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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“And so with each one of those 41,749 small businesses that have become insolvent, the dreams of those small-business owners have been extinguished and the Australian economy is poorer as a result. And what do we get? We get lectured by those opposite on the state of our own internal party affairs. We get lectured about how government programs that take money off businesses to recycle it back to a selected few businesses somehow creates conditions for Australian businesses to prosper. In my electorate and across the country, the reality couldn't be further from that. If a government can't get out of the way of small business and debtors, it leaves Australia poorer as a country. Our capacity to pay for those who are vulnerable, for those who deserve a helping hand up in our economy is dependent on continued economic growth.”
“Each one of those 41,749 small-business insolvencies represents the blood, sweat and tears of people—perhaps of a family or perhaps a husband and wife or perhaps a couple of mates—who have decided, in pursuit of the great Australian dream of building something, of creating opportunities for others, to take a risk and ask nothing more than for government to get out of the way and allow them to enjoy some rewards for their efforts. Instead, they have been crushed by the ever-increasing tide of costs due to the Albanese Labor government's failure to control inflation, drowning in the red tape and regulation that restrict the entrepreneurialism that should be unshackled if we want our economy to grow once more.”
“I'm glad the member for Moreton mentioned the spotlight. Where the spotlight on the debate for small business should rightly be is on the disgraceful statements made in the House of Representatives just last week by the Minister for Small Business who, when confronted with the 41,749 small-business insolvencies that occurred on the watch of the Albanese government simply said, 'Maybe they were dodgy.' That's not a sick joke; that is actually the statement that the Minister for Small Business made in the House of Representatives.”
“Removing these services and access to important elements like mental health support puts regional Australians at a disadvantage compared to our metropolitan cousins. With bulk-billing now significantly lower in regional Western Australia compared to metropolitan areas, with less access to mental health supports than under the previous government, and with the simple lie of the Prime Minister wandering around with only his Medicare card and failing to mention you need a credit card—a promise he made some 71 times in the lead-up to the last election—it is no wonder my constituents are coming to me saying: 'Why is it so? Why is it that, because I live in a country area, my family has to pay more and wait longer for something so simple as going to the doctor?'”
“Consequent to that decision, Australians accessed 250,000 fewer subsidised psychology sessions in 2022-23 compared to the year before. I don't know about any of you listening to this, but I don't walk down the streets of my community and hear stories of mental health struggles being halved in the last couple of years. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Across all ages and all demographics of our community, mental health is the No. 1 issue that people talk about when it comes to accessing health. Like I say, don't look at what they say; look at what they do, and one of the very first acts of this government was to slash the mental health allowance in half. Forrest and other regional areas are particularly impacted by these changes because we face perennial workforce shortages, long waitlists and limited clinical availability.”
“Statewide, WA saw only a one per cent improvement, despite major incentive spending. The government suggests that 1,000 previously mixed bulk-billing clinics are now fully bulk-billed, and yet there is absolutely no data to suggest that the dial has moved by one clinic in the seat of Forrest. This $8½ billion package, funded by you as taxpayers, has delivered absolutely nothing for the residents of south-western Australia seeking to attend a doctor. As always, it pays to look at what Labor do not what Labor say when it comes to health funding. One of the very first acts of the Albanese government in 2022 was to slash the funding for mental health appointments in half, reducing the number of bulk-billed appointments from 20 to 10 per year.”
“In fact, if you live in the city, it might be possible to access better Medicare, but, if you live in places like Forrest, you pay more and you wait longer. This is borne out by the statistics, not by the hyperbole that we hear from the government benches. We hear from them that Medicare is getting stronger, but, like I say, in the south-west of Western Australia, families are getting nothing but lies. This is because, in 2024-25, only 48 per cent of country residents in WA were consistently bulk-billed. At the same time, some 81 per cent of residents in south-western Sydney were bulk-billed. That is the tyranny of distance that regional Australians face. That is why people in the seat of Forrest are paying more and waiting longer to see a doctor under this government's failure to administer Medicare equitably.”
