Tom Venning
Grey · Liberal Party · Australia
“Residential burglaries, commercial property theft and daylight shoplifting have left citizens and business owners feeling completely helpless as crime targets every sector of this great regional community. Police statistics show the town is in the midst of a spate of burglaries, with 34 incidents recorded in the first half of June alone.”
“For the Port Augusta community, the most difficult part of this crime wave is what they view as a revolving door bail system for serious juvenile offenders and a lack of quality youth diversion programs in the region. Police can only do so much.”
“Mr Kean was personally chosen by the Prime Minister to lead the Climate Change Authority. It has now been revealed that he spent over $32,000 on one single trip to Brazil last year for an international climate conference.”
“Imagine sitting around the dining table with your family and telling them, 'We're going to spend more money than we receive every year for the next 10 years.' You wouldn't. In fact, you can't, yet that's exactly what this Labor government and this Treasurer are doing. To pay for this, they deploy toxic taxes, assaulting aspiration.”
“Labor cannot manage money, so they continue to come after yours. The average Australian's paying 39 per cent more tax under this government. Since Labor was elected, Australia suffered the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world.”
“It's lifting prices, inflating government charges and pushing hardworking Australians into paying more tax. While Labor profits from this inflation, their tax cuts do not keep up. At 70c a day, they won't even buy a cup of coffee a week.”
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“Casual workers have lost their jobs and businesses are facing crippling losses of up to $400,000. The community is suffering deeply from this profound economic and environmental blow.”
“For the Port Augusta community, the most difficult part of this crime wave is what they view as a revolving door bail system for serious juvenile offenders and a lack of quality youth diversion programs in the region. Police can only do so much. The community-led K9 unit was actually helping, and I call on the Malinauskas government to fund this absolutely crucial community led service. There needs to be a collective revisit to both social services and the youth justice system before crime totally overruns Port Augusta. Normally, at this time of the year, Whyalla sees spectacular migration of tens of thousands of giant cuttlefish, drawing tourists from around the globe. Instead, the waters are empty and local livelihoods are under threat. Today I empathise with operators who have been forced to cancel their entire seasons.”
“Residential burglaries, commercial property theft and daylight shoplifting have left citizens and business owners feeling completely helpless as crime targets every sector of this great regional community. Police statistics show the town is in the midst of a spate of burglaries, with 34 incidents recorded in the first half of June alone. Locals are having their sense of safety shattered, with youth offenders disturbing them inside their own homes. Children as young as six are being used to sneak through gaps into homes and open doors from the inside. This brazen scourge has been so severe that insurance companies are refusing to cover businesses that have been subject to multiple incidents, forcing many to consider leaving the town altogether. Main Street retailers are experiencing an equally aggressive wave of daytime shoplifting.”
“A few weeks ago in this place I congratulated five students from Whyalla. Eli Coppins, Caelan Kaminski, Simon Coppins, Shannon Bayogus and Karman Randhawa are set to represent Australia, and the electorate of Grey, on the world stage at the H2 Grand Prix World Finals in Switzerland. Qualifying for the world championship was an incredible achievement in and of itself, but they have gone one better—in the early hours of this morning they became world champions. This is a remarkable achievement, and they have done the entire nation proud. Well done. The proud residents of Port Augusta are waking up to find intruders in their bedrooms as a youth crime wave plagues their town.”
“Mr Kean was personally chosen by the Prime Minister to lead the Climate Change Authority. It has now been revealed that he spent over $32,000 on one single trip to Brazil last year for an international climate conference. During this trip, Mr Kean appeared on a panel alongside executives of Woolemi Capital, despite being an executive of that very same private investment firm himself. I agree with my colleague the member for Wannon, Dan Tehan. He cannot remain chair of the public Climate Change Authority while concurrently serving in this private firm. At the very least, the perception of a conflict of interest warrants an investigation. The Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, needs to explain how he allowed the situation to fester, what action he has taken and if he still holds confidence in Mr Kean.”
