There are major opportunities this government must take up to empower regional communities to play a role in the energy transition and to truly benefit. Let this be a gold rush for rural and regional Australia.

The evidence both across regional Australia and in Indi is clear. That’s why as an Independent I’m happy to support these bills that will make things a little easier.

One-in-100-year events are certainly not one in 100 years anymore. This is such a critical report to build resilience in these changing times, and we must not let this report sit on the shelf and gather dust. This must result in action that addresses the problems that we are driving over every single day.

My question is to the Prime Minister. What new action will you now take to address cost-of-living pressures for these people?

Fixing the housing crisis will take the coordination of multiple levels of government, industry and community groups. But inaction isn’t an option, because regional Australians, who feel they will never have a stable place to live, deserve more.

Project 365 promotes positive mental health. They encourage us to talk about ‘the elephant in the room’ – a message that many people across rural and regional Australia can relate to.

As a midwife and academic who researched maternal-child outcomes, and remembering my own experience in returning to the workforce and balancing work and care, I know the importance of support for parents in those early years.  

It’s a privilege to rise today to express gratitude for the life and to lament the loss of our much loved and admired colleague and friend Peta Murphy, the member for Dunkley.

As legislators, we should come to this decision with our eyes wide open. This bill, the Australian Citizenship Amendment (Citizenship Repudiation) Bill 2023, is allowing judges, not the executive, to repudiate citizenship in the event a dual citizen commits a serious offence.