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What I've Done

Since being elected as your community Independent in May 2022, I have worked tirelessly to ensure your concerns are represented in Parliament. 

Together with my office, we have worked with federal government agencies to resolve issues for individual constituents relating to: Centrelink, Medicare, Child Support, NDIS, Aged Care, Health, NBN, Telecommunications, Ausgrid, Australia Post, Visas, Citizenship, Passports, Banking, ATO, Superannuation and Veterans' Affairs. 

Here's what I've done since 2022:

  • Alongside the Northern Beaches community, ended PEP-11 – the proposal to drill for oil and gas off our coastline
  • Secured a full performance audit of Northern Beaches Hospital - currently underway (by the NSW Audit Office)
  • Secured funding to expand the PACER program, which is the combined police, ambulance and health professional mental health crisis response team
  • Worked with the NSW Mental Health Minister Rose Jackson to secure more funding for drug and alcohol services on the Northern Beaches
  • Working with NSW Roads Minister John Graham and State MPs to complete the Mona Vale Rd west upgrade
  • Helped secure fast tracked and much needed improvements to Narrabeen Sports High School
  • Secured the construction of a mobile base station in Cottage Point that was delayed for years under previous Members for Mackellar
  • Backed calls for safe staff-to-patient ratios at Northern Beaches Hospital and to align with public hospitals in NSW
  • Supporting nurses’ call for a 15% pay rise increase, in line with their public hospital colleagues
  • Secured vital funding to address the flooding of Wakehurst Parkway
  • Urged the NSW Government to find an alternative solution for the proposed development of 450 new homes at the Patyegarang/Lizard Rock site in Belrose
  • Advocated for the protection of Barrenjoey Headland and its historic cottages to the Federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek and NSW Environment and Heritage Minister 
  • Proposed actions to the NSW Inquiry on Essential Worker Housing to increase housing supply on the Northern Beaches for essential workers, including the development of a Northern Beaches Essential Worker Housing Supply Action Plan
  • Worked with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells to support the residents who have been impacted by the closure of the Wesley Taylor Village in Narrabeen
  • Sponsored a young person from Mackellar, through a competition and independent panel, to attend the National Leadership program in Canberra
  • Established the Mackellar Youth Partnership Program to encourage local high school student leaders to engage in their own democracy
  • Since being elected in May 2022 I have held 136 community organisation meetings at my Electorate Office, visited 142 organisations onsite and attended 414 community events in Mackellar (as of December 2024).
  • Hosted a number of round tables covering: Local Businesses, Men's Mental Health, Adolescent Mental Health, Aged Care, Public School Principals, Student Leadership and Construction
  • Voted in favour of fee-free TAFE places, supporting Australians pursuing that career path, as well as supporting future building of housing and infrastructure.
  • Supported tax reform, to create a fairer more balanced system
  • Advocated for a cap on the price of gas
  • Supported the extension of paid parental leave and super on parental leave payments
  • Supported the government’s Housing Australia Future Fund which aims to build 30,000 more social and affordable homes across Australia over the next 5 years.
  • Advocated for government action to identify and stamp out the potential for anti-competitive behaviour by supermarkets, energy providers, banks and airlines
  • Supported the government’s childcare reforms to make childcare more affordable for all Australian families
  • Voted for energy price relief for households and small businesses (capping energy prices to tackle rising electricity costs)
  • Voted for a change allowing pharmacies to dispense 60-day prescriptions (rather than a month), so that patients need to see the GP less often.
  • Advocated for policies that will push down the cost of the transition to renewable power, including to make residential batteries more available and affordable
  • Supported legislation to remove the fringe benefits tax for new electric cars purchased by employers for use by employees, to help increase the number of affordable electric vehicles in the Australian market
  • Supported changes to the Stage 3 tax cuts to ensure more Australians benefitted from them.
  • Advocated for broader tax reform to set our country up for a more prosperous and fair future
  • Hosted the Mackellar People’s Jury on Housing. This brought together a panel of Mackellar residents who were presented with evidence from independent housing experts and community housing advocates. The panel made recommendations for me to take to Canberra.
  • Supported government programs to improve access to and the affordability of housing for Australians, including the Help to Buy Bill 2023, the Social Housing Accelerator, the National Housing Infrastructure Facility, the National Housing Accord, the Capital Works (Build to Rent Misuse Tax Bill) 2024 and the increases to the rate of Commonwealth Rent Assistance
  • Supported the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (More Support for Working Families) Bill 2023 which seeks to increase paid parental leave from 20 to 26 weeks, and the Paid Parental Leave Amendment (Adding Superannuation for a More Secure Retirement) Bill 2024 to ensure superannuation is paid on Commonwealth parental leave payments.
  • Urged Treasurer Jim Chalmers to extend the instant asset write-off scheme for small businesses – announced in the 2023 Budget
  • Leading the charge to change the definition of small business from 15 employees to at least 25 to reduce red tape
  • Supported protection of small business from cybercrime such as scams
  • Hosted business grants workshops to assist in accessing and applying for grants, as well as learning helpful skills for the future
  • Took issues construction companies have directly to Canberra, pushing for further support in issues facing the sector
  • Supported grants for energy efficient appliances for business
  • Advocated for measures to incentivise businesses to electrify and become more energy efficient
  • Advocated for the elimination of the gender pay gap including by legislative reform
  • Voted for the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act 2022 to improve job security, close the gender pay gap and modernise workplace bargaining
  • Moved amendments to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Bill 2022 seeking to protect small businesses by:
    - preventing the abolishment of the Australian Building and Construction Commission
