
“This summer across Australia we've seen bushfires, flooding, severe storms and cyclones. In my home state of Queensland, it is the usual story of storms, flooding and cyclones. Yet sometimes it can feel a world away. You see it for a 90-second grab on TV, a couple of minutes here, a couple of minutes there. You spare a thought to remember, but these are people's lives and their livelihoods. Homes are gone, not as quickly as in a fire with a flood, but then, a couple of weeks later, the mould will show up. You might have had it structurally okay, but you're going to have to demolish it anyway. Livestock are gone, as the member for Kennedy referenced. Farmers love their livestock. They love their land. To see them go is not just an economic impact. It's heartbreaking. They know those cows. They know those sheep. They love them.”
“If you're involved in a school, sporting club or any other community group where there are teenagers, reach out to my office and we will put you in touch with Samara. Help us end knife crime. This is something that we all need to do together. I want to thank Samara for her courage and for bringing this to us all. I wish that we can all stop knife crime together. Thank you.”
“She wants them to know what the consequences are of choosing to have a knife on you, what that might look like, what grief and anguish and pain can happen due to a split-second decision and how it can all happen in under a minute. She doesn't want young people to throw away their futures. Under her program, 55 Seconds, she wants to go into schools, meet with sporting clubs and make sure young people know that their actions have consequences. Samara isn't asking for funding but for an opportunity to speak directly to young people. The courage and love that that woman shows in reliving that moment to stop and save other people's children are truly incredible. If you want to help, the answer is simple.”
“I've been stabbed.' It was an attack the judge described as 'a random and violent attack on an innocent member of the public', both 'targeted' and 'unprovoked'. I sat with Samara for a bit over an hour. What do you say? How do you show any kind of thought or understanding for the pain that she must go through and the pain that she goes through again every day while explaining what happened? It was incredibly confronting, but it was also really appropriate. More people need to know this story. People should know how much damage can be done in 55 seconds. That's less time than I've been speaking in this chamber right now. Through her loss, Samara has become a dedicated advocate to stop knife crime. Her work helped deliver Declan's law in the Northern Territory, and now she is home in Cairns. Samara wants to speak with young people.”
“One of the great privileges of this role is speaking with community and getting in and amongst your constituents. Recently, though, I had a meeting with one of my constituents, Samara Laverty. It was a meeting that I frankly wish never had to happen, but it is a speech that I now have to make. Some in this place might know the name of her son, Declan Laverty. Declan was a bright 20-year-old who was living in Darwin. He worked at the local BWS, doing his best. On the night of 19 March 2023, while at work, Declan was stabbed. He bled out within a minute, and he was gone. Samara told me in our meeting that the last act that Declan made as he lay bleeding was to text his mother one last time: 'I love you.”
“Fee-free TAFE is under threat from the Queensland government. It is taking our workforce away. We have an opportunity here to show the regions as they are—the place we all love—and we are taking it. We're delivering for the people that have delivered for Australia for well over 200 years. Our food, our mining and our places to holiday all belong to us. Labor knows that when we take care of the regions, we take care of the country.”
“As Minister McBain said, we don't have to put the word 'region' in front of it to make it relevant. Tax cuts. People in the regions pay taxes. Fee-free TAFE has been taken up more in the regions than anywhere else to address skill shortages. The students are building the homes that people can live in. Come to the wide open spaces that we represent, that we love so much, that we hold so dear. We want to share them; we want to show them. Bring your businesses to us. Bring your talents to the regions. Build these houses. Build these businesses. All that is going to be made possible. When you get there, there are urgent care clinics and there's cheaper medicine—there are going to be two clinics in Cairns; it's going to be awesome! Cairns is a big, big place. There are two electorates—Kennedy and Leichhardt. They've just got effective members!”