“I do sympathise with the member for Macquarie and her struggles in accessing quality health care for her family. Unfortunately, my experience since being elected is that I've got to oil the hinges on my office door every week for the number of people that are coming to me, basically in desperation and in pain, because the Prime Minister of Australia went to them at the last election, waving his Medicare card around and saying, 'Vote for me, and I will ensure you can see a doctor for free.' At no point did he reach into his other pocket and pull out his credit card. The sad reality, for the people in my part of Australia, is that accessing a GP for free is far too difficult and far too rare.”
“I don't know whether they've jumped the shark—whether their science is wrong and the Commonwealth's is right or vice versa—but there are clear questions to answer, and I've written to the federal minister to ask her to intervene and sort this mess out. Unfortunately, in the first response, she's denied any responsibility or any concern about the science. This has a long way to go.”
“The Western Australian government processed the licence transfer so that he too was a commercial shark fisherman, and 10 days later the government announced the permanent closure of the fishery. There have been no details on the compensation package. There is no future for him, his business or the new employees he'd just taken on, and, of course, that boat that he'd just bought is now worthless because nobody in Western Australia can buy a shark fishing boat. Why is a shark fishing boat caught up in a demersal fishing ban? It's because 0.4 per cent of the dhufish and snapper caught in Western Australia is bycatch of shark fishing, and 0.4 per cent was enough for the Western Australian minister to cancel their licences permanently.”
“Being locked out from fishing some 900-kilometre of closure is impacting 80 per cent of the Western Australian population, particularly in towns like Bunbury and Augusta in the electorate of Forrest, home to multigenerational fishing businesses. This has stripped them of their livelihoods and their family businesses, built over some 100 years of experience in those particular fishing grounds, with less than a month's notice. This was particularly brought home to me when, standing on the fishing wharf in Bunbury, I met a young guy of about my age, mid-30s, who had stepped out from the family fishing business, gone to the bank, got a very substantial loan of some hundreds of thousands of dollars and bought his own fishing boat.”
“I rise today to give voice to the Western Australian families who were shafted by the WA state Labor government's decision to close down the demersal fishing industry, commercially forever and recreationally for some 21 months, with the ban curiously being lifted just out from the next state election in 2029. I'm sure it was on the basis of robust scientific advice. But that's where the plot thickens a little, because on 31 October last year the Commonwealth certified the demersal fishery in Western Australia as sustainable for the seventh time. So the Commonwealth's science, for the seventh consecutive time, suggested that the fishery was perfectly sustainable, and 33 days later the Western Australian fisheries minister stood up and described the industry as being on the brink of causing extinction for species like dhufish.”
“Indeed, they currently punish everyday responsible Australians and the small businesses that they support while doing very little to address harmful drinking behaviours in our community. Smart policy could balance health objectives with the economic reality that these small and family businesses face, and that's why I think that our excise regime overall needs to be the subject of parliamentary inquiry to take stock around Australia, to understand the impacts in the beer, wine and spirits sectors, and to land at a reform package that would benefit Australia and Australians. Instead, we've seen a stunt, frankly, that delivers Australians 1c per pint in tax relief but nothing else. And I think that's why this is such a missed opportunity for Australia.”
“Over time, I believe that the impact to government revenue through a significant cut to excise would be offset through the increased economic growth and increased employment growth that we would see directly result from that decision. I guess there's always the fun police, though, that want to say that any change to alcohol tax in Australia would unleash a wave of irresponsible drinking. No industry group or participant in the hospitality sector opposes sensible regulation, effective education and harm minimisation in our communities. But blunt, automatic and heavy-handed tax increases go no way towards substituting for targeted health policy in Australia.”
