I'm very hopeful that the issues with the member for Maribyrnong will be resolved. If you could perhaps indicate when they are, I will take my seat at precisely that point. I will also say at this point that I'm conscious that I, like most of us here, have been away for quite some time and I want to acknowledge two things really.
Read MoreI rise to recognise the completion of the Hume Freeway interchange at O'Herns Road, which opened yesterday. This is something that I have been campaigning for since before I was elected to this place, and in December 2013 I tabled a petition of residents from Epping North and Wollert to fund connecting O'Herns Road with the freeway. This is a win for them.
Read MoreI rise to speak in support of the Royal Commissions Amendment (Protection of Information) Bill 2021 and to make it clear that Labor supports the amendments contained in this bill, which do serve a critically important service in the public interest and in the interests of the many Australians who deserve to be able to tell their stories on their terms...
Read MoreI rise to speak to the Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill 2021. The Foreign Intelligence Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 amends the Telecommunications (Interception and Access) Act 1979 and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation Act 1979 to address critical gaps in Australia's foreign intelligence warrant framework arising from technical change.
Read MoreI rise today to speak on this package of electoral bills proposed by the government: the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Counting, Scrutiny and Operational Efficiencies) Bill 2021, the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Party Registration Integrity) Bill 2021 and the Electoral Legislation Amendment (Electoral Offences and Preventing Multiple Voting) Bill 2021.
Read MoreWatching Eddie Betts on the football field brought me and so many others such joy, but throughout his wonderful career he was subjected to awful racism on the field and off it, and to watch him speaking of this in recent weeks was as compelling as any of his goals of the year. Those words and how they were spoken demand action—for all of us to recognise the persistence of the scourge...
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