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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“There is something seriously wrong with education in our country. Parents tell me that they're worried about the indoctrination of their kids with a woke ideology that conflicts with the very values that those parents are trying to instil in their kids. Local employers tell me that new graduates entering the workforce lack the skills that make someone employable today, let alone being equipped with the skills for the future. Concerningly, these anecdotes are reflected in the data. One in three students in regional areas, like my seat of Forrest, are failing to meet proficiency levels in literacy and numeracy through NAPLAN testing, and PISA scores in the 2022 edition showed that Australia's international performance finally stopped declining only because education outcomes overseas went backwards.”
“It's not only my question that this government has continued to evade. My colleagues in the Senate have also struggled to receive a clear response as to whether or not this government will tax spare bedrooms. Labor has failed to get their own 1.2 million new homes program on track. They have failed to lower energy prices, as they promised more than 98 times. And they have failed to control migration. So I ask the government again today to officially rule out the spare bedroom tax. Tell Australians who have worked hard and are doing it tough that their spare bedrooms won't be taxed to fund this government's spending spree. You shouldn't have to pay for this government's mistakes. But this is always the problem with big-taxing, big-spending Labor governments: when they run out of money, they come after yours.”
“Tomorrow, on National Flag Day, if they can't look at the Australian flag—the only flag that flies above this building, the only flag our soldiers wear on their left sleeve when they go oversees to protect our freedoms and the only flag that drapes their coffins when they fall—with uninhibited pride, they shouldn't be here.”
“In short, in just three years in their first term, the Albanese government blew even their own migration numbers by some 600,000 people. Is it any wonder that we don't have sufficient new housing, with the biggest surge in migration in real terms since the end of World War II? These numbers only speak to the number of arrivals, not to the values of those who are coming here. We need confidence that people are coming here because they want a better life and want to become proud and contributing Australians themselves. There should be no place for those who would seek to import their own hatred, division, conflict and even extremism into our country, yet Australians today have no confidence that this Labor government, who can't even get the migration numbers right, are holding the line on values.”
“The question that has sat very uneasily with me for months now is asked quietly by many ordinary Australians, who have felt the need to first look left and then right and make sure that nobody could overhear them before asking. Why are so many people who don't even believe in Australia being welcomed to this country? The reality is worse than those proud Australians might have even feared. In its first year, comparing the Albanese government's budget migration estimates to actual arrivals reveals they let 300,518 extra people into the country. In its second year, the Albanese government undercooked migration numbers by 200,198. The good news is that they're getting slightly better at this. In their third year, the government only undercooked the migration numbers by a hundred thousand.”
“To lose control of migration, as this government has, threatens not only the confidence of the Australian people and the very system of migration that for decades has welcomed literally millions of new Australians to our shores but also the preservation of a free and democratic Australian society into the future. To be very, very clear, there is no place for fascists and Nazis in this country, who are as much a threat to our democracy as the terrorists who would tear down our very way of life. For the mainstream media to obsess over a tiny minority of unwelcome extremists is to ignore the clear voice with which those Australians who proudly marched this weekend spoke, and it exemplifies the disgraceful double standard that we see in this country today.”
“I was heartened to see adolescents, young families and grandparents alike united the need to express a statement that Australia is still a country that values a fair go, the rights and freedoms of individuals and a tolerance for all who come to this country because of what this country is. I was heartened to see those who deeply respect our forebears who laid down their lives so that we could express a view freely in this country and to see those looking for leadership that doesn't turn a blind eye to those who burn our national flag while holding aloft the flags of terrorists. We need to have a debate about migration in this country, because we need control over how many people come to this country and the values of those people.”
“If you are an Australian who is uneasy about what you see going on in our country today, I want you to know that you're not alone. Being uncomfortable with the sheer number of migrants that have arrived in this country in recent years and indeed continue to flock to our shores doesn't make you xenophobic. More so, being uncomfortable with the values of those people arriving en masse doesn't make you racist. If you don't recognise Australia in the scenes from Melbourne and Sydney that you see on the news, that doesn't make you a bigot. I want the Australians who quietly assembled across the country this weekend to express their patriotic pride to know that as a Liberal MP I was heartened.”
“If the right wording is not included, the pathology lab passes the full cost directly to the patient. This is a double blow. For doctors, it means more time at the keyboard and less time in quality face-to-face consultation. For patients—especially those in regional communities like mine, already struggling with the cost of living—it means an unexpected and unfair bill for their Medicare. This is not just an administrative hiccup; it is a decision of the Albanese government. Ultimately, Medicare reforms should strengthen the trust we have in our doctors, not shackle them with additional paperwork.”