“And, because it is pubs and punters that pay the price for the government's failure to manage inflation, ultimately you pay the price, through every pint of beer, for the ongoing inflation problem we have in Australia. A healthier hospitality and brewing sector means more jobs, more investment and stronger local supply chains. In the seat of Forrest, that means more people growing barley and hops, which requires a great deal of innovation to do in Australia. It includes more opportunities for truck drivers, technicians and tourism operators. Cutting the excise tax in Australia would stimulate economic activity in my part of the world, when we continually talk about the need to diversify away from the mining sector and yet do nothing about it.”
“As industry groups have consistently warned, the excise system in Australia currently discourages innovation, investment and growth in an industry that I think all Australians have a soft spot for. So, if we acknowledge the pressure on hospitality venues, we've got to understand that those pubs are more than businesses. They're community hubs; they're employers of young people, often giving them their first leg-up into the workforce; and they're anchors of the local economy, especially in regional parts of Australia. But this continual rise in excise—twice a year, automatically—combined with the higher wages, higher energy costs, higher insurance premiums and higher rents has pushed many venues to the brink. Again, a two-year freeze in excise goes no way to addressing these cost pressures on these businesses.”
“Excise is charged by volume, not profitability, and that means that a small brewer owned by perhaps just a husband and wife pays the same tax per litre on the beer that they brew as the very large multinational corporations who operate in Australia, even though they do so with very different scale, very different margins and very different market power with which to absorb those costs. For many craft brewers, excise is one of their single largest expenses, and it has a massive cash-flow impact, because it needs to be paid at the point of production not the point of sale. That means that these small and family businesses are carrying several hundred thousand dollars a quarter, in many cases, of excise liability on beer that hasn't even been sold yet.”
“As I said, ultimately, our craft brewing industry in Australia is predominantly one of small and family owned businesses. They're innovative. They add character. They bring tourism opportunities and local jobs to our communities, especially in the seat of Forrest. But those producers currently face one of the highest beer-tax regimes in the world. Depending on whose numbers you believe, Australians are paying certainly in the top five and perhaps even in the top four levels of excise tax on their beer in the world. That's not giving our small and family businesses in this industry a break, and it's not helping our consumers in Australia spend in their local communities.”
“That means that they're not indulging on the night out with the family, they're not going down to the pub with their mates to watch sport, and they're not investing in their own community, and that is what is ultimately making this cost-of-living crisis bite harder. It's making it harder for families and harder for Australians to enjoy an affordable social experience. I think, when our social fabric is under perhaps more tension than it has been for many decades, that is worthy of deeper attention. Slashing excise would provide immediate relief not just to those small businesses but to the everyday Australians who are their customers, and that's why we shouldn't be talking about a two-year freeze but about wholesale reform of the excise tax system.”
“Whilst I won't stand between Australian consumers and some relief, the reality is that the government's bill is, in effect, giving Australians a 1c per pint reduction in that excise tax. I think Aussies at the moment are asking for some fairness, some sustainability in the industry and some common sense, and, unfortunately, this bill falls short of that. Because alcohol excise is ultimately a consumer tax, every increase flows straight through to consumers. A two-year freeze on that, delivering some 1c per pint in relief, is just a start. The reality is that Australians—certainly the people in my electorate—are doing it tough.”
“And so, when we consider reform to the excise tax system, it must be through the lens of enabling those predominantly small and family owned businesses to do what they do best, and that's create jobs. The reality is that the excise tax system, which, for decades now, has slugged consumers and businesses with an increase twice a year, regardless of economic conditions, consumer demand or the health of the businesses that pay it, means that it is pubs and punters that pay excise tax and that it is pubs and punters who pay through the glass when the government fails to control inflation. Unfortunately, in the last few years, that is exactly what has resulted in the price of pints skyrocketing.”
