Senate Speech – Broken Promises
I’ve attended a number of functions hosted by the Governor-General in both Sydney and Canberra, and I want to thank the Governor-General and Simeon for their generosity of spirit. They are incredibly welcoming, and I’ve seen people from all parts of the Australian community come together at the Governor-General’s residence and be treated with warmth, […]
Senate Speech – Consumer Law
Deputy President, Senator Whitten should take his own advice with respect to unfair trading practices and stop spewing this rubbish that there is actually a uni-party in this place. I can remember, Acting Deputy President, standing in this place and calling for greater powers to deregister trade unions engaging in corrupt practices. Senator Whitten was […]
Senate Speech – Refugee Week
Refugee Week was celebrated between 14 and 20 June, and this year marks the 40th anniversary of Refugee Week. The theme for 2026 was “A Million Stories”. I want to share three stories during my contribution this evening. The first relates to an event hosted by Her Excellency the Governor-General, the Honourable Ms Sam Mostyn […]
Senate Speech – Aged Care
I want to take note specifically of the questions asked by Senator Little. There was some passion from both Senator Colbeck and myself. Senator Colbeck held the aged care portfolio the last time the Coalition was in government, and I remember sitting on the other side of this chamber listening to what he had to […]
Senate Speech – Northern Australia
I would like to congratulate the three panellists who undertook the 2024 Independent Review of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility Act. I will place their names on the record: the Hon. Warren Snowdon, who of course represented the Northern Territory for many years in this place, Professor Peter Yu, and Dr Lisa Caffery. I also […]
Senate Speech – Matters of Public Importance – Tax Reform
The Albanese government’s decision to ram through a massive tax overhaul that imposes a so‑called “widow tax”, higher taxes on some Australian small businesses, and damaging new taxes affecting investment, housing, charities, and the broader Australian economy. Last week—Deputy President, in this place—the Greens and the Labor Party did a deal under which the Labor […]
Senate Speech – Housing Modelling and Transparency
To explain to everyone watching this debate: the Senate has a majority, and the government does not hold a majority in the Senate. Accordingly, the Coalition, together with the crossbench—including the Greens—called for the government to produce information and modelling to the Senate. A majority of the Senate, representing a majority of the Australian people, […]
Senate Speech – KPMG Ethical Failures
Acting Deputy President. If I may begin by observing your role in relation to the PwC examination, I acknowledge the service you have provided through your committee memberships in exposing that egregious conduct. Unfortunately, we now have another instance of egregious conduct—this time involving senior members of KPMG. It must be emphasised: senior members. At […]
Senate Speech – Take Note – CGT Changes
I want to talk about three issues arising from question time today in terms of the answers given to questions asked by coalition members: integrity, equity and efficiency. Now let’s talk about integrity first. It is a fact—it is a fact—that the Prime Minister went to the Australian people no less than 50 times before […]
Senate Speech – A Blow to Australian Investment
People have options. Investors have options. Capital is mobile; workers are less mobile. The people who will suffer from this are workers, because their ability to move offshore is far more limited than those who own capital. That is what we will see—people moving offshore rather than staying here and paying elevated capital gains tax. […]