House debates

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

  • National Week of Deaf People (2 speeches)
    This week is National Week of Deaf People. The theme, 'strengthening diversity', means respect for each other. On Saturday, Deaf Australia celebrated the Deaf Festival beside the Parramatta River...
  • Total Recreation: Dancing with the Celebrities Ball (1 speech)
    It was great to once again attend Total Recreation's Dancing with the Celebrities Ball. This year I was given the tough task of judging the event, with fellow judges, Dr Len Notaris and Andrew...
  • National Week of Deaf People (1 speech)
    I just want to say congratulations to the member for Parramatta on behalf of everyone in the parliament for bringing Auslan to the parliament in this National Week of Deaf People. It really was...
  • Green Army Program (1 speech)
    Last week I launched one of the first Green Army projects in South Australia, just down the road from my office, at the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre in Marion. The project involves grassy...
  • Petition: Falun Gong (1 speech)
    I rise to table a petition that has been presented to me by a group of Western Australians. This is effectively half of a petition, and I understand that one of my Liberal colleagues from Western...
  • Reid Electorate: Education (1 speech)
    Last Saturday I was delighted to attend the St Mary's Catholic Primary School fete in Concord. This school is part of the Parish of St Mary's and was established within the first church at...
  • Walk Together (1 speech)
    A few weeks ago I said Australia is like a fruit salad: we all like apples, orange and watermelon, and they are great on their own, but they are even better when they are together. Australia is...
  • Eden-Monaro Electorate: Hospitals (1 speech)
    On Friday, 26 September I represented federal Minister for Health Dutton at the topping-out ceremony for the South East Regional Hospital in Bega. There I was joined by the New South Wales...
  • Kingsford Smith Electorate: Clovelly Road Better Block (1 speech)
    On Sunday the people of Clovelly came together to reimagine their streets and their suburb. They transformed Clovelly Road into the street that they want to live in and the environment they want...
  • Deakin Electorate: Education (1 speech)
    I rise today to acknowledge and thank all of those who took part in the 2014 Deakin student leadership roundtable series over the year. Over three sessions students in leadership positions at...
  • Lalor Electorate: Cystic Fibrosis and Kalydeco Medication (3 speeches)
    I rise to table this document to the parliament. This bundle of papers is actually over 13,000 signatures calling for the government to add the drug Kalydeco to the Pharmaceutical Benefits...
  • Lindsay Electorate: Local Sporting Champions (1 speech)
    Today I rise to support the many young men and women from the Lindsay community that have represented the people of Lindsay at either the state, national or international level on the sporting...
  • Bendigo Electorate: Student Welfare Officers (1 speech)
    Six hundred and twenty qualified and trusted student welfare officers face the sack under new government guidelines. The Abbott government has decided to cut funding for student welfare officers...
  • Swan Electorate: Mental Health (1 speech)
    On Friday 10 October I had the pleasure of joining with over 800 business and community leaders on World Mental Health Day to raise awareness of mental health and to help remove the stigma that...
  • Indi Electorate: Yea (1 speech)
    It is with pride that I rise today to speak of a fantastic project from the community of Yea in north-east Victoria. High school students and local organisations have produced a book called What...
  • Page Electorate: St Joseph's Primary School Woodburn (1 speech)
    There is a celebration this weekend in the electorate of Page. It is the centenary of the St Joseph's Primary School at Woodburn, celebrating, obviously, 100 years of wonderful education in that...
  • Canberra Electorate: Asbestos (1 speech)
    I rise again to address the House on an issue I have spoken about before: Mr Fluffy asbestos. This is an issue causing significant concern in my electorate. Many Canberrans, up to 1,000, are...
  • Centenary of Anzac (1 speech)
    Last week I launched a book by Launceston author Julian Burgess titled William Gow's Anzac Diary. It was a timely tome, given that, on 20 October, we marked the centenary of Australian troops...
  • Kong, Associate Professor Dr Kelvin (1 speech)
    I rise to congratulate a wonderful Novocastrian, Associate Professor Dr Kelvin Kong, an ear, nose and throat specialist who has been nominated as a 2015 Hero of the Year finalist in the New South...
  • Hume Electorate: Agriculture (2 speeches)
    The recently released agricultural green paper outlines how we will get a farm gate price that rewards farmers, so that they will invest, create jobs, produce more, export more and create...