“Imagine sitting around the dining table with your family and telling them, 'We're going to spend more money than we receive every year for the next 10 years.' You wouldn't. In fact, you can't, yet that's exactly what this Labor government and this Treasurer are doing. To pay for this, they deploy toxic taxes, assaulting aspiration. They are locking young Australians out of the opportunities afforded to older generations, by whacking taxes on savings, investment and small businesses. Australians work harder than ever, yet fall further and further behind. While we are talking about standards, it's not just standards of living that have fallen under Labor's integrity standards. Look no further than the Matt Kean issue, which simply does not pass the pub test.”
“It's lifting prices, inflating government charges and pushing hardworking Australians into paying more tax. While Labor profits from this inflation, their tax cuts do not keep up. At 70c a day, they won't even buy a cup of coffee a week. In contrast, at the current inflation rate, our tax-back guarantee would give a typical worker $400 back automatically each and every year. Living standards have collapsed, GDP per person has gone backwards, migration is running at around 2½ times higher than it was under the coalition and power bills are up 40 per cent. Meanwhile, Labor's record spending means the budget is forecast to be in debt and deficit for a decade, with debt about to pass $1 trillion.”
“Labor cannot manage money, so they continue to come after yours. The average Australian's paying 39 per cent more tax under this government. Since Labor was elected, Australia suffered the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. No matter how much spin and nonsense you get from the other side, they cannot avoid that fact—the biggest fall in living standards in the developed world. This goes to the heart of their failure. Every day brings another cost hit under this government. Fees, charges, household costs and fuel are all going up or being indexed. This inflation is Labor's silent but deadly tax. The government has kept inflation way above the target band of two to three per cent for way too long. It is still sitting at four per cent.”
“Matters that establish rights, obligations and legal protections should be contained in primary legislation unless there is a compelling reason to do otherwise. Delegated legislation certainly has an important role to play. It allows technical matters to be updated efficiently. It provides flexibility where circumstances generally—”
“Rather than parliament determining which events receive protection through legislation debated and passed in this place, those decisions would instead be made by the relevant minister through delegated legislation. The government says this will modernise the process. The government says it will create efficiencies, but efficiency alone is not sufficient justification for transferring legislative authority away from the parliament. Good lawmaking has never been solely about convenience. It has always been about accountability, transparency and ensuring that decisions affecting Australian people receive proper parliamentary scrutiny. The philosophy underpinning our legislative system is straightforward.”
“It protects the commercial rights associated with major sporting events by preventing the unauthorised production of official material—in simple terms, it helps stop counterfeit merchandise. It protects the legitimate commercial arrangements that underpin these major international sporting events. The coalition supports that objective. Indeed, there is broad bipartisan agreement that these protections are necessary and appropriate. The question before the House today is not whether those protections should exist—they already do. The real question before the parliament is much narrower. It is about how future sporting events are recognised under the act. Since 2014, every major sporting event covered by this legislation has been recognised through amendments to primary legislation. However, this bill proposes something different.”
“When our cricketers compete against England in the Ashes test, thousands of young boys and girls head into their own backyards pretending they are batting for Australia. When our Olympians and Paralympians stand proudly on the podium, they inspire countless young Australians to believe that anything is possible through hard work and determination. That inspiration matters. It is why protecting the integrity of major sporting events matters. It why protecting our official merchandise and intellectual property matters. It's why the parliament established the Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act back in 2014 under a coalition government. This legislation serves a purpose.”
“Even up in the APY Lands, in the remote parts of central Australia, local Indigenous boys and girls drive hours and hours just to play a game of footy. It is truly an incredible sight. Local sporting clubs are where our young people develop confidence, resilience, teamwork and leadership. They are where lifelong friendships are formed and where communities come together. Whether it's footy, cricket, baseball, netball, hockey or athletics, regional South Australians know the enormous value that sport brings to our communities. Every time Australia competes on the international stage, another generation of young Australians is inspired. When the Socceroos take to the field, children across Australia pull on the green and gold jerseys and imagine that one day that could be them.”
“It begins on the ovals, country football grounds, regional netball courts and local swimming pools. It begins with children lacing up their boots for the very first time. It begins with families volunteering at local sporting clubs and regional clubs. Clubs run on volunteers, and I'd like to thank all of those volunteers. It begins with communities investing in sporting facilities that give young Australians somewhere to train, somewhere to belong and somewhere to dream. In my electorate of Grey, I see that every single week in the most regional and remote areas of the country. In the regions, local sporting clubs are far more than places to play sport; they are the beating heart of our towns.”