“I go to the depots; I have a chat to the lads. They are afraid of the road, but they know the money for it is coming. They know the work is going to commence. They know they will get home at night to see their loved ones. What I'd like to hear from those opposite is more science and fewer feelings. We tend to cherrypick ideas, cherrypick stats. Portugal and Spain? That's a nice example, and it fits your narrative then fantastic. California, the fourth-largest economy on the planet, has 67 per cent renewable and clean energy—the fourth-largest economy on the planet! It's something we should be aspiring to, but, instead, we cherrypick numbers rather than trying to deliver for the people that we are paid to represent. So what is the Labor Party doing for the regions?”
“This is what we are seeing from those opposite: a lot of noise; no influence. Studio gangsters are fun. You like to hang out with them—good times, great times—but when the rubber hits the road they're nowhere to be seen. So let's speak about roads and investment in roads. Take the main artery for Queensland, the Bruce Highway. The last time the Bruce Highway had any investment in it at all, guess who did it? Then infrastructure minister, now Prime Minister, the Hon. Anthony Albanese. Oh, and he's back as Prime Minister, so guess what's getting invested in? The Bruce Highway with $7.2 billion. This will allow freight and families right the way up Queensland to see each other, to spend time with each other. We're making that road safer so that our truckies don't have to worry about it so much anymore.”
“We are the regions who provide your food. We have custody over the places that you go on holidays. We provide you with critical minerals. We provide your power. We are practical people. We are the salt of the earth. We are the best parts of Australia. Not a single person in this House would disagree. Do not disrespect us. I grew up in Gippsland. An opposition member: Best member to ever come out of Gippsland! Thank you! I keep telling him! I played in Wollongong. I spent some time in Albury and the Atherton Tablelands. I played in Cairns. But I also spent a bit of time in New York City, where I picked up a phrase: studio gangster. I might be the first person to put the phrase 'studio gangster' into Hansard . I'd like that to be recognised. For those who don't know, a studio gangster is someone who yaps when there's nothing on the line.”
“My question is to the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. How is the Albanese Labor government delivering the infrastructure and transport regional Queensland needs? What approaches has the government rejected?”
“I take the opportunity now to do so as well—Matilda, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, Rabbi Yaakov Levitan, Alex Kleytman, Boris and Sofia Gurman, Peter Meagher, Reuven Morrison, Edith Brutman, Dan Elkayam, Marika Pogany, Adam Smyth, Boris Tetleroyd, Tania Tretiak, Tibor Weitzen. I extend my deepest condolences to their families and their friends and the Jewish community of Australia. I pay tribute to the first responders and heroes of the day. Rabbi Ari, who I spent much time with over the weeks, maintained that the light will overcome the dark, always. Let us now turn to the light together. May their memories be a blessing.”
“We have a responsibility now to ensure that antisemitism is stamped out and rooted out in all of its forms and that Jewish Australians feel safe, loved and welcome in this country that we are so proud to call home, which has until now been largely untouched by such horror. Fifteen people had their lives taken by two monsters who had perverted and then weaponised the teaching of a religion that quite literally means 'peace'. They did this only to justify their own hatred. Fifteen people who should be going about a normal day. They should be at work, playing with grandkids, doing the shopping and the chores that annoy people, getting ready for the school year. In the Jewish faith, saying the names of the departed ensures that their memories live on. The names have been said many times today, entered into Hansard for eternity.”
“We have come to share and lighten these burdens, we have come to stand with you, we have come to grieve with you, and we have come to heal with you, because you are us. Earlier today, the member for Macnamara moved us all with his speech. He spoke of dehumanisation. What did those monsters see? What did they see on that day? What do they see when they look at him? When I look at the member for Macnamara, I see my friend. I see Josh. When I look at Rabbi Ari, I see a friend and a man who placed his community first. When I look at my friend Udi, I see a man who moved heaven and Earth to give us an opportunity to come together as a community to grieve and show support. Like so many others, I wish that it had not come to this.”
