Ben Small
Forrest · Liberal Party · Australia
“My question is to the Prime Minister. Aussie legend Joseph Daoud spent $17½ thousand of his own money on billboards telling the Labor government to drop their ambition taxes. He's paid up again, winning an auctioned tennis match at the Lodge to get the Prime Minister's attention.”
“What creates that situation is where people are forced into a choice no Australian should have to make—a choice between getting care or keeping up with the bills. That's just not good enough.”
“Health care in this country, despite the press releases and the political spin, is under real pressure. In regional communities like mine, the pressure continues to mount on families who simply can't afford it. We're seeing hospitals under strain and emergency departments stretched thin.”
“I was recently contacted by Kim in my electorate who shared his telling experience with our local healthcare system. Kim doesn't need to see a doctor very often, but, on this occasion, he required a basic consultation by phone. He was told that it would cost him $75 for a few minutes on the phone.”
“The dissenting report the coalition has tabled in response to this details a litany of gross overreach on the part of this partisan witch-hunt because, ultimately, this is anything but a fair, balanced and impartial approach to assessing the feedback of the Australian community that we saw in the wake of the 2025 federal election.”
“By leave—Unfortunately, I stand here today to convey to the House that the coalition's position is that one of the most serious committees in the parliament has been reduced to a one-eyed, hyperpartisan witch-hunt of a group of religious Australians.”
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“Companies like Fortescue, Northern Star, Mineral Resources, Pilbara Minerals and Liontown were all speculative miners funded by mum-and-dad investors who understood the risk and took it anyway. They are the companies that are building the prosperity that underwrites our standard of living—a standard of living that is declining under this government. Why is it that this basic question of fairness seems to escape both the government and our new teal party here? A tech founder in Sydney or Melbourne might well risk everything to build a start-up, and the political left falls over itself to praise their entrepreneurial courage.”
“WA's net contribution to the Commonwealth is more than $13,000 per person, which is 19 times higher than the next contributor, New South Wales, which is chipping in $700 per person. Every other state and territory in this nation has their hand out. They have their hand out at the same time as living standards are declining. Here's the kicker: with the assault on capital gains tax making the investment of mums and dads in shares ever less attractive, is it really the case that we're going to see founders hooking up a caravan, driving into the desert and hiring a drill rig with perhaps the last of the money from that register of shareholders—those mums, dads and aspirational Australians who have backed them in, hoping that this tenement, this time, might well be the one?”
“It is from the mining sector in Western Australia. It is high time that they remember that the big holes today that are spitting out the cash that pays for Medicare, the NDIS and our defences started as small holes funded by mum-and-dad investors 20, 30 or even 40 years ago. Western Australia's mining and resources sector contributes more to the national economy than any single other industry in this nation. Literally billions in GST, company tax and income tax comes from the incredibly well-paid workers in the Pilbara donned in fluoro. I know that because I was one not that long ago. They are the funds that prop up the Commonwealth budget that would be unrecognisable without it.”
“Their living standards are down, their taxes are up, and their interest rates are high and going higher. It makes it harder and harder for Aussies to make ends meet. That is why we are in here today talking about the living standards that Australians experience, not trying to redefine what Australians know to be true. In recent days, in the wake of a budget of betrayal built on Labor lies, we've seen the government out there trying to defend the indefensible, along with their mates the teals, who are very close to coming out, I see, loud and proud as a party today. They are arguing that it's the tech sector alone that should be exempt from this government's wicked assault on capital gains in this country. I'd remind the teals and the government of where the wealth and prosperity in this nation comes from.”
“I have seen and heard it all now—a motion about living standards in the House, and the Treasurer has got Labor MPs in here today trying to redefine what living standards are. Aussies know what living standards are, and they know that they are lower today than the day that this Prime Minister took office. Indeed, real wages have fallen by three per cent, and they are still falling. But these aren't economic statistics that we debate at roundtables and productivity summits like those opposite. These are the experiences of Australians today who are poorer than the day that this government took office. Australians know that every time they leave a supermarket, they walk out of a cafe or they open their power bill. Australians are being hit by a trifecta from this mob.”