“Today I'm calling out the disgracefully sneaky attack on Medicare from this government that South West locals have alerted me to. From 1 July this year, new rules have placed an extra administrative burden on GPs and a financial one on some of our most vulnerable citizens. The idea that a patient can receive Medicare and the tests that they need with nothing more than a Medicare card is, plainly, a myth. We're hearing real stories from constituents, particularly older retirees, being hit with new out-of-pocket costs for routine and essential pathology tests such as those for prostate health, kidney function and urinary tract infections. These are tests that were once, under a coalition government, fully covered by Medicare. Why is this happening? Because GPs must now provide a detailed medical rationale for each test they request.”
“So, having taken the decision to attend—and I am paying for my own flights because that is the right thing to do—I will be taking an open mind on the trip and asking those simple questions that the people of Forrest have been unable to get answers to from this government. They will be centred on economics. Will this make power cheaper, cleaner and more consistent in the SA West integrated system? Will it result in lower power prices for households and businesses in the south-west? Are the very genuine questions around environmental risk, with it being centred on a whale migration superhighway, in fact debunked by the science or, as I see it, hotly contested? These are the questions I'm looking for answers for.”
“We've seen the largest project in Sweden go bankrupt and, of course, we've seen the largest manufacturers of turbines in the world making significant parts of their manufacturing workforce redundant due to decreasing demand for offshore wind turbines globally. It begs the question as to why we are pursuing this madness and why we are pursuing this madness with such fervour. So it was with some surprise, having campaigned so strongly against offshore wind Geographe Bay, that I recently received an invitation from the Danish consulate to attend a delegation to visit and to examine the offshore wind industry in Denmark. After writing back to them and suggesting that, as a fierce critic of these proposals, my place was not amongst their trip, they in fact explicitly invited me again because of my strident opposition to this.”
“From wild scenes, frankly, at the Binningup Surf Life Saving Club, through to the many hundreds of people that attended the department led consultation in Bunbury and asked valid questions but left without any answers, through to the 300 people that requisitioned a City of Busselton special ratepayer meeting out of sheer frustration at how inadequate the federal government led consultation process had been, my electorate has been clear: this is a project that doesn't suit our coastline. They've asked simple questions and been denied answers by this government at every turn. If we look at the simple proposition of offshore wind overseas, we see significant projects on the eastern seaboard of the United States having been cancelled due to significant cost escalations.”
“Last Thursday, in a committee room just downstairs from this chamber, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, announced the granting of additional preliminary feasibility licences for proponents proposing to build offshore wind in Geographe Bay, which is of course just off the coast of my electorate of Forrest. I want to take the chamber back to the beginning of this process, when the government announced a consultation process for local people to have a say.”
“Providers are already struggling, and these pricing recommendations from the government may well be the straw that finally breaks the camel's back. That will only cause an increase in hospital presentations of NDIS participants in crisis, and in service gaps, and there'll be an erosion of participant choice and control, which are fundamental to the design of the NDIS. This is a system whereby a person's support is determined by their postcode, and, for people in my electorate, we simply need to do better. So I back the calls for this government to immediately reverse the decision to slash these travel-funding arrangements for allied health services. We owe it to our most vulnerable.”
“Courtney warns that the proposed reductions in the hourly rate for travel will make community based services—such as in-home therapy, functional assessments and home modifications—unsustainable. These are not lifestyle choices for participants; they are simply necessary measures to ensure their ongoing safety and wellbeing. Courtney highlights that the cuts to physiotherapy, podiatry and dietetics create a real risk to the continuity of care. The ongoing stagnation of pricing for other critical services like occupational therapy is also forcing providers to operate on the very edge of viability, with increasing costs and compliance burdens crippling their businesses. The risk of market failure in this space is both real and imminent.”
“She has written to me to advise that the cost-cutting efforts of the government in this space have devolved into stonewalling tactics: blaming participants and therapists whilst cutting their rates to the point of unviability. Kelly has warned me that, if this continues, ethical, high-quality providers will be forced to close, leading to worse health outcomes and placing a greater burden on the public health system. This is not a cost-saving measure; it is a crisis in the making, and this government is ignoring our cries to do things differently. What about the small businesses and sole traders operating within the scheme? I've received a letter from Courtney at Bayside Independence in Busselton, who is also deeply concerned about the sustainability of service delivery in south-west WA.”