“Last week, many of us had the privilege of meeting some remarkable young Australians here in Parliament House: athletes preparing to represent our nation at the upcoming Commonwealth Games. It was a powerful reminder of what Australian sport means to this country. These young men and women have dedicated years of their lives to chasing excellence. They have spent countless early mornings at training, countless afternoons travelling to competitions and countless weekends making sacrifices, while their friends enjoyed the freedoms of adolescent life. They've quietly pursued a dream that one day they might wear the green and gold on the world stage. That dream begins long before an athlete steps onto an Olympic track or into a World Cup stadium.”
“We would immediately put robust, built-in device safety tools directly into the capable hands of parents everywhere. We would aggressively hunt down predatory algorithms deliberately engineered to trap children. These toxic algorithms fuel highly addictive doomscrolling on endless social media feeds, destroying young minds. We must act now and comprehensively block livestreaming features to prevent the absolute horrors of child abuse material from spreading. The coalition demands real action, potent regulatory powers and competent ministerial leadership. The time for empty promises is completely over. The online playground is far too dangerous for half-baked measures and chaotic strategies. The coalition will continue fighting fiercely to ensure our children are permanently protected from these severe harms.”
“We also hear about phantom digital duty of care. This has involved big talk but absolutely zero delivery. More than a year ago, not a single line of legislation regarding this duty had been brought before this parliament. We just received the vague promises of a draft, followed by a further 12-month transition period before even one obligation takes effect. After four long years in power, they are still scrambling around. The political spin from Labor never stops, but the vital protection of our children never actually arrives. Consequently, our children remain exposed to online dangers every single day. We urgently need a different approach to solve this escalating national crisis. Much more needs to be done right now to keep children truly safe online. What we in the coalition would do is fundamentally different.”
“But simply increasing financial penalties cannot magically cure extreme administrative incompetence. The Prime Minister must stop governing by hollow press releases and taking international victory laps for completely broken promises. Everyday Australian parents and vulnerable children deserve highly competent administration, and they are certainly not getting it from this disorganised government. We are witnessing a terrifying trifecta of continuous foot dragging, unbelievable incompetence and dangerous legislative overreach happening all at once. This government displays completely backwards priorities when protecting our future digital generations today. They persistently let down children on social media, while relentlessly chasing widely condemned misinformation laws that threaten free speech across this nation.”
“The subsequent legislation only managed to pass both houses with our support. The parliament agreed on the fundamental goal, but Labor's execution has been a disaster. The numbers absolutely do not lie. We have a regulator who was sent into battle unarmed. While the entire framework collapsed at home, Communications Minister Anika Wells was in New York. She was burning massive sums of taxpayer money just to arrogantly boast about this broken ban to the United Nations. She allowed platforms to bolt on compliance measures at the last minute. Key definitions were left in absolute confusion. Circumvention remains rampant because of Labor's failures. The current government has completely dropped the ball, actively failing Australian parents and their children.”
“We confidently codified the Basic Online Safety Expectations, we created a powerful adult cyberabuse take-down scheme and we drastically slashed the time platforms have to strip illegal content from their feeds. This is not just empty political rhetoric; this is a very solid historical record. Furthermore, the proposed ban itself was born of a deep coalition belief that every childhood, and the innocence it comes with, is genuinely worth protecting. A coalition private member's bill initially forced strict age verification onto the national agenda. Labor knocked it back, then eventually bowed to immense public pressure and funded a trial in their federal budget. The coalition then formally pledged we would quickly deliver an effective ban within exactly 100 days. Only then did the Prime Minister scramble to catch up.”
“Back in 2015, we created the Children's eSafety Commissioner. This was the first dedicated online safety regulator anywhere on earth. The world certainly did not lead us in this critical endeavour. We proudly led the world, and many other advanced democracies are still closely copying our incredibly successful legislative model to protect everyone. In that year, we boldly built the very first scheme to forcefully compel platforms to take down intimate images shared without consent. We hit predators and completely non-compliant platforms with real penalties. Then we proudly passed the massive Online Safety Act. It remains the most comprehensive online safety regime in our national history.”