“If we really had a one-stop shop for approvals, to get projects moving in WA, we certainly wouldn't need 700 people at a cost of many hundreds of million of dollars here in a new Commonwealth environmental protection agency. This budget is a shameful betrayal of regional Western Australians.”
“It does nothing for the people of regional Western Australia, the people that I am fortunate enough to come to this place to fight for. Those opposite blame the war in Iran for all of it. It is a disgrace, because at the same time the Australian Public Service here in Canberra has grown to more than 217,000 staff. The budget includes funding for some 700 people for the new National Environmental Protection Agency. At the same time, the government's promising to cut red tape and get projects moving in states like mine. However, four months after the passage of the EPBC reforms, Minister Watt travelled to Perth to announce there would be eight months of discussion to land an MOU by the end of the year.”
“This is a housing crisis, and this government is now entering its fifth year running this country. Those opposite talk about what went before. It's time we saw some accountability and some ownership from the bloke who promised Australians that he would be the guy who would show up, who would take responsibility and be accountable, but I guess that was just another promise broken. Another time that the Prime Minister look down the barrel of a camera and promised the Australian people one thing before the election, only to do something completely different the day after. This is a budget of betrayal. It is built on Labor lies. It contains higher debt, higher taxes and higher spending. It also promises fewer homes and more migrants.”
“The reasons for that are obvious to anyone who has bothered to look: too many people have been welcomed to Australia too quickly, and the standards for those migrants coming to Australia has been too low at a time when we are delivering fewer and fewer houses. In Western Australia, the number of dwelling completions has decreased every quarter for the last year. More migrants arriving in a country and a state with fewer houses being built is obviously pushing up prices. It is obviously pushing up rents. And that is why, in car parks next to the Bunbury Outer Ring Road, there are things resembling shantytowns now, with more than 100 people living in them—all with cars, all with jobs and some, shamefully, with kids forced to live alongside them in their cars.”
“Tuesday 12 May 2026 will go down as the day that aspiration died in Australia, and unfortunately people like my farmers, small-business people, fishermen and other agricultural operators are the ones who will pay the price of this. The reality is that some 13 million Australians have been promised a $250 carrot from 2028. The bad news is that, with inflation raging, the benefit of that will be gobbled up in real terms in just six months from today. That means Australians are poorer today than they were on the day the Albanese government came to power, and that situation will only get worse from here. We've seen immense pressure on rents and house prices across the south-west of WA.”
“And, indeed, in regional communities like mine, where we've already seen slashing to things like regional travel allowance, it seems that those who live outside a city will bear the cost of that disproportionately. But that increase in debt means more taxpayer money diverted into interest payments rather than delivery of services, especially the delivery of services in regional WA, where we have been ignored for too long. So the major changes—including capital gains tax discounting being adjusted to an inflation model, restricting negative gearing to new builds and increasing the taxes on trusts—target aspiration.”
“They're going to pay through bracket creep, inflation raging at between five and seven per cent, as well as the policy changes that are dressed up as tax reform but are really a tax grab. They expose the central lie of this budget. The Treasurer has claimed that this budget rebalances the taxation revenue in Australia from salaries and wages towards assets and investment income. However, his own budget papers show the share of personal income tax rising over the decade ahead. This is a budget that is shamelessly a tax grab and attempts no serious tax reform at all. They rely heavily on banking and some $37 billion in projected NDIS savings, which are backloaded and uncertain.”
“Margaret River Hospital has been unchanged for some 25 years, despite the population surge around it and the huge numbers of tourists that flock to that part of the world every year. Any money for the upgrade there? Not a cent. Indeed, the only infrastructure funding in the regional budget statement for Western Australia is a $4 million road. It is a disgrace that the Prime Minister and his government pretend to be a friend of Western Australia whilst handing down a budget of betrayal, built on Labor lies and broken promises, that leaves Western Australia, particularly regional Western Australia, high and dry. The reality is that Australians are going to pay more for this spending spree.”
