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 matters that you can go to the local aunties and uncles and they can give you the bush medicines that your grandparents had and that their grandparents had and on and on. Slowly that is being whittled away, one season at a time. Wujal Wujal is, of course, also recovering from Cyclone Jasper. The rain event after it flooded the entire town. An entire town had to be evacuated to Cooktown, Cairns and Mossman. Cooktown and Mossman are not big places. This put additional stress on services, making it harder for everybody. Cooktown nearly ran out of water. Mossman and Port Douglas were within hours of running out of fresh drinking water as well. These are real-world examples. In Cairns itself, a thriving city—the 15th-largest city in Australia, I believe—people recovering from the flooding disaster still aren't in their homes.”
“They feel that 30 years is as much time as they have left on their island—on their home—before that culture disappears under the waves. We owe the people of the Torres Strait more than that. We owe them their culture, which they share with us, and we owe it to them to do all we can to prevent the loss of their homes. In Wujal Wujal, Aunty Lila told me that bush medicine is becoming harder and harder to come by as climate change is impacting when certain fruits and flowers are available to the community. Do not underestimate the power of bush medicine in culture and community. Western medicine has its place, but what has been done for 40,000 years still resonates within community. It matters.”
“Natural disasters are getting worse, the heatwaves are getting worse, and the cold snaps are unpredictable. All this leads to a place where Australians, their homes and their lifestyles are all at risk. We don't have to imagine these things; they have arrived on our doorstep. I want to talk about some of the real-world aspects of this. I was recently in Saibai, speaking to the people of Masig Island, where inundation occurs in high tides, washing away at the cemeteries, closing the schools, cutting one island off from the other, cutting islands in half and cutting communities away from their health care because the seawalls are starting to fail and are no longer adequate. That is a real-world real problem right now. Some of the people on Saibai are putting together an evacuation plan.”
“I have the privilege of representing Leichhardt. Over the past few weeks, I've been taking the opportunity of not being here in this place to travel around, get to community and speak so many of the diverse communities across the region—Wujal Wujal, Hope Vale, Cooktown, Mapoon and the Torres Strait. One thing that people came back to me on time and time again was climate change—what the climate is doing and how it is impacting their day-to-day lives. Climate change, let's be real, is a massive threat to Australia but particularly the far north. The recently released National Climate Risk Assessment provides a very bleak future unless real action is taken. Australia is experiencing more frequent, severe and extreme weather events, as witnessed in Cyclone Jasper just a couple of years ago. This is not fearmongering; this is fact.”
“These changes might seem technical and small in nature, but they streamline a system that makes a difference every single day to every single Australian. We know that there's more work to be done, and I know that, as a government, we will always put the health of Australians first, because it is the most important thing that you have. Without your health, you have nothing else. And the Anthony Albanese Labor government will ensure that Australia has its health.”
“From my own personal experience, having lived in a place where there is no public health care, I can say that a shoulder reconstruction costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. The plastic surgery to reattach my lip was $70,000 or $80,000. In Australia, I had a stroke. I spent three days in hospital. I came home with just my Medicare card. These are tangible differences. This is what makes Australia great—the socialisation, the Medicare system that gives us bulk-billing and gives us the confidence to go to a hospital, not worry about that insurance payment and get the medicine that we need to get back home and live our lives. It is one of the great and enduring parts of Australian culture. It was built by Labor. It is protected by Labor. It is expanded by Labor.”
“But it doesn't talk about the investment in Medicare and what that means to the people of Leichhardt, what that means to my own family and what that means to millions of families around Australia. My children were born in the public hospital, both of them. A midwife came and checked on us. It was all free of charge. My friend Dr Steve Sutcliffe is a cardiologist. He refuses to work in private practice; he'll only work in public. He travels the cape. He diagnoses and treats RHD, a disease that has no place in modern Australia yet is prevalent throughout our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Far North Queensland. None of those people have access to private medicine. They are wholly reliant on Medicare and on people like my friend Dr Steve.”