“Back in Cairns, Udi David Stern worked hard to create and deliver a community event to welcome and allow the Far North to embrace the community, our community, our friends. So, when we reconvened on the national day of reflection on that eighth day of Hanukkah, there were hundreds of Far Northerners out of every creed, colour and persuasion—a community of Australians united simply by their humanity and compassion for their fellow citizens. Udi did that for us. There is an old Jewish proverb that I've thought of a lot. It goes, 'I ask not for a lighter burden but for broader shoulders.' This one proverb speaks so much to the resilience of the Jewish community. But I say to Australians of Jewish faith: your shoulders are broad enough.”
“The feelings of those present were of hurt, confusion, anger and grief. For too many in the room, those feelings were familiar. But, in that room, the small community hall 2,500 kilometres away from Bondi, compassion, love, resilience and defiance shone through. On the second night of Hanukkah, we celebrated together with the lighting of the menorah. In the coming days, Rabbi Ari worked his way down from the Far North to Mackay to be there for his community, to celebrate Hanukkah and to maintain his steadfast refusal to be cowed. It was only later that Ari revealed to me that he had lost close friends in the attack. Yet he held firm to his strength and resolve, which many of us could only begin to imagine.”
“I rise to speak on the condolence motion on behalf of the people of Leichhardt. The Far North feels a long way away from the sands of Bondi, but distance does not lessen compassion nor diminish grief. So I stand in this chamber today in solidarity and in sorrow with Australia's Jewish community. The heinous events of 14 December—a targeted attack on Australians of Jewish faith, an attack during a time of celebration—were a darkness that threatened to extinguish Hanukkah, the festival of the light. But, with the resilience and the compassion of Australians of every faith, that light shone through. In the days that followed, I worked closely with the Far North Jewish community. At the invite of Rabbi Ari Rubin, I attended a memorial service the next day. It was not just a memorial service but an act of defiance.”
“We are protecting our people, and we are working with the reef, the guardianship and the climate change excellence centre based on Thursday Island to create resilience for a world that is changing, for a world that you guys have left behind. We are getting on with it. Those walls are being built right now. They should have been built 10 years ago when Masig started to be inundated. But where was the opposition? It was nowhere—hiding.”
“They do not deserve to have the water lapping at their doors. They do not deserve their cemeteries washed away. They do not deserve to mourn their children washed into the ocean. When you do not accept net zero, when you turn your back on them, you turn your back on Australia. If you betray one Australian, you betray them all. It is disgraceful. It was 2015 the last time any executive from the LNP went to the Torres Strait. You do not ask or seek out their advice. You don't care. You leave them alone to fend for themselves. Minister Kearney has sat with the elders on Badu. She has sat with the elders on Horn. She has sat with the elders on Thursday Island. Minister Wilson travelled to Saibai, sat with the elders and understood. Labor has committed over $74 million in seawalls.”
“The Pacific has never been more important, and those opposite sell them out every single day. It is disgraceful. The water shall not lap at the doors of our nearest neighbours, but let me tell you of the Torres Strait, Australia's most northern part, a beautiful place filled with beautiful people. Just this week the wakaid, or council of elders, from the island of Badu came down to talk to us about health. Uncle Bongo Sagigi, leader of the council of elders, spoke to me of climate change. When I visit Masig and Saibai, they tell me, 'We do not want to see our cemeteries inundated, the bodies of our children washed away, the bodies of the ancestors gone.' That is what net zero is about. That is the betrayal of Australia, of Australians. They deserve better. They deserve recognition.”
“The world is changing. The delivery of energy is changing. Whether you like it or not, it's changing. It's happening now. Coal-fired plants are done. Twenty-four of the 28 that closed did so under the watch of those opposite—finished. We understand there have been cost-of-living pressures. It has been a rough six or seven years, particularly for my electorate of Leichhardt. COVID hurt us. The inflation that jumped out the bottle afterwards hurt us more. It was at seven but is now 3.8. We are delivering on cost-of-living relief. We understand what Australians need. We also understand the opportunities that net zero presents to us: manufacturing, mining, the entrance to the world stage as a global power, a superpower for renewable energy and a leader in our region. This is a national security issue.”