“The reality is that regional Australia has been shafted by this budget, and none more so than my community in the south-west of WA. There's $3.7 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop in Victoria, a fanciful project that the Allan government seems determined to do no matter the cost. And we all know why; it's because of the CFMEU and their cartel mates demanding more and more infrastructure funding to be funnelled into the organised crime links that they have. There's some $30 billion in money that's already been siphoned off by organised crime and the bikies in Victoria, and yet more billions are being pumped in by this government. However, is there $25 million for the Busselton Margaret River Airport? Not a cent.”
“So let's have a little bit of a deep dive into it because the economy is sick. Growth, on the government's own numbers, will slow to 1.75 per cent, whilst inflation rages in our country at five per cent in the optimistic case, or pushing seven per cent in a more pessimistic case. That means that already Australians are poorer today than they were on the day the Albanese government was elected, and that will only get worse in the years ahead. We have been in a real GDP per capita recession for years, and that will continue on the government's own numbers. The budget did contain some 130 new measures, reflecting the continued expansion of government, which is pushing some 27.1 per cent of GDP. There's billions of dollars of spending in the short term, despite claims of restraint. But where's the good news for regional Australia?”
“Indeed, the government's own projections show that there is no sign of a surplus until at least the middle of the next decade, and they are sneakily squirrelling away a bunch of spending in off-budget numbers, racking up some $256 billion in total spending on the national credit card. That is money that our kids will have to pay back, so to dress this up as a budget that somehow addresses intergenerational fairness while pushing that credit card debt onto our kids is a disgrace. With more than $1 trillion in national debt on the horizon and rising beyond that, we are seeing our debt climb towards some $1.2 trillion over the decade, or some $37,000 for every Australian. This is a government addicted to spending more than it saves, and it highlights the fact that there's a big difference between what Labor says and what Labor does.”
“Australians have seen a budget built on Labor lies and broken promises with higher debt, higher taxes, more migrants and fewer homes. It is absolutely the last thing that Australians needed, particularly those Australians who live in regional communities like mine in the south-west of WA. The Prime Minister has sought to sow his politics of division through this budget and divide Australians between those who live in the city and those who live in the country in some sort of sick postcode lottery. We know that they're racking up spending at an almost unprecedented rate because these budget papers show that this is the highest taxing government in Australian history outside times of war or pandemic.”
“Thousands have already signed my petition to do so, because it's time that we stood up for those men and women who wear the blue uniform every day, facing unknown dangers whenever they leave home, and this is a very simple reform that would make a meaningful difference to every single police officer across our country.”
“We can and we must do more to stand with those who keep our community safe, especially as Australians have never felt less safe in their own homes. We're calling on the Albanese Labor government to cut taxes for police by extending the fringe benefit tax concessions already available to ambulance workers and other frontline workers. It's a straightforward, commonsense reform that would lift take-home pay by putting some $5,000 a year straight into the pockets of police and would send a clear message that our police are genuinely valued. People across Forrest are telling me that they want to back our officers and stand with the thin blue line that keeps us safe each and every day.”
“While millions and billions flow into Perth vanity projects, regional producers have simply been told to find a workaround. But you can't work around higher costs, lost income and the risk of fatal accidents. The people of south-west WA do not want excuses. They want bridges that they and the businesses they depend on can actually drive on. Police officers have our backs every day, and it's time that we had theirs. Across Australia, police officers are facing more pressure than ever before. They're being asked to do more with less, all the while navigating a system that is making an already demanding job even harder. Too often, they feel undervalued and unsupported by policies that fail to recognise the reality of frontline policing.”
“Today I rise to give voice to the farmers, transport operators and primary producers across Western Australia's South West—people left behind by failures at both the state and federal level. Some 26 key bridges have suddenly been downgraded—some to just 11 tonnes. Eleven tonnes is not a safety limit; it is a regional blockade. It's heavier than many tractors and far below the weight of the milk tankers and livestock trucks that are essential for our food supply. Producers are being forced into long detours. There are higher fuel costs—in an already high-fuel-cost environment—lost labour hours and reduced productivity. Worse still, heavy freight is being pushed onto local roads built for families, school buses and growing suburbs. You don't improve road safety by forcing 50-tonne road trains onto local roads in school zones.”