“We're opening 11 new clinics and ensuring all 33 clinics are staffed to provide specialist support for menopause. There are new endo treatment options as well, including the PBS listing of Ryeqo. There are contraceptives and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs from pharmacies, with two national trials to benefit 250,000 concession card holders, who will be able to consult a trained pharmacist at no cost. If medications are required, they pay only the usual medicine cost. Australian women undergoing IVF will receive earlier and more affordable access to fertility treatment, with Pergoveris pens added onto the PBS and the maximum number of pens increased to four instead of two per script. This is a massive and much-needed investment to ensure Australian women can access the health care they need. Those are the facts—a list of what's going on.”
“There is more choice, lower cost and better access to long-term contraceptives, with larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing for IUDs and birth control implants, saving around 300,000 women a year up to $400 out of pocket. There is more Medicare support for women experiencing menopause, with the new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments, funding to train health professionals, the first-ever clinical guidelines and a national awareness campaign. There is the first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapies in over 20 years, with around 150,000 women saving hundreds of dollars a year from the listings of Prometrium, Estrogel and Estrogel Pro. There are more endo and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions.”
“Their pain is dismissed. They struggle with issues such as unplanned pregnancies, menopause and miscarriage. The medical fraternity—and it quite often is a fraternity—has often gaslit women, not taking their medical conditions seriously. The Anthony Albanese government seeks to change that. It has listened and announced half a billion dollars in new investments for women for right across their entire lifespan. Hundreds of thousands of Australian women are now accessing cheaper medicines and better health care due to our government's commitments. This includes the first PBS listing of new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years with the listing of Yaz, Yasmin and Slinda, saving 150,000 women hundreds of dollars a year.”
“There are 60-day prescriptions, saving time and money for millions of Australians. Those are very important in an electorate like mine. If you live on the stations or in one of the communities and the nearest pharmacy is a three-hour drive away, you want to go in every two months rather than every fortnight. Cheaper medicines are good for the hip pocket and good for your health. If you don't believe me, I can tell you that, in Queensland, more than $330 million has been saved on 55 million cheaper scripts. Is it any surprise the Australian public have always supported and loved Medicare? Yet we're delivering more. The Anthony Albanese Labor government is delivering more, lower cost and better health care for women and girls. We know that women too often experience delayed diagnosis for conditions, from endometriosis to heart disease.”
“Making medicines cheaper is a tangible way we are improving people's lives. You should never have to choose between medicine and a meal. Four out of five of these medicines will become cheaper because of this investment. Pensioners and concession card holders will continue to benefit from the freeze on the cost of their PBS medicines, with the cost frozen at its current level of $7.70 until 2030. This is just the latest step in our ambition to deliver cheaper medicines for Australians. The Albanese Labor government has already delivered more free and cheaper medicines sooner, with a 25 per cent reduction in the number of scripts a concessional patient must fill before they hit the PBS safety net. That's the largest cut to the cost of medicines in the history of the PBS, with the maximum cost falling from $42 to $30.”
“This urgent care clinic will resolve that problem. I'm happy to announce the tender is now open, and very soon we'll be able to deliver that for the people of Cairns. We've also delivered cheaper medicines. Labor has passed laws to cut the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme co-payment from $31.60 to $25 from 1 January next year, delivering on another of our election commitments. The last time PBS medicines cost no more than $25 was in 2004. That's more than 20 years ago. This is being delivered to ease another key cost-of-living pressure. Having already slashed the cost of medicine by the largest amount in the history of the PBS, we will now go even further, with a more than 20 per cent cut to the maximum cost of PBS medicines, which will save Australians over $200 million a year.”
“During the election, we committed to deliver 15 new Medicare urgent care clinics right across the country. Once all of Labor's Medicare urgent care clinics are open, four in five Australians will live within a 20-minute drive of an urgent care clinic. And all you will need is your Medicare card, never your credit card. In Queensland, there have been more than 367,000 presentations. One of the busiest is the Cairns South Medicare urgent care clinic, located in the suburb of Edmonton. That's why, during the election, we committed to increase the resources of the Cairns South Medicare urgent care clinic and deliver a Medicare urgent care clinic for the northern parts of Cairns. The north of Cairns gets cut off during the wet season. During Cyclone Jasper, the Northern Beaches would have been unable to get any form of medical attention.”