“But through every challenge there is opportunity, and we have so much opportunity. We will carry Australia forward in the renewable transition with our critical minerals. We will show the world who we are through our cultural tourism. We will protect and promote the mighty Daintree, the Great Barrier Reef and the wildness of Cape York. We will celebrate the unique culture of Zenadth Kes, whose elders are actually in this building today meeting with us. It is my honour to represent northern Australia. It is my honour to defend northern Australia. And I am so proud to be here doing so with a government that believes in the opportunity that my region possesses. Thank you.”
“They'll show you the dances. Last time I was in Mapoon, I ran into a group called Indigital, who are taking the stories and putting them into a Minecraft -style game so that you can live and walk the Dreaming. The kids get to design the characters. It is a great community-building exercise, as the elders sit down with the young ones and tell them the story. It takes ancient knowledge and puts it in a 21st century context. That's what the Far North is: an ancient and wild place ready to take on the 21st century in a way that not many other places are positioned to do. I want to commend the minister for working with northern Australia, for understanding the challenges that we face, but not turning her back on us. Sometimes, when challenges present themselves, it can become too hard for people. They're not sure what to do or where to go.”
“Some of the best silica in the world is located in Leichhardt. As some might know, silica is essential in the building of solar panels. There is opportunity for manufacturing there. The Indigenous rangers know country backwards. They understand carbon capture and farming and have been doing it for tens of thousands of years. In doing so, they're showing the way for new industries to evolve—carbon capture, blue carbon, all of these storage options—using ancient knowledge. There is a lot of space up there for carbon capture. On cultural tourism, we have something unique, something nowhere else in the world can talk about: the world's oldest living culture. 60,000 years. The art decorates the rocks. The language is still spoken in many of the small communities. It breathes, and it's real. Sit with the elders. They'll tell you the stories.”
“The thing that all of these places have in common is the limitless potential—the potential of the people, the potential of the minerals, and the potential of the tourism. It is all there at our fingertips, and it is great to hear Minister King speak of the potential and the opportunity that is presented to northern Australia—not just my part of the world, but right the way across. The world is pivoting north. All roads are leading north. We're pivoting our international focus towards the South Pacific. We are tailor made for it. We are in the right place geographically. We have the right things, we have the right space and we have the right people. I'm proud to be a part of government. I'm proud to have been put here by the people of Leichhardt to try to snatch these opportunities, to become the renewable powerhouse that I know we can be.”
“Then, finally, up top we have the NPA. The NPA is home to a truly unique culture, where Aboriginal land was gifted to the Torres Strait Islanders. It is a place where the two cultures mix, merge and create something truly unique and beautiful. As our great industry—there's possibly gas out there. People drive all the way up to Pajinka, staying in Bamaga, and then of course Zenadth Kes, the Torres Strait, home of Eddie Koiki Mabo, and the multiple different islands. It's the only regional council with an international border. Councillor Chelsea sits there and ticks people off as they drift over from PNG for cultural ceremonies and for trade. It is the most northern part of northern Australia.”
“I've spent many days there, running basketball clinics for kids, bringing up shoes, and spending time with Steve Norman at the PCYC as they show their children how to make good choices and as they build the leaders of tomorrow. Weipa is a mining town—there's bauxite as far as the eye can see—but it is developing. It is now a town town. There are almost more small businesses now in Weipa than there are miners. It is ready to take that next step. Just south of Weipa is Napranum, which is a beautiful little spot. They want to become the food bowl for Rio Tinto. It's a really great ambition. To the north, in Mapoon, they are getting ready for cultural tourism when the cruise ships start arriving in the western cape next year. Down further south we've got Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw, the place of many waters, with great art and great fishing.”