“This is not about a budget figure; it's about the future of our most vulnerable Australians. The fact is that these NDIS reforms have been applied with a broadbrush approach that is unsustainable and completely fails to understand that the realities of life are different outside the major metropolitan areas of our country. When confronted with these concerns, the minister's response has been dismissive. The feedback is ignored, and the cuts are justified as coming from an independent board. Well, I can tell you what this so-called independent decision has done to the providers in my community. Take the case of a valued physiotherapist in the south-west of WA; we'll call her Kelly. She's a dedicated professional who has seen firsthand the direct impact on both participants and providers.”
“For these families, the NDIS is far more than an item in the household budget; it is a lifeline for their children, and it is a promise that those children will receive the early intervention and essential therapies needed to develop and reach their full potential. Yet, every day, I speak with constituents locally who are overwhelmed with anxiety that this government's misguided reforms will cause their children to lose access to the services that they so desperately need. This fear is not just limited to my community of Forrest; I empathise with the sentiments of my colleague the member for Herbert, a father whose five-year-old daughter lives with level 3 autism. He's worried about her future because he sees no clear plan—only cuts and uncertainty.”
“We arguably have few duties in this place more serious than to support and care for our most vulnerable Australians. When the NDIS was established, built on a foundation of bipartisan support, it reflected a national commitment to ensure people living with a disability have the services and funding that they need to live their best possible lives. But today, under this government's stewardship, this vital scheme, the NDIS, is in disarray, no more so than in regional parts of Australia like Forrest. The new pricing model and truly unacceptable cuts to travel funding for allied health services implemented by this government have created a crisis of uncertainty and risk in the regions, particularly for families living in seats like Forrest.”
“The United States has already taken steps to restrict the imports of solar materials linked to forced labour, and I understand that the United Kingdom has very recently legislated similar measures with respect to the state owned energy entity GB Energy. I haven't yet received a response from the minister, which indicates to me that simple questions like, 'Is the Australian government currently monitoring the origin of solar panel imports and assessing the risk of forced labour in their supply chains?' are attracting surprisingly difficult answers. If Minister Bowen's green dreams are, in fact, tainted with the blood, sweat and tears of persecuted slaves, the stain upon our country will be an eternal shame.”
“I rise today to call out growing concerns about the presence of forced labour in the supply chains of solar panel manufacturing, particularly in relation to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region of China. Recent reports, including those from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, the Pulitzer Center, the BBC, the New York P ost and Australia's own Walk Free foundation, have highlighted widespread use of coerced labour in the production of polysilicon, an important component in solar panels. Sky News's Paul Murray recently stated that he didn't think anyone in this building would call it out. Well, Paul, to you and to the Forrest constituents who got in touch with me about this: let me confirm that I wrote to the Minister for Climate Change and Energy on 6 August to do exactly that.”
“My question is for the Minister for Housing. With the government failing to deliver on its commitment to build 1.2 million new homes, new taxes on the family home were raised at the government's three-day talkfest. Will the minister rule out slugging Australians with new taxes on their spare bedrooms?”
“To represent Australia on the global stage and achieve these outstanding results reflects years of commitment and dedication and is something deserving of the highest praise. Indeed, here at home, Kyle has won the Busselton Jetty Swim some five consecutive times and holds the course record of 38 minutes and six seconds. Kyle, from all of us in the south-west, we extend our sincere congratulations for everything you've achieved on the national and international stages to date and can't wait to see you achieve ongoing success on those stages.”
“I rise today to proudly recognise the outstanding achievement of locally raised star Kyle Lee on claiming a bronze medal while representing Australia at the World Aquatics Championships in July. Mr Lee, an exceptional endurance swimmer, competed in the men's 10 kilometre event in Singapore. Challenged with tough local conditions and a world-class field, including Olympians, Mr Lee displayed great resilience and surged through the final laps to edge out Olympic silver medallist Oliver Clemmett and claim his first-ever individual world championship medal. Having narrowly missed out on the 2020 Olympics at just 18, Mr Lee qualified for Paris in 2024, finishing 13th in the men's 10 kilometre swim, and has continued to go from strength to strength.”
“Cape Mentelle, Deep Woods Estate, Fermoy and Gralyn Estate all picked up Platinum awards, whilst Gold awards went to Amelia Park, Brookland Valley, Brown Hill Estate, Cape Mentelle, Deep Woods Estate, Domaine Naturaliste, Flametree, Forester Estate, Gralyn Estate, House of Cards, Howard Park, Nocturne, Once & Well and Stella Bella. It is really no wonder that the Margaret River wine region is renowned on the global stage as one of Australia's premier wine regions.”
