I thank you for the opportunity to speak on Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2014-15 and cognate bills today. There is no hiding the fact that there has been some very highly vocal and predominantly negative reaction to the budget both before it came down and at the time it came down. I had concerns as…
I rise to highlight this story of a very special young lad in my electorate, Flynn Rigby. At just 11 years of age, Flynn has had a very challenging life. He was born a surviving twin at 22 weeks, in November 2002. As he developed he was unable to speak and was diagnosed with autism.…
I rise today to speak on behalf of the members of the Qantas crew base in Cairns, who received the shattering news four weeks ago that their base will be closed. One hundred and ten crew and their families were given just two weeks to decide whether they would relocate to another base, or resign…
I certainly welcome the opportunity to speak on this bill today. Australia’s veterans have waited a long time for this reform. This government was elected with a four-pillar policy for veterans and their families, which included recognising the unique nature of military service, maintaining a stand-alone Department of Veterans’ Affairs, tackling mental health challenges faced…
It is certainly a pleasure for me to speak to this private member’s motion put up by my good friend the member for Brisbane. There is no doubt that hosting the G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in Cairns in September, followed by the leaders meeting in Brisbane in November, is a massive…
I am certainly pleased to have the opportunity to speak on this bill today. In Leichhardt we know how vital it is for land transport infrastructure to be in place. It enables people to travel regularly and reliably to every corner of the electorate. Unfortunately, this is rarely an option. The Land Transport Infrastructure Amendment…
I rise with a great deal of pleasure to support my colleague the member for Herbert’s motion today. I choked a little when I listened to the contribution from the member for Blair, who was trying to suggest that all of these problems go back to the Howard era. Back in that time the funding…
I rise today to pay tribute to a remarkable elder of the Torres Strait Islands, Mr Enemarki Matthew Zaro, who passed away on 7 February of this year, aged 96. Known as ‘Papa Zaro’, the proud Dauareb and Meriam elder was one of the few remaining members of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion, which…
I am certainly pleased to rise today to associate myself with the annual statement on Closing the Gap. Leichhardt is an electorate that has a very large Indigenous constituency, with the homelands of the Torres Strait, many Cape York communities and of course large Indigenous populations in its main towns. I have been the member…
I rise this afternoon to take the opportunity of speaking on this address-in-reply in the breadth in which I am able to cover issues in my electorate. Over the past seven-odd years, I have been very much saddened by what I have seen as a decline in the Cairns region. This has very much been…