“It's a town that bats well above its weight. It is strong. It is proud. Back down to Lakeland, we're going to head out to the western cape now. We'll start at Lockhart River, tucked away—well, it's actually on the eastern cape; you've got to go west first. It's a trick of the road! The PDR is one of those—look, it is a bucket-list experience. The PDR gets you all the way up to Pajinka. Lockhart River is the home of five different clans, fantastic fishing and some of the best art in the cape. It is also where the American fighter pilots were based during World War II, and the rocks in the ocean carry the scars of the 50-millimetre guns that were shot during target practice. We'll go back down onto the PDR and out to Aurukun, with fantastic art and fantastic people.”
“Once you get to Cooktown, a historical place—it used to be that over 30,000 people lived in Cooktown during the gold rush. It is now down to about 3½ thousand, but they are proud. They have a great tourism industry, a great fishing industry and a fantastic bowls club if you need a cold beer and a good feed at the end of the day. Close to Cooktown is Wujal Wujal, a beautiful, beautiful place nestled in the rainforest—the rainforest people. Wujal Wujal obviously suffered catastrophic effects through Cyclone Jasper. Everyone had to move out, but I am pleased to say they're back. The sports hall has reopened. They're rebuilding their arts centre. That community is as strong as ever. To the other side of Cooktown is Hope Vale, home of Noel Pearson, who has brought so much positive change to Indigenous Australians.”
“They are having discussions about what their future looks like, and, while this is a tough time for them, they are built of really strong stuff. There is a frontier attitude, a pioneering attitude, that is part of the far north that I know will serve them greatly. If you leave Mossman, you've got to head up a bit further. Now we're at the gateway to Cape York. The gateway itself positions itself as Lakeland, with its bananas—some of the best bananas on the planet!—as far as the eye can see. At Lakeland, you have a choice: continue on straight and head up to Wujal Wujal, Cooktown and Hope Vale or take a left and drift out to Coen, Kowanyama, Pormpuraaw, Weipa, Aurukun and Lockhart River. We'll stay right for the moment.”
“If you spend a few days in Cairns, you might think, 'What else is on offer?' so you'll start driving north. You'll get to the tourism hotspot, the destination, that is Port Douglas, one of the most beautiful places on the planet. The golf course there, Palmer Sea Reef golf course, has the crocodile on the first hole lurking in the water trap. You just let the ball go if it's too close to the edge. It is one of the places that people put on their bucket list. Port Douglas is amazing. I would encourage everybody to get there as soon as possible. A little bit further on we've got Mossman, home of the Mossman Gorge Cultural Centre, a world renowned Indigenous cultural area. Mossman is currently transitioning away from sugar cane.”
“It is home to the reef fleet and the Great Barrier Reef, the gateway to Green Island, Osprey Reef, Lizard Island and Fitzroy Island, where I believe my daughter is right now celebrating schoolies. It is a truly magnificent place. We have over 128 different cultures that are celebrated en masse. Over 10,000 people went to the recent India Day festivals. Diwali was a huge celebration. We are multicultural, we are proud of it and we pull together. We have a shipping industry. Over $250 million is run through our shipping repairs, including working on our naval boats. It is a truly beautiful place. It is also home to the far north's only national sporting team, my beloved Cairns Taipans, who we wish were going better—but we can't have everything.”
“I rise today to speak on the statement made by the Minister for Northern Australia. My electorate, Leichhardt, is the perfect embodiment of northern Australia, and, while some will point to Townsville as the capital of the far north, they are wrong; it is in fact Cairns. But Cairns is just the gateway to a much broader and spectacular part of the world. If you'll indulge me, Deputy Speaker Aldred, I would like to go on a little bit of a geography tour of a place I know that you know well, as I ran into you randomly one day at one of the local shopping centres as you were enjoying many of the delights that Cairns has to offer. So we'll start in Cairns. Cairns is a thriving, metropolitan city. It is multicultural. It has many different industries. It is welcoming. It is beautiful.”