“The Decanter Worldwide Wine Awards, the world's largest and most respected wine competition, is in its 21st year this year and is regarded as one of the most rigorous and influential wine competitions in the world. Amongst the 57 countries participating, Australia ranked fourth overall with only France, Italy and Spain in front. Margaret River, of course, emerged as the most awarded wine region in Australia, securing a total of 104 medals at the show, including 22 Top-Tier awards, one Best in Show award, four Platinum medals and 17 Gold medals. According to Decanter, only 50 wines globally received a coveted Best in Show accolade, representing just 0.3 per cent of all entries. This year, Xanadu's Reserve Cab Sav 2022 picked up a Best in Show gong.”
“Mayo followed closely with six. Barker and Bendigo each secured two. Wineries in the Hunter Valley, Flinders, Indi, Bass and Clark brought home one apiece, highlighting the breadth of diversity of Australia's top-performing wine regions. The award-winning wines represented an outstanding quality across a wide price range, with retail prices from $16 to $138 a bottle. Notably, some 16 of the 23 trophy winners are priced under 50 bucks a bottle, making this year's champions both accessible and exceptional in value. Forrest's trophy winners came from tripe.Iscariot, Hamelin Bay Wines, Xanadu Wines, Deep Woods Estate and Evans & Tate.”
“The 50th anniversary of the National Wine Show of Australia was celebrated in style at Parliament House on Thursday 12 June this year. To be eligible for the National Wine Show of Australia, wines must first win a gold or silver medal at a qualifying state, capital city or regional wine show, making this a true showcase of Australia's best of the best. Wines from the Margaret River region, despite representing just two per cent of the national grape crush, took home eight of the 23 national trophies. This is the highest number of trophies awarded to any single region this year, underscoring the exceptional quality and reputation of Margaret River producers on the national stage. In the hotly contested battle of the wine region electorates, Forrest took the top honours this year, collecting an impressive eight national trophies.”
“Once you add food and travel, the financial strain becomes, quite simply, overwhelming. These cuts mean that apprentices are now expected to shoulder even more of their training costs on wages that barely cover the basics. This is not just a financial issue; it's a fairness issue. Regional apprentices already face barriers to accessing training, and reducing this support only deepens the divide between metropolitan and regional opportunities and risks pushing young people out of the trades altogether.”
“I rise today to give voice to those regional apprentices across Western Australia who are being unfairly burdened by recent cuts to the transport and accommodation allowance. As of 1 July this year, the accommodation support payment has been slashed from $100 to just $70 per night and travel reimbursement halved from 40c to just 20c per kilometre. These changes are not only disappointing but unjust and out of touch with the realities faced by regional apprentices and, indeed, their families. Take this recent example provided to my office from a local concerned mum whose son, a third-year apprentice, is earning about $600 a week. He's been required to travel to Rockingham for block release training three times a year, spending roughly six weeks away from home. Each two-week block costs him in excess of $2,000 in accommodation alone.”
“Judy has been the Red Cross president for more than 30 years, and co-founded the Roelands Olive Hill Bush Fire Brigade with her husband, Fred, before serving as secretary and treasurer for 39 years. She also became only the second female commodore of an Australian sailing club, in the year 2000. How truly special that three generations of the Talbot family were present to see Judy's latest award, and how lucky indeed is our nation for the contributions of volunteers like these fine Brunswick ladies.”
“Brunswick Junction hosts WA's oldest Red Cross unit, and recently celebrated some of its longest-standing members. Judy Talbot, Norma Booth and Emma Papalia were all recognised for their decades of service to the Brunswick Red Cross unit. Shire of Harvey President Michelle Campbell presented the ladies with their medals for long service, remarking on their contributions to a volunteer unit that has been in operation for some 111 years. Emma Papalia received a 20-year bar. Norma Booth received a medal for her service as secretary and treasurer over some 48 years as a member. Then we come to the truly incredible service of Judy Talbot OAM. Judy Talbot joined the Brunswick Red Cross before man walked on the moon.”
