PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: The East West Link is a vital piece of infrastructure that is desperately needed for Melbourne, particularly for residents in eastern Melbourne, including in my electorate of Aston, who face daily traffic congestion. I rise today to express my disappointment and frus... ... (16-May)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra:
I am proud to report to the House that the Knox headspace centre was officially opened this week. The opening of this centre has been the culmination of a two-year campaign which I have spearheaded, along with community members in my electorate. The Headspace Foundation... ... (20-Mar)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: We have just had five minutes from the member for Wakefield as to how fantastic the carbon tax is and the impacts it is having. He says house prices are up, job numbers are up, new companies are being created and cars are running off the line because of the carbon tax at ... ... (19-Mar)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: Over the last few weeks we have had a lot of debate about the quality of teacher education courses, with both the NSW government and the federal government announcing policies to address standards. It is fair to say that there is bipartisan concern about how our fut... ... (19-Mar)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: We know that the government has no shame, but the hospital ads that the government has placed into Victorian metropolitan newspapers go to new lows. We know the history of this. The government ripped $107 million from Victorian hospitals causing beds to close at the ... ... (14-Mar)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: The Knox Relay for Life, a fantastic community event in which members across my electorate come together to raise funds for the Victorian Cancer Council, is due to take place in a week or so. I know that this event also occurs in other electorates and that other memb... ... (13-Mar)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: I would like to use the opportunity of this debate on Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2012-2013 and Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2012-2013 to express my concern about rising cost-of-living pressures hitting residents in my electorate and across Australia, and to express my disma... ... (13-Feb)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: I rise to express my concern about the proposed cuts to the private health insurance rebate. Private health insurance is very important in my electorate—70 per cent of my residents take out private health insurance. I represent a very middle-class electorate. It is not ov... ... (13-Feb)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: The Australian Education Bill 2012 is an extraordinary bill and this is an extraordinary debate, because we are discussing a bill which expressly says that it does not create rights or duties that are legally enforceable. I believe that this will be unique in Australian h... ... (13-Feb)
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, Canberra: If we were designing governments from a blank sheet of paper today and determining what should be our priorities to fund from the taxes collected from Australians, I think support for people with disabilities would be among the highest. Supporting people who, throug... ... (11-Feb)