“We are expecting plans on this side to ensure this country emerges stronger and more prosperous from this crisis, but the best this bloke has is a copy of our plan from last week. Which brings us to this banger: One of the things that's characterised this government is it's always too little, too late. Yet again, ladies and gentlemen, the words of the Prime Minister. Here's a good one: This Government will blame any weaknesses on crisis, but that is disingenuous at best. I wish they were my words, but again, these were the prophetic words from this prime minister. It was tough to pick a favourite. But who said: For this Prime Minister, the announcement is always about him. The press conference, the photo op, but when it comes to the part that affects you, his only interest is blaming someone else. That'd be this prime minister.”
“Let's play a game today and pin the quote on the donkey. First up, in 2021, who said, 'At this moment of crisis, the Prime Minister has failed to lead'? That'd be the bloke who is now the Prime Minister of this country. Next up, in the greatest hits of 2021, someone said, 'The Prime Minister has no plan—just more confusion and blame shifting.' These are words from this prime minister, who is the same bloke telling us that there's more fuel in this country than ever before while nationally, today, there are more than 800 servos without fuel. Here's another pearler from 2021: They knew national leadership in times of crisis was about more than mere preservation, it was a question of vision, of courage.”
“Indeed, in Bunbury I was standing there—$3.26 a litre for diesel on the weekend—with a tradesman who does 70,000 kays a year saying to me that he just didn't know how long it was sustainable to do so. That's to say nothing of the travel for work, school or medical appointments. The stress placed on household budgets was real and it was felt right across the community. And that's why, as a member of the coalition, I listened, and we came to the table with a policy that delivers some $16 million in savings every single day at the bowser. And, finally, the government has joined us in giving Australians the break that they need.”
“It is so good that the Prime Minister has finally seen the light after being dragged kicking and screaming to axe the tax on fuel by the coalition. On Friday, of course, we announced our policy to halve the fuel excise tax for every Australian for the next three months, which is absolutely great news for the people of Forrest because the Prime Minister has joined us in axing the tax, saving Australians $0.26 a litre on fuel. In recent weeks, I heard from Forrest locals who told me plainly that they needed help. Families, workers and small-business owners in a regional community like mine travel great distances, whether for work, business, family life or leisure. So, as fuel prices continue to rise, they were feeling the pinch. Prices at the bowser have increasingly started with a three.”
“The reality is that house prices are skyrocketing, rents are through the roof, availability is through the floor, and this government is continuing to pump out media releases not new housing.”
“Indeed, interest deductibility has been a thing since 1936, and it was, of course, the Labor government in the 1980s that introduced the capital gains tax in 1985. If you think about it, before 1985, there was no capital gain that could be taxed, meaning that property investors somehow 'never had it better', and yet we didn't have a housing crisis then. Tax settings did not cause this housing crisis, but rather the failure to manage Australia's migration and binding our housing and construction sector up with new levels of red tape regulation and restriction has created the perfect storm, making housing less affordable, less available and less within reach for young Australians than ever before. Again, you can't live in a Labor media release. You have to live in the real world.”
“The average cost per dwelling under the fund exceeds some $600,000, and 70 per cent of the projects are in planning or procurement stages. They're not even at the point where Minister O'Neil, in her high vis with her steel caps on, could carry some bricks around the building site. I just find it staggering that, when Australians are doing it so tough, those on the government benches are so keen to look at them down the barrel of a camera and say, 'You've never had it better.' These challenges in the housing market weren't caused by tax settings, let's be clear. Tax arrangements didn't change magically in the last couple of years when house prices started to skyrocket just as demand went through the roof and construction collapsed.”