“I joke with friends that representing Forrest in this place should really be called being the member for wineries and breweries, because I take both a close personal and professional interest in their affairs throughout the south-west of Western Australia. I started my very first business in the hospitality industry with a tavern that was focused on showcasing local produce, beer and wine to local people. I've subsequently sold that business, but the point is I come to this place with a deep understanding of the impact that excise tax plays on both the alcohol industry and the hospitality industry more broadly, and what isn't widely understood is that the craft brewery industry, whilst it only accounts for about 10 per cent of the Australian beer market by volume, accounts for some 47 per cent of the jobs that the industry creates.”
“For me personally, I will take their loss—each of those murders—as a stark lesson of the responsibility we carry in this place as legislators. I thank the House.”
“We owe it to each of those who have lost their lives and those impacted by this to root out and banish from this country the root cause, which is—we have to call it for what it is—an extremist Islamist fundamentalism that has no place in a free and open Australia. In any tragedy, in any dark moment, there are of course shining lights. This is no exception, with acts of heroism from police, paramedics, surf lifesavers and ordinary Australians who ran towards the danger. They ran towards the gunfire to act in almost unimaginable valour. I think that is the best of what our country can be and indeed the best of what our country should be. The late Queen Elizabeth II said that grief is the price we pray for love. I think they are fine words for our grieving families and communities to remember as they cherish those that they have lost.”
“It is unthinkable, when the ensuing 800 days saw a continuation and indeed an escalation of that hatred by those who would seek to sow division in our community, that this attack was unthinkable. It was less unthinkable after we saw schools graffitied, synagogues firebombed and indeed our nation's national threat level escalated in a formal communication from our intelligence and security apparatus that Australia was expecting a terrorist attack within 12 months. To each of the families, the friends, the neighbours, the colleagues and those community members who have lost a loved one in this attack, I am sorry for my part in that. This attack represents a loss of innocence for all Australians and indeed the country that we love.”
“There have been, as many colleagues across the aisle have reflected, many words. Many fine words have been exchanged here today, but the one that has been missing, from the Prime Minister's address down, is 'sorry'. So I am sorry for being part of a parliament that was supposed to keep Australians safe and failed to do so. For a government that seems unable to say it, I am sorry for the failures in this building that led to 15 Australians being butchered on the sands of Bondi. In a cold moment of reflection, we must acknowledge, each of us, the 226 legislators, decision-makers and leaders that come to Canberra to represent our communities, that this wasn't unthinkable. Rather, when just 48 hours after the October 7 attacks we saw a congregation of hatred in Sydney chanting death to a community in Australia, there was a warning sign.”
“Finally, one of my key priorities is advocating for a new terminal at the Busselton Margaret River Airport, the same airport the Prime Minister is very fond of landing his private jet at. He had the perfect opportunity during his visit to acknowledge the enormous pressure on the facility from our FIFO workforce, our tourism and trade opportunities and the freight for our region. Instead, he said nothing.”
“I'm committed to advocating for a modern, expanded hospital that delivers the high-quality care in the community that my region deserves. Apprentices, like everyone else in our community, are already facing lower wages and rising living costs. Cutting their travel and accommodation allowances makes it even harder for young people at the start of their careers to complete their training, especially in a regional electorate like Forrest, where long travel to the city is simply unavoidable. These cuts punish the very people that we need most: young Australians who are learning a trade, rolling up their sleeves and helping to fill our national skills shortage. I'll continue fighting to ensure that our apprentices and trainees get the support that they need.”
“In the interests of fairness and accessibility to a safety net that every Australian deserves, I ask the government to reconsider the changes that it stands by. The Margaret River Hospital, just south of where the Prime Minister landed his plane, is outdated and increasingly unable to meet the needs of a growing, ageing population, not having been upgraded since 2001. The health minister is pretty quick to come into this chamber and crow about what he's done for the good people of Forrest, but the reality on the ground is a sad story indeed. Residents shouldn't have to travel three or four hours to Perth for services that should be available locally—a fact totally lost on the WA Premier, Roger Cook—so a major upgrade to the Margaret River Hospital is essential.”