“The bill before us exists for one reason: it exists purely to frantically patch a massive ban that Labor completely botched. The coalition will always support giving regulators the strong teeth required to take on big tech, but let us be honest about exactly why those teeth are so desperately needed. They are needed because Labor's rushed implementation has been an absolute shambles from day one. Australian families deserve much better than a minister who arrogantly claims credit while leaving the regulator to awkwardly explain why these laws are simply not working. We in the coalition do not just endlessly talk about online safety; we actually built the premier global model for it. Every single major protection that the Labor Party now relies upon was originally legislated by the coalition government.”
“These are certainly not the comments of a confident person who feels she has been provided with a workable implementation framework by a capable minister. These admissions completely undermine the minister and her ridiculous claim in January that early figures were showing that this law is making 'a real, meaningful difference'. Instead, they indicate a deteriorating relationship between the independent eSafety Commissioner and the minister. The fundamental implementation of this critical policy has been chaotic from the start. The government's absolute first duty, absolutely, is to aggressively protect its citizens. Above all, it must protect its children. The sandpit and the playground of old moved online long ago, and, online, it is highly predatory, unpoliced and getting exponentially more dangerous for young people.”
“Her damning appraisal shows once again that communications minister, Anika Wells, is not up to the essential job of protecting young Australians from predatory online environments. In comments which laid bare the incompetence of the minister, the commissioner said the ban was flimsy 'scaffolding' that simply did not provide her with any potent powers. She added that she was 'not really keen on it when it was first discussed'. Taking on the biggest technology companies in the world is not like sticking a parking ticket on a windscreen. It is not easy. Actually, given how this government manage their projects, they would probably accidentally stick it on their own forehead and then hold a press conference to brag about it. The commissioner noted: … a regulator is only as good as the tools … that they're given.”
“The online safety of children is of critical importance to families, yet Australian parents and their children are being badly let down by a lazy government which has badly dropped the ball. They are being led by a communications minister who is seriously out of her depth and completely unable to deliver real results. Recently, the eSafety Commissioner provided criticism of Labor's exact design of the ban. It is further evidence of another monumental policy failure by this government. During a reported lunch meeting over a lovely beef cheek ragu and delicious swordfish, Ms Julie Inman Grant revealed her genuine thoughts to a journalist. She explicitly stated that the ban was a 'blunt-force approach' which was developed too quickly.”
“We have seen platforms added at the last moment, causing widespread confusion over the very definition of an age restricted social media platform. Reports of kids easily getting around age verification are rampant. The government proudly claims that millions of accounts belonging to young people have been removed, deactivated or restricted. However, this is misleading on a multitude of levels. We know for a fact that a huge proportion of those supposedly removed accounts are actually just Google accounts used for basic email and everyday purposes, completely unrelated to social media. The government are padding the numbers to hide their own immense legislative failures.”
“He is using this to distract the Australian people from his disastrous budget of endless mistruths, broken promises and higher taxes. It's quite funny, really; if the Prime Minister were to spend half as much time fixing the economy as he does looking for a convenient political distraction, we might actually see inflation drop. Instead, he treats online safety like a shiny object designed to trick frustrated voters. There is shockingly little evidence to suggest that teenagers have turned away from social media as a genuine consequence of this minimum-age law. The laws are failing in real time across our country, at all levels. In March this year, the eSafety Commissioner released a compliance update that revealed the age ban is dramatically failing. A staggering number of children are remaining on social media without any barriers.”
“The eSafety Commissioner was never given the necessary powers to enforce compliance against multinational technology giants. This glaring omission highlights that Minister Anika Wells is highly unqualified to be in the world of tech billionaires and their businesses. Rather than flying around the world attempting to take credit for coalition policy, the minister should have stayed home. She needed to do the hard work required to ensure this policy was properly designed and implemented. Today, we see an embarrassing admission that our oversight has been totally flawed, chaotic and ultimately harmful to our young children. Keir Starmer used a ban as a high-stakes distraction to try and save his crumbling leadership; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese plays the same card.”