“And that is what we are missing in this debate. Across declared growth corridors, with zone structure plans in place, roads are inadequate or missing, and power and water connections are delayed. Indeed, in my own state of Western Australia it is not uncommon to wait 18 months for a power connection for new developments whilst infrastructure in our community—sewerage, schools, transport links and health care—is under incredible strain. So approved developments are not proceeding to the construction of new homes because the enabling infrastructure simply isn't there. The Housing Australia Future Fund has delivered 895 homes, which is less than 0.2 per cent of the annual housing stock required. At that rate alone it would take 60 years to clear the existing waiting list for government housing.”
“But, in the time the Albanese government's been in office, Australia's population has grown by 1.6 million people, creating demand for some 640,000 additional dwellings. So we've got fewer dwellings being built and more people coming to Australia, yet somehow it is a galloping shock to the government that house prices are through the roof and rents are skyrocketing at the same time. The government's own advisory body has belled the cat and said that the government's going to miss its own target by 60,000 homes. So 60,000 homes is the shortfall that we're talking about. But, again, if you read the media releases, this is all great. Renting is more affordable, homeownership is within reach and life is great. Housing can't be delivered in isolation. It depends on infrastructure to unlock new land for development.”
“Listening to the government speakers today, you'd think that under the Albanese government renting is fairer, homeownership is more affordable and, indeed, life is better for Australians. The reality couldn't be further from the truth. For all their talk about how many houses the government's building, you'd almost think that Minister O'Neil's down on a building site in high vis, with her steel caps on, slinging some bricks around. But the reality is that dwelling completions are now running at 170,000 homes a year—compared to more than 200,000 homes a year under the coalition. So less housing stock is being built in Australia. At the same time, under the well commented on migration surge, we've had epic demand for new homes in Australia. Their answer was the National Housing Accord.”
“It's one thing to announce housing targets and have glossy brochures, but, without the infrastructure to deliver them, that's all this will be: a glossy brochure. And it won't be restoring the dream of homeownership for Australians. I love the way that the government likes to talk about 'government housing'. That's effectively what social and affordable housing is. It is state housing, and, unfortunately, some 640,000 Australians are languishing on a waiting list, looking for real action from this government, not more media releases.”
“As I say, you can't live in a Labor media release. You have to live in the real world. The reality is that, in the real world, housing is more expensive, rentals are more scarce, and affordability is poorer. The supply of housing can't be delivered in isolation, of course, because infrastructure is the missing link, and this government doesn't really have a plan to deal with it. The reality is that road networks, power, sewerage and water connection issues are leaving zoned, approved and otherwise fit-for-purpose development land sitting idle. We have growth corridors. We have developers ready to go. We have obviously huge demand for housing in Australia, and all that we are looking for is leadership from the government to provide the essential infrastructure that turns paddocks into suburban homes.”
“It's effectively having the government as a shareholder in your own home, while you pay all of the maintenance and upgrade costs yourself. It's not structural reform; it is just simply rationed assistance in a truly broken system. Supply targets, as I said, are continually being missed, because this government claims it's building more homes—we all understand that it's actually the private sector that builds homes in Australia. We need some 240,000 of them every year to keep up with population growth. Under the National Housing Accord, we're already tens of thousands of homes behind schedule and going backwards by some 30,000 a year. At the current rate, we are simply going to make this problem worse. Not one state or territory across the entire country is on track to meet its housing targets.”
“Without any increase in supply, they have simply poured petrol on the demand fire in Australia, and it is little wonder that the median price of a house in Australia is now some $860,000, or more than eight times the median household. It takes 11 years on an average wage to save a deposit for a home. This government's idea, instead, is that having inflated housing prices with their five per cent scheme—people are now expected to take on a 95 per cent mortgage with interest rates only going up and up and up, with their inflation fuelled spending spree continuing unabated. The scheme's capped at some 10,000 places a year, and less than 300 purchases have been completed nationally, and that leaves Australians to co-own their house with the government.”