“Certain things are expected of you, but you're not quite understanding it. It's hard and you can get lost. But headspace is designed specifically to cater to the young, for their needs. Mental health is not a 'one size fits all' approach. Different stages of your life will require different types of help. Sometimes it will be peer support. Sometimes it might be a clinical intervention. These packages make sure that the full gamut is taken care of so that a broad brush is not used and we watch people slip through the cracks—because it is about people. It's wives, daughters, husbands, fathers, cousins and brothers. Every mental health illness brings a cost to those around them. By providing this support, we strengthen families, we strengthen people and we strengthen our country. I am very, very proud to be a part of this.”
“For young Australians aged 12 to 25, we're strengthening the headspace centres, including in my own region. When headspace was first introduced 20 years ago, one in five young people experienced mental health distress in any 12-month period. That has now doubled to two in five. We can't pretend that the advent of social media or that COVID didn't change the way our young people see the world, which is why we're opening 58 new expanded headspace services across the country. That will be 203 services understanding the unique challenges and pressures of young people. For those of us who remember that 18 to 25 range, there is a lot of potential and a lot of hope, but there's also a lot of pressure. Pressure comes from family. Pressure comes from external sources—from university or from work. You're an adult, but you're not quite there.”
“This is why places like the Gidget Foundation exist. They offer vital care. And it's not just women. One in 10 men also experience mental health issues upon the birth of a child. I experienced less sleep; I was one of the lucky ones. For children aged nought to 12 and their families, we're opening 17 Medicare mental health kids hubs in partnership with state and territory governments. We are finding that mental health issues are impacting younger and younger children, which is why the social media ban for under-16s is so important. Let our kids be kids. Let them frolic outside, the way people my age did when we were younger. Let them have a break. If school is hard with a device, school can follow you home. Without a device, you would be safe and free. We are giving this back to the children of Australia.”
“But, if you can walk in and go, 'I need help,' and know that there's someone there that is trained, capable and empathetic to help you, that will save lives. Absolutely, it will. A multidisciplinary team, whether you need psychology, a psychiatric intervention or some social work, will be there for you in a Medicare mental health clinic. But it's not just the mental health clinics. For new and expecting parents, we're partnering with the Gidget Foundation to open 20 perinatal mental health centres. Changes in life bring struggles. Children, as I've discovered twice, change things fairly dramatically. If you are unprepared for this, you can start to struggle. You can start to drown. Birth, pregnancy, menopause and perimenopause can play games hormonally with women, sometimes making mental health more and more critical.”
“Entire communities—Wujal Wujal was displaced, sending elders to different parts of the region, taking away that connection to community, making children go to school in places they weren't familiar. Mossman was cut off for weeks. People went stir-crazy. It was difficult. My region has suffered, and that's why we're doing things like opening the mental health urgent care clinic. We're doing the things that matter on the ground to provide the services that people need so that they know that, when things get rough, they can reach out. Sometimes it's a whole community. The free walk-in care with extended hours with no referral or appointment is a game changer. Sometimes it can be hard to get a GP. Sometimes it can be hard to take that step, to make that phone call, to have that appointment.”
“That's the thing that buries people: they think they have to take it on alone. That's why I'm proud to be a part of this government that is rolling out more help for mental health, because people don't have to do this alone. It can get isolating and you can feel trapped. Part of this is obviously the $1.1 billion mental health package, the single biggest investment in mental health services, delivering more support and care in communities, backed by Medicare. Speaking to GPs, we know that most presentations these days—somewhere around 70 per cent in my area—are related to mental health and mental health issues. My region was rocked. COVID was very difficult for a service and tourism based economy. The subsequent natural disasters have been difficult as well.”
“And I am glad—thrilled, even—that we are able to take these steps as a parliament, as leaders to say to our communities: 'It is okay. Things aren't always going to be linear. Things aren't always going to go in a straight line. Things aren't always going to be great. But there are people and services out there that can help you. There are people who love you, who want to see you be your best again, and, with a bit of hard work, you can be. You might not get back to where you were. I am not the same person that I was as a basketballer. I am better, more empathetic. I understand myself more. It was a journey I don't wish on somebody else, but was a journey that I needed to take, and I wouldn't be standing here without the love and the support and the help of external forces.”