“The 2025 cuts to travel allowances and service rates for NDIS providers in communities like my community in regional Australia are a betrayal of those in regional Australia, including our most vulnerable. A one-size-fits-all policy may work in the inner-city suburbs and in places such as here in Canberra, but it doesn't work in the south-west of Western Australia. In Forrest, where services are already limited relative to metropolitan areas, these cuts have led to appointments being cancelled and providers closing their doors to our community's most vulnerable altogether. In some sort of sick postcode lottery, families are being punished simply because of where they live. It's unacceptable, and I stand with the families in my community and the NDIS providers who have been so badly let down by the decisions of this government.”
“It means controlling migration levels to better manage housing demand and it means unlocking additional supply by cutting red tape, clearing delays and removing the barriers that are blocking builders and councils from getting new homes to market. If the Albanese government refuses to act, this crisis will only continue. More Australians will be priced out, rents will climb and the dream of home ownership will slip further from the grasp of another generation of Australians. I'm fighting for practical solutions, faster approvals, more homes and genuine affordability. Importantly, I'm fighting for practical immigration reforms that support our regional workforce without crippling our housing market, because migration should strengthen our community, not overwhelm it.”
“They deserved answers from the country's Prime Minister, and they didn't get them, so tonight, in this House, I want to put on record the issues that matter to the people of Forrest, because my community deserves to be heard in this parliament when it is ignored by the country's Prime Minister. Housing remains one of the biggest pressures in our region. According to REIWA, median house prices in Western Australia have increased by some 67 per cent since 2001 and median rents are not far behind, with an increase of 57 per cent. Families, young people, key workers and even retirees in Forrest are all feeling the pressure from these sorts of price hikes. That's why I've consistently called for action on both demand and supply. This is a market that experiences both.”
“Just last week the Prime Minister of Australia visited Forrest. I welcome him to come to Forrest as often as he'd like with a visit like that, because he really disappointed the people of my electorate with what he didn't do while he was in our community. He didn't address the issues that matter most to the people of the south-west. He didn't talk about housing pressures, rising costs or the challenges facing our families, businesses and community groups. The people of Forrest deserved much more than a fly-in photo opportunity of him on his private jet at the underfunded and underdeveloped Busselton airport.”
“I rise today to recognise and celebrate the amazing work of local star Alexis McDonald. I use the word 'star' very deliberately. In 2019, at just 17 years old, Alexis McDonald created the app HerHelp. It's a platform that serves as a safe and inspiring place for women to access support for issues such as mental health. The HerHelp platform now reaches millions and millions of users across the globe. In 2023, Alexis was a recipient of the prestigious Diana Award that celebrated these achievements. Not done yet, earlier this year she was named in the Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2025 list and, more recently, was announced as a 2026 Western Australian Young Australian of the Year nominee. Alexis, congratulations. Thank you for the important work that you do in our community and, indeed, across the world.”
“I congratulate the Bunbury Sea Scouts and the Bunbury Girl Guides on achieving a truly outstanding milestone. In the heart of my electorate lies something very special indeed. The Ludlow Tuart Forest is the only remaining natural tuart forest in the world. The Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group is a group of individuals who've banded together to work tirelessly to ensure that this special part of the world isn't lost to history. A few months ago, I had the privilege to see the local group in action, so a special thank you to Des, Holger and Phil for welcoming me, for their time and for allowing me to understand more deeply the true scale of the work that the group are doing. To all at the Ludlow Tuart Forest Restoration Group, thank you for the energy and passion that you bring to our community. Your tireless work doesn't go unnoticed.”
