Bush fire Royal Commission - 2SM interview

November 03, 2020

I think what was really good to see in the report was the recognition that in fact we had failed to do some of the things that could have been done, that the government had failed to prepare for a big bushfire. Really, this report showed that it failed to respond in the best possible way to it. It was slow to recognise the enormity of the catastrophe I think, and we saw plenty of evidence of that, and slow to call out agencies like the Austral...

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National Apology to Victims and Survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse (1)

October 29, 2020

Two years ago this parliament said the words that so many survivors of institutional child sexual abuse needed to hear: 'We believe you.' Their willingness to share their stories through the royal commission revealed abuse, violation and horror that so many had carried in silence for decades. They revealed the power that had been used to silence them, as children and as adults, by institutions that had promised to care for and protect them—ins...

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Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements

October 29, 2020

Right now there's a thousand-page report sitting on someone's desk, probably on several ministerial desks. It's the report of the royal commission into last summer's bushfires. It's beyond me why it wasn't automatically released. It was delivered yesterday. Why haven't we seen it immediately? It's a report that's meant to inform decisions being made already for the present bushfire season. There are 80 recommendations the commission believes c...

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The budget was a missed opportunity

October 28, 2020

In fewer than 10 days since the budget, we've already, found that many of the big-ticket promises were completely empty—puffed up but, in reality, delivering little. They had all the substance of fairy floss and there's no better example than JobMaker, the wage subsidy for young people. It was touted as delivering 450,000 jobs. In fact, the language was really tricky. It's going to support 450,000 jobs. Everyone was getting the sense that it w...

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Social Services and Other Legislation Amendment (Coronavirus and Other Measures) Bill 2020 Second...

October 28, 2020

The one thing that I'm really pleased to see in this bill is changes to the tests to be eligible for paid parental leave. It is extraordinary, as we've heard here today, that these changes had to be backdated. This is something that should have been in place right from the start.

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HEADSPACE FOR THE HAWKESBURY

October 27, 2020

It shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that I’ve requested to speak on the motion of youth mental health – improving support for young people has been at the core of my reasons for entering Parliament, and it is no secret that my family’s experience with the mental health of a child has been a defining one.

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