I want to talk about the Narcotic Drugs Amendment (Medicinal Cannabis) Bill 2021 in human terms, with the experience of one family in my electorate as an example. Stephen Taylor has two daughters now in their 20s, Morgan and Ariel, who both suffer from the chronic autoimmune condition Crohn's disease. Mr Taylor and his wife, Karen, spent many years watching their suffering, before he made the decision to grow cannabis in his backyard to help h...
Read MoreWhen Western Sydney airport's EIS was approved by the then minister, Josh Frydenberg, in 2016, it required a huge environmental offsets package to give this project any hope of being accepted. There are vulnerable grey-headed flying fox in the habitat.
Read MoreThe live music industry has pleaded with the government to extend support to musicians and people in the music business, with 3,500 managers, booking agents, stage crew and musicians—all the names you'd know—asking for JobKeeper or a similar scheme to continue.
Read MoreWhen I think about the Liberals and the principles which lie beneath their approach to workers' pay and conditions, I think about what I saw when Work Choices came in. One of the most powerful examples that remains with me is the contract my then 16-year-old daughter was asked to sign as part of a before-ballet-school job, working for a couple of hours on a couple of mornings a week at a food retailer with an outdoor store. Not only was it pit...
Read MoreThere is shock and dismay in my community about the sudden ban on accessing news via Facebook. Small local papers like the Blue Mountains Gazette, the Hawkesbury Gazette and the Hawkesbury Post really feel they're going to suffer.
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