    - amending the definition of the small business exemption to be based on 15 full-time equivalent employees
  • Offered amendments to the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Closing Loopholes) Bill 2023 to mitigate the adverse impacts of the bill on small businesses
  • Provides the Mackellar community with a business specific newsletter that raises awareness of the many supports available to them such as events, grants and government organisations
  • Provides businesses free access to the Mackellar Grant Finder to enable them to source grants, incentives, rebates and more from all levels of government
  • Established a business newsletter for Mackellar businesses to raise awareness of government support for businesses and latest policy decisions relevant to small business owners
  • Has a volunteer attend business networking events such as Chambers of Commerce, to raise awareness of the business supports available
  • Proposing a $20,000 tax-free threshold for company income tax to lower tax for small businesses
  • Led calls for reform of the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT) so oil and gas companies pay their fair share of tax
  • Pushed the Government to fast-track investment in clean and cheap renewables, electric vehicles and battery technology
  • Hosted a roundtable for local businesses to meet Industry Minister Ed Husic MP and learn more about funding opportunities available through the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF)
  • Supported cheaper childcare to support parents to return to the workforce
  • Urged the Government to extend the instant asset write-off scheme for small businesses –which was announced in the 2023 Budget. The government extended this in the 2024/25 budget
  • Voted in favour of more fee-free TAFE places
  • Alongside the Northern Beaches community, ended PEP-11 – the proposal to drill for oil and gas off our coastline
  • Tabled a ‘Save the Aussie Bush’ petition, signed by 25,000 Australians
  • Campaigning for an end to logging in native forests across Australia, through the Forest Pledge.
  • Joined other independents in calling for the major parties to release 2035 emission reduction targets
  • Opposed oil and gas projects off the coast of Newcastle and Sydney to protect our beaches
  • Voted for the Climate Change Act 2022 to enshrine Australia's greenhouse gas emission targets and improve accountability, integrity and transparency in climate policy
  • Introduced the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (Expanding the Water Trigger) Bill 2023 to ensure that all gas (including unconventional gas) fracking projects are assessed at the Federal level for their impacts on water resources. Soon afterwards, the Albanese government passed this change and amended our environmental legislation to include the expanded water trigger
  • Travelled to Liverpool and the Piliga Plains to hear directly from farmers and those impacted by Santos’ push to drill for more and more gas. It would poison the land which is a food basin for NSW
  • Voted for the Nature Repair Market 2023 to encourage private sector investment in conservation
  • Campaigned and voted against the Environment Protection (Sea Dumping) Amendment (Using New Technologies to Fight Climate Change) Bill 2023 because carbon capture and storage is an unproven technology, because the impacts of undersea storage of CO2 are unknown, and because it will enable the expansion of gas production
  • Voted for the Safeguard Mechanism (Crediting) Amendment Bill 2023 as it requires big business to cut their carbon emissions and is vital to achieving our target of a 43% reduction in emissions by 2030
  • Voted for the Fuel and Vehicle Standards Legislation Amendment (Reducing Vehicle Pollution) Bill 2022 to make vehicles cleaner by reducing carbon emissions and pollution
  • Called for the establishment of a ‘National Health, Wellbeing and Climate Strategy’, which has now been established
  • Strongly advocated for an end to taxpayer funded fossil fuel subsidies which cost taxpayers $14.5 billion a year
  • Supported David Pocock’s Private Senator’s Bill – the Climate Change Amendment (Duty of Care and Intergenerational Climate Equity) Bill 2023
  • Supported the government’s New Vehicle Efficiency Standard Bill 2024 for the regulation of carbon dioxide emissions of new passenger and light commercial vehicles
  • Supported the establishment of the Net Zero Economy Authority to promote economic transformation as part of Australia’s transition to a net zero emissions economy
  • Voted for the Future Made in Australia legislation to support review and decision-making in public investment that facilitates private sector investment in the green industrial revolution
  • Introduced and pushed for amendments to the Aged Care Bill 2024
  • Called further support for veterans’ health services, including increased Department of Veterans' Affairs rebates for physiotherapists who care for veterans
  • Worked with men's mental health groups to tackle the high male suicide rate
  • Introduced the Broadcasting Services Amendment (Healthy Kids Advertising) Bill 2023 (a Private Member’s Bill) to tackle chronic disease and childhood obesity by protecting our children from predatory junk food marketing
  • Advocated for a levy on sugar-sweetened drinks to encourage manufacturers to lower the sugar content of drinks
  • Was a member of the Parliamentary Committee inquiring into The State of Diabetes Mellitus in Australia in 2024 which recently published its recommendations as to the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diabetes
  • Successfully moved an amendment to the Government’s Higher Education Support Amendment Bill 2022 to help address GP and nursing shortages
  • Advocated for an increase in the Medicare rebate to increase the number of GPs bulk billing patients
  • Voted for a change allowing pharmacies to dispense 60-day prescriptions (rather than a month), so that patients need to see the GP less often
  • Moved a motion in the House of Representatives to recognise climate change as a health emergency
  • Co-founded the ‘Parliamentary Friends of General Practice’ to call attention to the problems with our primary health care network, so all Australians have affordable and easy access to a GP
  • Voted to ensure aged care residents receive 24/7 registered nursing care in aged care facilities
  • Worked with the government to ban single-use vapes to protect our kids
  • Worked with Aged Care Minister Anika Wells MP to support residents impacted by the closure of the Wesley Taylor Village in Narrabeen
  • Have spoken in the House of Representatives on the need for increased services and support for youth mental health on the Northern Beaches

Policy priorities for Mackellar

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Integrity. Positivity. Inclusivity.