“The Albanese government has delivered a social media ban that gives parents false hope and fails to keep children safe online. This is not a passing critique; this is a stark reality. Today, the coalition stands before you to expose the glaring deficiencies in their approach. We are witnessing a monumental failure of administration that directly compromises the safety of our most vulnerable Australians. The announcement to drastically double the penalty to massive financial extremes is a desperate admission of defeat. It confirms our deepest concerns regarding this flawed framework we see today. Labor completely botched this policy. The ban, while well intentioned, is poorly designed, dangerously rushed and badly implemented.”
“Putting aside state Labor's hypocrisy of spending 12 months asking the feds for a refund while not refunding their own fees, finally, state treasurer Tom Koutsantonis admitted today that 'it's something we could have fixed earlier'. Labor loves unfair taxes, and this is just another example. I call on Treasurer Jim Chalmers to take Kate's issue seriously, respond to my requests and, like his state colleagues, see the light and immediately refund the $44,000 that has been taken from Kate.”
“Yesterday Labor voted to increase taxes on widows and divorcees. That tells you everything you need to know about this government. This tax is appalling, but it doesn't surprise me, because over the last few weeks I've been advocating fiercely for a Whyalla constituent, Kate Edwards, who is a registered midwife. Unfortunately, Kate has been slapped with over 70 grand in taxes and fees because of an admin error when she bought her own home. Kate packed up her life in the United Kingdom to fill a skills gap in Whyalla, which saved a maternity ward that had been forced to close in 2023. Today, after pressure from Kate and my office, state treasurer Tom Koutsantonis apologised on air and has guaranteed that Kate will get her state fees of about 28 grand back.”
“He will back small businesses to invest in vital assets through a permanent $50,000 instant asset write-off for anyone with a turnover under $10 million. Furthermore, we will establish a future generations fund to ensure resource windfalls are used responsibly to ensure the future of our children.”
“I was pleased to see the announcement of a $105 million transitionary funding package for Nyrstar's Hobart and Port Pirie facilities. While this does bring a massive sigh of relief, smelter workers in Port Pirie should never have been left in a state of limbo for over a month, wondering if they had a future. The delay in communications was totally unacceptable. Minister Tim Ayres only found time last week to brief me through his advisers. Premier Malinauskas confirmed this package sustains operations until the end of November, and I hope the next negotiations are resolved before then so Port Pirie avoids another period of uncertainty. In contrast, Angus Taylor's budget in reply is a much more rounded and commonsense approach to the issues that matter to regional South Australians.”
“However, even with supplementary funding, South Australia remains the lowest-funded state in the nation on a per-kilometre basis. And it shows: the roads in regional South Australia are completely unacceptable. I want to call out a few areas. At the bottom end of the Yorke Peninsula, the roads down there are absolutely terrible. In the Adelaide Plains, the roads are absolutely terrible as well. And, of course, the Flinders Highway, the road that runs from Ceduna down to Port Lincoln, is very narrow and unsafe for the road trains that travel on that road very regularly. Regarding the Nyrstar lead smelter in Port Pirie, this budget initially contained no new funding to ensure its long-term viability, leaving workers hanging in the balance after the previous $57.5 million package expired on 1 May 2026.”
“The wine industry is absolutely on its knees—particularly in the Riverland but also in my electorate in the Clare Valley. This increases the pressure that our regional wine growers are facing. Looking at infrastructure specifically, less than two per cent of the infrastructure projects in Labor's budget are dedicated to the regions. Only two per cent of the budget being dedicated to the regions is absolutely outrageous. Yet Australians will pay $40 million in tax for Labor's Australia-European Union Free Trade Agreement, which is not free at all. It's just more carve-outs, including $38.6 million over four years, then $7.1 million annually to implement an agreement that sells out our farmers. I am pleased that, due to my advocacy, Labor increased supplementary road funding for South Australian councils in line with indexation.”
“And it's not because the price of fuel is keeping away our grey nomads; it's because of the anxiety around access to fuel. Well, to all the tourists out there, there is plenty of fuel up in these remote towns. Get in your camper trailers, get in your Winnebagos and go visit the outback. There is so much water up in Lake Eyre at the moment. It is beautiful. It looks like Florida with the amount of water and greenery up there right now. Despite receiving a comprehensive, sensible report from the Australian Grape & Wine advocacy group, Labor dedicated no funding to our wine industry. Rather, they decided to phase out the $10 million Wine Tourism and Cellar Door Grant package. This is the opposite of what they should be doing right now.”