“The hypermasculine version of professional sport tells you to harden up, tells you to square your shoulders and take the hit, tells you to keep moving forward. No matter how hard I would try to live by that ethos, I drowned. I got further and further down. I required intervention from people that loved me—from my friends, from my former teammates, from my family. They had to find ways to bring me back. It was not a journey that I could take alone. I wasn't strong enough, and it wasn't a question of strength. It was a question of fatigue. People think that mental health and depression is sad all the time. It's not. It's numbness. It's blankness. It's fear. It's panic. It's heavy and it's exhausting. It is not something that people should try to face alone.”
“Hopefully, we know someone who has pulled through. Sadly, though, some don't make it out of the darkness, and I am not immune. My life from an outside perspective was fairly blessed. I was playing professional sport and had a family. Things were going well. Basketball was taken away from me. Age, talent—whatever it might have been. I was no longer required. Basketball had provided me with an identity, a structure, an understanding of my place in the world, a bubble. From 16 to 30, all I had to think about was that. People looked after my medical needs. They looked after my rent, my houses. People booked holidays for me. I had no life skills. I could not operate in the real world. When that safety net was removed from me, I crashed. I didn't know where to turn for help.”
“I rise today to speak on the statement made by the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention about Mental Health Month. Unlike the days when people were derided when something was wrong with them, I am proud that we are here today in this place speaking about mental health. Not long ago in the chamber, I read a speech from a young leader in our community in Leichhardt, Claudia, about the desperate situation facing many young people in regional areas. The situation is even more desperate in our remote and rural communities, where regular mental health services are essentially non-existent. The Mental Health Month theme this year is 'taking steps on your wellbeing journey'. It is a journey many of us know, and I'm sure we all know someone who has suffered through dark times.”
“I'm super proud to be able to support them. I just say to all of the brewers out there: do not ever put Cherry Ripe into a beer. I commend these bills to the House.”
“It's giving people hope for the future. It's giving people industry. It's giving small business surety. It's giving families a place to be. It's giving friends a chance to get together and enjoy themselves. It's something so simple and so well supported that it's still on the Liberal Party's website! That's fantastic. It is great to get bipartisan support on something as important as family and friends getting together. There are approximately 160,000 workers employed in the hospitality sector—a large chunk of them in the Far North—and I'm proud that we've got behind them. I'm proud of the small brewers that are putting beers on the table every day and of the people that run the clubs and the pubs, particularly those small country pubs that make such a difference in community, and what they mean and what they stand for.”
“So when they work on Saturday nights and Sundays, when the rest of us are taking our time with our family and friends, they know that they are going to get paid accordingly. They are going to get paid for the time that they are putting in and the time that they are giving up. As I said earlier, a lot of people use the pubs and clubs as a stepping stone to somewhere else. Fee-free TAFE is available. One of the local guys at the place where I drink wants to be a chippie. He's going to go to fee-free TAFE. He's pulling beers in the meantime to save up for a car. Once he's saved up for a car, you know what he can get? He can get a house. There are five per cent deposits now. We have given an actual pathway. This whole thing is a holistic approach to everything we are doing. It's targeted, but it's so much bigger than that.”
“My youngest daughter missed more. My nephews missed more again. They will rediscover humanity in the pub with a nice cold beer. I am very, very excited for them to do so—responsibly, of course. This is a cost-of-living measure. It is supporting a lot of people at a lot of places. I know that pubs and brewers in my electorate are welcoming this with open arms. Tap beer, draught beer, is the best beer. It tastes the freshest. It gives you the most bubbles, the best head. I'm sure the consumers will love being able to go down without an excise going up. This supports jobs. It is the jobs that I want to talk about now. Because of the Albanese Labor government, people in the pubs and clubs pulling beers are now going to have more work because we're bringing more people into the pubs. Their penalty rates are now enshrined.”