“Indeed, since Labor was elected, with the changes to the way that help indexation is calculated, student debt has increased by a staggering 14.3 per cent, which puts this policy into stark perspective. In contrast, annual indexation under the former coalition government averaged just 1.7 per cent. Let's not forget where the blame for this crippling student debt belongs; it is over on the government benches”
“As Senator Henderson said: Australians with a student loan or those planning to undertake tertiary studies should not be blindsided by high indexation driven by high inflation, as has occurred under Labor over the past three years. That's why we're proposing this limitation on indexation. It would deliver both appropriate cost-of-living relief and, importantly, much-needed certainty into the future. It stands in stark contrast to Labor's one-off sugar hit of a 20 per cent discount to current HECS-HELP debtors, which, in fact, deprives those who have done the right thing of being rewarded for their hard work. As at 1 June, just this year, student loans increased by another 3.2 per cent because Labor's HELP loan scheme is currently uncapped and provides no protection at all against the risk of ballooning indexation into the future.”
“I welcome Senator Henderson's proposal today to amend this bill to see the HELP indexation limited to the lower of CPI or a maximum of three per cent, because why should tertiary students pay the price for the Albanese government's complete failure to control inflation in this country? This cap on HELP indexation would apply to all future students, unlike Labor's bill, which leaves them high and dry and subject to the same sorts of failures in the future. Senator Henderson's proposed HELP loan inflation guarantee provides a crucial safeguard against large increases to future student debt driven by high inflation.”
“It is also grossly unfair to the millions of Australians who have, in good faith, worked hard to pay off their HELP debt with no discount at all. Take for example Hayden, a physiotherapist I met in Bunbury. He's worked extremely hard in recent years to make additional HECS repayments of some $30,000 on top of the mandatory minimum that he had to pay, and he's now debt free. But having scrimped and saved and done the right thing, he's just seen this Prime Minister take his tax money and give it to his colleagues who didn't do the right thing, who didn't do the hard yards, and who didn't pay down their debts early. What sort of message does this send to the next generation of Australians? As an opposition, of course we will be critical where we see this sort of industrial-scale pork barrelling, but we will be constructive.”
“But let's not forget where this started, because HECS debts began to increase at eye-watering rates as the Albanese government's complete failure to manage the economy bit hard. Indexation rates have exceeded the Reserve Bank's upper target of three per cent for inflation for the last four years, and that's even after they artificially lowered the rate of indexation in both 2023 and 2024 to mask how completely they had lost control of inflation. More than 55,000 people in Australia have a HELP debt of between $100,000 and $200,000, meaning that under this policy the Labor government has delivered them an average cheque of $25,000. How is this fair when so many young Australians aren't or haven't been students and are struggling to pay the rent or put food on the table because of this government's cost-of-living crisis?”
“There is no such thing as a free lunch, and Australians know that to be the case, but what's worse is that this government has given a free lunch to the few and stung the rest of us with the bill. Those with the highest income earning potential—the doctors, dentists and lawyers—have turned up at the pub and been shouted by Prime Minister Albanese, and it's for the rest of us to foot the bill. At some $16 billion of borrowed money, the cost of this to each Australian household is around $1,600. Every single Australian taxpayer will be paying for this desperate attempt to outbid the Greens before the last election. With more than 24 million Australians struggling with Labor's homegrown cost-of-living crisis and seeing no benefit at all from this policy and yet 27 million Australians being left to pay for it, it is grossly unfair.”
“It is bad enough that they are ignoring local environmental concerns, but setting my community up for this sort of economic failure as well as an ecological failure is just typical of a government and a prime minister that, with too little and too late, have badly failed the people of South Australia and are on track to fail my people in the south-west corner of Western Australia. We don't need higher power prices. We don't need the environmental catastrophe of a wind farm in Geographe Bay. For that, this government should be ashamed.”
“I was sent to this place to represent a community that was gravely concerned about being steamrolled by this government, a community who value the pristine environment of Geographe Bay, which is a whale migration superhighway, home to migratory seabirds like albatross and also home to two Ramsar protected wetlands on its shore. The Albanese government knows that offshore wind is three times the cost of onshore wind. And how do we know that? Because even the CSIRO admitted that in their GenCost report—one fact which couldn't be papered over in that same report.”
“Whether it's the drought, the cost of living or, indeed, this crisis in South Australia, Labor is slow to act and quick to spin, with lots to say about those on this side of the House but very little in terms of a plan for the people on the ground. On the environment and the economy, Labor always think that they know better, riding roughshod over regional Australians—in South Australia as well as in my electorate of Forrest. With the Minister for Climate Change and Energy having a lot to say about his plans for this country and his joy in travelling around to engage with local people and sell the story, we are yet to see him front the people of Forrest and explain why their genuine environmental and economic concerns over the Geographe Bay wind farm should be ignored.”