“Today, I rise to commend two remarkable youth organisations in my electorate, the Bunbury Sea Scouts and the Bunbury Girl Guides, on achieving the truly extraordinary anniversary of 110 years of local operation. I was privileged to join Jaysen Miguel, the City of Bunbury mayor, at their respective halls in Bunbury to celebrate this momentous milestone. Such longevity comes from an unwavering commitment of parents, leaders and volunteers alike over decades upon decades, and we owe them a deep gratitude for the contribution that they've made through time to our local community. As a former sea scout who sailed in the United States representing Australian Scouts in 2007, I find the core objectives of these youth organisations—building teamwork, self-reliance, patriotism and citizenship in our community—more relevant today than ever.”
“So we're undermining the quality of health care, and we're generating churn within GP practices, and I think that that is going to manifest over time. We're allowing isolated and frankly unsafe outcomes. We're implementing a flawed MyMedicare registration process that registers patients to a single doctor instead of a practice, creating endless administrative churn and placing yet further burdens on the small-business operators who are at the heart of regional medicine in communities like mine. At the end of the day, this leaves overheads rising and practices unsustainable, putting regional health at risk.”
“These are small businesses that we're talking about here, and the compounding risk of vertical integration in the health system and block funding is a critical concern because local clinics are raising with me the issue that conditional funding is structurally dangerous in our health system. Centralised control occurs the moment the large private entities—we're seeing it through private health insurers or private equity groups—consolidate GP practices in Australia, which forces GPs to rely on a single conditional funding stream, whereas in fact we've seen significant benefits to the taxpayer through a health system that focuses on improved preventive health consultations, and they of course take time and cost money. That cost is an investment in better health outcomes in the longer term.”
“For a regional practice in the south-west, like those in Bunbury and Busselton, if they dare to stick with a mixed-billing model to survive as businesses, the consequence is of course that they forfeit the significant bulk-billing practice incentive that requires 100 per cent of consults through the business by 100 per cent of doctors for 100 per cent of patients to be billed accordingly. Unfortunately, by being unable to access those incentives, they face the immediate erosion of their patient base, as the patients most sensitive to cost are being forced to migrate to fully bulk-billing clinics to stabilise the practice's patient loyalty and long-term viability.”
“This is where the funding model creates an impossible paradox for our doctors on the front line. The average length of a GP consult might be around 19 minutes, but the economics of the bulk-billing incentivisation rather promotes the shortest possible transaction. So our GPS can't simply flex their patient throughput to absorb the hospital overflow that we're seeing. Complex cases that do require longer consultations—level C or D consultations of 40 minutes or more—are being diverted, yet the government's new bulk-billing incentives don't adequately fund this time that the doctor invests in the care relationship. Instead, they reward volume, frequency and shorter consults. I suspect that we'll see the consequences of this policy being quite severe.”
“The domino effect that we've seen with hospital blockage and GP overload is the first point of failure. The government's failure to recognise that core funding is now having a devastating domino effect across the health system is manifesting itself through record ambulance ramping and acute bed block in our public hospitals in Western Australia. This crisis means that patients with complex needs or those requiring just minor procedures as day patients can't get timely care in a hospital setting. It's reasonable to ask, 'Where do these patients go?' They present to the last accessible link in the chain in regional Australia—that is, of course, their local GP clinic. But our GPS are increasingly being asked to manage advanced care that far exceeds the scope of a standard consultation.”
“It might seem old-fashioned when we talk about our health system to talk about triage. But, at the end of the day, I think that lights are unfortunately flashing red on the dashboard—because every symptom that we look at indicates we've got a very sick patient on our hands indeed. In fact, rather than the strengthening Medicare policy doing what it says on the tin, I worry that in regional communities like mine it will actually undermine health outcomes entirely by pushing regional general practices closer to the brink than they already are today. I think that we've got to get our regional health system off life support. Unfortunately, the only way we can do that is by recognising that the system doesn't do better with volume over value.”
“If taxpayer dollars are allocated to that human indignity, then we need to see some long-term, compassionate and specialised solutions for safe accommodation in every community across Australia. I'm very pleased to advocate for organisations like Harbour refuge because the work they do is truly meaningful.”