“At a time when we need support for our regions struggling with the impacts of the fuel crisis, Labor has made massive cuts to regional funding. This includes $191.6 million from pest and disease, regional trade and drought funding. There is a $52 million cut to the Future Drought Fund alone, just as farmers battle difficult seasonal conditions across South Australia. Meanwhile, Labor allocated zero additional support for regional tourism operators who are vital small-business owners to small country towns severely impacted by this fuel crisis. I want to add that I recently went up to the northern parts of the electorate, up to Innamincka, to Oodnadatta and to Coober Pedy, and the tourism numbers are much lower than they otherwise would be.”
“It is disappointing to see Labor axe critical communication funding for regional Australia. The previous coalition government delivered 56 mobile phone towers in the electorate of Grey. Two have been delivered in the last four years—two versus 56. They have cut the Better Connectivity Plan for Regional and Rural Australia by reprioritising funding. This comprises $116 million in 2026-27 and a further $49.6 million in the forward estimates. The plan included future rounds of the Mobile Black Spot Program, the Regional Connectivity Program, the On Farm Connectivity Program, disaster and telecommunications resilience measures, the Regional Tech Hub and the National Audit of Mobile Coverage. Regional Australians are crying out for better connectivity, and Labor are not listening.”
“That is why the electorate of Grey has the lowest access to child care in the nation. It's simply not good enough. The one-size-fits-all approach to child care does not work in small communities. We have a universal education system in this country, and I'm proud of that. When a community gets smaller, even if there are eight kids left in that community, we still seem to keep the school open, but it does not apply to our healthcare system. It's not good enough. I condemn Labor's 2026 budget. For regional South Australians, this is the budget of broken promises. Regional Australians face at least $11 billion of cuts to vital sectors such as infrastructure, trade, drought funding and critical communications. This budget is a clear illustration that Labor has forgotten regional South Australia.”
“The electorate of Grey has the lowest access to child care in the entire country. One-third of families in Grey do not have access to child care. As I said before, we have a shortage of nurses in the electorate of Grey. Well, there are plenty of nurses that can't get into the workforce because they can't get their kids into child care. The Albanese Labor government talks about universal child care. Well, it's certainly not the case in my region. The problem is that the economic model of our childcare system is based on fees per kids in a centre. A childcare centre cannot be profitable unless you have a minimum of 60 kids in your centre. Well, in my electorate, we have a lot of towns with between 100 and 500 people. In those towns the childcare model simply does not work.”
“At the same time, we saw a state Labor minister say that your postcode shouldn't determine your healthcare outcomes. Well, that flies in the face of what we're seeing in South Australia right now. We had birthing services close in Kapunda only two months ago, and now we understand that it's permanently closed. As I said yesterday in the House, I'm calling on Mark Butler and the state health minister to address these issues we see in regional South Australia immediately. It is completely unacceptable that if you grow up in and live in the regions, you have worse healthcare outcomes. You do not live as long if you grow up in regional South Australia today as compared to our city cousins. Child care is an enormous handbrake on the economic growth in our regions.”
“I rise to speak about the Regional Ministerial Budget Statement 2026-27. We are seeing a great divide in this country between metropolitan Australia and regional Australia, and no greater is that gap between regional South Australians and metropolitan South Australians than in health care, particularly healthcare outcomes. We're all familiar with the Indigenous healthcare gap and the 14 metrics that this government has set, the majority of which are actually going backwards. But we're seeing a significant growing gap in regional health care. Whether that is access to GPs, access to surgeries, even access to things like pharmacies, we are getting left behind under the Albanese Labor government. Only last week, the birthing services in both Jamestown and Crystal Brook stopped; they are being diverted to Port Pirie.”
“Governments spend millions recruiting skilled healthcare workers from overseas only to burden them with punitive charges and make staying in regional Australia more difficult. Regional communities deserve better than this. This is not simply about Cate Edwards. It is about every nurse, doctor, midwife and allied health professional considering whether to call Australia home. If the federal government is serious about strengthening regional health care, it cannot continue to discourage the very workforce we rely upon. When a highly skilled midwife chooses Whyalla, chooses regional South Australia and chooses to make Australia their home, our government should be opening the door, not slamming it shut and handing them a bill.”