“Low-income renters are spending more than one third of their income on rent, and, in a majority of Australian markets, less than 20 per cent of rental stock is affordable for someone on the minimum wage. It is abundantly clear to us on this side of the House that you cannot regulate your way out of a supply shortage. Red tape is killing the construction of new housing in Australia, and, until this can be fixed, renters ultimately pay the price. The government claims its five per cent deposit scheme has made a difference to first home buyers, but this scheme hasn't built a single home and hasn't increased or corrected the disparity between supply and demand, and it has pushed housing prices even higher.”
“This motion suggests that, under Labor, the housing crisis is easing, renting is fairer, homeownership is within reach for young Australians and the government is changing lives. Unfortunately, Australians can't live in Labor media releases. They only live in the real world. In the real world, housing is more expensive, more scarce and more insecure than it was when this government took office. Renting today is not easier, fairer nor more affordable. In fact, renters today face the worst rental affordability in some two decades—worse than at any time during the GFC and worse than at any time under a coalition government. National median rents have risen by more than 30 per cent.”
“Expedited approvals and creation of special economic zones, or even thinking about investment incentives in an industry focused way, rather than a geographically focused way, is the sort of big-picture thinking that you'd expect from a government who was prepared to lead this country out of a crisis with a view to leaving us stronger, more prosperous and more resilient as a country. Thinking differently about this means costing these sorts of initiatives differently as well. Ultimately, there's no taxation revenue to forgo where there is no industrial activity occurring in the first place. We need solutions from the government, and we're getting none.”
“Every day LNG, coal and iron ore ships leave Australia bound for markets throughout South-East Asia, and we have an opportunity to get seafarers on those ships. If we adopted UK-style income tax exemptions for seafarers outside the country for more than 180 days a year, that would narrow the gap between employing Australians and employing international seafarers, ensure the government shares just a trifling amount of the cost, and set us up for long-term success. The answer isn't always more spending. That's where this government is going wrong, even in the depths of an energy crisis.”
“Well, a big part of it is the Environmental Defenders Office that this government continues to feed money to. We saw most recently, in the case of the Barossa project, that the EDO and their cronies in the green movement had used a totally baseless so-called expert to hold up a billion-dollar project on the basis of an absolute fiction. That needs to stop, it needs to stop now and the government should be taking action in this respect. When it comes to the importation of oil and, indeed, everything that comes to and leaves this country in a ship, the obvious imperative is that we have a capability as a sovereign nation with skilled seafarers. It takes 10 years to train a ship's captain but only 18 months to build a tanker. The importance of starting this process today, during the depths of an energy crisis, can't be overstated.”
“Ultimately, our banks and finance companies responded to activist pressure. So let's bring on a real debate about limiting shareholder activism in Australia where it distracts companies from doing what they ought to be doing. Project approvals in this country for oil and gas developments are pushing towards a decade. Of course, that can blow out when they're subject to extensive lawfare. The use of AI and other technologies to get approvals down should be the goal of this government during this crisis. Why is it that we can't use AI to get projects approved in three months? Why is it that we see these endless and largely baseless, very vexatious appeals clogging up our courts and holding back our companies from developing energy infrastructure in Australia?”
“Our large banks have publicly and loudly declared since 2023 that they will no longer fund oil developments in Australia. Then we wonder why we are a nation that is dependent on imports from overseas for more than 90 per cent of our liquid fuels. Why are we not talking about banning those who hold banking and credit licences in Australia from defunding a legitimate and lawful exploitation of hydrocarbons in this country? That is action No. 1 the government could take today to set the conditions for Australia to resolve this crisis and emerge from it a stronger nation. Industry super funds and their activist directors that are plonked on company boards are more focused on DEI than they are on drilling. That needs to change and it needs to change now. This also caused a finance problem.”
“The saying goes: never waste a crisis. Indeed this is a crisis in Minister Bowen's own words. During a crisis, it's reasonable for Australians to look to their government for leadership, for options and for a plan. Instead of the spin and rhetoric that we heard from the 'minister for climate change and a little bit of energy', which was well spoken about by the member for Groom, I'd like today to focus on what the government isn't doing. The government isn't proposing serious policy reform that will enable Australia to once again be an energy independent, sovereign and resilient nation. How did we get here? We got here because net zero policies have prevented oil developments in Australia from being funded and financed.”