“I think all Australians value the environment that we enjoy in Australia, across this broad continent, and they expect the government to steward it. And yet today, as we've heard from the members for Moncrieff, Mallee and Nicholls, this Albanese government is nowhere when the people of South Australia need help. Local industry leaders from South Australia, like oyster farmer Steve Bowley and Port Wakefield fisher Bart Butson that the member for Grey has given voice to in this place, have spoken openly about the pain their communities are feeling, with disappearing stocks and months-long fishing shutdowns, and there is no end or certainty in sight.”
“I'll take responsibility, and I'll set about fixing it. Well, eighteen months after scientists raised the alarm in South Australia, where is the government? This is a government which wouldn't even meet them at the time. This is a government from which we are still waiting for material action, because the little jolly down to South Australia a couple of weeks ago doesn't cut it with the locals. While this environmental disaster in South Australia has been ignored, I wonder whether we would have seen a very different outcome if it was in fact unfolding in front of the cliffs at Copacabana. Indeed, we might then have seen this prime minister come good, put his hand up, own it, take responsibility and set about fixing it. I think all Australians expect their government to take the environment seriously.”
“Too little and too late has become the norm, unfortunately, for this prime minister and the government he leads. It's becoming a familiar pattern now. Say one thing to the Australian people before the election and then smash them with something very different thereafter. The reality is that the failures of this government on the environment are also causing an economic calamity in South Australia today, and I fear that the same is in store for my electorate of Forrest. This was a bloke who promised so much—to show up and be accountable. But, like every other promise made by this prime minister, it lies broken in a sea of deceit. This is what the then leader of the opposition had to say in 2022: Will I be perfect? No, but I'll tell you what I'll be doing is this: if I ever do make a mistake, I'll put my hand up. I'll own it.”
“Even in this era of outrage, I still think there's room in our political discourse for a bit of the humour that has long characterised the Australian temperament and is still the quality for which our best remembered parliamentarians on all sides are most often recalled. It might get me into trouble occasionally, but at least nobody will say I'm a bore. Like Giuseppe, when I walk out of this place for the last time, I want to be standing tall with a deep sense of pride and satisfaction that in some small way our nation is at least a little bolder, braver and more bountiful for my contribution here. I thank the House. Debate adjourned.”
“But I will strive never to mistake activity for actual progress towards real outcomes. To represent my special part of Australia in this place is a deep honour and one that I do not take for granted. My great-grandfather was a 10th Light Horse man who was granted the family's first dairy farm near Boyanup for his service in World War I. My mother, who is here today, grew up on the farm next door, which remains in the family today, and so it is particularly special to represent a region so indelibly linked to my family's history, as well as where I grew up, went to school, messed around in boats as a Sea Scout, started my first business, bought my first property and volunteered as an ambo.”
“From the local vegetable farmer I've met who is today considering selling up the family farm because his energy bills are sending them broke to the possibilities for tomorrow unlocked by energy-intense artificial intelligence, our prosperity as a nation depends on affordable and reliable energy. I believe that, to deliver good government, we should appeal to the pride of Australians and not just to their wallets. We should promise only the dignity of hard work and not the spoils of hard work done by others. Every time the bells ring in this place, opportunity and incentive can be crushed by regulation, restriction or red tape, and we are the only guardians against that. Having bold policy ambition is easy, and yet delivering meaningful change is a different matter altogether.”
“Having worked in and with many countries around the world, I've seen the full spectrum of political-economic control and its impacts on the lived experience of ordinary people under those regimes. That has given me a deep appreciation of why Australia is a successful as it is. A significant part of my career has been in the energy industry, and accordingly I am very cognisant of the fact that energy affects all aspects of life. Households know too well the apprehension of opening a power bill after a hot summer, but less widely understood is the impact of energy prices on business—both the businesses that exist today and the businesses that can exist tomorrow.”
“It is business that creates real jobs. Fundamentally, that is why it is an imperative for government to create the right conditions for business to grow, employ and prosper and why we must enhance personal responsibility, reward for effort and the incentive to strive in the Australian economy. I started my professional career on the deck of an oil tanker, becoming a ship's captain by trade. I followed an icebreaker from the Russian port of Murmansk right over through the pack ice of the White Sea; felt more than a faint terror at the site of breaking waves higher than five-storey buildings in the North Atlantic; and toiled in the searing heat of the Arabian Gulf.”