“It only reopened after determined recruitment efforts secured experienced professionals like Kate Edwards. Kate's permanent role provides women in Whyalla with dependable maternity care they otherwise would not have access to. Even South Australia's then Labor health minister Chris Picton wrote to our treasurer requesting a fee waiver. How has the Treasurer responded? Absolute crickets. It gets worse. While Minister Picton has asked the federal Labor government to waive their fees, his own state Labor government have served up more than $28,000 in their own taxes in the worst case of hypocrisy I have ever seen. Despite our calls, the federal Labor government has ignored Kate and persisted with a system that penalises the very people regional Australia are trying to attract. It's absolute madness. The irony is impossible to ignore.”
“I say Kate's work is in the national interest, and shame on those of you who say otherwise. We need more people like her. Because of this madness, Kate feels conned by this government. Kate was forced to use her inheritance, obtained from her grandmother, to cover these unfair costs to stay in Whyalla. Frankly, I was embarrassed to learn of the story of what Kate has experienced. She has given up so much to move to Australia and fill a critical skills gap. I had to apologise to her on behalf of our federal and state Labor governments. It is absolutely outrageous. This type of treatment of essential birthing staff in regional SA is completely unacceptable, and it sends the wrong message. The birthing service of Whyalla, a town of 22,000 people, was forced to close in 2023 because of critical staff shortages.”
“Kate is amazing. Kate answered Australia's call for skilled healthcare workers. She packed up her life in the UK, moved to regional South Australia and filled a critical skills gap in Whyalla's maternity services. Eighteen months ago, Kate bought into the Australian dream when she purchased her first home. For those of you playing at home, what do you think this Labor government has done to thank her? If your answer was slapping her with an $89,000 fee in taxes and charges, you would be right. It's all because of admin errors that weren't her fault. To make a bad situation even worse, Kate was threatened with a $100,000 fine if she didn't pay up. When a fee waiver was sought, Kate was refused on the basis that she was deemed by this government to be a foreign investor and that it was not in the national interest.”
“Yesterday I raised the alarm about the SA Labor government's failure to properly address birthing service shortages in Crystal Brook, Jamestown and Kapunda. Expecting mothers across the mid-north are being forced to travel long distances to give birth, and the decision to divert birthing staff has destroyed their continuity of care. You would think this terrible situation might motivate the federal and state Labor governments to put some long-term solutions on the table to address this issue, but, Mr Speaker, you would be very, very wrong. Instead, the federal government is doing the exact opposite by actively making it harder to attract and retain midwives and birthing staff in regional South Australia. Kate Edwards is a registered midwife working in the Whyalla hospital. What she is experiencing right now is absolutely shocking.”
“A CFMEU official arrogantly told a contractor executive that nothing would be changed in the agreement, proudly proving that no actual genuine negotiation happened. Independent Treasury modelling estimated it skyrocketed project costs by 25 per cent. Stakeholders are absolutely united in their profound alarm. Split the bill now. (Time expired)”
“Because they limit fundamental freedom of association and completely obliterate the central procurement principle of value for taxpayer money. They transform Commonwealth procurement into a blunt weapon for pushing union agreements onto fiercely independent, local small businesses. Let me return to Labor's romantic partner, the CFMEU. If you want to know what this bill achieves, you only need to look at the explosive Watson report into the horrific corruption and misconduct in the CFMEU's Victorian construction branch, Rotting from the top . Watson systematically found that the enterprise agreement system thoroughly corrupted, describing it as utterly brazen, old-fashioned, pay-to-play corruption. Watson found there was absolutely no genuine bargaining occurring.”
“It only excuses discrimination that inherently favours enterprise agreement coverage. There is absolutely no equivalent exemption for preferencing a non-agreement employer. Worse still, this bill creates a terrifying new concept called a Commonwealth contractual arrangement chain to brutally enforce these new laws. If the Commonwealth contracts company A and company A subcontracts company B, company B is legally protected if it brutally preferences an employee with a union covered enterprise agreement, because its overarching contract demands it. This means this insidious bargaining incentive can aggressively flow down the entire supply chain, completely infecting every single level of contracting. Why are these provisions so terrifyingly concerning?”