“Then there are 500 service stations around Australia running dry, and farmers in our country can't get their crops in, and, suddenly, it's a crisis again, so let's have a second National Cabinet. I'm reminded that, on 11 April 2022, someone said: I won't blame someone else, I'll accept responsibility. On 24 April 2022, they said: Australia needs a government that will accept responsibility and not seek to blame others … Who said that? That would be the Prime Minister of Australia. Labor hasn't been upfront with Australians. Fuel is not guaranteed in this country, Australians are hurting and it is clear that government has lost control and has no plan to get Australia back on track.”
“There's no crisis, so the Minister for Energy and Resources told us. So why were fuel stations running out? Because you were panic buying, apparently! But still, he leant against the dispatch box here in parliament and said, 'There's no crisis.' Six ships were cancelled. It's the first time the energy minister has managed to stop the boats in Australian history. 'Hang on,' he says, 'there are more coming.' From where? The gulf of America. Is it any wonder that we're starting to see diesel prices exceeding $3 at the bowser. Now, he says it's a crisis, a national fuel crisis. So, does the PM take action? No, because the National Cabinet decided there's no crisis.”
“I move an amendment to the amendment moved by Ms Watson-Brown, as circulated in my name: That all words after "whilst" be omitted with a view to substituting the following words: "not declining to give the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026 a second reading, the House: (1) notes the Leader of the House has previously stated that the reason Governments rush legislation is because 'they don't want there to be a debate in the people's house about the impact of this legislation'; (2) notes the Government's shameful opportunism in preventing the House's consideration of the Fair Work Amendment (Fairer Fuel) Bill 2026, or the impact of the legislation; and (3) calls on the Government to explain why these provisions for a temporary crisis are permanent".”
“Local people who enjoy eating local seafood are now, as a result of the Labor government, going to be eating God knows what caught God knows where. To come in here and listen to the hypocrisy of a Labor government that's crowing about its support for Australia's primary industries—it's shameful.”
“He was having dinner in Perth. If you've got a job title like Minister for the South West, it's time you got out from under the doona, Don, and did your job: standing up for the people of the south-west who have been hit with this unfair and unexplained fishing ban. It is frankly disgraceful that he's got plenty of time to turn up for photo opportunities, but, when it comes to listening to locals who have been impacted by a decision of his government—a Labor government—he's nowhere to be seen. Every day, this ban is having a detrimental impact on my community. Last week, I visited a fish and chip shop owner who's proud to source his produce locally, prepare it locally and sell it to locals. The reality is that prices are going to escalate for him, and the supply will have to come from elsewhere.”
“If you look at Vietnam as just one example, the degree of fish extraction per square kilometre of fishery controlled waters means that Vietnam fishes at a concentration some 23 times higher than the WA demersal fishery, and yet this government's looking West Australians in the eye and claiming that the fishery is unsustainable. Just 33 days after the Commonwealth signed off on the fishery as being sustainable and in fact meeting global standards for sustainability, the state government knocked these businesses out at the crease. It's another example of a government obsessed with its image rather than the reality experienced by locals. Last month, hundreds of angry locals rallied together to support our local fishing industry and to cry out for a fair go for our recreational anglers. Where was the state member for Bunbury?”
“But, thanks to Labor, that figure will be less than half this year. Aussies will be eating God knows what caught God knows where, because the reality is that the supply gap will be filled with imported produce, and we can tell you exactly where that's coming from. It's coming from less sustainable and less ethical fisheries across Asia. Last year, Australia imported 211,000 tonnes of seafood from Asia. That accounted for more than 70 per cent of the seafood consumed in this country. It came from elsewhere, and yet Labor have got the gall to come in here crowing about their support for the global success of Australia's primary producers. It is shameful, and I won't stand for it.”