“We also know that primary health care is important, and that's why we funded more bulk-billing and are delivering local Medicare urgent care clinics. The Medicare urgent care clinic model is simple: provide bulk-billing care for urgent, non-threatening conditions—kid rolls an ankle, falls off a skateboard or gets bitten by a dog, or you cut yourself shaving. They're open seven days a week with extended hours, with no appointment needed. The Albanese government has now opened over 90 Medicare urgent care clinics across the country, with more than 1.8 million Australians receiving treatment. Medicare urgent care clinics are taking the pressure off hospitals. It means hospitals can spend more time on the life-threatening emergencies they were built for, and it means patients can get in, get out and get back home, where they want to be.”
“Australian patients and families will save hundreds of dollars in out-of-pocket costs, with patient savings of up to $859 million a year by 2030. We are expanding bulk-billing incentives to all Australians for the first time and boosting Medicare payments to general practices that bulk-bill every patient. This means nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030. We expect it to boost the number of fully bulk-billed practices to around 4,800 nationally—triple the current number of practices. That's why the Anthony Albanese government is tripling the bulk-billing incentive from 1 November—to get more people involved. Nine out of 10 is 90 per cent. It is a worthy aspiration and something we are going to deliver.”
“It is a good change, with our government committed to delivering better health care to Australians. The Albanese Labor government is strengthening Medicare right across the board, with more doctors, more urgent care clinics and cheaper medicines. We are making the largest investment in Medicare since its creation over 40 years ago. And I'll just remind everyone—just in case you haven't heard—Labor built Medicare, and we will always protect it. I'd like to take out my Medicare card and wave it, but I don't feel like testing that boundary today! Our government is investing $8.5 billion to deliver an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits each year, hundreds of nursing scholarships and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program ever.”
“I rise to speak on the Health Legislation Amendment (Miscellaneous Measures No. 1) Bill 2025. Once again we are here discussing how good Labor is for the Australian health system. This bill will help deliver a list of technical changes that will overall ensure better administration and delivery of key government systems and programs. This will include supporting the automation of Medicare provider numbers; modernising the assignment of Medicare benefits, bulk-billing and simplified billing; and ensuring the consequences of breaching a condition and/or withdrawal from the Bonded Medical Program are fairly balanced. All of these changes will build towards a better administrated and more efficient public health system. It's a win for the Australian public and a win for medical professionals.”
“But every year he returns to celebrate the harvest with his people. At each event I was struck by the care, the joy and the community spirit. I am overjoyed that they have chosen to call Cairns and the Far North home. They make Australia better. I say to those in my community who might feel scared or vulnerable during this time: please know you are welcome.”
“The following week I attended the Cairns Indian Festival hosted by Subash Chetry and the Global Organization of People of Indian Origin. This was a celebration of the diverse nature of Indian cultures and brought together around 10,000 people to learn, laugh and celebrate what the Indian community has brought to the region. When our region has faced natural disaster, GOPIO has always stepped up, providing food to volunteers, rescuers and victims. They did it during Cyclone Jasper, and in the more recent flooding events they headed down to Ingham. I was proud to stand with them and their community to celebrate. Last week I attended Onam, the southern Indian celebration of the harvest. It is a Malayali tradition that also celebrates the return of King Mahabali, who was so loved that the gods were jealous and banished him hell.”
“Recent developments, though, have left some of my constituents from diverse backgrounds a bit worried about their safety. No-one should feel unwelcome because of who they are. Our residents of Indian descent in particular seem to have borne the brunt of this anger and hatred, and that is not okay. And, while Cairns was spared some of the ugly scenes we saw in the capital cities featuring Neo-Nazism, the Indian community did reach out to me for assistance. Prior to this, over the last few weeks, I've attended multiple celebrations of Indian culture in the Far North. On 17 August, I attended the Hindu temple to celebrate Janmashtami, the birth of Krishna. People spoke of love, of one people and of purpose in life being more than the search for material possessions.”
