Our hearts and thoughts continue to be with the Jewish and Bondi community and all those impacted by the devastating Bondi terror attack.
I welcome the announcement of a Commonwealth Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, which includes a review of federal intelligence and policing processes in the lead up to the 14th of December attack. I will join my Parliamentary colleagues in Canberra next week to deliberate on the Combatting Antisemitism, Hate and Extremism Bill 2026 that proposes a suite of reforms that aim to strengthen hate speech and gun laws. I welcome your feedback on the draft legislation that you can read here. If you would like to share your thoughts on the Bill, please email [email protected].
This summer has also been heartbreaking for many Australians who have had their homes and livelihoods devastated by bushfires in the south and cyclones and flooding in the north. These catastrophic events are a stark reminder of the role climate change is playing in the severity and frequency of extreme weather events and the need to take stronger climate action to mitigate future risk by reducing climate pollution and strengthening adaptation, preparedness and resilience strategies.
2025 - A Year of Progress
2025 was a year of wins for our community: $250 million to complete Mona Vale Road, stronger national nature laws, protections for artists and creatives against AI, e-bike safety reforms, progress on integrity in politics, and the roll out of the house battery subsidy programme, which I called for - plus much more!
There’s a lot more to do, and my team and I are looking forward to working hard over the year ahead to keep delivering. In 2026, key focuses are housing affordability, support for local business, and tackling plastic pollution.
The final months of 2025 saw the successful culmination of several key issues that my team and I had been working on for a number of years. Read about these below.
Nature Law Reform
For 25 years Australia’s national environment laws failed to protect our nature, causing 19 ecosystems to be on the brink of collapse and for Australia to be a global deforestation hotspot - the only developed nation to be so. Change was urgent, but the Government’s proposed Bill to fix the laws was full of loopholes that would have left our nature and wildlife vulnerable.
That’s why it’s great news the Government accepted key amendments that I proposed to strengthen protections for native forests and safeguard water resources from gas fracking.
The new nature laws are not perfect, but they are a real step forward. I will continue to push for the newly formed Environment Protection Australia to be robustly independent.
Protecting nature and preventing extinctions matter deeply to the people of Mackellar, and this win will help ensure that the diversity of our unique landscapes and wildlife remain for our kids and future generations to inherit.
Jobs for Mates Win - Briggs Report released
Shortly before I introduced my Ending Jobs for Mates Bill in March 2023, the Government announced their own review into public board appointments –the Briggs Review. It was promised that the report would be released in mid-2023 when it was finalised – but for over two years it was hidden from public view.
Under pressure from myself and others on the crossbench, the report was finally released last month and confirms what many suspected: a “jobs for mates” culture has taken hold in Canberra.
My Ending Jobs for Mates Bill was referred to in the report and several of the report’s recommendations reflect those in my Bill.
The release of this report is a big step forward, but unless these reforms are enshrined in law, cronyism will continue. To this end, I will be re-introducing my Ending Jobs for Mates Bill this year because Australians deserve confidence that public appointments are based on merit not connections. This is fundamental to a strong democracy.
Stronger E-bike Safety Standards on the way
Following widespread community concern about e-bike and pedestrian safety, in October I introduced my Safer E-bikes Bill to strengthen national e-bike import and safety standards. After months of advocacy at all levels of government, we’ve secured agreement from the Federal Government to do just this.
The problem: A long-standing loophole was allowing unsafe, high-powered e-bikes to be imported and sold in Australia with little oversight. This meant riders, often unlicenced teens, have been essentially riding unregistered, uninsured motorbikes on our roads and footpaths. Serious injuries and deaths due to e-bikes have soared.
The new laws, endorsed by State Transport Ministers and the bicycle industry, will align us with European standards: The power of e-bike motors will be capped at 250 watts; the electric motor will only work with pedalling and will cut out at 25 km/h. In future, e-bikes must also have anti-tampering requirements, so that these settings cannot be overridden.
The NSW Government has also matched this call. I’m now urging the Federal Government to commit to a start date to make our communities safer as soon as possible.
Other Wins!!
In the final sitting weeks, the Government committed to legislation requiring major streaming platforms such as Netflix and Disney to invest in Australian content to ensure our stories and culture continue to be shown. This breakthrough came on the back of years of hard fought advocacy from our creative community and was championed by the crossbench in Parliament.
We also secured a massive win for creatives: the Government backed down on its proposal to introduce a copyright exemption for artificial intelligence companies training their models on Australian creative works. This is a crucial step in protecting our artists and their creative property, and I will keep championing our storytellers.
And finally, we have secured a ban on genetic discrimination, with the Government introducing a Bill to prevent insurers from using genetic test results in life insurance underwriting. After years of advocacy, I’m proud to see this moving forward - protecting privacy and supporting life-saving testing.
Grants
See the 73 Mackellar community organisations that have collectively received funding of over $495,800 via the Federal Government's Volunteer Grants and Stronger Communities Programme since my election to office. Funds received via these grant programs have empowered volunteers and provided essential assets to support our community. Sign up to my free Mackellar Grant Finder to receive alerts about potential grants for your organisation or business.
Calling our young sports stars - last chance for applications for the current round of Local Sporting and Local Para Champions grants. The current application period closes on 31 January 2026. Information on eligibility and how to apply can be found on the grants page of my website here - Grants - Dr Sophie Scamps