“On a day like today, when we're discussing these sorts of issues, I think it is fair to say that we can do better, because only through backing our non-profit and our community based organisations can we truly provide wraparound services in every community in Australia. This is not a 'one size fits all' sort of problem. Indeed, it's not a problem that we can simply announce a particular program for and expect that, magically, we will have resolved one of the great and intractable problems of our society. But the failure of our governance really, as I said earlier, is a stain on our national character, and, unfortunately, in that plight of every mother and her children sleeping rough, we see a tragic loss of humanity in our country.”
“So, while they've managed to support some 246 women through their Safe at Home program, the capacity to deliver that outreach service is constrained, with just three FTE funded through to 2027. That's 817 left on the street, with nowhere to flee to, being told there is no room. Of course, in a regional community, unlike in a metro area, the ability to flee is further compounded by issues like limited public transport. There's no room for mothers who have summoned the courage to flee violence and no room for the children who witnessed the fallout. We need to do better as a country. Although more federal money is not the answer to everything, the reality is that we simply do need to do better in terms of funding ongoing operational staffing and providing resources to organisations like Harbour.”
“In a single month this year, Harbour refuge received 122 calls for assistance, and 84 of those were in direct relation to a domestic violence incident. In the course of the financial year, Harbour refuge reported it received 1,410 calls from domestic-abuse survivors in that period alone. To put that into context, the Harbour refuge in Bunbury has only seven beds for women. That's 1,410 calls for assistance and seven beds. Reporting in my local community has highlighted that significant gap, and Harbour CEO Ali White has gone on to say to local media that 817 vulnerable women and children were unable to be accommodated in the most recent financial year.”
“We can't lay claim to being a prosperous nation in the true sense of the word with our blind eye turned to so many. Unfortunately, it has manifested as it has across the country in the south-west of WA. In my own community there's an organisation called Harbour refuge who are dedicated to providing support to victims of family and domestic violence. Of course, this was a city recently visited by the Prime Minister and his whole cabinet, so I think it's an appropriate time to put on record what Bunbury can be like for a largely unseen cohort of our community who are pretty much focused on survival. I want to put on the record today the numbers that evidence the failings of the 'system' in Australia today.”
“I spent a decade on the road as a volunteer ambulance officer, and I've been to more than my fair share of houses after dark to see the kids trembling in the corner and the female partner's voice cracking with emotion as she says, 'It's fine; it's fine; no, no, no, I'll be alright.' The statistics that we've heard today in this place tell the real story, and that's a stain on our national story. The reality is that women around Australia today and the kids growing up in those homes aren't fine. Indeed, when we talk about prosperity in this place, about our true wealth as a country, I think we need to measure it not only by how high we can reach economically but by how low and how broad our safety nets in this country really are.”
“Thank you for your two decades of selfless service, and I must also recognise the sacrifices your family have made along the way. I also rise today to recognise the power of voices in regional Australia. A few weeks ago, this government opened public consultation on its proposal to lower the open-road default speed limit to 70 kays an hour, citing the poor condition of regional roads. Today I'm pleased to announce that the voices of regional Australia have finally been heard here in Canberra. After receiving some 11,000 submissions, the government have quietly backflipped on their attack on regional Australia. Well done, Mr Albanese. Now all that's left is for you to fix our roads.”
“I rise today to celebrate a genuine local hero in Dean Mullins, who, a few months ago, marked an extraordinary milestone: some 20 years of service on the road as a volunteer ambo with St John Ambulance. This is no small feat, because every single day our first responders confront the most demanding of circumstances, never knowing what the next phone call from comms will send their way. Putting his community first has been Dean's unwavering commitment for over 20 years now. That's why, earlier this year, Dean was named this year's Harvey citizen of the year. This accolade, awarded just three years after moving to Harvey, is testament to the impact he's had on our community already. So, Dean, congratulations on this remarkable achievement.”