“One of the things I was most proud to do in the last year was attend citizenship ceremonies in Cairns and to be able to see the joy of those people who became Australian citizens. My beautiful partner, Renee, was one of them. This is what Australia is: it's hope and opportunity. And why wouldn't you want to come to the Far North? It's awesome. While we have seen some in Australia fighting against multiculturalism, I am proud to say that the Cairns community has embraced our new arrivals. Just this year we've had Chinese New Year, Cinco de Mayo, the Indian festival, the Italian festival, the Greek festival, the Filipino festival, the Thai festival—the list goes on and on. And at our recent Cairns Festival Grand Parade we had floats representing cultures from all over the world. I'm very proud of what we've achieved here in the Far North.”
“One thing people might not realise about the Far North is just how diverse the people who live there are. Obviously we are very proud of our two ancient and distinct cultures, those of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, whose languages and cultures inform our design and even our slang. We also have many locals, right across Far North Queensland, who represent the diversity of the world. We've got people who can trace their lineage back to the First Fleet. We've got descendants of families who came across eager to take part in the gold rushes or to start the sugar industry. We have people whose relatives fled to Australia after the world wars. And we have a wide range of newer migrants from across the world.”
“Childcare centres are being opened in Napranum and Horn Island.' I'll say, 'We helped Gunggandji Aerospace, the first wholly Indigenous owned aerospace company meet the people they needed to see in this place to explain their vision for young Indigenous people and the industry.' I'll say, 'We supported people with FASD, and I worked with Warren Entsch to learn about TB and how I could help in seeking to eradicate this disease that runs riot a mere 20 kilometres from my electorate.' There is so much more, but I am practising this 90-second abridged version so tomorrow's walk doesn't take three hours, which would be a bit rough as the dogs have little legs. (Time expired)”
“Interest rates are on the way down. The 90th urgent care clinic has been opened, with another on its way for the far north. A total of 490 homes have been built at the old drive-in site at Woree. Medicine is cheaper. The Barron River bridge is being funded.”
“Tomorrow I will be home in Leichardt. The sun will shine. The ocean will lap the sun-kissed palm-tree-lined beaches. The reef will still be great and the Daintree mighty. And I will walk the chihuahuas. Along my walk upon Trinity Beach, when I grab a coffee off Michael, I will inevitably be stopped by someone. They will say, 'Big Matty, how was Canberra?' And I will say, 'Cold.' Then I will say: 'Mate, we have enshrined penalty rates. Beer is cheaper, as the excise is frozen. In 27 days, first home buyers will be able to buy with only a five per cent deposit. Food subsidies in remote communities for over 30 essential items are in train, bringing prices in line with the cities. The tax office is, as we speak, sorting out the necessary coding to ensure 17,000 people in Leichardt benefit from the 20 per cent reduction in HECS debts.”
“But I want to say this, and I want to make sure it's being heard: you can't look after others if you're not looking after yourself. These investments allow women to look after themselves, to be who they want to be and to shine the brightest that they can. So, please, look after yourself. For centuries, women's health has been neglected, gaslit and ignored, but we have come to make these changes. So, this Women's Health Week, say yes to you.”
“They're getting cheaper medicines, they're getting more bulk-billed visits to see the GP, they're getting to access Medicare urgent care clinics across the country and, in the case of women, they're getting more access to better health care than they ever have. Instead of just talking the talk, we're delivering real outcomes. The Albanese Labor government is strengthening Medicare with more doctors, more urgent care clinics and even cheaper medicines. We have made the largest investment in Medicare since its inception more than 40 years ago. That's real help—more money in the pockets of everyday Australians. This year's theme for Women's Health Week is 'Say yes to you'. Too often, women put aside their own health—for care, work, the pressures of kids, the pressures of school, looking after parents, whatever it may be.”
“We've also delivered 60-day prescriptions—saving time and money for Australians with ongoing health conditions—phased in from September 2023. We froze the cost of PBS medicines, with copayments not rising with inflation at all at the start of this year, for the first time in 25 years. And, just this week, we have been able to pass laws to go one better, and cut the general patient copayment from $31.60 to $25 from 1 January next year. These are bigger hits than Guns N' Roses'. My staff advised me to make a funny KPop Demon Hunters reference instead of Guns N' Roses, but I didn't understand it. They tried to show it to me, but I went with Guns N' Roses. I don't care—I'm generation X. But the thing to remember here is that the real winners from all of our reform are the Australian people.”
