On 7 August I had the privilege of helping to launch a new Cairns-made fashion label called Mainie, which is the work of Charmaine Saunders and Denis Keeffe. The label marries the ancient art of Indigenous women from the Tanami Desert in the Northern Territory with silk from one of China's fabled Silk Road cities,…
I thank the member for Lingiari for his contribution. His commitment to Defence Force personnel goes back over a lot of years, including when he had portfolio responsibility for our Defence Force. The Australian government is certainly very committed to supporting Australian Defence Force members throughout their service and into their retirement. This legislation is…
**Watch this speech on YouTube** The introduction of this bill into the House today is significant and somewhat unique in that it has the rare distinction of enjoying very strong cross-party support. While I have the honour of addressing you all, I do so on behalf of all my co-sponsors without whose support it would…
I also would like to commend the member for Ryan for putting this forward as a motion. With regard to the previous speaker, I am a little bit disappointed at the criticism that he is targeting at our government in relation to the support that we offer for Papua New Guinea. I was in the…
The Great War was the crucible that forged our nation. That is why the Centenary of Anzac is such a significant period of commemoration for all Australians. On 25 April, marking the official 100th anniversary of the Gallipoli campaign, residents of Leichhardt commemorated this significant time with a range of events and projects. Today I…
Like the member for Fisher I also will be quite brief. Like the member for Fisher, I did not know Alby in his life as a state member. Most of the association that I would like to refer to, because so much has been said about him now, is the heartburn and the trauma that…
In many ways taxi drivers are the face of Cairns. They are often the first interaction that visitors have when they arrive in our beautiful airport and are driven to their destination. They are also generally the last person they see as they are driven from our beautiful city back to the airport to go…
Tonight I rise to strongly support the member for Forde's motion. There is no doubt that small business has been and continues to be the enduring focus and priority of this government. I am particularly conscious of the challenges and opportunities for small businesses in the far north where our economy includes tourism; agriculture and…
I rise to speak in this condolence motion to a very dear friend of mine. I met him when I came into this parliament in 1996, along with the member for Fisher, and we struck up a friendship. One of the things that we found was a lot of commonality between the members from the…
**Watch this speech on YouTube** I rise to speak on something a little bit more sober in its content and certainly a darn sight more factual. According to the World Health Organisation, globally, a life is lost to suicide every 40 seconds. What is different about suicide, compared to other public health challenges, is that…