Photo caption: Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton joined his Nationals colleagues to make their position on the Voice to Parliament clear last week.

Opposition to The Voice

Last week I joined my Federal Nationals colleagues to oppose the proposal to establish an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. We believe the Voice is just a symbolic form of legislation that will only further divide our communities along the lines of race, rather than uniting them.

I know this decision will be disappointing for many people in my electorate, and I am open to hearing from both sides, however the respected Indigenous leaders and community members I have spoken to so far are concerned about The Voice and how their communities will be represented.

I have been representing the Aboriginal communities of the Parkes electorate for the last 15 years and have built relationships with many people within these communities over time. I am passionate about improving the lives of Aboriginal people in practical ways. I do not see the proposal to introduce more bureaucracy into the mix as a way forward. What we have seen work for communities in the Parkes electorate are practical measures such as increasing employment for Indigenous people, supporting Aboriginal enterprise and getting behind organisations that are making a tangible difference at a grassroots level. These practical approaches are what I support and will continue to advocate for.

I remain supportive of recognising Indigenous Australians in the Constitution; however the proposed Voice to Parliament as it stands has the potential to cause more problems than it solves, especially given the diversity and complexity of voices within Aboriginal communities. At this stage I am not convinced that Labor’s current proposal will deliver what it promises. In the meantime, I remain committed to listening to all of my constituents as this matter progresses.

Visa delays causing great distress

The workforce shortage is the single biggest issue currently facing the Parkes electorate, so we must do everything we can to keep and attract workers.

However, dozens of skilled migrants who are already living and working in our regions have been waiting as long as 24 months for their visas to be approved, because of a new Ministerial Direction which prioritises offshore permanent and provisional visa applications. Since this Ministerial Direction came into effect in October, I’ve noticed a significant rise in the number of 887 and 491 visa applicants contacting my office about the delays in processing times. These are people who are keen to stay and settle down in our beautiful part of the world but are unable to work in their chosen field or buy a house because they are living in limbo.

This is causing a great deal of stress and uncertainty for these people, and some are even sadly leaving our areas because they simply can’t get visas. This is just not good enough.

I am calling on the Labor Government to prioritise onshore skilled regional visa applications, to provide certainty to local families and help keep skilled migrants in our regional areas.

Industrial Relations laws to hurt small businesses

Labor’s controversial industrial relations laws passed Parliament last week, but it’s our small and medium-sized businesses who will pay the price. It means that businesses with more than 20 staff will be able to be dragged onto multi-employer agreements with their much larger competitors, costing them tens of thousands of dollars.

These changes will result in more strikes, put pressure on supply chains and could see an increase in the prices of everyday items.

The Labor Government has said this legislation is all about increasing wages, and this will be the test. If we do not see a substantial increase in real wages over the coming years, these changes will have failed.

Getting doctors and nurses back to the bush

I was pleased that last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that will encourage doctors and nurse practitioners to relocate to remote, rural and regional Australia by providing a partial or full reduction to their HECS debt.

This bill was introduced by the Coalition prior to the election and means that doctors and nurses who choose to move away from the cities for a specified period will have their HECS debt waived.

This is good news and will hopefully attract more GPs to communities across the Parkes electorate. Incentivising doctors and nurse practitioners to live and work outside of metropolitan areas will help improve access to quality health care for regional, rural and remote communities.