“For the benefit of those present, let's just run through the greatest hits of delivering better health care for Australians. We've got $8.5 billion to invest into 18 million more bulk-billed GP visits each year, hundreds of nursing scholarships and thousands more doctors in the largest GP training program ever. For those playing along at home, this investment will mean nine out of 10 GP visits will be bulk-billed by 2030. Other hits include 90 Medicare urgent care clinics across the country, serving more than 1.8 million Australians receiving treatment. Fun fact: in Queensland there have been more than 367,000 presentations through an urgent care clinic, with one of the busiest being the Cairns South Urgent Care Clinic in my region, and we're getting another one for the northern suburbs as well.”
“Australian women undergoing IVF will receive earlier and more affordable access to fertility treatment, adding Pergoveris pens to the PBS and increasing the maximum number of pens to four instead of two per script. Importantly, we are delivering more choice, lower costs and better access to long-term contraceptives, with larger Medicare payments and more bulk-billing for IUDs and birth control implants, saving around 300,000 women a year up to $400 in out-of-pocket costs. We can't talk about these important reforms to women's health without also talking about Labor's other important changes to the healthcare system in Australia. Women go to GPs—shocking, I know!—they get medicines off the PBS and they go to hospital, so every step we can take to improve Medicare will benefit all Australians.”
“This measure also includes the first PBS listing for new menopausal hormone therapies in over 20 years, with around 150,000 women saving hundreds of dollars a year on the listings of Prometrium, Estrogel and Estrogel Pro. We've also delivered the first PBS listing for new oral contraceptive pills in more than 30 years, with the listing of YAZ, Yasmin and Slinda. There are more endometriosis and pelvic pain clinics treating more conditions with the opening of 11 new clinics, and we are ensuring all 33 clinics are now staffed to provide specialist support for menopause. There are new endometriosis treatment options through the PBS listing of Ryeqo.”
“I will also add that it helps that we are the first government made up of a majority of incredibly powerful, competent and dedicated women. We look like modern Australia. Our reforms in this space are targeted at delivering more choice, lower costs and better health care for women and girls. The Albanese Labor government has listened to Australian women and announced half a billion dollars of new investments for women across their life span. Hundreds of thousands of Australian women are now accessing cheaper medicines and better health care due to our government's commitments. Those measures include things like more support for women going through menopause, with a new Medicare rebate for menopause health assessments, funding to train health professionals, our first-ever clinical guidelines and a national awareness campaign.”
“They have their pain dismissed and struggle to get support for issues such as unplanned pregnancies, menopause and miscarriage. These bad outcomes are multiplied exponentially when you look at women who are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent or at women living in rural and remote access with limited access to health care. Clearly things need to change. There are so many tireless advocates championing better health care for women, whether they are dedicated GPs, nurses, midwives or other healthcare heroes. There are so many members of this chamber who I know are committed to delivering better health care for women. It is in part due to their advocacy that Labor has been able to deliver so much positive reform in the healthcare space specifically targeted at women.”
“Perhaps showing that women used to be seen only as obedient wives and mothers, hysteria could also be diagnosed on the basis of impulsive sexual desire or a loss of appetite for sex—diagnosed by men for the purposes of men. In extreme cases of hysteria, the woman may have been forced to enter an insane asylum or undergo surgical hysterectomy. While this might seem a thing of the distant past, this is not the case. These colossal stuff-ups in our medical history still have real-world impacts today. Diseases present differently in women and are often missed or misdiagnosed, and those diseases affecting mainly women remain largely a mystery—understudied, undertreated and frequently misdiagnosed or undiagnosed. Women still too often experience delayed diagnoses for conditions such as endometriosis and heart disease.”
“Whether for health care, housing, education, or any part of government big or small, it is the job of every member in this place to make sure it responds to the needs of every single person in our community. Sadly, this has not always been the case in important policy areas. Health care is one such example. Health care excluded women for much of its history. Even when women were included, there were some gross generalisations made about anatomy, not to mention the horrific health advice given to women such as: delayed childbearing causes illnesses like breast cancer and endometriosis and will be cured by pregnancy. Or we have the situation where women were pegged as suffering from hysteria due to symptoms ranging from anxiety and fainting to shortness of breath and loss of appetite.”
“I rise today to take note of the statement made by the Assistant Minister for Health and Aged Care for this Women's Health Week. I recognise that I am the only man speaking on this statement. This should not be unusual. It should not be strange. What is strange is that we as a species essentially sidelined half the population for millennia and thought we would get a good outcome. Making sure women get quality health care like all Australians is not just the job of women, just like it's not just the job of women to call out domestic and family violence or to make sure women's voices are heard in discussions on important policies. It should be expected that men stand with women. Women shouldn't be forced to fight alone for the laws they need.”
“But knowing the Labor government will always protect and expand Medicare, well, that is gold! The Albanese Labor government is investing $8.5 billion into Medicare to deliver an additional 18 million bulk-billed GP visits per year. There have been 50 Medicare urgent care clinics promised, 87 delivered, with another 50 to come, including one in the northern suburbs of Cairns. The urgent care clinic in south Cairns has seen tens of thousands of people, getting them in, getting them out and getting them back home where they want to be, taking the pressure off hospitals. Medicine is cheaper—and it's going to get better. On 1 January, all Australians will be able to get PBS medicines at 2004 prices: $25. Prices are going backwards; it's unheard of. (Time exp ired)”
“I want to take you back to 1998. I was playing in Connecticut, took an elbow to the face, and my bottom lip was torn halfway off. A few dozen stitches later and I was back in my dorm room with a sore face, a new scar and a new story, but the team I was playing for were on the hook for something like $50,000. In 2019, I had a stroke on a football field. I had a few days in hospital, rehab, ECGs, MRIs, CT scans and all the follow-ups with neurologists, cardiologists, OTs and physios—the works. Do you know what that cost me? That's right—Medicare card! But I don't need to hold up a Medicare card, because every single Australia knows what it looks like. It was Wattle Day yesterday, the plant that gave us our national colours—and that is fitting, because the Medicare card is green like our wattle.”
“Cairns is getting its headspace upgraded; we're getting our own Medicare mental health clinic to help assist with these things as they happen and to get a better understanding for our next lot of natural disasters.”
“It's this sort of understanding, coming from these events, that the Anthony Albanese Labor government is really seeking to get a handle on. That is why, when the disaster funding was released, a portion of that was set aside to understand the human cost of these disasters. Ultimately, it's not just businesses, it's not just homes and it's not just roads. They can be rebuilt. The question is: what is the mental health toll going to be like? Many young people from Holloways Beach are still living in hotels, which is not a great outcome, particularly for teenagers as they're going through years 11 and 12. The entire town of Wujal Wujal was removed and then replaced, and we're still working with them. So I'm very proud of the work that the Anthony Albanese Labor government has put into the mental health space.”
“We know that mental health outcomes in the regions are different to those in the cities. That can come from different pressures and from different sorts of services. My region in particular has struggled under the weight of some mental health issues over the last few years as a result of natural disasters. What we found is quite interesting. From the initial damage or disaster, people got on with their lives as long as they had something to do: 'What is the next task? What is the next process? Do I have to clean up my house? Do I have to find the dog? Do I have to talk to my insurance company?' It wasn't until after the event—six months after the event on average—when the mental health issues really started to come to the forefront.”
“Not bits; not just the towns—all. And that's not to mention the millions invested in black-spot funding, improving the NBN or better protecting phone and internet customers. Children living in the bush have the same right to education, health, security and safety—and this is what connectivity can bring. You'd think that's what those opposite might want to focus on, but instead they're intent on driving us straight towards a climate crisis with more expensive power and fewer regional jobs. The former member for Leichhardt was a warrior for his, and now, my electorate. He was repaid with indifference from the leadership of the LNP, as opportunity after opportunity slipped us by, and they took the regions for granted. But not us—we will meet the problem where it lies, invest in these communities and give them a chance to thrive.”
“My daughter Sienna was five when they came to power, and now she's driving and about to finish high school. It's like a song stuck on repeat. Of course the regions matter. But you would think, instead of just saying it over and over again, those opposite would rather take action and actually get help to the regions. You bet I'll be working to deliver better connectivity to my region. In fact, in one term and three months of the Albanese government, Labor has delivered more than those 10 years did. There is free community wi-fi in Pormpuraaw, Kowanyama and Hope Vale, improving education and health outcomes. The macro base cell station at Kuranda is being built right now. I was very proud to become part of an Albanese Labor government which, prior to the last election, committed to bringing coverage to all of Leichhardt.”
“For all the complaints about Labor not caring about the regions, I do feel obliged to remind the member and all those opposite that we are taking action to improve communication access. Those opposite had 10 years to act and delivered very little, but Labor has been working since day one of government to help regional areas. While the coalition put connectivity for regional areas into the too-hard basket, those of us in government know the hard work must be done to help connect regional Australia. They beat about the bush, but when the time comes to actually take a stand, nothing happens. I guess we could take a look at the mess of the NBN to know they are either unwilling or unable to improve connectivity. A decade—that's how long they had to get this done.”
“With no coverage, I couldn't call for help. The road behind me was already cut off, so nobody was coming. I had to make some decisions that day that I would prefer not to have to make again. Even between Cairns and Babinda, Cairns and Mareeba or Cairns and Port Douglas, reception drops out in certain places. These are major communities all within an hour of the 15th largest city in the country. Country people know where the coverage ends almost to the exact bend on the road. For too long, people from the bush have been forced to accept substandard reception with no choice of providers. I used to actually enjoy it when, in a past life, my managers would join me on some cape trips and their phones would stop working because they were with the wrong telco that had no footprint in the Torres Strait or the cape.”
“Whilst I personally enjoy a few hours of solitude as I drive through my electorate, my enjoyment does not outweigh other people's safety or opportunity. These problems are not new. Connectivity has always been an issue for Leichhardt. In fact, 97 per cent of the electorate of Leichhardt is without coverage. The cape is one of the great bucket list experiences traversed by tens of thousands of grey nomads yearly, and there is no mobile connection for them to call for help should something happen halfway between Coen and Weipa. There are a lot of very big animals on that road, especially at dawn and dusk, and, frankly, they are pretty cocky and do not necessarily yield to cars. A couple of years ago, I was caught on the wrong side of the river as the monsoon set in, with no coverage and not enough fuel to get back where I came from.”
“I rise to speak on the motion moved by the member for Mallee regarding telecommunications. I couldn't agree more with the member; communication remains essential to rural and regional communities. For too many electorates such as mine, the digital revolution has been less of a revolution and more of a passive-aggressive email—at least, it would be if email were available. The lack of mobile and internet coverage across regional and remote communities is stymieing opportunity, creating negative health outcomes, making education harder to deliver and creating a safety issue on remote roads and for women fleeing DV scenarios. In too many communities, the second you are 800 metres out of town, the coverage drops out. In the trips I take up the cape, I know when I'm approaching town again as my phone starts pinging.”
“While those opposite are workshopping clever nicknames—I notice 'Nuclear-man' didn't get a run—we're getting on with the job. We were voted in to lead and to build Australia's future.”
“We're delivering them the economy they deserve and one that they can thrive in. Deliberately, wages were kept low, hurting people. But we've enshrined penalty rates. So, after I get back to Cairns tonight, when I go and have a beer with some mates on the weekend I'll know that the bloke serving me the beer is being paid properly. He's giving up his Sunday so I can enjoy mine. But the best thing about that beer? It's cheaper. Everybody loves cheaper beer. It's going down great guns in the far north. So I'll be having a cheaper beer from a bloke that I know is getting paid well as he saves up for a five per cent deposit for his first home. What a great day! We know that the job is not done. We know that there's more work to do.”